Fav Theological Books??

[littleflower99]

I know this is kind of a broad (and badly worded) question, but I am a Junior in highschool & I think it'd be neat to go more in depth on theology. I've read At The Heart of The Gospel by Christopher West, and A Story of A Soul (which is my fav) but that's it!! I got confirmed this spring & I am a noob. I usually read fictional literature in my free time, but I just reread the part of A Story of A Soul when St. Therese (excuse the absence of the accent marks) said that she's GLAD she didn't read books b/c it would have cut time for her and God. So naturally I want to keep reading, but just the good stuff. Any suggestions would be appreciated :))

Edited December 2, 2015 by littleflower99

[Era Might]

Welcome to Phatmass. Reading done well is always time with God. 

What kind of topics are you interested in?

[littleflower99]

*sweats* uh, all of them

 

(anything deep i guess, i need to sound smarter than my other Catholic friends)

4 minutes ago, Era Might said:

Welcome to Phatmass. Reading done well is always time with God. 

What kind of topics are you interested in?

i meant to quote you in the last post, idk what i'm doing

[Sponsa-Christi]

The Catechism of the Catholic Church is the best place to go for an introduction to Catholic theology. Besides that, anything by Scott Hahn would be a great way to "get your feet wet" in terms of serious Catholic theology. C.S. Lewis is good too, although he's not writing from an explicitly Catholic perspective (you might try his books The Four Loves or Mere Christianity). 

My favorite theologian to read would be Pope Benedict XVI/Cardinal Ratzinger, but he can be a bit hard to understand if you're not used to reading theology on an academic level. You could probably start out with some of his homilies as Pope, though. 

The Catholic Priesthood and Women by Sr. Sara Butler is a very accessible book written by a contemporary woman theologian.

If you develop an interest in a more specific area, I'm sure people here can give you even more titles. 

 

[Era Might]

Anything by Joseph Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI will be meaty, maybe "Introduction to Christianity"

Edited December 2, 2015 by Era Might

[Sponsa-Christi]

Also...being totally shameless here...I was the main author of a upper-level high school textbook on vocations, which was basically meant as theology for 11th and 12th graders: http://www.amazon.com/Vocations-student-book-Answering-Gods/dp/1599821508/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8 It might be of interest to you if you're interested in the theology of marriage, consecrated life, or Holy Orders!

5 minutes ago, Era Might said:

Anything by Joseph Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI will be meaty, maybe Introduction to Christianity"

With all due respect to the OP, though, Introduction to Christianity might be more college-level reading. You don't want to start off by reading something over your head and then get frustrated with theology in general. 

But maybe his "Jesus of Nazareth" books by Benedict XVI would be a good place to start. The third book in that series (The Infancy Narratives) is the shortest and the most simple, and is especially appropriate Advent reading.

[MarysLittleFlower]

Hi fellow littleflower you might like reading about the Saints. What kinds of Saints are you usually drawn to? There are a lot of books by them and about them from TAN publishers.

The one thing I would advise if I could is not to go for very intellectual books for the sake of feeling or appearing knowledgeable. Our main task is to love God just read what helps you!

In Imitation of Christ it says what good would it do us to know much about the Holy Trinity but not love the Holy Trinity - as much as we could? Spiritual reading is very very important to ones relationship with God and I totally agree with reading more Catholic books and less fiction. But I'm just responding to how you said you'd like to be knowledgeable around your friends. Just as we pray in secret, it is good to protect our virtues as well as knowledge we have gained in our hearts, so that the Father sees it and is glad, and we can share it if for charity but if we try to impress others pride can ruin it all. One thing that is good is to spend the time of spiritual reading as a time with God where you meditate and seek Him. anyways sorry about this totally unsolicited advice!

To answer your question there are many great books out there ...some others I like are books on prayer by Fr Thomas Dubay. I think he writes in a clear way and his books can help to grow in prayer. If you share what Saints you might like I'm sure someone can suggest books  I also like Bishop Sheen.

