Here are the books we are thinking about reading.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
FOR 2020-2021
FROM THE MODERN ERA
(1870 to 1962)
Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky (died 1881)
The Brothers Karamazov (pages ≈ 1,398)
G. K. Chesterton (died 1936)
Orthodoxy. We read this in 2017-2018.
The Everlasting Man (pages ≈ 398)
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (died 1945)
The Cost of Discipleship (pages ≈ 320)
FROM THE POSTMODERN ERA
(1962 to present)
Second Council of the Vatican
CONSTITUTIONS:
1. Sacrosanctum Concilium (“Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy”). Estimated pages: 12,878 words ÷ 250 words per page ≈ 52 pages.
2. Lumen Gentium (“Dogmatic Constitution on the Church”). We read this in 2019-2020.
3. Dei verbum (“Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation”). We read this in 2019-2020.
4. Gaudium et Spes (“Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World”). Estimated pages: 33,498 words ÷ 250 words per page ≈ 134 pages.
DECLARATIONS:
5. Gravissimum Educationis (“Declaration on Christian Education”)
6. Nostra Aetate (The Relation of the Church to non-Christian Religions). We read this in 2019-2020.
7. Dignitatis Humanae (“On the Right of the Person and of Communities to Social and Civil Freedom in Matters Religious”). Estimated pages: 5,059 words ÷ 250 words per page ≈ 20 pages.
DECREES:
8. Ad Gentes (“On the Missionary Activity of the Church”)
9. Presbyterorum Ordinis (“Decree on the Ministry and Life of Priests”)
10. Apostolicam Actuositatem (“Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity”)
11. Optatam Totius (“Decree on Priestly Training”)
12. Perfectae Caritatis (“The Adaptation and Renewal of Religious Life”)
13. Christus Dominus (“The Pastoral Office of Bishops”)
14. Unitatis Redintegratio (“Decree on Ecumenism”). Estimated pages: 7,047 words ÷ 250 words per page ≈ 28 pages.
15. Orientalium Ecclesiarum (“The Catholic Churches of the Eastern Rite”)
16. Inter Mirifica (“The Media of Social Communications”)
C. S. Lewis (died 1963)
Mere Christianity. We read this in 2018-2019
Screwtape Letters. We read this in summer 2020
The Problem of Pain.
Surprised by Joy. (pages ≈ 304)
Thomas Merton (died 1968)
The Seven Storey Mountain (pages ≈ 496)
New Seeds of Contemplation (pages ≈ 296)
Seeds of Destruction (pages ≈ 348)
The Inner Experience: Notes on Contemplation. We read this in 2018-2019
Jacques Maritain (died 1973)
Integral Humanism (pages ≈ 368)
Rudolf Bultmann (died 1976)
Theology of the New Testament (pages ≈ 648)
Karl Rahner (1904-1984)
Content of Faith (pages ≈ 199)
Encounters with Silence
Hearers of the Word
Homanisation and Incarnation
Foundations of Christian Faith
I Remember
Mystical Way of Contemplative Life (pages ≈ 199)
Spirit in the World
Spiritual Writings (pages ≈ 200)
The Trinity
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (died 1968)
Letter from a Birmingham Jail
Howard Thurman (died 1981)
Meditations of the Heart (page ≈216)
Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel (died 1972)
Henri J. M. Nouwen (died 1996)
The Return of the Prodigal Son (pages ≈ 151)
Avery Dulles (died 2008)
Models of the Church (pages ≈ 304)
Models of Revelation (pages ≈ 344)
FOR 2021-2022
At the moment, this is just an idea.
It is that we go back. Across the entire span of Systematic Theology, what did we miss? What should we revisit?
Here are the names that have come up recently:
- Origen
- Athanasius
- Brother Lawrence
- Julian of Norwich
- The Ecumenical Councils
- Thomas Aquinas
- John of the Cross
- Hildegard of Bingen
RESOURCES
Our Systematic Theology Schedule
The Modern Era of Church History (1648 to 1962 AD)
The Postmodern Era of Church History (1962 AD to present)
NOTES
For the coming academic year of 2020-2021, we are focusing on the Postmodern Era. I combed through our records to find our known books for this timeframe.
The boundary between the Modern Era and the Postmodern Era is a little blurry. Many key authors lived in both timeframes. So I’ve included some authors from the very end of the Modern Era.
In some cases, we’ve already read a work by a given author. I include those previous works. They are in grayed-out text. That way we can easily see how much of each author we’ve already read.
I’ve bolded a few works that stood out to me.
I’ve included approximate page counts for some of the works.
Unless otherwise noted, all Bible quotations on this page are from the World English Bible and the World Messianic Edition. These translations have no copyright restrictions. They are in the Public Domain.
