I picked this book up by accident and was pleasently surprised to find not only that I could understand it (as if written for the lay person) but that it could represent issues facing other churches, or faiths. Mr. Kelly begins the Introduction by exploring what it means to be a Roman Catholic by listing what Catholics must believe. He sets the stage. Most people feel that in these times they do not have to believe anything they do not like. Mr. Kelly, still in the Introduction, says that John Paul II, will "punish" those who dissent. "This action provides hope for a second spring of a vibrant Catholicity at some time in the twenty-first century." These are dark words. The struggle is the Roman Catholic Church vs Modernism (secularism). It is as if Mr. Kelly puts on one side: "free choice, autonomy, human rights, good works, brotherhood, fun, tolerance and self-fulfillment." and "the religious demands of a universal order of creation to which they are subject." It seems a hopeless argument. Personally I find it hard to understand how the Roman Catholic Church can be against abortions and also against contraceptives, in a world where hiv and aids are rampant because restraint preserves the dignity of Man. It seems a hopeless argument. This book seems to give the views of the conservative faction of the RCC. Thank you.

Rather than a give the story of philosophy in 50 pages, Dr. McInerny points students of philosophy in a direction such that their philosophical studies might actually benefit their lives. The book is thus a defense of perennial philosophy, and the classical view that philosophy is something humans are "naturally" drawn to do, because it completes our lives. Dr. McInerny engages the reader in argument, as he defends this view against modern views of philosophy, and discusses the nature of certainty, common sense, and the role of science. Its most important value is the great faith in human intellect and reason, implicit throughout the book. This book would make a good beginning for college philosophy classes. A concluding bibliographical appendix by Joshua Hochschild gives a brief overview of main philosophers throughout history, and some good suggestions for reading.

Written in the 15th Century and directed towards monks, this is a devotional for Christian living and Monastic life. While noting the time period helps give depth to the historical backdrop of when Thomas was writing this book, it is perhaps more important to know the audience. The intended audience for The Imitation of Christ was monks. This is obvious in the text and it should be kept in mind while reading this work.

This highly influential work has a very simple message: live like Christ. Presented in this book, it is a very strict message. Thomas takes a very strict interpretation of following Christ and the message is very much rooted in the idea of works. It is the actions that one must perform, and not so much the inner state (though he does stress that the inner state is important). This would be a difficult message to take or to give, but again, we must consider the audience: monks living in a monastery. They must live a harsher life and because of their vows, this devotional makes perfect sense.

This can be read as a historical document in Christianity or as a devotional. Either way, one can find great value and and some illumination of the words of Christ through this volume.

Thomas a Kempis was medival monk and priest (1380-1471) who served as chronicler of the monastery at Mt. St. Agnes. During his long life of scholarship, he wrote several biographies of church fathers and a number of devotional works. The "Imitation of Christ" remains his most famous work and the one that has best stood the test of time. Indeed, one of the wonderful things about this work is that it reminds us that the life of the mind is not a creature of the Enlightenment. Even during the so-called Dark Ages there were brilliant scholars with a wide knowledge of both scripture and philosophy. Reflecting its vibrant insight into the human condition, the "Imitation of Christ" remains influential on both sides of the Reformation divide. It reportedly was, for example, one of John Wesley's favorite devotionals.

The "Imitation of Christ" is divided into 4 books, each undertaking a basic theme for development. They are, respectively, the Spiritual Life, the Inner Life, Inward Consolation, and the Blessed Sacrament (i.e., the Eucharist). In turn, each book is sub-divided into numerous chapters, each a page or two long. All of which makes the "Imitation of Christ" a useful book for daily devotionals. One can skip around freely within the book, dipping in as the mood strikes. Yet, I think one is well-served by reading it through at least once. Only then does one see Thomas' thought in its fully-developed form. Do be sure to get a good translation. I am fond of the one by Leo Sherley-Price.