For theology I like Fr Garrigou Lagrange the most. Could be a bit heavy though - I just like his orthodoxy / clarity.  

Since your confirmation wasn't too long ago I'm guessing, this book can be really helpful, I learned a lot from it http://www.amazon.com/The-Sanctifier-Classic-Work-Spirit/dp/0819874124

The good old Baltimore catechism is also something I'd recommend! 

 If like me you might find help in  Jesus' words to the Saints, these books are great 

https://www.tanbooks.com/index.php/blessed-virgin/life-of-mary-as-seen-by-the-mystics.html

https://www.tanbooks.com/index.php/words-of-love-revelations-of-our-lord-to-three-victim-souls-in-the-20th-century.html

http://store.pauline.org/english/books/categoryid/636/level/a/productid/3959

https://www.tanbooks.com/index.php/blessed-virgin/way-of-divine-love.html

For the Saints I love Story of a Soul also, and St Gemma Galgani 

https://www.tanbooks.com/index.php/life-of-st-gemma-galgani.html

for general Catholic classics these are great 

https://www.tanbooks.com/index.php/tan-classics/introduction-to-the-devout-life.html

http://www.amazon.com/Practice-Jesus-Christ-Liguori-Classic/dp/0764800310

https://www.tanbooks.com/index.php/tan-classics/true-devotion-to-mary-with-preparation-for-total-consecration.html

Edited December 2, 2015 by MarysLittleFlower

[veritasluxmea]

I'd start with Mere Christianity by CS Lewis

[MarysLittleFlower]

I gave a whole list but I'd definitely start with something not too overwhelming.  Some of the things I included are better after having read more Catholic books.  just see what appeals to you. If you want to learn about doctrine Baltimore Catechism is probably the best. The three 'classics' I linked to at the bottom are also good to start with, as is Bishop Sheen.

33 Days to Morning Glory is something I forgot but I'd really recommend it too, as well as Consoling the Heart of Jesus, by the same author. I wouldn't start with the advanced mystical stuff like St John of the Cross or heavy theology like Fr Garrigou Lagrange. 

Edited December 2, 2015 by MarysLittleFlower

[chrysostom]

I also would heartily second the recommendation for Bishop Fulton Sheen's books.  He really has a way with words when he teaches about the Catholic faith.  You also might enjoy his TV show lectures archived on Youtube.

Some of his books:

The Seven Last Words

Three to Get Married (mawwiage.... mawwiage is what bwings us togethahhhh today....)

The World's First Love  (this one's about Mary  )

Calvary and the Mass

Life of Christ

and several others.  

Edited December 2, 2015 by chrysostom

[NadaTeTurbe]

Began with the Cathechism of the Catholic Church. 

Then, it's not really theology, but if you want to learn a catholic life, "Introduction to the Devout Life" by St François de Sales is perfect. 

[HopefulHeart]

Others have pointed out some great theology books. I recommend that, in addition to exploring the Church's theological tradition, you also spend time with the Word of God in Sacred Scripture.  

[Basilisa Marie]

15 hours ago, littleflower99 said:

I know this is kind of a broad (and badly worded) question, but I am a Junior in highschool & I think it'd be neat to go more in depth on theology. I've read At The Heart of The Gospel by Christopher West, and A Story of A Soul (which is my fav) but that's it!! I got confirmed this spring & I am a noob. I usually read fictional literature in my free time, but I just reread the part of A Story of A Soul when St. Therese (excuse the absence of the accent marks) said that she's GLAD she didn't read books b/c it would have cut time for her and God. So naturally I want to keep reading, but just the good stuff. Any suggestions would be appreciated :))

That's a dangerous question. 

Start with some systematics. Systematic Theology gives you a reasoned, ordered account of the whole faith. It's nice and broad and can introduce you to lots of topics so you can figure out what really interests you and go deeper. 

