ignatius bible

For my courses, I require a Bible — a good Bible appropriate for academic, theological work that is also primarily respectful of the divine revelation communicated through these words. For Christians, these human words open toward the Word of God. In the course, we will discuss the relationship between these words and the Word. No matter what your faith is, the Bible is one of the central texts of human intellectual history. So get a good one!

You will need a Bible for all my courses. I suggest the Ignatius Bible, which is the Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSV-CE). The RSV is a wonderful translation for its academic accuracy and poetic lyricality. In class we will discuss some of the differences of translations. No English Bible is a perfect translation of the Hebrew and Greek originals, but there are good, better, and best. I think the RSV-CE is the best, but there are other best translations. Please ask if you have questions about your Bible translations.

”Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the first-born of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.” (Rev 1:4-6)

The Ignatius Bible (RSVCE - Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition). Second Edition. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2007. Paperback or Kindle. ISBN: 9780898708349.

credo

From the important twentieth-century Catholic theologian, Hans Urs von Balthasar (1905-1988), this book offers a deep meditation on the Apostle’s Creed, which is the simplest and most central statement of Christian belief. Understanding the theological meaning of this creed will unlock so much knowledge for you in order to understand Christianity.

“‘I believe in God the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth’ — That he is Father we know in utmost fullness from Jesus Christ, who constantly makes loving, thankful, and reverent reference to him as his Origin.” (p. 30)

Hans Urs von Balthasar. Credo: Meditations on the Apostle’s Creed. Ignatius Press. 2000. ISBN: 9780898708035. Paperback. Kindle.

on the incarnation

From one of the central Christian theologians of the Early Church, Athanasius (c.296-298 - 373), we are reading his work On the Incarnation (De Incarnatione Verbi Dei).

No matter what your skill level is in reading ancient primary texts, you should be reading about the best from the best. When we desire to learn what early Christianity believed about the person of Jesus Christ, one of the best is Athanasius, who through this work developed significantly the Christian view of God as Trinity.

”For God is good—or rather, of all goodness he is fountainhead, and it is impossible for one who is good to be mean or grudging about anything. Grudging existence to none therefore, he made all things out of nothing through his own Word, our Lord Jesus Christ; and of all these his earthly creatures he reserved especial mercy for the race of men.” (I.i)

Athanasius. On the Incarnation. Fig. Paperback. Kindle ISBN: 9781626309951

redeemer of man

From the most important pope of the twentieth century, John Paul II (1920-2005), we are reading his first major work as a pope, On the Redeemer of Man (Redemptoris Mater). This work is called an encyclical because it’s a letter meant to be circulated throughout the whole church much like the early letters of Paul in the New Testament. Promulgated in 1979, this letter was John Paul II’s blueprint for the future of the church at the end of the twentieth and into the twenty-first centuries. He presents Jesus as he understands him for our age and why this Jesus, as the perfect human, is the redeemer of all humanity.

”The Redeemer of Man, Jesus Christ, is the centre of the universe and of history.” (1)

John Paul II. The Redeemer of Man. Daughters of St. Paul. 1979. Paperback. Online. ISBN: 978-0819864338

mary through the centuries

From the acclaimed historian and theologian, Jaroslav Pelikan (1923-2006), this book Mary Through the Centuries: Her Place in the History of Culture guides us through Scripture and the history of the Church to come to know the historic Mary, the Mother of Jesus, as she has been known through the ages. You will find that this broad sweep through Christian history will help you learn how critical Mary has always been for understanding Jesus Christ and the Christian way of holiness.

”The Virgin Mary has been more of an inspiration to more people than any other woman who ever lived.” (p.2)

Jaroslav Pelikan. Mary Through the Centuries: Her Place in the History of Culture. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, 1996. Paperback. ISBN: 9780300076615

mary in the redemption

From the Christian mystic, Adrienne von Speyr (1902-1967), this book Mary in the Redemption will help us understand in accessible language the Catholic belief in Mary’s role in the redemption won by Jesus Christ. We will use this book to explore the great Christian spiritual and mystical traditions surrounding Mary that sees Mary at the heart of God’s plan of salvation for all humanity.

