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<DIV>Foreward by Hans Urs von BalthasarNear the end of a long career as one of the most widely read popular Thomistic philosophers of the twentieth century, Josef Pieper has himself compiled an anthology from all his works. He has selected the best and most representative passages and arranged them in an order that gives sense to the whole and aids in the understanding of each excerpt.Pieper's reputation rests on his remarkable ability to restate traditional wisdom in terms of contemporary problems. He is a philosopher who writes in the language of common sense, presenting involved issues in a clear, lucid and simple manner. Among his many well-known works included in this anthology are selections from Leisure: The Basis of Culture, The Four Cardinal Virtues, About Love, Belief and Faith, Happiness and Contemplation, and Scholasticism. </DIV>

Josef Pieper: An Anthology

<DIV>Though a staple in high school English classes, Julius Caesar is not a simple play. Seemingly irreconcilable forces are at work: fate and free will, the changeableness and stubbornness of ambitious men, the demands of public service and the desire for private gain. Drawn from history as recorded by Plutarch, the major characters-Caesar, Brutus, Cassius, and Mark Antony-are complex, as are the twists and turns of their fortunes. What kind of man rises to power? What price does he pay when he becomes a politician? These questions raised by Shakespeare are relevant in every age, whether ancient Rome, Elizabethan England, or even in our own day. </DIV>

Julius Caesar

<DIV>This book describes the common task which Balthasar and Adrienne von Speyr undertook, the founding of a secular institute: The Community of St. John. He also describes their common theological work and explains the theology and role of secular institutes. </DIV>

Our Task

<DIV>Foreword by James Schall, S.J. Cardinal Ratzinger addresses the challenges and responsibilities that both the Church and society in Europe face after the collapse of Marxism. Both liberalism and Marxism have denied religion the right to have any influence on public affairs and the common future of humanity. Since there is also a great spiritual emptiness growing in the West with the increased secularization, consumerism and hedonism, Ratzingerಙs comments apply as much, if not more, to the United States as well. With the downfall of Marxism, religion has been discovered anew as an ineradicable force for both the individual and society. While there is renewed interest in religion, the dangers also exist to lay hold of religion as an instrument to serve various political ideas. Ratzinger, whose theological work has often dealt with the ಜreasons for our faith,ಝ reflects upon the various problems facing humanity at this turning point of our history and offers genuine hope based upon a deep Christian faith. He also addressed the critical role that the Church has in relationship to the world and the essential task of bringing Christ back into our culture. ಜIn the present situation it is an absolute obligation for the theologian and for the pastor of the Church to enter the disputation about the correct understanding of the present time, and to both clarify faithಙs own proper sphere and to do justice to the share of responsibility that lies on him at this hour.ಝ  Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger</DIV>

A Turning Point For Europe?

Out of the collapse of Old America rises Lantua, a glittering thousand-mile metropolis where drones patrol the sky and AI algorithms reward social behavior. The most compliant citizens enjoy the greatest privileges, the poorest struggle to rise up the echelon system, and criminals are subjected to brain modification. Birthing and genetic quality are controlled through mass embryonic selection, with fetuses grown outside the body in artificial wombs&mdash;a technology known as exogenesis. But rebellion is brewing. Lantua struggles to control the Benedites, a rural religious people who refuse to obey one-child regulations. Each February, Field Commander Maelin Kivela oversees the forced sterilization of Benedite teenagers, a duty she carries out with unflinching zeal&mdash;but this year comes with a shock. After escaping an ambush by insurgents, Maelin returns to the city to choose one of over three hundred embryos to be her child, only to come face to face with a secret that will tear her life apart and alter the course of her civilization.

Exogenesis

<DIV> One of the four great tragediesalongside Hamlet, King Lear, and MacbethOthello is among the darkest of Shakespeares plays, illumining the shadows of the gloomiest recesses of the human psyche and serving as a damning indictment of the world in which it was written. A cautionary tale of the destructiveness of sin and the ruinous consequences of bad philosophy, Othello seems to express Shakespeares rage at the cynicism and brutality of the age in which he lived. From the Machiavellian menace of Iago to the blind and prideful jealousy of Othello, this classic of world literature shows us the shadow falling over a society that has turned its back on the light and life of virtue.</DIV>