I really like Frank Sheed's Theology for Beginners. I read it in high school as part of a Catholic book group. It was the first book our youth minister had us read, because even though it was a little dry it gave us all a really good foundation to get started. 

For spiritual reading (since you liked Story of a Soul) I'd recommend the first 9 books ("chapters") of Augustine's Confessions. The last four books go into deep theological reflections that can be super dense and boring if you're not into it, but the first nine are his spiritual autobiography he wrote after becoming a bishop. It's also a GREAT source for self-reflection. 

Also: Francis de Sales' Introduction to the Devout Life. He wrote it specifically for women ("Philothea" means female lover of God) and it was one of the first books that actually took the idea of the universal call to holiness (everyone can be a saint no matter their station in life, not just priests and nuns!) seriously, before it was even a popular idea in the Church. 

"A Man of the Beatitudes" is the biography of Pier Giorgio Frassatti, a young man who is a relatively modern saint. He's fantastic because he was so normal. He had friends, he liked to have fun, but he was also an incredible saint. 

For something more entertaining, try "The Screwtape Letters" by C.S. Lewis. Lewis imagines himself into the mind of a demon giving "tempting" advice to his nephew, who is in charge of leading a man to Hell. Lewis said he could never write a sequel because getting himself into that mindset was too taxing on his spiritual life, and the book is incredibly fascinating and highly entertaining. Great for self-reflection, too. Basically anything by Lewis is great. He was an Anglican who was BFFs with Tolkein and most of his theology is almost Catholic. 

If you like Therese, try "I Believe in Love." 

If you ever need to kickstart your prayer life, try "Blessed are the Bored in Spirit" by Hart or "Prayer for Beginners" by Kreeft. 

And now I'm noticing that I've basically just given you the book list we did in that Catholic book club I mentioned.

 

Speaking as someone who studied theology in college, be careful about diving into Church history until you're more comfortable and solid in your background. It's harder to know what's good and a lot of the stuff can be really challenging, not in a academic or difficulty sense but in a "might shake your faith" kind of way. A lot of us had a few growing pains in my college theology classes when we hit Church history, because it can challenge a lot of assumptions you've probably grown up with in the faith. We all came out just fine on the other side, but it was hard. If you want to get into Church history now, start with the Early Fathers, Patristics, etc. The first few centuries of the Church are fascinating and totally incredible, by far my favorite. Stuff gets weird when you hit the Reformation, onward. Don't avoid it completely, just save it for later. 

 

If you really want to get into some deep stuff try divining into the Dogmatic Constitutions from Vatican II. They'll probably make your head spin (they did mine!) at first, but they're hugely important documents shaping the way the Church does theology today. "Dei Verbum" is about Scripture. "Sacrosanctum Concilium" is about the liturgy. "Gaudium et Spes" and "Lumen Gentium" are about the Church. "Dignitatis Humanae" and "Nostra Aetate" are on religious freedom and ecumenical stuff. There's a whole host on social issues, start with Rerum Novarum and Quadragesimo anno. Humanae Vitae is the big one on sexuality. 

[PhuturePriest]

11 hours ago, Basilisa Marie said:

We all came out just fine on the other side, but it was hard. If you want to get into Church history now, start with the Early Fathers, Patristics, etc. The first few centuries of the Church are fascinating and totally incredible, by far my favorite.

On that note, I highly recommend The Fathers Know Best by Jimmy Akin. Super fantastic read. My sister has a degree in theology and she flipped out when she saw how detailed it was. It's super readable and everything is cut up into categories like the Eucharist, Mary, abortion, etc. It's all quotes from early Church fathers, including short biographies of them in one section, and even a list of all the early councils with short synopses of what they were about. To this day it's still my favorite theology book.

I'll even add a link, just to be extra pushy.

http://shop.catholic.com/the-fathers-know-best-your-essential-guide-to-the-teachings-of-the-early-church-set.html

[PartesVulpiumErunt]

Soul of the Apostolate by Dom Chautard.