Books We’d Like to Read

Across the entire span of theology, what did we miss? What should we revisit? Here are the people and titles we want to read.

 

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CONTENTS

Suggestions for 2026-2027

Selections for 2025-2026

Intertestamental Era – 420 BC to early 1st century AD

Patristics Era – 33 to 590 AD

Medieval Era – 590 to 1417 AD

Reformation Era – 1417 to 1648 AD

Modern Era – 1648 to 1962 AD

Postmodern Era – 1962 AD to present

World Religions –

Notes

 

 

 

 

INTERTESTAMENTAL ERA

(420 BC to early 1st century AD)

1 Enoch

Circa 300–200 BC

See our homepage for 1 Enoch

 

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PATRISTIC ERA

(33 to 590 AD)

Irenaeus

• Lived 130-202 AD

Books we are interested in reading:

• On the Apostolic Preaching (121 reading pages)

Origen of Alexandria

• Born circa 184 AD
• Died circa 253 AD

Books we are interested in reading:

• The Hexapla (‘Sixfold’), a massive comparative study of various translations of the Old Testament
• The Septuagint

Athanasius of Alexandria

• Born 296-298 AD
• Died 373 AD

We already read:

• On the Incarnation of the Word in 2021-2022

Basil the Great

Also called Basil of Caesarea

• Born: 330 AD
• Died: 378 AD

Books we are interested in reading:

• Sermon to the Rich. See the translation by Deacon Innocent Duchow-Pressley.

Augustine of Hippo

• Died 430 AD

We already read:

• Confessions by Augustine of Hippo (354-430 AD). We suggest the translation by Garry Wills. It has 353 reading pages. Read for free online at Internet Archive. Patristics Era

 

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MEDIEVAL ERA

(590 to 1417 AD)

 

John Moschus

• Died either 619 or 634

Books we are interested in reading:

• Spiritual Meadow. See Wikipedia.

Symeon the New Theologian

• Born 949 AD
• Died 1022 AD

Books we are interested in reading:

• Hymns of Divine Love, also known as the Hymns of Divine Eros (~419 reading pages)

Bernard of Clairvaux

• Died 1153 AD

Books we are interested in reading:

• On Loving God (46 pages)

Hildegard of Bingen

• Born circa  1098 AD
• Died 1179 AD

Books we are interested in reading:

• TBD

Francis of Assisi

• Born circa  1181–1183 AD
• Died 1226 AD

Books we are interested in reading:

• The Rule of 1209, also known as the Primitive Rule. See text at MIT or at St. Bonaventure University.
• The Rule of 1221, also know as the First Rule. See text at Franciscan Third Order Penitents or at Brothers and Sisters of Penance of St. Francis.
• The Rule of 1223, also known as the Second Rule. See text at The Nazarene Way.
• The Little Flowers of St. Francis of Assisi: a collection of popular legends about Francis and his early companions by an anonymous author (~290 pages)

Thomas Aquinas

• Born 1225–7 AD
• Died 1274 AD

Books we are interested in reading:

• Ralph McInerny’s A First Glance at St. Thomas Aquinas

We already read:

• The Catechetical Instructions

John Duns Scotus

• Born circa 1265 / 1266 AD
• Died 1308 AD

For a good overview, see Benedict XVI, General Audience, July 7, 2010.

Books we are interested in reading:

• TBD

Meister Eckhart

• Born circa 1260 AD
• Died circa 1328 AD

We already read:

• The Essential Writings, a collected work (pages ≈ 368)
• Meister Eckhart: Selections from His Essential Writings (pages = 154)

Catherine of Siena

• Born 1347 AD
• Died 1380 AD

We already read:

• Dialogue of St. Catherine of Siena (pages = 180), in the classic translation by Algar Throttled

Books we are interested in reading:

• Little Talks with God (pages ≈ 180 per OpenLibrary; 208 per Amazon)

 

Little Flowers of Francis of Assisi

This is a collection of popular legends about the life of Francis of Assisi and his early companions. It is by an unknown author. The earliest extant manuscript is from 1390 AD. See Wikipedia.

