My Favorite Biblical/Theological Books of 2009

Let me start off by saying that not all of these books were released in 2009. Three of them were indeed released this past year, the two others in 2008. In either case, I read all of these books in 2009 and recommend them to all.

Praying the Psalms with the Early Christians by Mike Aquilina and Christopher Bailey
This fine book has become the nightly devotional that my wife and I read before going to sleep. It includes the RSV translation of 34 Psalms, with short reflections from the early Church Fathers. The short reflections are freshly translated in more modernized language. Some of the Fathers that are included are Augustine, Ambrose, Cyril of Jerusalem, Athanasius, and Jerome. This is a great little devotional book.

Meditation and Contemplation: An Ignatian Guide to Praying with Scripture by Timothy M. Gallagher, OMV
This fairly thin book has been a real blessing to me. While I always enjoy reading the Holy Scriptures for Bible study and teaching class, I have often felt that my praying of Scripture has been rather poor. Sure, I pray every day with the Bible, but it hasn't always been as fruitful as it should. Fr. Gallagher's book focuses on Ignatius of Loyola's two basic methods of praying with the Bible: meditation and contemplation. The book does a great job at explaining the Ignatian method, along with dozens of real-life experiences by the typical lay reader. For those of you who haven't been introduced to the Ignatian way of praying Scripture, this book is a nice introduction.

The God of Jesus Christ: Meditations on the Triune God by Pope Benedict XVI. You didn't think I was going to have a list of my favorite books of the year without giving a nod to B16 did you? Well, this is one of the books that was released last year, but it was required for my Christology class last Spring. I am glad that it was. This book is a collection of edited papers by the then Cardinal Ratzinger focusing on each of the three persons of the Holy Trinity. It seeks to answer the question that Rahner asked years earlier about whether belief in the Trinity mattered to the average Christian. Cardinal Ratzinger believes that the proposition that "God is three and God is one" is essential and "if this proposition had nothing to say to us, it would not have been revealed (29)." Let me finish with one of his quotes concerning the Holy Spirit: "Unlike Father and Son, the name of the third Divine Person is not the expression of something specific. It designates that which is common in the Godhead. But this reveals the 'proper character' of the Third Person: he is that which is common, the unity of the Father and the Son, the unity in Person. The Father and the Son are one with each other by going out beyond themselves; it is in the third Person, in the fruitfulness of their act of giving, that they are One (109)."

Covenant and Communion: The Biblical Theology of Pope Benedict XVI by Scott W. Hahn
As this book points out, while there has been many books written over the past few years about a variety of issues surrounding Pope Benedict XVI, very few, if any, have concentrated on his Biblical theology. Which is somewhat surprising, since the one major book he has released, as Pope, Jesus of Nazareth, is precisely a biblical examination of the life of Christ. (And of course, part II is set to be released next year.) This book proves to be is a fine overview, and it is written in a style that encourages the reader to read Benedict/Ratzinger for themselves. There are plenty of footnotes to entertain and delight those who want to do further reading.

Honorable Mentions (some of these I am still working on)
Kinship by Covenant by Scott W. Hahn
Inhabiting the Cruciform God by Michael J. Gorman
Justification by N.T. Wright
Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis (a true classic that I read for the first time this year!)

So, what are yours?

So, What Are You Reading These Days?

It has been a few weeks now since returning from the honeymoon to Italia, and only now do I feel like I am finally settling into a daily routine. The new job at the high school, while great, has also taken some time getting use to as well. But at some point during the past few days I began to feel comfortable, somewhat normal again.

One of the reasons for this is that I have once again started making time each day to sit back and just read. It has been a few months since I finished a book, but I am very excited to be working on a number of them currently. Of course, it's not like I haven't done any reading over the past few months. But with marriage preparation, lesson plans, a honeymoon, and pair of senior retreats, there just seemed not to be much free time. However, that has now changed...I think.

And I am very glad it has, because I have been able to start reading through two newly ordered books, which I have greatly enjoyed reading so far. The first book, which I am almost finished with, is Michael J. Gorman's Inhabiting the Cruciform God: Kenosis, Justification, and Theosis in Paul's Narrative Soteriology. Anyone who has read some of Gorman's other works will be familiar with the themes in this book. In particular, his analysis of kenosis in the Christ-hymn of Philippians 2, and its broader connections to the identity of the Triune God has made for some very interesting reading.

Along with Gorman's book, I have also been skimming through Scott Hahn's Covenant and Communion: The Biblical Theology of Pope Benedict XVI. Hahn points out that many of the books written about Pope Benedict fail to capture his deep reliance on Scripture which is at the heart of his writings and teachings before and after his election to the See of Rome. The first part of Hahn's book spends considerable time discussing Pope Benedict's view of the historical-critical method. As Hahn points out, Pope Benedict sees the historical-critical method as being "an indispensable" tool for Biblical scholars. It is indispensable precisely because the Christian faith is based in history. Yet, while we must continue to use the historical-critical method in our exegesis of Biblical passages, we cannot separate it from the faith of the Church. Without faith, the text remains only a historical relic, which cannot be brought to the present. Ultimately, the Church is the guardian of the written Word. There is, of course, a lot more to this, but I have found this book to be a wonderful summary of Pope Benedict's Biblical theology.

One last book that I have picked up, but have yet to start, is Scott Hahn's reworked doctoral thesis Kinship by Covenant: A Canonical Approach to the Fulfillment of God's Saving Promises. This is one of those books that is over 600 pages long, with half of it being end notes. Fun stuff! No....I really mean it! I hope to start this in the next week or so.

So what are you reading these days? Any new releases that I should check out?

Catholic Summer Reading Program

Since we have now entered the unofficial start to Summer, I thought I would pass along some information about a fine online reading program that is out there on the World Wide Web. The Catholic Summer Reading Program is an online program established by the folks who run Aquinas and More Catholic Goods. It's stated goal is to encourage people to "take some time to discover the rich treasure of Catholic literature." The site offers online discussion for both adult and child readers. Currently, you are able to vote on the book which will be read starting this summer. So far, Ralph Martin's Fulfillment of All Desire is #1 in the poll.

I had the privilege to be a student in Mr. Martin's class at SHMS a couple years back, where we spent some time going over his book. As the description says: "Ralph Martin, drawing upon the teaching of seven acknowledged "Spiritual Doctors" of the Church, presents an in-depth study of the journey to God. This book provides encouragement and direction for the pilgrim who desires to know, love, and serve our Lord. Whether the reader is beginning the spiritual journey or has been traveling the road for many years, he will find a treasure of wisdom in The Fulfillment of All Desire. It is destined to be a modern classic on the spiritual life."

It is a fine book, and makes for some wonderful summer reading. Whenever someone I know is contemplating reading through some of the great spiritual writers, like St. Theresa of Avila or St. John of the Cross, I always recommend that they read Fulfillment of All Desire first.

So, if you are interested in some good Catholic reading this summer, check out the Catholic Summer Reading Program.