Thomas a Kempis was medival monk and priest (1380-1471) who served as chronicler of the monastery at Mt. St. Agnes. During his long life of scholarship, he wrote several biographies of church fathers and a number of devotional works. The "Imitation of Christ" remains his most famous work and the one that has best stood the test of time. Indeed, one of the wonderful things about this work is that it reminds us that the life of the mind is not a creature of the Enlightenment. Even during the so-called Dark Ages there were brilliant scholars with a wide knowledge of both scripture and philosophy. Reflecting its vibrant insight into the human condition, the "Imitation of Christ" remains influential on both sides of the Reformation divide. It reportedly was, for example, one of John Wesley's favorite devotionals.

The "Imitation of Christ" is divided into 4 books, each undertaking a basic theme for development. They are, respectively, the Spiritual Life, the Inner Life, Inward Consolation, and the Blessed Sacrament (i.e., the Eucharist). In turn, each book is sub-divided into numerous chapters, each a page or two long. All of which makes the "Imitation of Christ" a useful book for daily devotionals. One can skip around freely within the book, dipping in as the mood strikes. Yet, I think one is well-served by reading it through at least once. Only then does one see Thomas' thought in its fully-developed form. Do be sure to get a good translation. I am fond of the one by Leo Sherley-Price.

In the beginning of this book I found the changing of viewpoints every other chapter disruptive of the flow of the story, but this improved as the book went on. Overall, this is a good book and I would recommend it.

I prefer the Sharon McCone books written only by Marcia Muller, but this book is definitely important to the history of Sharon McCone and is worth reading.

Marcia Muller and Bill Pronzini team up with their characters Sharon McCone and "the nameless detective" to create an intriguing mystery. Sharon and the detective she calls Wolf meet in San Diego at a convention for private investigators. Sharon is also pleased to see an old boss of hers who is now head of security at the hotel where she's staying. When Sharon's friend falls over a balcony, she and Wolf decide that it is no accident and they set about to prove that there has been foul play. Sharon and Wolf take turns telling the story and they each work on bits and pieces of the murder plus other mysterious happenings which seem to be related. This book has a deliciously convoluted plot and a mystery which Muller and Pronzini develop to a crescendo and then reveal to the reader bit by bit. The addition of the character Wolf is a nice departure for this series, and it's interesting to catch a glimpse of McCone's family as well.

Bill Pronzini and Marcia Muller are my 2 favorite mystery writers working today. "Double" offers both Sharon McCone and the Nameless Detective working together. They team up to investigate the murder of Elaine Picard, a former friend of McCone, head of security at the Casa del Ray hotel in San Diego where a private investigator's convention is being held. McCone and Nameless (whom McCone calls "Wolf") alternate chapters. This novel sizzles with action and it is one of my favorites of both Pronzini and Muller. I'm hoping that one day the husband and wife team of Pronzini and Muller will write another joint venture featuring Sharon McCone and the Nameless Detective. An excellent novel that is highly recommended.

Thomas Aquinas was introduced to the "new" Aristotle at the University of Naples and, after becoming a Dominican, studied under Albert the Great at Cologne and edited Albert's commentary on the Ethics of Aristotle. Throughout his career, Thomas exhibits a more-than-ordinary interest in the philosophy of Aristotle and an ever-deeper appreciation of it. Nonetheless, it was relatively late in his short life that he composed a dozen commentaries on Aristotelian works, spurred on, doubtless, by the controversial uses to which Aristotle was put by those in the Faculty of Arts at Paris who are variously called Latin Averroists of Heterodox Aristotelians. These commentaries are among the most careful, helpful, and insightful ever written on the text of Aristotle. It is sometimes mistakenly thought that in them Thomas was somehow "baptizing" Aristotle, wrenching his thought into conformity with Christian doctrine. No one who reads the commentaries could long entertain this libelous view of them. The English translation of the text of Aristotle was made from the Cathala-Spiazzi Latin edition. Some inaccuracies exist; for instance, "ithos" is more correctly translated as "character" and "ethos" should be rendered as simply "habit." Students of Greek should probably have another translation close at hand. At any rate, Aquinas did not impose his own worldview on the Ethics; he used Aristotle to interpret Aristotle (he makes references only to other parts of the Ethics and to other Aristotelian works). His achievement stood as the standard commentary for centuries, and scholars such as Paul Shorey say that it is the least likely "to mislead and confuse the student."

