The Real Story of Catholic History:
Answering Twenty Centuries of Anti-Catholic Myths by Steve Weidenkopf
Anti-Catholics like to paint Church teachings in a way that
makes them seem vain, backward, or superstitious, all in the hope of drawing
people out of the Faith and into sects or unbelief. Catholic apologists fight
back with facts and sound arguments. But there's another area where the
Church's enemies tell their own false story Of Catholicism: its history.
Whether it's from the media, in classrooms, or out of the mouths of pastors and
politicians, we've all heard a version of Catholic history filled with
unrelenting violence, ignorance, worldliness, and bigotry. It's enough to make
many believers question whether the Church truly was founded by Christ! This
kind of attack requires no less of a response from those who know the truth. In
The Real Story of Catholic History, Steve Weidenkopf gives it to you.
Weidenkopf (The Glory of the Crusades) collects over fifty of the most common
and dangerous lies about Catholic history and, drawing on his experience as a
historian and apologist, shows how to answer them simply and powerfully.
Whether it's claims about Catholicism's supposedly pagan origins, old myths
about Galileo or the Inquisition that never seem to go away, or more modern
misconceptions that anti-Catholics cynically exploit, The Real Story provides
the desperately needed corrective. Packed with research and diligent in pursuit
of the truth, while never whitewashing or explaining away the Church's past
faults when they're found, The Real Story of Catholic History is an essential
resource for every Catholic's bookshelf. - Amazon.
Go in Peace: Your Guide to the Purpose and Power of
Confession by Mitch
Pacwa
Autobiography of St. Teresa of Avila
(Dover Books on Western Philosophy) by St.
Teresa of Avila
In this landmark of Christian mysticism, the revered Carmelite
nun presents moving accounts of her profound religious experiences and ultimate
union with God. St. Teresa wrote this memoir at the behest of her confessor. It
offers a warm, accessible account of her transformation into an impassioned
leader and reformer of church doctrine.
St. Teresa recounts her childhood and education in sixteenth-century Spain, her
physical afflictions and spiritual crises, her many visions and mystical
encounters, and her determination to embrace the contemplative life. In describing
the ascent of the soul, she explains the core of her theology as a four-stage
process that progresses from mental prayer to divine rapture. Next to Don
Quixote, this timeless work constitutes Spain's most popular prose
classic. It forms an excellent introduction to the saint's other writings and
to the Christian tradition of mystical literature. – Amazon.
A Shorter Summa: The Essential
Philosophical Passages of Saint Thomas Aquinas' Summa Theologica by Peter Kreeft
A shortened version of Kreeft's much larger Summa of the
Summa, which in turn was a shortened version of the Summa Theologica. The
reason for the double shortening is pretty obvious: the original runs some 4000
pages! (The Summa of the Summa was just over 500.) The Summa is certainly the
greatest, most ambitious, most rational book of theology ever written. In it,
there is also much philosophy, which is selected, excerpted, arranged,
introduced, and explained in footnotes here by Kreeft, a popular Thomist
teacher and writer. St. Thomas Aquinas is universally recognized as one of the
greatest philosophers who ever lived. His writings combine the two fundamental
ideals of philosophical writing: clarity and profundity. He is a master of
metaphysics and technical terminology, yet so full of both theoretical and
practical wisdom. He is the master of common sense. The Summa Theologica is
timeless, but particularly important today because of his synthesis of faith
and reason, revelation and philosophy, and the Biblical and the classical
Greco-Roman heritages. This little book is designed for beginners, either for
classroom use or individually. It contains the most famous and influential
passages of St. Thomas' philosophy with copious aids to understanding them. –
Amazon.
Mystery of the Magi: The Quest to
Identify the Three Wise Men by Dwight
Longenecker
Modern biblical scholars tend to dismiss the Christmas story
of the “wise men from the East” as pious legend. Matthew’s gospel offers few
details, but imaginative Christians filled out the story early on, giving us
the three kings guided by a magical star who join the adoring shepherds in
every Christmas crèche.
For many scholars, then, there is no reason to take the gospel story
seriously. But are they right? Are the wise men no more than a
poetic fancy?
In an astonishing feat of detective work, Dwight Longenecker makes a powerful
case that the visit of the Magi to Bethlehem really happened. Piecing together
the evidence from biblical studies, history, archeology, and astronomy, he goes
further, uncovering where they came from, why they came, and what might have
happened to them after eluding the murderous King Herod.
In the process, he provides a new and fascinating view of the time and place in
which Jesus Christ chose to enter the world.