Othello

<DIV>Contributors to this Volume:James Bemis Crystal Downing Richard Harp Andrew J. Harvey Jill Kriegel Jonathan Marks Rebecca Munro Joseph Pearce Stephen Zelnick""Star-crossed"" Romeo and Juliet are Shakespeare's most famous lovers. A staple of high school reading lists, the tragedy especially resonates with young adult readers who, like Romeo and Juliet, have experienced the exhilarating and perilous phenomenon of being ""in love"". Given the tragic ending of the play, what does Shakespeare illustrate about his teen protagonists: Are they the hapless victims of fate, or are they responsible for the poor choices they make? Is their love the ""real thing"", or is it self-indulgent passion run amok? These are some of the ever relevant questions discussed in this critical edition of Romeo and Juliet. The Ignatius Critical Editions represent a tradition-oriented alternative to popular textbook series such as the Norton Critical Editions or Oxford World Classics, and are designed to concentrate on traditional readings of the Classics of world literature. While many modern critical editions have succumbed to the fads of modernism and post-modernism, this series will concentrate on tradition-oriented criticism of these great works. Edited by acclaimed literary biographer, Joseph Pearce, the Ignatius Critical Editions will ensure that traditional moral readings of the works are given prominence, instead of the feminist, or deconstructionist readings that often proliferate in other series of 'critical editions'. As such, they represent a genuine extension of consumer-choice, enabling educators, students and lovers of good literature to buy editions of classic literary works without having to 'buy into' the ideologies of secular fundamentalism. The series is ideal for anyone wishing to understand great works of western civilization, enabling the modern reader to enjoy these classics in the company of some of the finest literature professors alive today. </DIV>

Romeo and Juliet

<DIV>In this exciting novel set during the French Revolution, Charles Dickens expresses sympathy for the downtrodden poor and their outrage at the self-indulgent aristocracy. But Dickens is no friend of the vengeful mob that storms the Bastille and cheers the guillotine. As with all of his stories, his passion is for the unforgettable and unrepeatable individuals he creates. The sorrows of the suffering masses, their demands for justice, and the indiscriminate fury they unleash take flesh in Madame Defarge, while the self-sacrifice that is the truest means of atonement and rebirth manifests in the unlikely hero Sydney Carton. In A Tale of Two Cities, humanity does not show its best side in the mean streets of Paris or even London, but in the intimate circle of loyal friends that gathers around the honorable Doctor Manette and his lovely daughter, Lucie. About the Editor: Michael D. Aeschliman is Professor of Education at Boston University, Professor of English at the University of Italian Switzerland, and author of The Restitution of Man: C. S. Lewis and the Case against Scientism (1983, 1998). A widely published scholar and literary critic, he edited in 1987 a new edition of Malcolm Muggeridge's 1934 satirical-documentary novel, Winter in Moscow. </DIV>

A Tale of Two Cities

<DIV>As Catholics in ever-growing numbers are taking part in Bible studies, many questions arise. How do I study the Bible? Where do I begin? Is it OK to interpret the Bible for ourselves? What Bible should I use? How can I understand such a deep book as the Gospel of St. John? This book has the answer to these and many other such questions. Stephen Ray takes the difficult and makes it easy; he takes the confusion and makes things clear. It gives a simple start for a beginner while providing the depth and profundity for the scholar. This book is one of a kind. It is the first extensive, easy to use and thoroughly Catholic study guide available. This Bible study provides extensive ""text boxes"" with detailed information that helps students discover the cultural, religious, historical and other information on the specific passage they are studying. It utilizes quotes for a wide range of scholars, historians and specialists to instruct the student and give valuable insights into the background and meaning of the text. This book can serve as a basic Bible study guide for working through the Gospel of John, helping the student plumb the depths of St. John's marvelous and deeply spiritual Gospel. It is excellent for use by individuals or groups, for families or schools. </DIV>

St. John's Gospel: A Bible Study and Commentary

<DIV>From Paris to San Bernardino, from Orlando to Manchester the Western world has been rocked by shocking mass murders done in the name of Islam since the attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in 2001. This chronology of these and other key events, from 2002 to 2018, offers an opportunity to analyze the ongoing conflict between Islamism and the West.Author Fr. James V. Schall, S.J., a renowned political philosopher, discusses the difficulty that Europeans and Americans have in recognizing that resurgent Islamic militancy is not just caused by "terrorists", as if terrorism were some kind of independent movement or mind-set. Violence has a source. No one undertakes it without a cause that is worth, in his mind, the risk of death.Islam is unique in its description of the world within itself, which is to live peacefully by the law of Allah, and the world outside this sphere, which is at war with Islam. The main concern of the author is the abiding existence of Islam over time and its constancy in attempting to achieve the goal of worldwide submission to Allah as a political and cultural fact.</DIV>