As with the other commentaries from Dumb Ox Books, this text contains both the original text from Aristotle, and Aquinas' comments. These two texts are nicely distinguishable for the lay reader (or beginning reader) since Dumb Ox has put Aristotle's work in italics and Aquinas' commentary in normal typed text.

This is a very helpful text in understanding two things. First, what Aquinas thought of Aristotle's work and second, how Aristotle's work affected one of the greatest mind in philosophical history. However, Aquinas is not always as detailed as I would have liked him to be. Sometimes he merely describes what Aristotle is saying and this is often times obvious just by merely reading Aristotle. At other times, Aquinas gives great detail as to why he thinks Aristotle is saying or teaching certain things and this helps to bring Aristotle's text to life. There are other places in Aquinas' commentary where I question whether that is really Aristotle's thought or Aquinas' ideas imposed on Aristotle's thought. However, overall, the text is quite helpful in gaininga better grasp of Aristotle and Aquinas' thoughts.

There are several difficulties in reading Aquinas' commentaries to Aristotle. First, Aquinas did not know the Greek language and thus he is translating the Latin texts of Aristotle written probably by the Arabic philosophers of the medieval period (the philosophers of that time who actually "revived" Aristotle). Secondly, that being the case there are some interpretative discrepancies in the text. However, overall the text is quite helpful in gaining a little better grasp on Aristotle's ethics.

This text needs to be kept in print if for no other reason than future generations of philosophy students should have the privilege of being able to read a text which contains two of the greatest minds in philosophical history. You can make that possible by purchasing this text from Amazon.

What struck me is that this book analyzes natural law within a legal context: many of the contributing authors are attorneys as well as philosopher. This is particularly helpful to our nation today, as I think more citizens will have to reassess the role of the judiciary these days.

For the latter half of the 20th century, worries over "judicial acitivism" and judges' making decisions that should be made by legislatures have been the domain of conservatives, with Roe v. Wade probably being the chief example. But now liberals have said similar things about the Supreme Court's Bush v. Gore decision. It is high time for intelligent discussion, and this book is a solid foundation for a dialogue.

By looking at natural law historically, legally, and philosophically, the authors of this book examine how natural law works and various challenges to it. This book is a very good introduction, and I have come away with a greater respect for natural law and its vital role in our nation, and also new questions to pursue (and more books to buy...).

The contributing authors are an impressive team of formidable thinkers, and while most of the writers clearly come from a religious background, the are pretty good about keeping what they say applicable to a secular society (the last two essays tend to be more theological than philosophical, and I thought that hurt their impact).

I think MacIntyre's essay on the role of the ordinary person in natural law is particularly valuable: if the American citizenry cannot execute sound moral judgment, our nation as a constitutional republic is in grave danger. Fuller's essay on Locke's struggles with natural law is an honest and challenging look at natural law's theoretical chinks. Riley's essay on tort law gave excellent lessons on liability, but with lawsuits being as common as they are nowadays, I would have hoped for more practical insights on today's situation, and possible remedies.

On the whole, this book is a good read and a good challenge. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in ethics or concerned about the present condition of the United States.

