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The following works by modern theologians offer essential readings on a Catholic understanding of Christology and soteriology. These books appear in recent Kenrick syllabi.
Karl Adam
Catholic dogma is centered on this simple faith: a belief in the historical reality of the Son of God and the revelation of his Spirit through his living Church. The author defines the doctrine of the Church as it is revealed in the life, the works, the personality and the message of Jesus Christ.
Pope Benedict XVI (Joseph Ratzinger)
In this profound and illuminating work, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger turns the gaze of an accomplished theologian upon the crucified Savior. This synthetic and meditative work is theological without being abstract or dry, and spiritual without being sentimental. The pierced heart of Christ must be the heart of theology and Christian life as well.
This remarkable elucidation of the Apostle's Creed gives an excellent, modern interpretation of the foundations of Christianity. Ratzinger's profound treatment of Christianity's basic truths combines a spiritual outlook with a deep knowledge of Scripture and the history of theology.
Raniero Cantalamessa
This work consists of a series of meditations on Christ. Father Cantalamessa has approached the person of Christ by following this classic way of the Church. The meditations consist of six reflections: two are devoted to the humanity of Christ, two to his divinity, and two to his unity of person. The concluding chapter is a kind of excursus, which amounts to a critical evaluation of the theses recently advanced in certain so called "new Christologies," more particularly on the problem of the divinity of Christ.
Brian Daley, S.J.
This work considers the early development and reception of what is today the most widely professed Christian conception of Christ. The development of this doctrine admits of wide variations in expression and understanding, varying emphases in interpretation that are as striking in authors of the first millennium as they are among modern writers. The seven early ecumenical councils and their dogmatic formulations are crucial way-stations in defining the shape of this study.
Simon Francis Gaine
Did Jesus enjoy the beatific vision of God on earth that Christians hope to enjoy only in heaven? This important question is related to a whole series of questions about Jesus, his knowledge and self-consciousness. Did he know he was God's Son? What did he know of his saving mission? These issues are linked to a fundamental question: Is the Saviour we need one who is altogether like us or one who is in some ways unlike us? This book argues that God gave us a Saviour with beatific knowledge, and who in this respect is very unlike us indeed.
Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange
Here, this great 20th-century theologian probes the meaning of 32 different topics relating to Our Lord and how they show His love for us. Each chapter is a marvelous self-contained essay that can stand alone and that could easily be a beautiful little booklet by itself.
Roch A. Kereszty
While written as a theology textbook the author writes in plain language and gives a thorough overview of how orthodox Christianity views Jesus Christ the Lord.
Dominic Legge, O.P.
Legge highlights that, for Aquinas, Christology is intrinsically Trinitarian, in its origin and its principles, its structure, and its role in the dispensation of salvation. He investigates the Trinitarian shape of the incarnation itself: the visible mission of the Son, sent by the Father, implicating the invisible mission of the Holy Spirit to his assumed human nature. For Aquinas, Christ's humanity, at its deepest foundations, incarnates the very personal being of the divine Son and Word of the Father, and hence every action of Christ reveals the Father, is from the Father, and leads back to the Father. This study also uncovers a remarkable Spirit Christology in Aquinas: Christ as man stands in need of the Spirit's anointing to carry out his saving work; his supernatural human knowledge is dependent on the Spirit's gift; and it is the Spirit who moves and guides him in every action, from Nazareth to Golgotha.
Bernard Lonergan, S.J.
Lonergan's major contribution to Christology. In this work, Lonergan applies his unique theory of consciousness to the question of the nature of Christ, the book offers a rich and provocative treatment of Christ's consciousness and his human knowledge.
Here, Lonergan tackles the metaphysical and psychological questions raised by the unique makeup of Christ, who is both fully human and fully divine, according to traditional Christian theology. His analysis falls into two parts: ontological and psychological.
Bernard de Margerie, S.J.
The internationally known author and professor wrote this book as the fruit of two lecture courses on Christology and the doctrine of the Trinity. Three themes are treated in as many sections: Jesus, why? Jesus, how?, and the universal mission of the Lamb of God. The book is authentically postconciliar and centered on the paschal mystery.
In this book a noted theologian takes up the principal objections to the traditional teaching of the Church concerning the human knowledge of Christ and shows how these present accusations lack consistency. The author sees to show each reader that "for all time Christ is Truth, he is the same yesterday and today, he will be so eternally.
Jacques Maritain
Written by Jacques Maritain, a prominent 20th-century philosopher and Catholic thinker, and first published in 1969, this book explores the central Christian doctrine of the Incarnation, which holds that Jesus Christ is both fully divine and fully human. Maritain examines the profound implications of this doctrine for human understanding of God, salvation, and human dignity. He argues that the Incarnation reveals God's loving and merciful nature, and that it elevates human beings to a new level of dignity and value.