 

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REFORMATION ERA

(1417 to 1648 AD)

Teresa of Ávila

• Lived 1515-1582

Books we already read:

• The Life of Teresa of Jesus
• The Interior Castle

John of the Cross

• Born 1542 AD
• Died 1591 AD

Books we already read:

• The Living Flame of Love in summer 2008
• The Dark Night in 2021-2022

Brother Lawrence

• Born circa 1614 AD
• Died 1691 AD

Books we already read:

• The Practice of the Presence of God in 2017-2018

 

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MODERN ERA

(1648 to 1962 AD)

Jean Pierre de Caussade

• Born 1675 AD
• Died 1751 AD

Books we already read:

• Abandonment to Divine Providence (pages = 78.5)

Philokalia

Pages: 242

Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky

• Born 1821 AD
• Died 1881 AD

Books we are interested in reading:

• The Brothers Karamazov (pages ≈ 1,398)

Helena Blavatsky

A Russian mystic and author who co-founded the Theosophical Society.

• Born 1831 AD
• Died 1891 AD

Thérèse of Lisieux

• Died 1897

Books we are interested in reading:

• The Story of a Soul

G. K. Chesterton

• Born 1874 AD
• Died 1936 AD

Books we are interested in reading:

• The Everlasting Man (pages ≈ 398)

Books we already read:

• Orthodoxy in 2017-2018

Thomas Raymond Kelly

• Lived 1893–1941

We already read:

• A Testament of Devotion

Edith Stein

• Born 1891 AD
• Died 1942 AD

Books we are interested in reading:

• TBD

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

• • Born 1906 AD
  • Died 1945 AD

Books we are interested in reading:

• Life Together (pages = 93), the classic exploration of Christian community

Books we already read:

• The Cost of Discipleship (pages ≈ 320)

Georges Bernanos

• Born: 1888
• Died: 1948

Books we are interested in reading:

• The Diary of a Country Priest (pages ≈ 256)

 

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POSTMODERN ERA

(1962 AD to present)

Second Council of the Vatican

We already read these entire works:

• Sacrosanctum Concilium in 2020 – 2021
• Lumen Gentium in 2019-2020
• Dei Verbum in 2019-2020
• Gaudium et Spes in 2020 – 2021
• Nostra Aetate in 2019-2020
• Dignitatis Humanae in 2020-2021
• Unitatis Redintegratio in 2020 – 2021

We already read the introductions to these works:

• Gravissimum Educationis in 2021-2022
• Ad Gentes in 2021-2022
• Presbyterorum Ordinis in 2021-2022
• Apostolicam Actuositatem in 2021-2022
• Optatam Totius in 2021-2022
• Perfectae Caritatis in 2021-2022
• Christus Dominus in 2021-2022
• Orientalium Ecclesiarum in 2021-2022
• Inter Mirifica in 2021-2022

C. S. Lewis

• Born 1898 AD
• Died 1963 AD

Books we are interested in reading:

• Surprised by Joy (pages ≈ 304)

We already read:

• Mere Christianity in 2018-2019
• Screwtape Letters in summer 2020
• The Problem of Pain

Flannery O’Connor

• Born 1925 AD
• Died 1964 AD

Adrienne von Speyr

• Born 1902 AD
• Died 1967 AD

Thomas Merton

• Born 1915 AD
• Died 1968 AD

Books we are interested in reading:

• The Seven Storey Mountain (pages ≈ 496)
• New Seeds of Contemplation (pages ≈ 296)
• Seeds of Destruction (pages ≈ 348)

We already read:

• The Inner Experience: Notes on Contemplation in 2018-2019

Jacques Maritain

• Born 1882 AD
• Died 1973 AD

Books we are interested in reading:

• Integral Humanism (pages ≈ 368)

Rudolf Bultmann

• Born 1884 AD
• Died 1976 AD

Books we are interested in reading:

• Theology of the New Testament (pages ≈ 648)

Dorothy Day

• Born 1897 AD
• Died 1980 AD

Books we are interested in reading:

• The Long Loneliness (pages ≈ 304)

Karl Rahner

• Born 1904 AD
• Died 1984 AD

Books we are interested in reading:

• Content of Faith (pages ≈ 199)
• Encounters with Silence
• Hearers of the Word
• Foundations of Christian Faith
• I Remember
• Mystical Way of Contemplative Life (pages ≈ 199)
• Spirit in the World
• Spiritual Writings (pages ≈ 200)
• The Trinity

We already read:

• Homanisation and Incarnation

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

• Born 1929 AD
• Died 1968 AD

We already read:

• Letter from a Birmingham Jail

Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel

• Born 1907 AD
• Died 1972 AD

Howard Thurman

• Born 1899 AD
• Died 1981 AD

Books we are interested in reading:

• Meditations of the Heart (pages ≈216)

Peace Pilgrim

• Born: 1908
• Died: 1981

An American spiritual teacher and mystic, Mildred Lisette Norman walked the United States for 28 years, owning only the clothes on her back and living entirely by faith. See Wikipedia and YouTube.