On Islam: A Chronological Record, 2002-2018

<DIV>There are ten important questions everyone should ask; ; and the answers to these questions, which lead to ultimate ; truth, are a matter of reason, not of faith. Well-known Catholic philosopher and writer Peter ; Kreeft tackles each of these questions in a logical ; step-by-step way, like climbing the rungs of a ladder. ; Because questions are best answered by dialogue, Kreeft ; answers these fundamental questions in an imaginary ; conversation between two very different people who meet at ; the beach. Kreeft's characters begin at the ; beginning, at the bottom of the ladder, which is the ; passion for truth. When it comes to the most important ; questions a person can ask, no mere interest in ; philosophical dabbling will do. The passion for truth does ; not stop there, however, but carries the reader from one ; page to the next in this thought-provoking adventure of the ; mind.Among the topics, or "steps", that ; Kreeft's characters delve into include:<ul><li>Do you ; have the passion to know?</li><li>Does truth ; exist?</li><li>What is the meaning of life?</li><li>What ; is love, and why is it so important for our ; lives?</li><li>If there is a God, what proof is there for ; his existence?</li><li>Has God revealed himself to us in a ; personal way?</li></ul>And many other important ; questions and topics to help climb the ladder to the truth ; about life.</DIV>

Jacob's Ladder: Ten Steps to Truth

<DIV>"A modern retelling of the parables The Good Shepherd and The Prodigal Son." - Michael O'Brien Canadian bookseller Alex Graham is a middle-age widower whose quiet life is turned upside down when his college-age son disappears without any explanation or trace of where he has gone. With minimal resources, the father begins a long journey that takes him for the first time away from his safe and orderly world. As he stumbles across the merest thread of a trail, he follows it in blind desperation, and is led step by step on an odyssey that takes him to fascinating places and sometimes to frightening people and perils. Through the uncertainty and the anguish, the loss and the longing, Graham is pulled into conflicts between nations, as well as the eternal conflict between good and evil. Stretched nearly to the breaking point by the inexplicable suffering he witnesses and experiences, he discovers unexpected sources of strength as he presses onward in the hope of recovering his son--and himself.</DIV>

The Father's Tale: A Novel

<DIV>Increasingly, the future is becoming a theme for theological reflection. In the background we can detect a growing concern among many people for the future of faith. Does faith have any future at all, and, if so, where in all the confusion of today's trends will we discover its embryo? But the problem of the future assails not only the believer. In the ever more rapidly advancing process of historical evolution, man is confronted with enormous opportunities, but also with colossal perils. For him, the future is not only hope, but sorrowa nightmare, indeed. He cannot avoid asking what part faith can play in building tomorrow's world. Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, approaches this problem of universal concern from a variety of angles, bringing his deep personal faith and theological brilliance to bear on these serious questions. </DIV>

Faith and the Future

<DIV>David Currie was raised in a devout Christian family whose father was a fundamentalist preacher and both parents teachers at Moody Bible Institute. Currie's whole upbringing was immersed in the life of fundamentalist Protestantism - theology professors, seminary presidents and founders of evangelical mission agencies were frequent guests at his family dinner table. Currie received a degree from Trinity International University and studied in the Masters of Divinity program. This book was written as an explanation to his fundamentalist and evangelical friends and family about why he became a Roman Catholic. Currie presents a very lucid, systematic and intelligible account of the reasons for his conversion to the ancient Church that Christ founded. He gives a detailed discussion of the important theological and doctrinal beliefs Catholic and evangelicals hold in common, as well as the key doctrines that separate us, particularly the Eucharist, the Pope, and Mary.</DIV>

Born Fundamentalist, Born Again Catholic

Opening credits

Introduction

Faith Is Hope

The Concept of Faith-Based Hope in the New Testament and the Early Church

Eternal Life – What Is It?

Is Christian Hope Individualistic?

