Essential books?

[Armand52]

x

 

[Virgil the Roman]

St. Francis de Sales' "Introduction to the Devout Life," and "the Catholic Controversy."

 

[Armand52]

x

 

[Memento Mori]

Have you read anything by Scott Hahn?

 

[Armand52]

v

 

[twins15]

The Catechism of the Catholic Church!

 

[Eucharisted]

The book of creation is good for meditation. You don't even need to be literate to read it!

 

[sensational]

Are there any essential books? I just returned from a pilgrimage to Ars, and some of the people I travelled with gave me a a few books, including a Roman Missal and a Book of Hours. Here, I also have a few versions of the Bible in my own language.

Are there any other essential books? I guess a commentary on the Bible like the ones on my Bible software could help, but I don't know any in Dutch.

Early Church Fathers

 

[Virgil the Roman]

Sorry, I found even better books than "Introduction to the Devout Life;" kindly read: "The Imitation of Christ" and "The Sinner's Guide". Both are perennial Catholic favourite spiritual books. They are excellent and most helpful!

 

[MoNiCa4316]

There's a version of the DR Bible that apparently has great commentary by a priest..

I also recommend the Catechism

I guess there aren't any more 'essentials', but what types of books are you interested in? (theology, devotional, lives of the Saints, apologetics, etc).

God bless

 

[mariafransisca11]

You can find the Imitation of Christ and the Sinners Guide here
http://catholic-books.blogspot.com/

For the pdf version

Imitation of Christ - by Thomas a Kempis

Sinners Guide- by Venerable Louis Granada

Introduction to Devout Life - by St. Francis de Sales

I agree, Introduction to devout life, by St. Francis de Sales and Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis is an essential spiritual readings for catholics

 

[Unix]

What do You all think? Is some other book about Theotokos Mary better than that which is written by Scott Hahn?
The subject is new to me, so I would need a guide written so that I can understand it.

I think I'm going to buy:
Catholic Update Guide to Marriage Catholic Update Series: Amazon.co.uk: Mary Carol Kendzia: Books
I'm not good at praying. But one thing at a time. For the time being, I'm reading the Bible a lot, and I'm careful to find out what the Catholic meaning is, so it's not always self-obvious which Bible-versions to use. Today I was a bit horrified to find, that the NABRE (same as RNAB) New Testament of 1986 uses 'cup' in 1 Corinthians 11 where it should be chalice. I hope REB has chalice, I'll check.

Have you read anything by Scott Hahn?

That's a very good point, MoNiCa4316, the Douay-Rheims version uses chalice and priest and such words

There's a version of the DR Bible that apparently has great commentary by a priest.. [...]
God bless

 

[Unix]

Could these books instead be what I'm looking for? Would seem to cover a lot of topics:
http://www.amazon.com/Beginning-Apo...=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1324026029&sr=1-3
http://www.amazon.com/Beginning-Apo...=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1324025873&sr=1-3
http://www.amazon.com/Beginning-Apo...=sr_1_8?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1324026192&sr=1-8
The Beginning Apologetics -series uses Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition. I would have prefered that they use Jerusalem Bible or Confraternity version since those have better footnotes and I also prefer the JB text.
Here's more about the JB:
1 Jn 2:5 - Christian Forums
... "I agree that the JB was known as having brilliant readings."
The CTS New Catholic Bible - Catholic Answers Forums

If You want to, look at my list of Bible versions. It's a long list, and I list both what to not use, and what to use:
Missing Scriptures in Modern Versions - Page 2 - Christian Forums

What do You all think? Is some other book about Theotokos Mary better than that which is written by Scott Hahn? (I'm really not going to buy any book by him.)
The subject is new to me, so I would need a written guide that I can understand it.

I think I'm going to buy:
Catholic Update Guide to Marriage Catholic Update Series: Amazon.co.uk: Mary Carol Kendzia: Books

Previously edited by Unix; 15th December 2011 at 08:39 PM local time
Previously edited by Unix; 28th December 2011 at 04:36 PM. Reason: add links about JB

 

[Unix]

I've decided to, perhaps in addition to other books, order:
http://www.amazon.com/Catholicism-F...s/dp/0898701775/ref=cm_syf_dtl_pop_27_russss0
I read in reviews, that it regards Jas, Eph and Ro higher than Jer, and that is completely fine with me, since I likewise regard Jer very low, and Jas and Eph high...
Amazon.com: rdaneman@sprynet.com's review of Catholicism and Fundamentalism: The Attack...
A comment on a review was also interesting:
Amazon.com: K. Fontenot "Prairie Cajun Lives!"'s review of Catholicism and Fundamentalism: The Attack...
...by Merlyn, on Jan 24, 2011

Could these books instead be what I'm looking for? Would seem to cover a lot of topics:
http://www.amazon.com/Catholicism-J...0519/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1322431852&sr=8-1
http://www.amazon.com/Beginning-Apo...=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1324026029&sr=1-3
http://www.amazon.com/Beginning-Apo...=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1324025873&sr=1-3
http://www.amazon.com/Beginning-Apo...=sr_1_8?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1324026192&sr=1-8

 

[Unix]

A systematic theology: Amazon.com: Theology of the New Testament (9780814610220): Karl Hermann Schelkle: Books
Can be bought from: Karl Hermann Schelkle - Theology New Testament - AbeBooks

I think that a much better option for a Bible with Catholic commentary, is the Confraternity Version, but be careful to select one that actually has footnotes (send a question to the seller, that's what I did, first, to be sure)! The footnotes in Confraternity version were written by Grispino. Read here what Gerald Parker says about Grispinos notes: Amazon.com: Gerald Parker "Gerald Parker"'s review of THE OLD TESTAMENT OF THE HOLY BIBLE Confra...
Here's what Khalid says about the Confraternity Version: Favorite Bible translation - Page 3 - Catholic Answers Forums

There's a version of the DR Bible that apparently has great commentary by a priest..

