In The Theology of Robert Barron, Matthew Levering explores the key themes and sources of Bishop Robert Barron’s theological vision, tracing the development of his thought from his years as a student in the 1970s and 80s to the present. Levering surveys Barron’s theology by studying his critical engagements with a cast of thinkers from his formative period, including Andrew Greeley, Michel Corbin, Raymond Brown, Edward Schillebeeckx, John P. Meier, George Lindbeck, Alasdair MacIntyre, Stanley Hauerwas, and Richard Rohr. Levering shows how Barron appropriated, elaborated, and critiqued the thought of these interlocutors to develop a powerful and nuanced theology of his own.\nAt the center of Barron’s theological vision is the non-competitive Creator God, who radically transcends the order of finite beings while sustaining all things by his power and presence. Because God does not “compete” ontologically with his creatures, he is able to come so near as to become one of us without ceasing to be himself. We encounter Christ as the central character of the drama that unfolds in Sacred Scripture. Barron emphasizes that Christianity is an embodied, communal way of being. To become a Christian is to enter into a distinctive cultural milieu, venerate its saints, adopt its sensibility, and embrace its practices.\nLevering shows how Barron integrates these speculative, moral, and spiritual dimensions into a theological picture that, although deeply and distinctly Catholic, is also oriented to the world outside the Church and to evangelism.

The Theology of Robert Barron

Christian Books & Bibles

Matthew Levering

Catholicism

Word on Fire Academic

Newman on Doctrinal Corruption examines John Henry Newman’s understanding of history and doctrine in his own context, first as an Oxford student and professor reading Edward Gibbon and influenced by his close friend Hurrell Froude, then as a new Catholic convert in dialogue with his brother Francis, and finally as an eminent Catholic during the controversies over the dogmas of the Immaculate Conception (in dialogue with Edward Pusey) and papal infallibility (in dialogue with Ignaz von Döllinger). 
Author Matthew Levering argues that Newman’s career is shaped in large part by concerns about doctrinal corruption. Newman’s understanding of doctrinal development can only be understood when we come to share his concerns about the danger of doctrinal corruption―concerns that explain why Newman vigorously opposed religious liberalism. Particularly significant is Newman’s debate with the great German Church historian Döllinger since, in this final debate, Newman brings to bear all that he has learned about the nature of history, the formation of Church doctrine, the problem with private judgment, and the role of historical research.

Newman on Doctrinal Corruption

Levering, Matthew

Religion & Spirituality

No Lasting City: Essays on Theology, Politics, and Culture

Frederick Christian Bauerschmidt

Christ Brings All Newness: Essays, Reviews, and Reflections

Robert P. Imbelli

Beauty and Imitation

Daniel McInerny

Tolkien described The Lord of the Rings as “a fundamentally religious and Catholic work” and declared, “I am a Christian (which can be deduced from my stories).” Yet he insisted his writings were not allegories, and Middle-earth is loved by millions who do not share his religious beliefs. 
How were his faith and his fiction related? Holly Ordway answers that question biographically, focusing on Tolkien’s spiritual development, a dramatic story that previous accounts of his life have left largely unexplored. 
Here we find Tolkien’s faith was hard-won. His Anglican upbringing was overturned when his mother converted to Catholicism. Soon afterwards, she died, leaving Tolkien under the guardianship of a Catholic priest, who forbade him for three years to see his Protestant sweetheart, he eventually married her nonetheless. The Great War, in which most of his close friends were killed, deepened Tolkien’s reliance on his faith, but then, for nearly a decade, he “almost ceased to practise” his religion. Friendship with C.S. Lewis and success with The Hobbit were followed by another war and by turmoil in the Church that sternly tested Tolkien’s commitments. 
The challenges and triumphs in his religious life are reflected in his masterpiece, The Lord of the Rings, that epic tale of endurance against the odds. As Ordway shows in her expertly researched and richly illustrated study, Tolkien’s faith and Tolkien’s fiction are intimately related, though in subtle and complex ways. This long-overdue spiritual biography gives new insight into his works by shedding fresh light on their author’s deepest-held convictions.