The Transformation of Christian Faith – Hope in the Modern Age

The True Shape of Christian Hope

Settings – I. Prayer as a School of Hope

Settings – II. Action and Suffering as Settings for Learning Hope

Settings – III. Judgment as a Setting for Learning and Practicing Hope

Mary, Star of Hope

Closing credits

<div>
Pope Benedict XVI&rsquo;s second encyclical, Saved In Hope, (&ldquo;Spe Salvi&rdquo; in Latin) takes its title from St. Paul, who wrote, &ldquo;In hope we have been saved&rdquo;. In this special deluxe hardcover edition of the work, the Holy Father continues a line of thought he began with his first encyclical, God is Love.
Love and Hope are closely related in the spiritual life. Love of God involves hope or trust in God. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, &ldquo;The virtue of hope responds to the aspiration to happiness which God has placed in the heart of every man&rdquo;. Hope enables us to look to the next life, but it also inspires and purifies our actions in this life. Pope Benedict considers modern philosophies and the challenges of faith today in light of the virtue of hope.
&ldquo;Confronted by today&rsquo;s changing and complex panorama, the virtue of hope is subject to harsh trials in the community of believers. For this very reason, we must be apostles who are filled with hope and joyful trust in God&rsquo;s promises. In contemporary society, which shows such visible signs of secularism, we must not give in to despair.&rdquo; &mdash; Pope Benedict XVI
</div>

Saved in Hope (Audiobook) 

<DIV>Father James Schall, the well- known author and professor of philosophy at Georgetown University, inquires about the various orders found in the cosmos, the human mind, the human body, the city, and he seeks to reflect upon the unity of these orders.In a world in which the presence of reason and order are denied � presumably in the name of science � in favor of chance explanations of why things are as they are, it is surprising to find that, in the various realms open to the human intellect, we find a persistent order revealed. At first sight, it may seem that this reality can be explained by chance occurrence, but after a point, there is a growing sense that behind things there is, in fact, an order. This order can be traced in the many areas that are open to the human mind. As Aquinas has noted, the order within the cosmos points to an order outside of it, since the cosmos cannot be the cause of its own internal order.Philosophers have long inquired about the curious fact that the order of things implies not a mere relationship of one thing to another, but a hint that the universe is created with a certain superabundance. Why is the universe, and the things within it, not only ordered but, ordered with a sense of beauty? Not only is there an order in things, but also the human mind seems attuned to this order as something it delights in discovering. This relationship implies that there is some correspondence between mind and reality. What is the relationship between the mind and reality? The Order of Things explores this question. Relying on common sense and the experience available to everyone, Schall concludes that it requires more credulity to disbelieve in order than to experience it. Finally, Schall explores the fundamental cause of order, what it is like? Having looked at the order of the created universe, it is not surprising that the revelation of the Godhead is itself ordered in terms of an inner relationship of Persons.</DIV>

The Order of Things

<DIV>In these pages Benedict XVI shares his reasons for retiring from the papacy in 2013 in an interview with the author. Many saw his astonishing retirement as a sign of the Church's decline, but he intended it as a seed sown in the hope of bringing the Church a younger, more vigorous leadership in the face of daunting challenges.Among those challenges are the financial and sexual scandals that continue to undermine the Church's mission. When Ratzinger was elected Pope in 2005, he opened a path of purification for the Church, while calling upon the Western world to return to its Christian roots and to build a new humanism for the twenty-first century, and his call for renewal is still relevant.Widely recognized as one of the most important theologians and spiritual leaders of our time, Joseph Ratzinger served throughout the papacy of John Paul II as the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Both men had witnessed how atheistic philosophies and war had ravaged twentieth-century Europe, and they shared in the effort of revealing to modern man his need for God, for redemption in Jesus Christ.</DIV>

Benedict XVI: His Life and Thought

<DIV>This is the story of a Protestant young woman and her journey to the Roman Catholic Church. The fascinating novel is set in nineteenth-century England-a time when Catholicism was regarded with suspicion and prejudice against Catholics was commonplace. Leaving her sheltered life in the countryside, young Clem becomes acquainted with the fascinating ideas and people of Oxford-including a brilliant young clergyman, John Henry Newman. But when her relationship to a Roman Catholic man with a colorful reputation leads to an Italian elopement that is more innocent than it appears, the scandal drives a wedge between Clem and the upright Anglican circle of friends and family she left behind. Woven into the story of Clem and Augustine, their courtship and marriage, and Clem's conversion, is the vital, influential, and holy Newman, as seen through the eyes of friends. Meriol Trevor's engaging plot charts the ongoing friendship between Newman and the couple as it spans many years during which pivotal historical influences, such as the Industrial Revolution and the Oxford Movement, are shaping Victorian England. Many important events, personages, and ideas in the life of Newman appear in the story-his reasons for becoming a Roman Catholic, his differences with Cardinal Manning, his work in the Birmingham Oratory, and his being made a cardinal by Pope Leo XIII. The author, a renowned biographer of Newman, used Newman's actual correspondence as the basis for his parts in the dialogue. </DIV>