”’Ecce ancilla’ (Behold the Handmaid). With these words Mary calls everyone into service. She is the chosen one, the one visited by the angel. Yet she would like to understand her service in such a way that, through her, it includes all the faithful.” (p. 11)

If you wish to learn more about the author Adrienne, you can see my website, vonspeyr.net dedicated to the theological study of her writings and thought. You could also read my book on her called Heaven Opens: The Trinitarian Mysticism of Adrienne von Speyr.

Adrienne von Speyr. Mary In the Redemption. Translated by Helena M. Tomko. (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2003). Paperback. Kindle. ISBN: 0898709555

confessions

From the central early church theologian, Augustine (354-430), we are reading his masterwork Confessions. Written between 297-398, Augustine explores his inner life with God begining in his early years of sexual indulgence up through his long but dramatic conversion to Christianity. Told with art and honesty, we will use this book to understand the meanings of Christian conversion and holiness. We will also use this book to help us learn about the genre of conversion autobiographies in which we will come to learn that this book is the foundational work.

”Late have I loved you, beauty so old and so new: late have I loved you.” (X.xxvi.37)

Augustine. Confessions. Translated by Henry Chadwick. (Oxford World’s Classics; New York: Oxford University Press, 1991). Paperback. Kindle ISBN: 0192817744

handing on the faith available

My new co-edited book, Handing on the Faith, is now available! Edited with William Portier, this book is the Annual Volume of the College Theology Society and collects essays that explore the theme of how theology and catechesis interact. Is theology “handing on the faith,” or is the vocation of the theologian something more/different? What are the challenges and convergences for theology and catechesis in the classroom? This book offers the reflections and analyses of teachers across a broad spectrum of experience, background, and personal convictions vis-à-vis the importance of catechesis in the college classroom.

From the introduction:

Just about mid-way through the four-year commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the Second Vatican Council, members of the College Theology Society (CTS) gathered in May 2013 at Creighton University in Omaha for the fifty-ninth Annual Meeting. In a signature passage from the Introduction to Gaudium et Spes, the Council recalled the church’s “duty in every age of examin- ing the signs of the times and interpreting them in light of the gospel …”[1] One of the signs of the times needing interpretation is what Sandra Yocum, in her 2007 history of the CTS, described as a “revolution in theological studies in every aspect from who produces theology to what is produced, from who teaches to who learns, and from where theological studies take place to what is actually taught in the undergraduate college classrooms.”[2] Professors and students are still changing. The “revolution” continues.

Here is the index:

• “The Gospel and the Education of Our Undergraduates” - Sandra Yocum

Part I: Convergences

• “The Heart Has Its Reasons: Giving an Account of the Hope That Is in Us” - Robert P. Imbelli
• “Cardinal Dulles and the New Evangelization” - Anne-Marie Kirmse, O.P.
• “Giving God the First Word: Spirituality as the Bridge between Catechesis and Theology” - Christopher Collins, S.J.
• Hans Urs von Balthasar as Source for Teaching Theology in North American Higher Education" - Christopher Hadley, S.J.
• “No More Time for Nostalgia: Millennial Morality and a Catholic Tradition Mash-Up” - Maureen H. O’Connell

Part II: Teaching Theology

• “‘For I Handed on to You as of First Importance What I Myself Had Received’: Theologians and Handing on the Faith” - Aurelie A. Hagstrom
• “Teaching Theology and Handing on the Faith: One Institutional Perspective” - David Gentry-Akin
• “Handing on the Faith as a Guest, and Teaching Theology When You’re Not Teaching Theology” - Andrew D. Black
• “‘Turn, Turn, Turn’: Considering Conversion in the Theology Classroom” - Katherine G. Schmidt
• “Nurturing Aesthetic Sensibility, Religious Imagination, and the Use of Analogy in the Academic Life of Contemporary College Students” - Mary-Paula Cancienne, R.S.M.
• “Beyond Sunday School: Affirming Faith, Challenging Knowledge in the College Classroom” - Emily Dykman, Michael Lopez-Kaley, and Laura Nettles
• “Challenges Theologians Face Teaching about Marriage and Family” - Felicidad Oberholzer