Common Truths: New Perspectives On Natural Law is a collection consisting of cogent remarks and prescient essays: Are There Moral Truths That Everyone Knows? (Ralph McInerny); Natural Law: The Legacy of Greece and Rome (J. Rufus Fears); Aquinas, Natural Law, and the Challenges of Diversity (John Jenkins); John Locke's Reflections on Natural Law and the Character of the Modern World (Timothy Fuller); Theories of Natural Law in the Culture of Advanced Modernity (Alasdair MacIntyre); What Dignity Means (Virginia Black); Natural Law and Positive Law (Robert P. George); Natural Rights and the Limited of Constitutional Law (Russell Hittinger); Natural Law and Sexual Ethics (Janet E. Smith); Contract Law and Natural Law (Edward J. Murphy); Tort Law and Natural Law (William N. Riley); Criminal Law and Natural Law (Ian A.T. McLean); and Natural Law in the Twenty-First Century (Charles E. Rice). Common Truths is scholarly, intellectually stimulating reading for anyone wanting to better understand and appreciate the permanent norms of human action and their relationships to a moral and political life.

To be honest, I do not not care for most of McInerny's works. This is a nice exception. I found the translation clear and the discussion of Aquinas' ethics helpful. Anyone who is interested in Aquinas' ethical theory will surely want to obtain a copy.

Unless you are a Thomist or you are really serious about Ethical theory, you probably don't need this book. However, if you fit either of the above categories, you should own this. One cannot possess all of Aquinas' works (out of print, in Latin etc.), so when something like this comes into print - you'd best get it, if you're interested.

McInerny's Preface is accurate and helpful. His translation is trustworthy. I think its wonderful that Dr. McInerny took up the task to publish this text of Aquinas'. The "Disputed Questions" is written in the usual Scholastic manner.... and the 13 articles of discussion include: "Are virtues habits?" "Can the will be a subject of virtue?" "Are the virtues in us by nature?"

The book itself is a glossy hardcover, the pages are durable and the font is readable and uncluttered.

Fans of Father Dowling will not be disappointed in Last Things. In fact, I found it better than most of the previous titles, because of its interesting characters. I liked the plot line following the development of Raymond, the fallen away priest, and also Jessica, the aspriring novelist. I found the insights into their thoughts the most interesting aspects of this novel. The "mystery", however, is easily guessed at way before Dowling "solves" it. But that is not why we read these books, is it? It is to enjoy the company of Fr. Dowling, Marie Murkin, and the denizens of Fox River for awhile. And that makes this a very satisfying read.

Father Roger Dowling, the priest of St. Hilary's church in Fox River, Illinois, is rather shocked when Eleanor Wygnant who is not a member of his congregation, asks him to stop Jessica Bernardo from writing a book about her family. Realizing that Jessica's doings are not his concerns, he refuses to talk to the woman. The Bernardos are going through a difficult time of it right now with the patriarch of the family hospitalized and not expected to survive.

His son Raymond, who he hasn't seen in a decade, returns home knowing that his father despises his for leaving the priesthood and running away to California with a woman he later marries. Eleanor is worried that once Raymond's father dies, the love letter she wrote him during an affair will become public and hurt her sister-in-law. Raymond's younger brother Andrew, a college teacher with tenure is being held in jail on a homicide charge. Father Dowling doesn't think Andrew is guilty and sets about to prove it.

LAST THINGS is a very entertaining amateur sleuth novel starring a protagonist who is so likable readers will feel an immediate bond with him. Much of this novel is a relationship drama starring the Bernardo family and it is only the last quarter when the mystery really takes off. In fact, this is one Father Dowling mystery in which the popular priest plays a secondary albeit important role. Ralph McInerny has written another pleasing who done it.

Harriet Klausner

Joseph Primero, wealthy Catholic book collector, discovers that some of his most valuable works have been stolen and hires detectives (and Notre Dame professor) Roger and Philip Knight to find the thief. The obvious suspect, Primero's estranged wife Bianca, admits to hating Primero's books, but Primero won't believe the Knight's evidence. When Bianca is discovered dead, the Knights feel compelled to add this to the list of crimes to be investigated.

