Each resource listed in this guide will include one of the following icons:
Open Access: This is an online resource that is freely available and does not require an institutional login.
KGS Login: This is an online resource open only to affiliates of Kenrick-Glennon Seminary. Access from off-campus will require a login through OpenAthens.
KGS Print: This is a print resource available in the Souvay Memorial Library. Click on the link to see the item's current status, location, and call number. Most items listed under "Essential Readings" in the LibGuides will appear in current and recent Kenrick syllabi.
MOBIUS Print: This is a print resources that is not available at Kenrick but that can be requested through MOBIUS.
Internet Archive: This is a book that has been scanned by Internet Archive. Most of these books require you to set up a free, personal account in order to access them for a loanable period.
These texts treat Christology and soteriology through the lens of specific mysteries and events in the life of Christ. They appear in recent Kenrick syllabi.
Hilarion Alfeyev
This in-depth study on the realm of death presents a message of hope held by the first generation of Christians and the early church. Using Scripture, patristic tradition, early Christian poetry, and liturgical texts, Archbishop Hilarion explores the mysterious and enigmatic event of Christ's descent into Hades and its consequences for the human race. Insisting that Christ entered Sheol as Conqueror and not as victim, the author depicts the Lord's descent as an event of cosmic significance opening the path to universal salvation.
William Lane Craig
Is the Christian message of Jesus Christ and his resurrection true? Using ten lines of historical evidence, Dr. Craig defends the probability that Jesus was resurrected following his crucifixion. He examines the origin of the Christian movement, and more provocative subjects, such as the Shroud of Turin, parapsychological phenomena and hallucinations.
Douglas Farrow
Ascension Theology places the doctrine of the ascension in the context of the biblical narrative of descent and ascent, in order to shed light on 'the upward call of God in Christ Jesus' and on the eucharistic community that hears and answers that call. It is a book for the Church as well as the academy. Ascension Theology also offers a contemporary account of the Eucharist itself. It addresses the relation of the heavenly session of Christ to the conflicting currents of the present age, and the transformation to the life of the world to come. Specialist and non-specialist alike will find much to ponder in its traditional yet controversial claims.
Jean Galot
Renowned Christologist Fr. Jean Galot, S.J., seeks to offer new insights into this question in the context of salvation.
Pinchas Lapide.
Pinchas Lapide is a rabbi and theologian who has specialized in the study of the New Testament. In this book he convincingly shows that an irreducible minimum of experience underlies the New Testament account of the resurrection, however much of the details of the narrative may be open to objection. He maintains that life after death is part of the Jewish faith experience, and that it is Jesus' messiahship, not his resurrection, which marks the division between Christianity and Judaism.
Alyssa Lyra Pitstick
Pitstick looks at what John Paul II, Joseph Ratzinger, and Hans Urs von Balthasar have said regarding the creedal affirmation that Christ "descended into hell," and she shows that there are radical differences in their conclusions. She then addresses some important questions that follow from these differences: If they disagree, who is right? If John Paul II and Benedict XVI have lauded someone with whom they disagreed, are there implications for papal infallibility? Finally, whose theology best expresses the Catholic doctrine of Christ's descent into hell -- and how can we know? This careful, concise exploration of what three of the twentieth century's most famous Catholic theologians had to say about Christ's descent into hell provides an accessible take on a difficult point of theological debate.
Pope Benedict XVI (Joseph Ratzinger)
This series of books on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, published in three volumes, offers a portrait of Jesus based on the Gospels and encourages Christians to better understand the central figure of their faith. Volumes are also accessible online:
Volume 1 : The Infancy Narratives
Volume 2 : From the Baptism in the Jordan to the Transfiguration
John Saward
John Saward draws upon the rich traditions of the Church, as well as the writings of the great Christian mystics, to create a work that is both new and old, revolutionary and orthodox. This profoundly moving meditation will aid any contemplation on the life of Christ.The subject of this book is the objective and divinely revealed truth of the Nativity of Christ, as proclaimed by His infallible and immaculate Bride. It is the splendor of this truth, of Love's noon in Nature's night, which for two millennia has captivated the Fathers and Schoolmen, and activated the genius of poets, painters, and musicians.
Jesu Solano, S.J.
The four Latin volumes of the Sacrae Theologiae Summa have been called "the best summary of Scholastic Theology available." Now they are being translated into English in eight volumes for students by Father Kenneth Baker, S.J. This is the third volume and it covers two main treatises. The first is "On The Incarnate Word" - The Mystery of the Incarnation of Christ and the work He did in order to save us.