Books we are interested in reading:

• Peace Pilgrim – Her Life and Work in Her Own Words

Henri J. M. Nouwen

• Born 1932 AD
• Died 1996 AD

We already read:

• The Return of the Prodigal Son (pages ≈ 151)
• Reaching Out (Reading Pages = 131)

Avery Dulles

• Born 1918 AD
• Died 2008 AD

Books we are interested in reading:

• Models of the Church (pages ≈ 304)
• Models of Revelation (pages ≈ 344)

A History of Christianity

By Paul Johnson

Pages: 515

Joan Chittister

• Born 1936

Books we are interested in reading:

• Welcome to the Wisdom of the World

Gustavo Gutiérrez Merino

• Born 1928 AD
• Professor page at Notre Dame

Books we are interested in reading:

• A Theology of Liberation (pages ≈ 334)
• We Drink From Our Own Wells: The Spiritual Journey of A People (~206 pages)
• On Job: God-Talk and the Suffering of the Innocent (~160 pages)
• The Truth Shall Make You Free (~204 pages)
• The God of Life (~232 pages)
• Las Casas: In Search of the Poor of Jesus Christ (~704 pages)

Richard Rohr

• Born 1943
• His Center for Action and Contemplation

Books we are interested in reading:

• Immortal Diamond (pages ≈200)
• Everything Belongs (2003) by Richard Rohr (born 1943). It has 165 reading pages. Modern Era

Bryan Massingale

• Born 1957 AD
• Professor page at Fordham University

Books we are interested in reading:

• Racial Justice and the Catholic Church (pages ≈224)
• Social Justice and the Catholic Church

We already read:

• Racism in the Catholic Church

John Allen

• Born 1965 AD

Books we are interested in reading:

• The Future Church (pages ≈ 450)

Jacques Philippe

• Born 1947 AD

We already read:

• Interior Freedom

Thomas Keating

• Born 1923
• Died 2018

Books we are interested in reading:

• Open Mind, Open Heart – The Contemplative Dimension of the Gospel (2006) [165 pages]

Sherry Weddell

Books we are interested in reading:

• Forming Intentional Disciples

 

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WORLD RELIGIONS

Reading key texts from other world religions is essential for becoming equipped for Interfaith Dialogue.

Here are three key texts from other religions that westerners generally find interesting and readable:

The Yoga Sutras of Patañjali

This is a collection of Hindu aphorisms on the theory and practice of yoga.

It is from circa 400 AD.

Reading Pages = 102

The Qur’an

The Qur’an is the central religious text of Islam. It is from 610–632 AD.

Thus far we have read the first half. Our next step is to read the third quarter (by page count). That means chapters 19-37. That means 148 reading pages. Other

See our homepage for the Qur’an

Shōbōgenzō Zuimonki

In the western world, the Shōbōgenzō Zuimonki is a famous text from Japanese Zen Buddhism.

The great Buddhist monk Eihei Dōgen wrote it in the 13th century.

Fine translations are available.

Reading Pages: 46,389 words ÷ ~250 words per page = 185 Reading Pages

See Wikipedia

 

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NOTES

 

Note 1

Our focus is the truly great books from the entire Christian heritage.

 

Note 2

Our reading pace varies from 2.5 to 3.5 pages per day.

 

Note 3

For works that are more difficult to understand, we adjust our reading pace to be slower. For example: 2.5 pages per day.

 

Note 4

For works that are easier to understand, we adjust our pace to be faster. For example: 3.5 pages per day.

 

Note 5

We count the number of “Reading Pages.” That means we only count the pages we will actually read.

We ignore the other pages.

 

Note 6

The number of Reading Pages is different than the official page count, such as you find on a product page at a bookseller.

The official page count, such as you find on a product page at a bookseller, includes all sorts of pages that are not “assigned” parts of our reading.

For example:

• title page
• table of contents
• other front matter
• empty pages
• index
• glossary
• endnotes
• other back matter

 

Note 7

Here are three ways to count the Reading Pages:

• Go to a library that has the book
• Go to a store and buy the book
• Buy the book online

 

Note 8

Sometimes a paper book is no longer available. It might seem that we cannot determine the number of Reading Pages.

However, for many theological works, the number of words per page is around 250.

So if the work is available online, count the number of words and divide by 250. That should yield the number of Reading Pages.

 

Note 9

If a work is only available online, how do you count the number of words?

Here is how we do it:

1. Highlight-copy the text
2. Paste it into a word processing app such as Microsoft Word, Google Docs, Apple Pages, or such
3. Use the word-count function in the word processing app

 

Resources