Tolkien's Faith: A Spiritual Biography

Holly Ordway

Product Description \nIt is a widely accepted point of view that J.R.R Tolkien was dismissive of the modern fiction of his time, and that &lsquo;The Hobbit&rsquo; and &lsquo;The Lord of the Rings&rsquo; were fundamentally medieval and nostalgic in their inspiration. &ldquo;Tolkien's Modern Reading: Middle-earth Beyond the Middle Ages&rdquo; takes this claim, coming from one of his first biographers, and reexamines it through new meticulous archival research. This groundbreaking Catholic script by Holly Ordway reveals how Tolkien, in fact, had a fantastic imagination and understanding of both the facts and the fiction of the modern world. In contrast to the widely accepted image of Tolkien, this influential book portrays him enjoying a broad range of contemporary works, engaging with them in detail and depth&mdash; And Even naming specific titles as sources for, and influences upon his creation of Middle-earth. This Christian book shows Tolkien admired authors such as James Joyce and Beatrix Potter, Rider Haggard and Edith Nesbit, William Morris, and Kenneth Grahame. Ordway further mentions how the forgotten works of S.R. Crockett and J.H. Shorthouse also made a significant impression on Tolkien's work. In an effort to show Tolkien&rsquo;s genius in a new light, Ordway's painstaking scholarship portrays how Tolkien's book was connected with the literature of his own time and at the same time concerned with the issues of the contemporary culture. Ordway's ground-breaking study illuminates his views on topics such as technology, women, empire, and race. For Tolkien's genius was not simply backward-looking: it was intimately connected with the literature of his own time and concerned with the issues and crises of modernity. <ul> <li>Comprehensive Christian Books: Devoid of jargon, this approachable, comprehensive literature by Holly Ordway can enrich anyone's understanding of Tolkien's writings and bring new depth to his classic tales.</li> <li>Renowned Inspirational Books: Based on meticulous archival research, Ordway shows how Tolkien has appreciated both popular, and forgotten contemporary authors of his time and how said authors made a significant impression on Tolkien's literature.</li> <li>About the Author: Holly Ordway holds a PhD in English from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and is a Fellow of Faith and Culture at the Word on Fire Institute and a Visiting Professor of Apologetics at Houston Baptist University.</li> <li>Proclaiming Christ: Word on Fire Catholic Ministries supports the work of Bishop Robert Barron, which aims to highlight Roman Catholic history, spread the message of Jesus Christ, and to manifest the spirit of Christ to the masses.</li> </ul>\nReview 
This is a work of the first importance. Holly Ordway's painstaking scholarship, her close reading of primary sources in their proper context, challenges, and thoroughly revises, the image of Tolkien as someone who took no interest in contemporary culture. Ordway also offers a fine critical understanding of why and how Tolkien drew on those sources, an understanding that will enrich anyone's experience in re-reading the legendarium. Her book is itself highly readable, devoid of jargon and presented with real elegance and wit, a delight for the general reader, but also a groundwork for future Tolkien studies. --Malcolm Guite, Fellow of Girton College, Cambridge, and author of 
Faith, Hope and Poetry: Theology and the Poetic Imagination\nA distinguished work of detailed literary scholarship that is enjoyable and accessible for all readers. Ordway has undertaken a careful, sometimes combative, psycho-bibliography that shatters any sense that Tolkien was simply a clueless and nostalgic curmudgeon. Rather, she gives us a portrait of a nuanced thinker and reader who was generous and aware, Catholic and conscientious, creatively engaged with, but not bound by, his own culture. --Michael Tomko, Professor o

Tolkien's Modern Reading: Middle-earth Beyond the Middle Ages

Product Description 
‘After Humanity’, a book by Catholic priest Michael Ward, is a successful analysis of one of the most widely admired, yet least accessible, inspirational books of C.S. Lewis, ‘The Abolition of Man.' a compilation of lectures on ethics delivered by Lewis during the Second World War, addressing the question of objectivity in our moral values. Michael Ward explains the general academic context of Lewis' book and the particular incidents that inspired him to write such an important yet difficult work. He presents a compelling argument against subjectivism, delivering an intellectual warning that is much more relevant in our “post-truth” 21st century than when he first articulated it.\nRenowned Inspirational Books: ‘After Humanity’ is a detailed commentary clarifying the many allusions and quotations in Lewis’ argument and shows how this philosophical thesis resembles his other Christian works. 
Comprehensive Christian Books: This hardcover book includes a full-color photo gallery displaying images of the people, places, and documents that relate to and provide context for ‘The Abolition of Man’. 
Inspiring Books: According to Lewis' biographer, Walter Hooper, this book is “An all but indispensable introduction to the entire corpus of Lewisiana.” 
About the Author: Michael Ward is a Senior Research Fellow at Blackfriars Hall, University of Oxford; and Professor of Apologetics at Houston Baptist University. 
Proclaiming Christ: Word on Fire Catholic Ministries supports the work of Bishop Robert Barron, which aims to highlight Roman Catholic history, spread the message of Jesus Christ, and to manifest the spirit of Christ to the masses.\nReview 
“Detailed, meticulous research and scholarship has made this the definitive book on The Abolition of Man. This book is to The Abolition of Man what Michael Ward's Planet Narnia is to the Chronicles of Narnia. The book could have been deservedly entitled ‘Everything You Could Possibly Have Wanted to Know About The Abolition of Man.’” --Peter Kreeft, Professor of Philosophy, Boston College, author of C.S. Lewis for the Third Millennium: Six Essays on The Abolition of Man\n“C.S.Lewis’s analysis of the anti-human trend of modern Western culture has perhaps even more and sharper pertinence now than when it was written. In this vigorous and widely researched book, one of our leading Lewis scholars helps us see this analysis in its full intellectual context, and confirms beyond doubt Lewis’s stature as a genuine public intellectual for our own day as well as his.” --Rowan Williams, Former Archbishop of Canterbury\n“In After Humanity, Michael Ward reminds us that Lewis was a philosopher, gifted in asking the most important questions about the cosmos and our place within it. In exploring Lewis’s philosophical anthropology, Ward is lucid in every sense of the word. He writes in a manner as clear and accessible as it is illuminating. After Humanity deserves (and will reward) a readership as diverse and dedicated as Lewis’s own.” --Rebekah Lamb, Lecturer in Theology, Imagination, and the Arts, University of St Andrews, author of “'Out of the Shadows': C.S. Lewis on Education” in The Chronicles of Narnia: A Spiritual Journey 
 About the Author 
MICHAEL WARD, a Catholic priest, is Senior Research Fellow at Blackfriars Hall, University of Oxford, and Professor of Apologetics at Houston Baptist University. He is the author of the best-selling and award-winning Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C.S. Lewis, co-editor of The Cambridge Companion to C.S. Lewis, and presenter of the BBC television documentary e Narnia Code. On the fiftieth anniversary of Lewis’s death, Michael Ward unveiled a permanent national memorial to him in Poets’ Corner, Westminster Abbey, London.

