Paradoxes of Faith by Henri de Lubac

In his Journals & Notebooks, Søren Kierkegaard made a bold claim: "Philosophy's idea is mediation — Christianity's is the paradox." To explore the paradoxical character of Christianity further, I am reading Paradoxes of Faith by Henri de Lubac (1896-1991), a title which combines Paradoxes (1948) and Further Paradoxes (1958). "Together with the works of other towering modern theologians (and friends) Joseph Ratzinger …

Anglican formularies place a fence around the yard of our theological wanderings

In an article for Covenant, "Anglicans and Confession," Fr. Jonathan Michican, the Chaplain and Theology Department Chair at St. John XXIII College Preparatory in Katy, Texas, writes succinctly and persuasively about the role of Anglican formularies in catechesis, which is a needful corrective to the "anything goes" mentality that characterizes some Anglicans who imagine there …

Timothy Keller on culture, Christ, and identity

In 2018, the British ministry Living Out hosted a conference in London featuring Tim and Kathy Keller from Redeemer Presbyterian Church (New York City) on "Identity in Christ." There is existential urgency and cultural emergency in the late modern question of "Who am I?" Catholic philosopher Charles Taylor wrote perspicaciously about identity in his landmark …

Our Identity: The Christian Alternative to Late Modernity’s Story

On November 11, 2015, scholar, pastor, and bestselling author, Dr. Timothy Keller, delivered a wise and winsome talk at Wheaton College, "Our Identity: The Christian Alternative to Late Modernity's Story," based on John 10:1-15. Keller draws out three ideas: (1) you need someone to name you; (2) only the Lord Jesus Christ should be the …

Bibliography on Monasticism

Louis Bouyer, The Meaning of the Monastic Life (Cluny Media) Peter Brown, The Body and Society: Men, Women, and Sexual Renunciation in Early Christianity (Columbia University Press) Sarah Coakley, The New Asceticism (Bloomsbury) Daniele Cybulskie, How to Live Like a Monk: Medieval Wisdom for Modern Life (Abbeville Press) Jamie Kreiner, The Wandering Mind: What Medieval Monks Tell Us About Distraction (Liveright) Jean Leclercq, The Love …

The Secret of Christian Action

You know you are in the presence of a good book when it raises a question that you have never considered before, or only superficially. In Saint Benedict's Wisdom: Monastic Spirituality and the Life of the Church, Luigi Gioia asks: What is the secret of Christian action? To answer this question, he gives serious attention to …

Lent 2024: Matthew Levering, ‘Jesus and the Demise of Death’

For Lent 2024, I am reading Jesus and the Demise of Death: Resurrection, Afterlife, and the Fate of the Christian by Matthew Levering, one of the most distinguished living Catholic theologians. This title seems apropos for Lent, which culminates in the summit of the liturgical year, known as the Paschal Triduum, from the evening of Maundy Thursday …

God’s patience

In my book club, we are currently reading Luigi Gioia's Saint Benedict's Wisdom: Monastic Spirituality and the Life of the Church. He was a Benedictine monk for 25 years and is now an Anglican priest, which permits him to bridge the apparent gulf between the cloister and the church. What is "the highest manifestation of Benedictine wisdom"? In a …

Abbot Thomas Frerking on a Benedictine education

Thomas Frerking, former abbot of St. Louis Abbey, wrote an interpretative essay on two essays by John Henry Newman, which are collected in a volume called A Benedictine Education (Cluny Media): "The Mission of Saint Benedict" and "The Benedictine Schools." I wish to record a few notes that pertain to my own vocation as an …

Bibliography on lectio divina

Below is a bibliography on lectio divina ("divine reading"), an ancient monastic practice of reading the Bible for spiritual transformation. Pope Francis described lectio divina in his 2013 apostolic exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium (Latin: "The Joy of the Gospel"): 152. There is one particular way of listening to what the Lord wishes to tell us in his word and …