May 13. 2012: I still recommend it!

1992 Good News Translation Catholic Edition, is a version I'm thinking of using among many others, I haven't bought it yet, it can be bought at:
First Communion Bible: GNT New Testament (Good News Translation/Children's Bibles): Zondervan: 0025986708320: Amazon.com: Books
BARNES & NOBLE | First Communion Bible: GNT New Testament by Zonderkidz | Paperback
EDIT: a few days ago I got home my purchase: a 1992 Good News Translation Catholic Edition with zipper to use for the 39 books of the OT and some books of the NT: Good News English Bible - Catholic Edition / Beautiful cover, Zipper, Golden Edges / 2010 Print: Bible Society: 9788941290087: Amazon.com: Books
In addition to that, I also have the 1976 edition NT and the 2 copies of the 1971 edition NT. There's a lot of difference between those, despite the time-intervall is not long. The 1971 edition uses for example the word dollars when Jesus is about to feed the 4000 men and the 5000 men. The 1971 has the least bias of all the GNB/GNT -editions, but it's very little difference in bias between the editions.
Here's more information about them:
NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Good News Translation
EDIT May 13. 2012: And here's an discussion about it, read it, good information, participate in the discussion if You have views to share!
EDIT May 13. 2012: And if You want to try it out first, You can get the Gospel according to Jn first

... but watch out for the errors in the New Testament of all the GNB/GNT editions 1966-1992: "perverted renderings of key passages dealing with Christ's deity, the inspiration and preservation of Scripture, the blood atonement, and many other doctrines"

What I mean is that I don't believe in such, I think it's a fair test, it reveals the theology behind the CEB, NET and GNT. Thanks for the input about the Good News translation, now I know another aspect what to avoid about it! Do You remember was that mostly in the OT or also in the NT? Because I have only New Testaments of the Good News

This seems like an odd litmus test. Doing a quick Google search "blessing on" is certainly used in English. Checking other English translations, some use it and some don't. It's used most by the NET bible, and also significantly by the Good News translation.

Previously edited by Unix; 12th January 2012 at 02:19 AM local time. Reason: add systematic theology book, GNB/GNT quote, Confraternity link to CAF

 

[johnnyc]

The Beginning Apologetics series is excellent. I will suggest....

The Life of Christ - Bishop Fulton Sheen
Theology for Beginners - Frank Sheed
Theology and Sanity - Frank Sheed (expands on previous book)
The Lamb's Supper: The Mass as Heaven on Earth (and study guide) - Scott Hahn
The Catechism of the Catholic Church

 

[twins15]

A little late, but a few others Christian books I would recommend.

St Therese de Lisieux - Story of a Soul
Mother Teresa - Come Be My Light
Joseph Ratzinger - Jesus of Nazareth

 

[Virgil the Roman]

I'd recommend the Baltimore Catechism no. 1, 2, 3, & 4. The Catechism of the Council of Trent. Also, 'True Devotion to Mary' is one of my favourites on devotion to our Holy Mother Mary, as well.

And of course, the 1945 St Andrew's Missal for the Traditional Latin mass; the 1958 'New Marian Missal' (which I have myself) is very fine as well. Enjoy!


And of course, as previously mentioned, (this has been the 'anchor' of my soul and kept me close to God and from falling into perdition, heresy, despair, and nothingness): 'The Imitation of Christ' by Thomas a Kempis.

And last, but certainly not least, but rather the greatest: The Douay-Rheims Holy Bible. The most reliable and trust-worthy of English bibles a man (or lady) may ever purchase. It's 100% orthodox with excellent footnotes; no funny business or such bad footnotes like the new translations have).

Here's a Link for it:

The Old Testament: http://traditionalcatholic.net/Scripture/Old_Testament/index.html

The New Testament: http://traditionalcatholic.net/Scripture/New_Testament/index.html




(Nota Bene: In the link for the New Testament, it has the original Latin, the 'Old Latin Vulgate' which has been preserved far better from error than any of the Greek or Hebrew translations that still exist.)

 

[Unix]

Those are included in the Catholic Spirituality Collection (12 vols.), which is now on a sale in Logos: Catholic Spirituality Collection (12 vols.) - Logos Bible Software
Regular price: $109.95
Your price: $93.46
Enter this coupon code when purchasing: VerbumLent2013
I have the collection, it was included with the "Catholic Foundations" -base-package for $212.46 on April 19. 2012 in Logos 4. I find it very good:

St. Francis de Sales' "Introduction to the Devout Life,"

A little late, but a few others Christian books I would recommend.

St Therese de Lisieux - Story of a Soul

Logos is freeware, a very good Bible study software, and Catholic-friendly. Logos Bible Software 5 | Installation Guide - Logos Bible Software