The recommended Catholic bookshelf

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Psalm89

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I remember seeing a list of good books that recommended on the catholic.com website, but I can’t locate it.

I am interested in the top 10 books that someone exploring the Catholic faith should read, besides the catechism of course. I want theology, history of the Christian church etc. I already have a number of good Bibles.

Could someone post a link or make a list for me. 🙂
 
One book I would recommend is “Catholics and Fundamentalists.” There’s more to the title than that, but I can’g think of it right off. I think it was written by Karl Keating. 👍
 
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Psalm89:
I remember seeing a list of good books that recommended on the catholic.com website, but I can’t locate it.

I am interested in the top 10 books that someone exploring the Catholic faith should read, besides the catechism of course. I want theology, history of the Christian church etc. I already have a number of good Bibles.

Could someone post a link or make a list for me. 🙂
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Orthodoxy, by GK Chesterton.
 
In somewhat (😉 ) random order…
  1. The Holy Bible
  2. The Catechism of the Catholic Church
  3. St. Thomas Aquinas’s “Summa Theologicae”
  4. St. Augustine’s “Confessions” and “City of God”
  5. Butler’s “Lives of the Saints”
  6. C.S. Lewis’s “Mere Christianity” (although not technically Catholic…)
  7. Autobiography of St. Therese of Lisieux (“Story of a Soul”)
  8. St. John of the Cross’s work “Dark Night of the Soul”
Peace!
Fred
 
A lot of it depends where you are on your journey. What questions do you have? You do you need and in what proportions? What does you family need? Where do you feel a craving to enrich your knowledge of the faith?

try these threads as well for lists of Catholic books to read:

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=7425
forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=4983
forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=6089
forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=6402

You may want to consider the merits of each book for your purposes. Many are excellent. Some of them may be worthy of permanent addition to your library.
 
  1. Haydock Study Bible
  2. Catechism of the Council of Trent
  3. Denzinger
  4. Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma by Dr. Ludwig Ott
  5. The History of the Church by Eusebius
  6. Ante-Nicene and Post Nicene Fathers
  7. The Dialogue of St. Catherine of Sienna
  8. The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross
  9. Not by Faith Alone and 10) Not by Bread Alone by Robert Sungenis
 
I will give you my all time favorite and not a lot of people know of it.

“The Catholic Controversy” by St. Francis de Sales
Published by Tan books.

It is a collection of pamphlets that St. Francis wrote and distributed around the town of Geneva while everybody slept. The entire town had turned Calvinist and the Pope sent him there to preach the Truth. The Protestants had outlawed public Catholic preaching which put St. Francis in a tough spot. So he decided to write these tracts and secretly pinned them up all over town and under doorways. After 4 years of this, the entire town had practically converted back to Catholicism. Many of the tracts were preserved and then later compiled into one book. Its the best apologetics book I have ever read!
 
My list probably has more modern authors than most but I’ve turned to these titles many times over the last ten years.

Not in any particular order
  1. Bible
  2. Catechism of the Catholic Church
  3. Making Sense out of Suffering by Peter Kreeft
  4. Forget Not Love (the story of St. Maximillian Kolbe) by Frossard
  5. Born Fundementalist Born Again Catholic by David Currie
  6. The Lamb’s Supper by Scott Hahn
  7. A Refutation of Moral Relativism by Peter Kreeft
  8. The Smile of a Ragpicker (the story of Satoko Kitahara) by Paul Glynn
  9. Catholicism and Fundamentalism by Karl Keating
  10. On the Eucharist in Its Relationship to the Church Encyclical Letter of John Paul II (this is a more recent addition to my top 10 list).
 
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Psalm89:
I remember seeing a list of good books that recommended on the catholic.com website, but I can’t locate it.

I am interested in the top 10 books that someone exploring the Catholic faith should read, besides the catechism of course. I want theology, history of the Christian church etc. I already have a number of good Bibles.

Could someone post a link or make a list for me. 🙂
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perhaps you were thinking of the Lifetime Reading Plan of the Catholic Information Center? Check out the full list at www.cicdc.org/ltrp/ltrp.cfm?task=titles
 
These are some of my favorite sources
  1. Modern Catholic Dictionary John A. Hardon S.J.
  2. The Catholic Catechisim John A. Hardon S.J.
  3. Catechisim of the Catholic Church
  4. The Companion to the Catechism of the Catholic Church (A Compendium of Texts Referred to in the Catechism of the Catholic Church) Ignatius
  5. Bible NAB
  6. Bible RSV-CE and Navarre Commentaries
  7. Heresies Past and Present Father Hogan
  8. Theology for Beginners Frank Sheed
On line
Catholic Encylopedia
Catholic Answers
Peter Kreeft
Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights
Papal Documents and Church Councils
US Bishops web

Magazines
This Rock
Lay Witness (by Catholics United for the Faith)
Crisis
 
T.A.Stobie:
A lot of it depends where you are on your journey.
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I agree. Where are you at on your journey?

You asked for books on theology. No matter what stage you are at in the journey to Christian perfection, I would highly recommend The Three Ages of the Interior Life, By Rev. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P.

The masterpiece of possibly the 20th century’s greatest theologian. Covers scores of topics, including contemplative prayer, one’s predominant fault, the healing of pride, spiritual direction, etc. …

This work is the most comprehensive study of the interior life available. It is a veritable encyclopedia of the Catholic tradition, with emphasis on the Thomistic and Dominican tradition. The work is organized on the basis of the traditional three-fold division of the interior life: 1) beginners; 2) the proficient; 3) the perfect. Common characteristics, problems, and advice for each stage are provided. The organic development of the spiritual life is emphasized in a manner which avoids the over-schematization common in manuals of the period. A notable contribution Garrigou-Lagrange makes is his insistence upon the fact that the contemplative life and the heights of mystical union are not a something reserved for the few, but rather the summit of the normal path to sanctity for all people.
 
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martino:
I will give you my all time favorite and not a lot of people know of it.

“The Catholic Controversy” by St. Francis de Sales
Published by Tan books.
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Now that sounds like a sweet book. Gonna go look for a copy of that right now.
 
Anything by Scott Hahn.
I would not recommend jumping into the Summa to someone just looking into the faith…you probably won’t understand it unless you have a philosophy background… I know I don’t.
Radio Replies…I can’t remember who it’s by.
Catholicism and Fundamentalism was key in my own conversion.
The Imitation of Christ, Thomas A Kempis
Story of a Soul, St Therese
Rome Sweet Home
 
Maybe someone else has already mentioned this and I missed it but:

The Courage to be Catholic by George Weigel
 
A Father Who Keeps His Promises by Scott Hahn.

You will never look at the Eucharist or Mass the same way ever again.
 
The Treasury of Catholic Wisdom edited by father John A. Hardon

The Lord by Romano Guardini…read it a little at a time, and savour it!

Catholic Christianity by Richard Chilson

And of course the Catechism is so well written it would be a crime not to mention it again!
 
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Psalm89:
I remember seeing a list of good books that recommended on the catholic.com website, but I can’t locate it.
Could someone post a link or make a list for me. 🙂
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I was going to make a recommendation for “Catholic Lifetime Reading Plan” by Fr. John Hardon (a veritable goldmine of great ideas), and stumbled across:

Catholic Lifetime Reading Plan

at Catholic Information Center.

Great ideas abound.

Peace in Christ…Salmon
 
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