Part III: Implications

• “The True Knowledge of Religion and of the Christian Doctrine: Robinson Crusoe as Catechist and Theologian” - Curtis W. Freeman
• “A Crisis in Catholic Identity: Lessons Learned from Catholic Relief Services” - Christine Tucker
• “What We Have Loved, Others Will Love” - Donna Orsuto

It was a real sacrificial pleasure to work on this important project. I hope you’ll consider buying a copy of Handing on the Faith from Orbis Books or Amazon.

---

1. Documents of the Ecumenical Councils, vol. II (Trent to Vatican II), edited by Norman P. Tanner, S.J. (London and Washington, DC: Sheed & Ward and Georgetown University Press, 1990), 1070.  ↩

2. Sandra Yocum Mize, Joining the Revolution in Theology: The College Theology Society, 1954–2004 (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2007), 4.  ↩

heaven opens available today

My new book Heaven Opens: The Trinitarian Mysticism of Adrienne von Speyr is available today.

It's available as a Paperback from Fortress Press and Amazon and also available as a Kindle or iBooks.

However you choose to read it, please write a review to let others know what you think. Please let me know too.

May Adrienne pray for us.

more good words about my book

"Hans Urs von Balthasar is increasingly acknowledged as one of the greatest theologians of the Christian tradition. Unquestionably, he was master of Western civilization as few have ever been and brought all into the key of Christ. His spiritual mentor in this vast undertaking was Adrienne von Speyr, whose work von Balthasar held to be more important than his own. Karl Rahner famously observed that the Christian of the twenty-first century would be a mystic-or not be at all. Adrienne von Speyr models this for us: she was gifted with a 'cataract of mystical graces.' Matthew Lewis Sutton's deep penetration into her mystical gifts offers an excellent introduction to her unique vision and also helps hit the 'reveal codes' button for von Balthasar's theology."

• Raymond Gawronski (Dominican School of Philosophy & Theology, Berkeley, CA)

"This book has the potential to do for Adrienne von Speyr's theology what Father Edward Oakes's Pattern of Redemption did for Hans Urs von Balthasar's in the mid-1990s, in this case by accessibly introducing Adrienne to a generation of students and scholars. Focusing on the center of her thought-the opening of heaven through Christ's obedience so that we can share even now in the relationships that characterize the life of the divine Trinity, in light of her own experience of mystical penetration into the Father's sending of the Son and Spirit-Matthew Lewis Sutton ably presents Adrienne's teaching on the full panoply of theological topics. The convergence of her theology with von Balthasar's is striking."

• Matthew Levering (Mundelein Seminary)

"Matthew Lewis Sutton's thorough, unpretentious, and lucid introduction to the person and work of Adrienne von Speyr is now the standard guide in English. Indeed, I suspect it will remain the standard for many years to come. If you're looking for an excellent introduction to Adrienne von Speyr, look no further."

• Rodney Howsare (DeSales University)

"Matthew Lewis Sutton's explication of Adrienne von Speyr's insight into Christian spirituality untangles the style of the mystical writer, giving the reader access into the deep vision of this contemporary woman, which is too often dismissed as simplistic due to her uncomplicated language by some and as impenetrable due to her circular manner of her writing by others. Sutton's work uncovers wealth within subtlety and gives access to a truly inspired writer for sincere seekers of God's presence in the world. It is a must-read for those who have approached von Speyr but found her difficult to follow."

• Justin M. Matro (Saint Vincent Seminary)

Please preorder Heaven Opens: The Trinitarian Mysticism of Adrienne von Speyr.