Conversation Among Friends - Christianity - Comments

books: here we go..

Peter — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 12:54:08 -0500

Story of a Soul (St Therese of Lisieux), John Clark, O.C.D. (p)
A Grief Observed, C. S. Lewis
The Screwtape Letters, C. S. Lewis(!)
Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis
Das Bild von Jesus dem Christus, Romano Guardini (p)
The Problem of Pain, C. S. Lewis
Miracles, C. S. Lewis
The Great Divorce, C. S. Lewis(!)
Everyday Simplicity, R. Wicks (p)
The Weight of Glory, C. S. Lewis
The Four Loves, C. S. Lewis(!)
The Need and the blessing of prayer, Karl Rahner(!)
Encounters with Silence, Karl Rahner
Perelandra, C. S. Lewis(!)
Out of the silent planet, C. S. Lewis(!)
That Hideous Strength, C. S. Lewis(!)
The Abolition of Man, C. S. Lewis(!)
Jesus of Nazareth, Joseph Ratzinger(!)
Neither Poverty nor Riches, C. Blomberg(!)
Interior Castle, Teresa of Avila (p)
Dark night of the soul, John of the Cross (p)
The Way of Perfection Teresa of Avila (p)
Th Life of St Teresa of Avila by Herself (p)
Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger, Ronald Sider
Diary of St Maria Faustina Kowalska (bought but not read)
The City of God, Augustinus (p)
Go in Peace, Karol Woytyla
Aquinas Shorter Summa, Thomas Aquinas
Theology of the Body for Beginners, Christopher West
The Cambridge Companion to Karl Rahner, ed. Mary Hines (p)
Confessions, Augustinus(!)
Catechism of the Catholic Church(!)
The Purpose Driven Life, Rick Warren (p)
Till we have faces, C. S. Lewis
The Foundations of Karl Rahner, Mark Fischer (!)
The Foundations of Christian Faith, Karl Rahner (p) (!)
In Conversation with God, Fernandez (p)
God is Near Us, Joseph Ratzinger

(!) means of particular interest. (p) means partly read, sometimes because the work is encyclopaedic and i skipped sections that were not of particular interest.

mini summa

Joey — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 16:50:27 -0500

PM,

Theology isn't something that I tend to dig into. I have the Short Summa of Aquinas. It is very nice but I have not felt compelled to read it - knowing that it exists if I need it seems to keep Aquinas on the shelf. (Also, I'm reading pre-Aquinas as I like to study cronologically).

You assent less to Christanity than I do, it seems that you are more of a buzzard who tends to want to pick away until every last piece of flesh has been eaten. It seems that you are very driven to verify that this all makes sense. I admire your tenacity and hunger for depth and truth.

You do seem to like the taste of God. Some people spit him out. Interesting that when some taste this honey they still turn away from it while others know that it is the only thing worth their time.

Could you do us a favor? List all the books you have read over the last two years on Christianity or faith etc. I am interested in what your journey has been.

easy...

Peter — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 07:42:47 -0500

the book is a shortened and explanatory version of a "101" theology textbook for seminarians. so, it covers everything that is central to the christian message. can't put it any better. like a mini summa theologiae of the 20th century...

Mark Fischer

Joey — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 14:58:34 -0500

PM,

Can you give us a bit more on this book? Why do you like it? What's so good about it? What is Rahner's essential message/approach etc.?

Thanks,

unreadable...

Peter — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 20:57:46 -0500

the problem is that Rahner's english translation, although presumably correct, is almost unreadable. sentences go on seemingly for pages, so that the average human almost has to draw a flow diagram for every sentence. i have at least twice tried to read it, but it's like driving a car into a snow drift: after initial progress, the wheels start spinning, and after a while you just bog down...

finally! someone has actually spent the time to read and analyze every sentence, and summarize it at a quarter of its original density, which brings it down to normal textbook complexity.

you should absolutely read it.

pmm

Karl Rahner

Joey — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 20:35:24 -0500

"This was written as an answer to the problem..."

PM - What problem are we talking about?

Thanks -- js