Spring 2009 books from Ignatius Press

Here is a sneak peek at some of the new books being published this spring by Ignatius Press:

Credo For Today: What Christians Believe

by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger

What do Christians believe? What gives meaning to our life? What is the purpose of life? The Christian answer to these questions is found in the Creed, in the profession of faith. But what do the articles of this confession actually mean? And how to they affect our lives?

Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, takes a fresh look at these timeless questions. This work is a reflection of the profound, personal insights of Benedict XVI, but also of the great foundations of Christianity: faith, hope, and charity. Read more...

Faith And The Future

by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger

Foreword by James Schall, S.J.

Increasingly, the future is becoming a theme for theological reflection. In the background we can detect a growing concern among many people for the future of faith. Does faith have any future at all, and, if so, where in all the confusion of today's trends will we discover its embryo?

But the problem of the future assails not only the believer. In the ever more rapidly advancing process of historical evolution, man is confronted with enormous opportunities, but also with colossal perils. For him, the future is not only hope, but sorrow—a nightmare, indeed. He cannot avoid asking what part faith can play in building tomorrow's world.

Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, approaches this problem of universal concern from a variety of angles, bringing his deep personal faith and theological brilliance to bear on these serious questions. Read more...

Handbook Of Catholic Apologetics: Reasoned Answers to Questions of Faith

by Peter Kreeft and Ronald K. Tacelli

Unbelievers, doubters and skeptics continue to attack the truths of Christianity. Handbook of Catholic Apologetics is the only book that categorizes and summarizes all the major arguments in support of the main Christian beliefs. Also included is a Protestant-friendly treatment of Catholic-Protestant issues. The Catholic answers to Protestant questions show how Catholicism is the fullness of the Christian faith.

Handbook of Catholic Apologetics is full of the wisdom and wit, clarity and insight of philosophers Peter Kreeft and Ronald Tacelli. This is an informative and valuable guidebook for anyone looking for answers to questions of faith and reason. Whether you are asking the questions yourself or want to respond to others who are, here is the resource you have been waiting for. Read more...

Light And Shadows: Defending Church History Amid Faith, Facts and Legends

by Walter Brandmueller

The Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, the Reformation, and the Renaissance popes conjure in the imagination a corrupt Roman Catholic clergy hungry for wealth and power. In this insightful, well researched work, the Vatican’s chief historian, Fr. Walter Brandmuller, takes a thoughtful and understanding look at these and other important chapters in Church history.

Without denying, or flinching at, the human capacity for folly, failure, and evil, Brandmuller moves beyond the caricatures and legends that often substitute for real history to reveal a Church, both human and divine, fulfilling its mission in every time and place. His goal is not to whitewash any of these past events or issues, but rather to illuminate them, and bring to them a more in-depth, comprehensive historical understanding on the basis of their causes, circumstances and effects. Read more...

The Mass And The Saints

by Thomas Crean, O.P.

The Mass and the Saints is a work both of deep spirituality and profound insight into the glories of the Church's liturgy. It brings together passages from great spiritual writers throughout the ages, from all centuries in which the Mass has been offered. Every aspect and part of the Mass is covered, the quotations forming a continuous commentary on the central action of the Church's worship.

Most of the authors are canonized saints of the Church, and many are doctors of the Church. Included are Church Fathers such as St. Augustine, St. Jerome, and St. Gregory the Great; great scholars of the Middle Ages such as St. Anselm, St. Albert the Great and St. Thomas Aquinas; and more modern figures such as Prosper Gueranger and Pope John XXIII.

The quotations have been selected and freshly translated by Fr. Thomas Crean. These writings will nourish understanding and appreciation of the Mass, and also aid prayer and contemplation. Read more...

A Postcard From The Volcano: A Novel of Pre-War Germany

by Lucy Beckett

Beginning in 1914 and ending on the eve of World War II, this epic story follows the coming of age and early manhood of the Prussian aristocrat, Max von Hofmannswaldau. From the idyllic surroundings of his ancestral home to the streets of cosmopolitan Breslau menaced by the Nazi SS, Hofmannswaldau uncovers the truth about his own identity and confronts the modern ideologies that threaten the annihilation of millions of people.

A Postcard from the Volcano opens with the outbreak of World War I and the Prussian pride and patriotism that blind the noble von Hofmannswaldau family to the destruction that lies ahead for their country. The well-researched narrative follows the young count as he leaves home to finish his education and ends up a stranger in the land of his birth.

Both intelligent and sensitive, Beckett’s prose explores the complex philosophical and political questions that led Europe into a second world war, while never losing sight of a man whose life is shaped by his times. A deeply moving historical novel that shows the horrific impact that two world wars had on whole countries, and how individuals struggled to deal with the incredible challenges presented by such devastation. Read more...