The problem is not a lack of motives. Bianca's lover is a lawyer recently engaged to a Notre Dame alumnae. Either the lawyer or his fiancee Dolores would have reason to take steps to eliminate the grasping and vindictive woman. Dolores's former love interest is strangely compelled to protect her from the lawyer--setting him up as the fall guy might win back his former love. Primero loved his wife, but could he have been pushed too far. Primero's favorite candidate is his archivist who cannot deny both a fascination and an aversion to the victim.

Moving among familiar landmarks on the Notre Dame campus, and mixing detection with Catholic thought, the Knight brothers uncover plenty of facts about the case. But facts, themselves, can be interpreted in multiple ways.

As with the previous mysteries in this series, author Ralph McInerny provides a smooth and fast-moving mystery. The selection of two dissimilar brothers, one a career detective and the other an overweight Catholic intellectual makes for interesting contrasts and the opportunity to approach the mystery from intellectual and ethical points of view rather than as a simple fact-finding mission.

McInerny's women seem less well crafted than the male characters, allmost all of whom wrestle with moral dilemnas (in contrast, the women hurry to throw off their careers to get married and plan weddings). Still, this doesn't prevent EMERALD AISLE from being an enjoyable fast read.

Six years ago, two freshmen, Larry Morton and Dolores Torre, met in a Notre Dame University philosophy class in which they debated Socrates' death. They began seeing one another, fell in love, and planned to marry. Larry and Dolores reserve Notre Dame's Basilica of the Sacred Heart for a June 17, 2002 wedding. However, the couple goes their separate ways after obtaining their undergraduate degrees. Larry goes on to Notre Dame Law School and Dolores becomes a personal assistant to attorney Dudley Fyte in Minneapolis.

Dudley and Dolores decide to marry and use the June reservation, but so do Larry and his fiancee Nancy Beatty. Larry goes to Minneapolis to talk with Dolores. Meanwhile, Professor Roger Knight and his brother Private Investigator Philip work on a case of valuable documents stolen from Joseph Primero's Cardinal Newman collection that one day will go to Notre Dame. Coincidentally, Joseph's estranged wife Bianca has had an affair with Dudley and is soon murdered. The Knight siblings try to catch a killer, learn who purloined the valuable books, and straighten out affairs of the heart.

EMERALD AISLE is an engaging who-done-it that employs too much coincidence, but still retains a fun to read plot. The story line entices the audience because the reader understands the motives of the key secondary cast. This novel and its four predecessors provide enlightenment on the university including the reference to the championship women's basketball team. Ralph McInerny provides a pleasant academic mystery starring two likable chaps.

There's nothing for me to add to Booklist's editorial review concerning the setting or plot. Suffice it to say that the plot thickens agreeably, one of the motives is singularly original, and there are plenty of the brief philosophical observations we have come to associate with McInerny's writings. Highly recommended (though of course you might want to at least sample the earlier volumes in the series first).

I was reviewing the section on the Sacraments in this book, specifically, the parts on the Holy Eucharist, and noticed that the 'form' (the words of consecration) of this Sacrament is exactly ICEL's MIS-translation of the Canon of the Latin Novus Ordo, and a MIS-translation of the Canon of the ancient Roman Mass. I had to ask "What did St. Thomas really say?" I went to several older translations of his work (the Summa Theologica) and this book completely mis-states what St. Thomas wrote. This is important for many reasons, but one of them is that these words of consecration have been part of internal Church contention in recent years when the new Sacraments were issued in 1970. This book should be avoided, but there are others that are more faithful translations, such as "A Tour of the Summa" by Glenn.

Despite the book's title, strictly speaking, Thomas Aquinas never wrote a catechism. What he did do was give a series of sermons in 1273, which have since come to be known under the following titles:

Explanation of the Apostles' Creed

Explanation of the Lord's Prayer

Explanation of the Hail Mary

Explanation of the Ten Commandments

The Articles of Faith and the Heresies Against Each

These works have been collected together in "The Aquinas Catechism", but have also been available elsewhere individually and in different combinations ("The Three Greatest Prayers", for example, includes the first three listed works, and "God's Greatest Gifts" contains the last two).