After Humanity: A Guide to C.S. Lewis’s The Abolition of Man

Michael Ward

Winner of the Catholic Book Award for Spirituality Thomas Aquinas is widely considered the greatest and most influential of Catholic theologians. Yet too often his insights into the nature of God and the meaning of life are seen as somehow cold, impersonal, and divorced from spirituality. In this award-winning book, Bishop Robert Barron shows how Aquinas’ profound understanding of the Christian mystical life animates and helps explain his writings on Jesus Christ, creation, God’s “strange” nature, and the human call to ecstasy. “When one interprets Thomas merely as a rationalist philosopher or theologian, one misses the burning heart of everything he wrote. Aquinas was a saint deeply in love with Jesus Christ, and the image of Christ pervades the entire edifice that is his philosophical, theological, and scriptural work. Above all, Thomas Aquinas was a consummate spiritual master, holding up the icon of the Word made flesh and inviting others into its transformative power.”

Thomas Aquinas: Spiritual Master

Robert Barron

Biographies & Memoirs

Product Description 
“All I know is I was blind, and now I see.” These words from the Gospel of John―spoken by a man born blind after being healed by Jesus―guide this rich theological investigation from Bishop Robert Barron into the heart of all Christian experience: transformation. What does it mean to encounter the light of Christ? How does this light change our way of seeing? \n\nTo answer these questions, And Now I See: A Theology of Transformation takes readers on an expedition into the riven self of humanity, the uncanny nature of God, and the healing power of Jesus. Bishop Barron shows that metanoia or conversion to God, revealed in Christ, is about transforming the mind and soul―from a mind of fear to a mind of trust, and from a pusilla anima (small soul) to a magna anima (great soul)―and that theology itself supports this transformation. But he also shows that this change conduces not just to a new way of believing or thinking but to a new way of being.\n\nBlending insights from the great minds of the theological tradition with the work of literary masters such as Dante, William Faulkner, and Flannery O’Connor, And Now I See is a unique and unforgettable portrait of what it means to open our eyes and see the light. 
 Review 
“With this book Robert Barron enters the front ranks of contemporary American Catholic theologians.” --Andrew Greeley, Professor of Sociology at the University of Arizona and the University of Chicago\n“I have reviewed many books over the past thirty years. I have learned from most, admired many, and deeply appreciated some. But of relatively few was I moved to think, ‘This is a book I'd love to have written.’ Well, Robert Barron’s And Now I See is a book I would love to have written. It is a splendid and enchanting work.” --Fr. Robert Imbelli, Associate Professor Emeritus of Theology at Boston College\n“Robert Barron, an inspired writer, illuminates the teachings of ‘the great tradition,’ showing how they coalesce with the best literary witnesses to liberate us to our true selves. His reflections range from the philosophical to the poetic, themselves inspired by the riches of the tradition they unearth.” --David Burrell, Theodore Hesburgh Professor Emeritus in Philosophy and Theology at University of Notre Dame 
 About the Author 
Bishop Robert Barron is Auxiliary Bishop in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and founder of Word on Fire Catholic Ministries. He received a master’s degree in philosophy from the Catholic University of America in 1982 and a doctorate in sacred theology from the Institut Catholique de Paris in 1992. Bishop Barron was ordained a priest in 1986 in the Archdiocese of Chicago, and then appointed to the theological faculty of Mundelein Seminary in 1992. He has also served as a visiting professor at the University of Notre Dame and at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas. He was twice scholar in residence at the Pontifical North American College at the Vatican. He served as the Rector/President of Mundelein Seminary / University of St. Mary of the Lake from 2012 until 2015. On July 21, 2015, Pope Francis appointed Bishop Barron to be Auxiliary Bishop in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. He was ordained bishop on September 8, 2015.

And Now I See: A Theology of Transformation

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