The evidence is clear and compelling. The mysterious Magi from the East were in
all likelihood astrologers and counselors from the court of the Nabatean king
at Petra, where the Hebrew messianic prophecies were well known. The “star”
that inspired their journey was a particular planetary alignment—confirmed by
computer models—that in the astrological lore of the time portended the birth
of a Jewish king.
The visitors whose arrival troubled Herod “and all Jerusalem with him” may not
have been the turbaned oriental kings of the Christmas carol, but they were
real, and by demonstrating that the wise men were no fairy tale, Mystery
of the Magi demands a new level of respect for the historical claims
of the gospel. – Amazon.
Confessions by Saint Augustine, Michael P. Foley
Like the first Hackett edition of the Augustine's Confessions,
the second edition features F. J. Sheed's remarkable translation of this
classic spiritual autobiography with an Introduction by noted historian of late
antiquity Peter Brown. New to this edition are a wealth of notes on literary,
philosophical, biblical, historical, and liturgical topics by Michael P. Foley,
an Editor's Preface, a map, a timeline, paragraph numbers in the text, a
glossary, and a thorough index. The text itself has been completely reset, with
textual and explanatory notes placed at the foot of the page for easy
reference. – Amazon.
The Golden Legend: Lives of the
Saints by Jacobus de Voragine
Legenda Of Jacobus de Voragine, appearing about the middle Of
the century, was hailed as aurea, as golden amid the baser metal Of all other
such repertories. – Amazon.
God Against the Gods: Storytelling,
Imagination and Apologetics in the Bible by Brian Godawa
How God Captures the
Imagination
Brian Godawa,
Hollywood screenwriter and best-selling novelist, explores the nature of
imagination in the Bible and how it relates to apologetics and evangelism.
He explains how God
subverts pagan religions by appropriating their imagery and creativity and
redeeming them within a Biblical worldview.
Improve your
imagination in glorifying God and defending the faith.
You will discover what
C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien and Francis Schaeffer understood about Christian
apologetics and Biblical evangelism.
Here are the Chapters
and what you will learn:
Demonizing the Pagan
Gods
God verbally attacked his opponents, pagans and their gods, by using sarcasm,
mockery and name-calling. Demonization is not wrong if they really are demonic.
Old Testament
Storytelling Apologetics
Israel shared creative images with their pagan neighbors: The sea dragon of
chaos, and the storm god. The Bible invests them with new meaning.
Biblical Creation and
Storytelling
Creation stories in the ancient Near East and the Bible both express a primeval
battle to create order out of chaos. But how do they differ?
The Universe in
Ancient Imagination
A comparison and contrast of the Biblical picture of the universe with the
ancient pagan one. What’s the difference?
New Testament
Storytelling Apologetics
Paul’s sermon to the pagans on Mars Hill was subversive storytelling: Retelling
society’s narrative through a Gospel lens.
Imagination in
Prophecy and Apocalypse
How God uses symbolism to both obscure and reveal meaning in prophecy.
An Apologetic of
Biblical Horror
Learn how God uses the genre of horror in the Bible as a powerful moral tool to
communicate spiritual, social and moral truth. – Amazon.
The Imagination of God: Art,
Creativity and Truth in the Bible by Brian Godawa
Want to Know God More? Use Your Imagination
This book was previously released with the title, Word
Pictures: Knowing God Through Story and Imagination.
Artist and screenwriter Brian Godawa used to revel in his
ability to argue the truth of the Gospel, often intellectually crushing his
opponents in the process.
But winning an argument does not equal persuading people to
follow Jesus. So what’s missing?
Through prayer and searching the Scriptures, Godawa realized
that while God cares deeply for rationality, it wasn’t the only tool he used to
reach people with his truth.
He discovered that storytelling, visual images, and other art
in the Bible were central to Biblical evangelism and Christian apologetics
because they could go places reason could never go: into the imagination and
the heart.
The Bible is a Work of Art
Weaving historical insight, pop culture and personal
narrative throughout, Godawa reveals the importance God places on imagination
and creativity in the Scriptures.
You’ll get a biblical foundation to pursue imagination,
creativity, beauty, wonder and mystery in your faith.
You’ll learn what C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien understood:
The power of poetry, parables and visual art found in God's Word.
For any Christian who wants to learn Biblical evangelism and
Christian apologetics in a postmodern context, this book will help you find a
path between the two extremes of intellectualized faith and anti-intellectual
faith by recovering a biblical balance between reason and imagination. –
Amazon.