The Red Book Of Chinese Martyrs

by Gerolamo Fazzini

This powerful book presents documents on a span of time that begins with the war between the Communists and Chinese Nationalists in the mid 1940's and continues until 1983, shortly before the phrase of "modernization" promoted by Deng Xiaoping after the death of Mao. They cover four crucial decades in contemporary Chinese history. These documents are the memoirs of persons who have experienced in their own flesh how far the violence of a power blinded by ideology can go, a power which, after winning its battle against an armed enemy, had decided to exterminate its "enemies without gun", as Mao in a famous speech described intellectuals, believers and opponents.

From the historical perspective these are contributors of great value, especially for anyone who wants to learn about the injustices and brutality of Maoism. Only in recent years have non-specialists had access to autobiographical testimonies concerning the laogi, the Chinese forced labor camps. But we have a long way to go before we know about that life in as much detail as is available concering the Soviet gulags thanks to Solzhenitsyn. The Red Book of Chinese Martyrs partially fills this gap. It is a gap that originated in precise politico-cultural circumstances which explain why a book of this sort has never until now seen the light of day. Read more...

The Death Of A Pope: A Novel

by Piers Paul Read

The Death of a Pope by the highly acclaimed British writer Read is a novel of intrigue, church espionage, and an attempt to destroy the longest continuous government in the world—the Papacy.

A priest who seems to be the model of compassion for the poor is accused of terrorist activities. His worldwide charitable outreach is suspected of being a front for radicals. 

A young woman, a reporter and a lapsed Catholic, tries to undercover the truth but in the process she finds herself attracted to the priest and falls in love with him. Read more...

Socrates Meets Hume: The Father of Philosophy Meets the Father of Modern Skepticism

by Peter Kreeft

This book is the 6th book in a series of Socratic explorations of some of the Great Books. The books in this series are intended to be short, clear, and non-technical, thus fully understandable by beginners. Through such Socratic dialogues, Peter Kreeft introduces (or reviews) the basic questions in the fundamental divisions of philosophy: metaphysics, epistemology, anthropology, ethics, logic, and method.

In Socrates Meets Hume, Kreeft presents a Socratic examination of enquiry concerning human understanding in relation to the skepticism of Hume, posing questions that challenge the concepts that Hume proposed. Kreeft states that Hume is the “most formidable, serious, difficult-to-refute skeptic in the history of human thought.”

Kreeft invites you to take part in the process of refuting Hume’s skeptical arguments, with the aid of Socrates. Based on an imaginary dialogue between Socrates and Hume that takes place in the afterlife, this profound and witty book makes an entertaining and informative exploration of modern philosophy. Read more...

A Turning Point For Europe (2nd Edition)

by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger

Foreword by James Schall, S.J.

In this special 15th anniversary edition, Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, addresses the challenges and responsibilities that both the Church and society in Europe face after the collapse of Marxism. Both liberalism and Marxism have denied religion the right to have any influence on public affairs and the common future of humanity. Since there is also a great spiritual emptiness growing in the West with the increased secularization, consumerism and hedonism, Ratzinger's comments apply as much, if not more, to the United States as well.

With the downfall of Marxism, religion has been discovered anew as an ineradicable force for both the individual and society. While there is renewed interest in religion, the dangers also exist to lay hold of religion as an instrument to serve various political ideas.

Ratzinger, whose theological work has often dealt with the "reasons for our faith", reflects upon the various problems facing humanity at this turning point of our history and offers genuine hope based upon a deep Christian faith. He also addresses the critical role that the Church has in relationship to the world and the essential task of bringing Christ back into our culture. Read more...

Why Preach: Encountering Christ in God’s Word

by Peter John Cameron, O.P

Well known for his teaching, writing, and editing of Magnificat, the widely popular monthly publication containing the Scripture readings and prayers for the Mass used weekly by several hundred thousand Catholics, Fr. Peter John Cameron, O.P., offers here expert spiritual and practical help for priests, pastors and seminarians desiring to preach effectively.

Why Preach draws from the author’s rich understanding of the Word of God as the challenging, encouraging, and healing presence of Christ, as well as from his own experience as both a preacher and a teacher of homiletics. With an eye focused on the works and examples of Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI, Father Cameron illustrates that good preaching derives from and leads to an encounter with Christ, the Word of God made Flesh, who comes to us through the Scriptures.

The objective of the book is to help preachers to think about preaching in a new, dynamic way. Its aim is to provide a fresh and helpful vision of preaching geared to deepening a preacher's appreciation of what preaching is, and the great spiritual impact that good preaching can have on its audience, so as to increase his desire and ability to preach well. Read more...

The Tears Of God

Fr. Benedict Groeschel

Fr. Benedict Groeschel, best-selling author and beloved spiritual teacher, writer, and psychologist, wrote this latest book for all those who have suffered great sorrow or catastrophe in their lives and for those close to such persons, who share their deep suffering. Sorrow comes into the life of every person, but only into the lives of some people comes catastrophe. These are disasters that occur either suddenly or with terrible effects, like the death of a child. They can be natural disasters like hurricanes, or they can be horrific accidents or tragedies caused by people's evil acts. They can also arise from wars and situations of great tension.