Shadows and Images: A Novel

<DIV>This volume is unique among the works of the great theologian and spiritual writer von Balthasar for it is a collection of short, personal and very readable reflections and aphorisms that are the fruit of his prayer and study over the course of his life on the central themes of the Christian spiritual life. Balthasar's style-intimate, lucid, precise and yet poetic, along with the intensity of his contemplative vision-invites every reader to meditate deeply on the fullness and dynamism of Christian truths in all their splendor. In addition to his own meditations, Balthasar also includes quotes and thoughts from some 30 saints and spiritual writers including Augustine, Francis de Sales, John of the Cross, Elizabeth of the Trinity, Teresa of Avila, Fenelon, Therese of Lisieux and more. These rich, thought-provoking gems provide wonderful meditations for laity by one of the masters of the spiritual life. "Every careful reader of Hans Urs von Balthasar will discover that the precious alchemy of his thought results from the deeply fruitful marriage he achieves between keen intelligence and ardent piety, which is the very heart of the Christian intellectual endeavor. Balthasar proves to be one of the scant few thoroughly reliable teachers and pathfinders in the thicket of late-twentieth-century life because he himself exemplifies the truth of his own aphorism that only the one whose eyes can encompass much may be said to have an integrated vision." -Dr. Erasmo Leiva, From the Foreword</DIV>

The Grain of Wheat: Aphorisms

One day, philosopher Peter Kreeft reads an open letter published by a friend, Nat Whilk. He&#39;s Catholic, but he sees the Church as unsteady, outdated, obsessive. As a challenge to the &quot;True Believers&quot;, Nat pens a twenty-point manifesto for &quot;cafeteria Catholics&quot;, who pass up certain Church teachings and scoop up others like a diner in a buffet line.&quot;I find in [Catholicism] both much to accept and even love and also much to refuse and even despise&quot;, he asserts. &quot;If you insist on tying God to the Church, you will make me an atheist.&quot;Kreeft has an answer for Nat&mdash;one that spans over a hundred pages. The result is this book: a sharp, friendly, and funny debate between two honest thinkers trying to understand the Christian life. Nat &quot;is the&#39;cafeteria Catholic&#39;, &quot;writes Kreeft,&quot;and I am the &#39;eat all the food Mommy puts on your plate&#39; Catholic.&quot; Taking on Nat&#39;s manifesto point by point, the Boston College philosopher builds his case for a full-package Catholicism, addressing the themes of authority, love, freedom, conscience, sex, abortion, social justice, science, and more. &quot;Our hopes differ&quot;, he points out to his friend.&quot;Your hope is in man; mine is in God.&quot;If, like Nat Whilk, you find yourself wondering why the Church asks for so much commitment, Confessions of a Cafeteria Catholic could be the book for you. This debate serves as a fun and accessible introduction to some of the knottiest aspects of Catholic doctrine. Readers of Peter Kreeft&#39;s apologetic works and his Socrates Meets dialogues will enjoy the latest venture by one of the most celebrated contemporary Catholic writers.

Confessions of a Cafeteria Catholic

<DIV>Joan Sheen Cunningham was happily growing up with her family in Illinois when her uncle Bishop Fulton Sheen offered her the opportunity of a lifetime: to attend a private school in New York City. With the blessing of her parents, she eagerly accepted, and Fulton Sheen became a second father, a role model, and a lifelong friend.In this memoir, Joan describes many formative experiences she had with Fulton Sheen&mdash;from shopping for a winter coat to meeting Al Smith, the governor of New York. She fondly recollects how her uncle guided her courtship, helped her and her new husband find an apartment, and baptized their children and grandchildren.Sheen is most known for his popular television show, Life Is Worth Living. The Sheen that Joan presents, however, is not only a polished television personality, but a man of prayer, generosity, and missionary zeal who interacted with count- less people from all walks of life. In one story after another, she illustrates that this great man&rsquo;s chief concern was sharing the mercy of God with everyone.</DIV>