John Betz

Called to Attraction

Theology

“Brendan Sammon's Called to Attraction is a concise and stimulating intellectual journey through the history of a single idea—the idea of beauty. Examining various conceptions of beauty from antiquity to the present, from Plato and Aristotle to Hans Urs von Balthasar, Sammon summons us to a deeper appreciation of what this word means, and how it might apply ultimately to God himself. At the heart of the book is an attempt to fathom beauty, wherever it appears, as a divine call and, as such, as an anagogical invitation to ever greater union with the one who is beauty itself—indeed, beauty incarnate. As one might hope from a book on this topic, Called to Attraction is written in an attractive style that calls for a wide readership.”

Human, All Too Human

Theology

“An impressive work of philosophical acumen and profound theological insight . . .”

On Classical Trinitarianism

Theology

“Like a meteor on the scene of contemporary theology, Matthew Barrett's edited volume, On Classical Trinitarianism, makes a big impression. Physically, it is a massive book, full of hefty articles by many of the world's leading theologians. Intellectually, it is an equally massive response to recent innovations in the doctrine of God—from social trinitarianism to eternal functional subordinationism—in favor of orthodox trinitarian theology and its attendant doctrine of divine simplicity. It is also a reminder of the importance of thinking with ecclesial tradition and of the corresponding dangers, when talking about the profoundest of mysteries, of trying to think about God apart from it—lest even Christians forget that they are trinitarian monotheists and that God is simply Father, Son, and Spirit.”

Reimagining the Analogia Entis

Theology

“I could give no better endorsement of Philip Gonzales’s excellent study of Erich Przywara than to quote from it. For anyone ‘seeking an antifoundationalist postmodern understanding of Christian philosophy,’ or how to strike an analogical balance between the discourses of philosophy and theology, ‘Przywara surely takes us forward.’ In this book Gonzales tells us with gusto why and how this is so.”

Sanctum Sanctorum

Theology

“In Sanctum Sanctorum, Justin Roberts asks a question that lies at the heart of the relation between philosophy and theology—a question that, curiously enough, few have explored or even asked, but which any theologian must ask, namely: What is the relation between the traditional transcendentals—ens, unum, verum, bonum, pulchrum—and the sacred?”

Silent Rosary

Prayer & Spiritual Formation

“One could not ask for a better guide to the mysteries of the Rosary, or what it means to behold an icon, than what is provided here by way of Hart’s lapidary commentary and Nes’s splendid iconography. Moreover, this little book accomplishes something beautiful in its own right: bringing together in mutually illuminating fashion the icon of the Christian East and the Rosary of the Christian West. One can only hope—for the sake of the one church for which Christ prayed—that it will help each tradition to appreciate more profoundly the glorious spiritual inheritance of the other.”

The Impossible Possibility

Theology

“In an engaging style at once philosophical, prophetic, and literary—peppered with priceless quotes from Scripture, Teresa of Avila, Shakespeare, Dostoevsky, Ionesco, Camus, and more—Caitlin Smith Gilson here offers a profound meditation on forgiveness as, paradoxically, an impossible necessity. In so doing, by taking tensions seriously—and not collapsing mercy into justice or justice into mercy, as more facile solutions tend to do—she leads us further into the depths of the mystery of salvation in Christ.”

Why I Am Roman Catholic

Theology

“Like Augustine's Confessions, Matthew Levering's Why I Am Roman Catholic is not just another testament to how someone with a great heart and a great mind found his way to the Catholic Church. It is a treasury of saintly wisdom, theological insight, and personal testimony, and as such, an invitation to consider anew the tradition Levering loves and from which he has learned so much.”