William G. Most
Fr. Most addresses the question of Christ's consciousness and knowledge from the Scriptures, the Fathers of the Church and common sense. He writes clearly and compellingly, taking the reader into the mind of the Church from the beginning.
Fernando Ocariz, L.F. Mateo Seco and J.A. Riestra
Written chiefly for theology students the book presents the authentic teachings of Catholic faith, to be found not only in the ancient conciliar sources, but also in important recent documents dealing with disputed issues of our times. Chapters deal with: The hoped-for Saviour; The Coming of Jesus Christ in the fullness of time; The Person of Christ; Christ, the Way, the Truth and the Life; Redemption.
James T. O'Connor
Drawing from the living font of divine Revelation, the author of The Father's Son intends to clearly present the timeless truths about the God-Man, Jesus of Nazareth - truths as they are given to us in scripture and tradition and interpreted by the Church. The Father's Son will be of value not only to seminarians and college students, but to anyone else interested in learning more about Jesus Christ, the Son of God - true God and true man.
James T. Papandrea
In this clear and concise introduction, James Papandrea sets out five of the principal images of Christ that dominated belief and debate in the postapostolic age. While beliefs on the ground were likely more tangled and less defined than we can know, Papandrea helps us see how Logos Christology was forged as the beginning of the church's orthodox confession. This informative and clarifying study of early Christology provides a solid ground for students to begin to explore the early church and its Christologies.
Brant Pitre
The author taps into the wells of Christian scripture, history, and tradition to ask and answer a number of different questions, including: If we don't know who wrote the Gospels, how can we trust them? How are the four Gospels different from other gospels, such as the lost gospel of "Q" and the Gospel of Thomas? How can the four Gospels be historically true when there are differences between them? How much faith should be put into these writings? ... recent discoveries in New Testament scholarship, as well as neglected evidence from ancient manuscripts and the early church fathers, together have the potential to pull the rug out from under a century of skepticism toward the apostolic authorship and historical truth of the traditional Gospels.
Brant Pitre helps us to know Jesus not just as a Savior and lord, but as our divine bridegroom. This excellent book show how the theme of Christ the bridegroom is at the very heart of salvation history and how it can transform the way we view baptism, the Eucharist, marriage, and our own relationship with Christ.
What did Jesus teach regarding the eschatological tribulation? Brant Pitre's answer to this basic question has ramifications for Jesus' understanding of his own identity and mission. Pitre examines key texts pertaining to Jesus' perception of his own death. In line with Jewish eschatological teachings of his day, Jesus taught that an eschatological tribulation would precede the final ingathering of God's exiled people and interpreted his own death as a key triggering event in that sequence. This comprehensive treatment of the Great Tribulation includes a provocative critique of N. T. Wright's understanding of exile and has important consequences for Jesus' messianic self-understanding. This fresh contribution to the question of Jesus and the atonement will be valued by New Testament scholars and biblical theology students alike.
Karl Rahner
In 1976, Catholic theologian Karl Rahner published Foundations of Christian Faith as an introductory course for seminary and theology students. The content, however, is far from introductory. Karl Rahner begins his theology with the human experience. That is, we are persons who experience ourselves and our world subjectively. We are also capable of reaching out beyond ourselves and becoming more. We are, in essence, transcendental beings. Not only that, but in the everyday experience of our finite existence, we have a constant and all-pervasive transcendental experience of what Rahner calls the infinite horizon. This experience is the basis of Rahner's theology, but there is much more that follows.
Christoph Schonborn
The principal editor of the Catechism of the Catholic Church presents the sources of meditation on the mystery of God's human face from the great Masters of early Christianity. In their meditation upon Christ, Cardinal Schonborn seeks the sources of the art on the Icon. The reader will find not only an engaging introduction to the meaning and beauty of Icons, but an invitation to draw closer to the One who inspired these Masters of theological expression and holy art.
Cardinal Schönborn’s work moves from the solid conviction of faith that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah of Israel, the Son of the Living God, through the development of the Church’s understanding of this truth, to the consideration of contemporary issues and the views of various modern theologians. God Sent His Son has the comprehensiveness and scholarly precision of a textbook but the insights and personal relevance of a work of spirituality.
Thomas Joseph White, O.P.
A masterful and coherent vindication of Aquinas's Christology in the context of the diverse claims of modern christologies The immense importance of this work lies principally in the fact that it can benefit not only Thomists, but anyone committed to serious theological reflection on the Scriptural witness to Jesus Christ.