These works differ from more typical works of Thomas in two important ways:

First, Thomas left us with no authoritative written form of them - what we have is a summary of what was said taken by a member of the audience. While that summary was likely quite faithful (the sermons were a major event ; it was recorded by a contemporary that "almost the whole population of Naples went to hear his sermons every day."), the notes should not be assumed to have been word-for-word accurate. Another factor to be taken into account with regard to accuracy is the fact that the sermons were given in the native Neapolitan dialect, whereas the written form passed down is in Latin - so this book is a double-translation (Neapolitan to Latin to English). Finally, the general medieval scribal practice of adding "clarifications" to texts they were copying further distances us from the original sermons. These factors do not mean that what we have is suspect, but it does mean that close textual analysis can only be done with great caution.

Second, the audience for these works was a general lay audience, who would not have been able to understand the specialized philosophical and theological vocabulary that Thomas generally used. As a result, these works were and are in ordinary language - no special training or preparation is required to be able to understand them. Time has not reduced their accessibility - there is nothing here that should intimidate a modern reader (there are some references to "matter" and "form" in the presentation of the sacraments, but readers do not need to understand the full Aristotelian meaning of these terms to understand Thomas's teaching).

That said, the works retain perhaps the most prominent characteristic of all of Thomas's writing, a careful and systematic thoroughness expressed through a strong structural presentation. Topics are broken down, then broken down again, and again, as needed, and each sub-sub-topic is carefully examined and clearly explained.

While Thomas always wrote clearly, he seldom did so without use of a technical vocabulary which acts as a barrier to many readers. One of the nice things about these works is that Thomas here is much more approachable, but he still is going into some pretty tough subjects. Here, for example, is part of his description of the Incarnation:

"In the first place, without doubt, nothing is more like the Word of God than the unvoiced word which is conceived in man's heart. Now, the word conceived in the heart is unknown to all except the one who conceives it; it is first known to others when he gives utterance to it. Thus, the Word of God while yet in the bosom of the Father was known to the Father alone; but when he was clothed with flesh as a word is clothed with the voice, then He was first made manifest and known."

With regard to the subject matter of these works, the subjects of the first four are easily guessed from their titles. For each, Thomas gives a careful, line-by-line reading and commentary. The last work in the collection is different from the others in two ways: first, its subject matter is not easily guessed from the title and it is not a commentary on a text - it is an explanation of the sacraments: what they consist of, and what they are for. Although the title given to this collection, "The Aquinas Catechism", is in one sense misleading, in another it is not. The range of topics covered and the method of presentation do in fact correspond with what a catechism should be. If one compares it, for example, with the recently published "Catechism of the Catholic Church", the equivalencies are immediately obvious - there is no major section of that new work that has no corresponding section in "The Aquinas Catechism" collection.

Finally, with regard to the supporting material, the editorial presence is mostly visible in how the text was formatted - the hierarchical structure implicit in the works is made explicit through use of numbers, paragraph breaks, and carefully applied highlighting. There is also a brief forward by Ralph MacInerny, a pair of outlines of the works (a brief one in the table of contents, and a detailed one in an appendix), references for all quotations, scriptural and others, and a two page biography of Thomas. There is no index, but one isn't really needed - the work is so well-structured that it is trivially easy to find almost any point of interest.

This is a lovely book, edited for the modern reader, of some of the last sermons of Thomas Aquinas. It is not designed for the theologian (who has the Summa), or for the reasearcher in midaeval sermons (for it is edited and supplemented to be clear to moderns), but for the layman who wants a clear outline of the faith, from the Apostle's Creed (what do we believe?) to the Lord's Prayer and the Hail Mary(how should we respond?) to the Ten Commandments (how should we live?) to a short section on the Sacraments (How does the Church nourish us?). The kindness and holiness of Thomas shines through the book. Buy it, read it, share it.