Favorite Catholic authors (nonfiction)?

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Just curious as to which authors are your favorites. For me:

G.K. Chesterton- One of the first Catholic authors I ever read. I’ve read The Everlasting Man, Orthodoxy, Heretics, What’s Wrong with the World and his biographies of St Francis of Assisi and St. Thomas Aquinas. I find him to be very funny, and some of his insights are as applicable today as they are when they wrote them.
Bishop Fulton Sheen- A very warm Catholic writer. I own* Your Life is Worth Living (transcribed from some record albums he recorded), I’ve read Those Mysterious Priests, and another one that I can’t remember.
Scott Hahn- *Probably one of the best Catholic writers at this time, IMHO. Someone loaned me a copy of Rome Sweet Home when I was in RCIA. I read it twice in one week! It really confirmed my decision to become Catholic. I currently own *Hail Holy Queen, Lamb’s Supper, Lord Have Mercy and Swear to God.
I’ve read the first two, and am in the middle of the third one at this time.
Frank Duff- *Founder of the Legion of Mary. I only have one of his books, a 1961 hardcover edition of *Mary Shall Reign *that I bought at a Friends of the Library book sale. I think it was published in Ireland, as the dustcover lists other books and gives their prices in shillings! Anyway, the book is a collection of some of his essays. With stuff on the Eucharist, the Nativity, several chapters about Mary etc, this little book is a real gem.

Oh, and I forgot one other…

**Karl Keating 😃 *- I have two of his books: What Catholics Believe-setting the record straight, and Controversies: High Level Catholic Apologetics. *The first one is currently out on loan to a Catholic coworker to help explain the Faith to his Pentecostal wife- hope it helps!🙂 The second one isn’t really written by him except for the introduction. It consists of letters written by Catholics like Arnold Lunn, Hillaire Belloc, Cardinal Newman and Ronald Knox to non-Catholics explaining the Faith. One of these days I plan to get a copy of his Catholicism and Fundamentalism

Any other nominations?
 
Dr. Warren Carroll is a wonderful writer of history. His still-to-be-completed series on the history of Christendom is very informative and a pleasure to read. I have read several of his other books, including “The Cross and the Guillotine.”

William Walsh was a great Catholic historian. His biography of King Philip II is a powerful book.

Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihin was the author of a very engrossing book, “Leftism Revisited.”

Dr. Charles Rice is the author of several great books, including one which I consider the best pro-life book in the English language, “Beyond Abortion.”
 
Fr F. Copleston, SJ : among other things, the 9-volume A History of Philosophy.
 
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Annunciata:
Scott Hahn – All of his books!
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Yes, I like the subtitles in his books. Some may groan, but I find them very “punny!” :rotfl:
 
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RNRobert:
Yes, I like the subtitles in his books. Some may groan, but I find them very “punny!” :rotfl:
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He certainly is quick with the wit and puns! Annunciata:)
 
There are so many!!! But I’m going to try to name a bunch that haven’t been named, or who aren’t as well known perhaps (non-mainstream?)

Romano Guardini - He was a German priest (of Italian heritage) during World War II, and was lucky to stay out of the camps under Hitler. The time “off” from his teaching position (he was chair of the Catholic Worldview department at one of the major universities in Germany at the time of Hitler’s rise to power) was spent strengthening the Catholic underground culture. “The Lord” and “Meditations Before Mass” are beautiful, as is most of his other work. It is interesting, since he is one of the of the theologians most cited for “inspiring” (or better yet, “foreseeing”) Vatican II and the liturgical “renewal” (!)… don’t believe the liberal liturgists though, from reading Guardini myself, I think most of them are hijacking Guardini and using him as an excuse to justify their abuses they promote…

Christopher Dawson - One of CS Lewis’ contemporaries I believe, brilliant cultural and philosophical analyst. He foresaw the problems we have in our world today way back when… Great stuff!

George Weigel - The Holy Father’s biographer (“Witness to Hope”) and one of the most amazing current Catholic writers out there today. His newest book “Letters to a Young Catholic” is recommended reading for everyone, definitely not just the “young”!!

Cardinal Avery Dulles, S.J. - Great priest-theologian… quite orthodox and articulate. He writes frequently for the “First Things” journal, as well as having numerous books out that are fascinating reading for those who are interested in higher-level theology.

Caryll Houselander - Mid-20th century woman who really broke the mold with Catholic poetry first of all, but she was also a wonderful lay-theologian… her book “Reed of God” is priceless, a meditation on the Virgin Mary (in similar fashion to Guardini’s “The Lord”). She also had a great “Way of the Cross” book with meditations and reflections on the Stations of the Cross (with her own illustrations)

Joseph Pearce - Along with George Weigel, a great Catholic biographer… but he specializes in literary figures (Tolkien, Wilde, Greene, Waugh, and CS Lewis as well) His Tolkien biographies were marvelous!!

Peter Kreeft - Philosophy professor at Boston College, amazing at laying out Catholic arguments, both moral and theological. His books “Making Choices”, “Back to Virtue” and “How to Win the Culture War” are all highly recommended by me. 🙂 (He also has some great philosophical quasi-fiction stuff)

Ralph Martin - Known mostly for his work in the (authentic) Catholic charismatic renewal movement, he has written some great stuff that focuses on the Holy Spirit and our universal call to holiness. The two books of his that I have are “Called to Holiness” and “The Catholic Church at the End of an Age: What Is the Holy Spirit Saying?”

Whew… I could go on, but that’s probably enough for right now 🙂

+veritas+
 
I hope this won’t sound shallow, but one of the many things attracting me to Catholicism is its intellectual richness. It has stuff I can gnaw on the rest of my life.
 
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seeker63:
I hope this won’t sound shallow, but one of the many things attracting me to Catholicism is its intellectual richness. It has stuff I can gnaw on the rest of my life.
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So much for us dumb, unquestioning, unsaved dupes in thrall to Rome, eh? 😃 😃

Seriously, I’ve done some reading by other Christian writers, and found some good ones. But for consistent depth of content, your comment is spot on.

What’s better is that those who write (Hahn, Kreeft, Keeting, and of course G.K., and many others), write well, and are joys to read.

If you want a real tour de force that is still readable, and pertinent to the richness of which you spoke, I’d recommend Peter Kreeft’s Summa of the Summa. It’s St.Thomas Aquinas’s philosophy from the Suma, with notes by a masterful and witty teacher.

Blessings,

Gerry
 
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