Not
God's Type by Holly Ordway
This is the story of a glorious defeat.
Ordway, an atheist academic, was convinced that faith was
superstitious nonsense. As a well-educated college English professor, she saw
no need for just-so stories about God. Secure in her fortress of atheism, she
was safe (or so she thought) from any assault by irrational faith.
But then something happened . . . How did she come to “lay
down her arms” in surrender to Christ – and then, a few years later, enter into
the Catholic Church?
This is the moving account of her unusual journey. It is the
story of an academic becoming convinced of the truth of Christianity on
rational grounds – but also the account of God’s grace acting in and through
her imagination.
It is the tale of an unfolding, developing relationship with
God, told with directness and honesty – and of a painful surrender at the foot
of the Cross. It is the account of a lifelong, transformative love of reading –
and the story of how a competitive fencer put down her sabre to pick up the
sword of the Spirit.
Above all, this book is a tale of grace, acting in and
through human beings but always issuing from God and leading back to Him. And
it is the story of a woman being brought home. – Amazon.
Socrates
Meets Jesus by Peter Kreeft
History's greatest questioner confronts the claims of Christ.
– Amazon.
The Case for Jesus: The Biblical and
Historical Evidence for Christ by Brant
Pitre, Robert Barron
For well over a hundred years now, many scholars have
questioned the historical truth of the Gospels, claiming that they were
originally anonymous. Others have even argued that Jesus of Nazareth did not
think he was God and never claimed to be divine.
In The Case for Jesus, Dr. Brant Pitre, the bestselling author
of Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist, goes back to the
sources—the biblical and historical evidence for Christ—in order to answer
several key questions, including:
• Were the four Gospels really anonymous?
• Are the Gospels folklore? Or are they biographies?
• Were the four Gospels written too late to be reliable?
• What about the so-called “Lost Gospels,” such as “Q”
and the Gospel of Thomas?
• Did Jesus claim to be God?
• Is Jesus divine in all four Gospels? Or only in John?
• Did Jesus fulfill the Jewish prophecies of the
Messiah?
• Why was Jesus crucified?
• What is the evidence for the Resurrection?
As The Case for Jesus will show, recent discoveries in New
Testament scholarship, as well as neglected evidence from ancient manuscripts
and the early church fathers, together have the potential to pull the rug out
from under a century of skepticism toward the traditional Gospels. Above all,
Pitre shows how the divine claims of Jesus of Nazareth can only be understood
by putting them in their ancient Jewish context. – Amazon.
The Devil in the City of Angels: My
Encounters With the Diabolical by Jesse Romero
“I went from an indifferent apathetic Sunday Mass attending
Catholic Christian to an on fire Catholic Christian in a few short years. What
reignited my faith? The many encounters I had with the occult and
diabolical.”
So says renowned Catholic apologist and retired veteran of the Los Angeles
County Sheriff’s Department, Jesse Romero. Now for the first time in print,
Romero reveals the harrowing details of his experiences with the demonic while
working for the LASD. Discover the true stories of spiritual warfare being
waged in the streets and alleys of L.A., including:
- Romero’s
encounters with Richard Ramirez, the infamous “Night Stalker”
- How the Rosary
drove out a demon that had taken hold of a young man
- What happened when
inmates involved in the occult would try to say “Jesus is Lord”
- How a
young man who had committed suicide returned to beg his parents
for prayers to release him from the pains of Purgatory
- …and
much more.
The Devil in the City of Angels is much more than a catalog of
strange and terrifying events. It exposes Satan as the Father of
Lies so we can see how he works, and how to defeat him. Drawing on his own
experiences as well as the most authoritative sources, Romero offers the reader
numerous cautionary tales, but also that hope that is only found in Jesus
Christ and his Church. – Amazon.
Handbook of Christian Apologetics by Peter Kreeft, Ronald K. Tacelli
Reasonable, concise, witty and wise, Peter Kreeft and Ronald
K. Tacelli have written an informative and valuable guidebook for anyone
looking for answers to questions of faith and reason. Topics include:
- faith
and reason
- the
existence of God
- God's
nature
- how
we know God
- creation
and evolution
- providence
and free will
- miracles
- the
problem of evil
- the
Bible's historical reliability
- the
divinity of Christ
- the
resurrection
- life
after death
- heaven
and hell
- salvation
- Christianity
and other religions
- objective
truth
Whether you are asking the questions yourself or want to respond to others who are, here is the resource you have been waiting for. – Amazon.