Fr. Benedict has written previously about faith and sorrow (Arise from Darkness) and seeks in this book to study catastrophes of all different kinds in relationship to our faith in divine providence, in God’s goodness and mercy, and finally in the light of Christ’s suffering and death. Christianity is the only religion which speaks of a God who suffered a terrible catastrophe—crucifixion and death. Therefore, the Christian must, in the midst of catastrophe, find his way to the foot of the cross, and there he will find answers which cannot be given by any other religious faith. Read more...

Comments

[Rick]

Bless you for reprinting the Gilson book!

[Jackson]

On a related note, yesterday I watched an excellent movie recently released by IP: Clare and Francis. Do watch it!

[Sheryl D]

Yea! This week's new Peter Kreeft book!

[Jackson]

Is Ignatius Press adding something that wasn't included in the InterVarsity Press edition of Kreeft's and Tacelli's Handbook?

[Dan]

An impressive selection of new books.

I'm pleased to see that the study Bible for the Book of Revelation is coming out. Is there now an Ignatius Press study Bible volume for each book and epistle in the NT? Are volumes for OT books in preparation? I would love to see Ignatius Press study Bible volumes for the OT, and particularly Genesis, Isaiah, Daniel, and the Psalms.

I very much appreciate having available Catholic-oriented separately bound books of the Bible. For me anyway having the books separately bound makes reading the Bible much less daunting.

[Mark Brumley]

Regarding how the IP version of Kreeft and Tacelli's Handbook differs from the IVOP version, the IP version includes a lengthy section on how Catholicism "fulfills" or "completes" the main doctrines Catholics, Protestants and Orthodox hold in common.

[Marianne]

I know someone else asked this on a previous blog entry months ago, but another list of great new books raises the question again - is Ignatius Press going to publish its books in Amazon's Kindle format? There are many Ignatius Press books I'd buy today if they were available in that format, but I don't have any more room for the physical books so have mostly stopped buying. I'd even get Kindle editions of some of the nearly 100 IP titles I now have in paper just to have them accessible when I'm traveling. It is so much easier to travel with ONE lightweight Kindle containing lots of books...

[Mark Brumley]

With the volume on the Johannine epistles and Revelation, the collection of NT booklets of the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible is complete. The OT books are in preparation and we're in the process right now of working out the details of publication.

The ICSB books are complicated works to publish because they need the usual editing, plus a complicated layout, but also substantive review to make sure the annotations are appropriate for a study Bible. That means that the personal interpretative choices of the commentators are kept, to some degree, in check by the genre in which they do their commentary--a study Bible rather than a Bible commentary. People read the notes of a study Bible a bit differently from how they read the notes of a Bible commentary. It is very easy for inexperienced Bible readers to confuse what the Bible says with what the notes in the study Bible they use claim it says, e.g., many readers of the Scofield Reference Bible.

So on the one hand we want the insights of our commentators to come through but on the other we want to avoid leaving the unsuspecting reader with the impression that a commentator's insights are on the level of the Bible itself or even an authoritative interpretation of the Bible by the Magisterium. Which means we have to review the annotations carefully and discuss them with the author.

[Mark Brumley]

Re: Kindle books, we're working on it.

[Dr John James]

Is Scott Hahn and Jeff Cavin's series 'Our Father's plan' still available, on ?DVD, through Ignatius press?
I know the original series is several years old, but I caught up with some of the programmes for the first time over the past 12-18 months and thought it just superb.
I happened to hear the Anglican Archbishop of Sydney, Peter Jensen, talking on radio about "bible-based churches" to-day ( his brother, Phillip, publishes tracts regularly attacking the Catholic Church here ) and thought that I must try to obtain this excellent series and use it as a tool in improving my own scriptural study.
In fairness to the Jensens, I should add that on some of the important public-policy debates here in Australia they have been prepared to stand with Cardinal Pell and that has been much appreciated.

[Kelly]

Mark: Are you planning to release a one book, collected edition (i.e., all the NT ICSB booklets into a single bound volume) soon?

[Father Thomas]

I am thrilled that Ignatius is republishing Dawson's Dividing of Christendom. Now, you need to get someone to dig through the files at Harvard, find his notes for the proposed third volume of the series (I believe Dawson wanted to call it The Return of Unity), collect and edit them, and publish that.

[John Lamont]

A good selection - but how about reprinting Bishop Challoner's excellent 'Memoirs of Missionary Priests'?

[Robert]

Mark Brumley: I bought the first Ignatius Press title that's appeared for the Amazon Kindle just last night! Many thanks for Joseph Pearce's book on Shakespeare. Am looking forward to buying more!