David W. Fagerberg

Chesterton and the Philosophers

Philosophy

“Any fan of Chesterton owes a debt to Loftin for reopening the question whether the profound thinker of Fleet Street qualifies to be called a philosopher—and for making a collection of essays that answer in the affirmative. The professional philosophers had excluded him from their club because he did not talk about them. But this was because Chesterton trained his powers of observation on what philosophy actually investigates: reality itself.”

Eucharistic Church, Eucharistic Formation

Discipleship & Christian Education

“This fine book was thirty years in the making. It is the result of a persistent effort by a theology faculty to identify the root and center of their curriculum. Put the assignment to yourself: if you had four years to explain theology to a group of willing learners, how would you apportion yet unify their study? The faculty of Mount Angel Seminary found the best blueprint for integration to be ‘communion ecclesiology.’ Not for seminaries alone, this insight is relevant to any review of a theology curriculum.”

I Also Had My Hour

History & Biography

“Ahlquist presents us with an overlooked gold mine. He has spent more than three decades quarrying Chesterton’s thousands of speeches and journal essays to discover nuggets where Chesterton gives incidental (maybe accidental) insight into himself, and thus serves up a sampler platter of unnoticed, forgotten, or ignored passages by Chesterton about Chesterton. If you saw an old friend, whom you hadn’t seen for a long time, you might say to yourself, with a start: ‘I know that man! I’ve always liked him.’ So it feels while staring at glimpses of the master collected by his preeminent pupil.”

In Sinu Jesu

Prayer & Spiritual Formation

“We sometimes dismiss the interior voice, thinking that because it is within, it must be our own. But does God not dwell deep within us? Can he not speak, then, to the heart? This listener has heard Christ invite priests and all the faithful back to the Sacrament of Love.”

In Sinu Jesu (Spanish)

Prayer & Spiritual Formation

“A veces descartamos la voz interior, pensando que porque está dentro, debe ser la nuestra. Pero ¿Acaso Dios no mora en lo profundo de nosotros? ¿No puede Él hablarnos, entonces, al corazón? Este oyente ha escuchado a Cristo invitar a los sacerdotes y a todos los fieles a volver al Sacramento del Amor.”

Introduction to the Spiritual Life

Prayer & Spiritual Formation

“What happens when a biblical theologian explores classic spirituality? This book. Pitre's students have asked, Why have we never heard this before? The reader wonders the same.”

John Henry Newman and His Age

History & Biography

“There are certain men whose life and thought reward our revisiting, but first familiarity can dull the senses. This masterful study by Owen Cummings refreshes our appreciation of Newman through commanding control of hundreds of bibliographies and historical studies. It describes the thicket in which to find the rabbit now camouflaged by hasty expectations. Cummings introduces the novice to Newman, and those already acquainted with Newman to the context of his remarkable life.”

Models of Heaven

Theology

“This book serves up an appreciation of the doctrine of heaven that is engaging to read, theologically rich, and imaginatively traditional. Mannion proves that doctrines are not only to be believed and obeyed; doctrines are also to be enjoyed. We have lost our joy in heaven! This illuminating study refreshes it by moving through eight models, each steeped in Scripture, tradition, art, and prophecy. Most pictures of heaven do not move us; these will.”

Seeing Things as They Are

Philosophy

“What trait do we most admire in Chesterton? I submit it is his vision, his ability to see things as they are. In this remarkably thorough and well-documented book, Reyburn transfers Chesterton's pince-nez to our own noses. He conveys not just a description of Chesterton's hermeneutic, but gives us a rewarding experience of it. A welcome romp with Chesterton, the ocular athlete.”

The Story of the Family

Marriage, Family & Relationships

“Brilliance is made the way a spark is made, when steel is struck by something harder than it is. Chesterton's brain is the flint that strikes subjects we find hard, like marriage, divorce, oaths, promises, love, and sex.”