various suggestions for Verbum/Logos
Verbum has become a tremendous resource for Catholics who wish to study Scripture and Tradition. New resources and pre-pubs promise to continue to increase the software's value and usefulness. Still, there is always room for a little improvement. So, here are a few suggestions:
1) New Commentary on the Code of Canon Law (Paulist Press): The biggest gap in the current Verbum lineup is a good commentary on the current canon law of the Church. A number of commentaries are available, each with their own strengths. Of them all, this one would be most useful in Verbum not only because of the commentaries themselves but because of the many links to other sources, such as Vatican II documents. This commentary would be most useful in Verbum/Logos. It would also make the works on the 1917 Code that Faithlife has in the pipeline still more useful, because of the links.
2) New Jerome Biblical Commentary: This is a revised version of the original JBC, and published in the 1990's. Because this is a one-volume work, the commentaries on each book of Scripture are a bit brief. However, there are a number of very good articles on Biblical interpretation in general, and many links that would make this a great starting point for Verbum research.
3) The Ten Commandments (Interpretation series) by Patrick Miller: No, in case you're wondering, Miller isn't Catholic. But he has put together a great commentary on the Ten Commandments and their trajectory through the Scriptures that is well worth reading for any serious student of the Bible.
4) The Institutes and The Conferences, by John Cassian: Not the edited Schaff translation, but the newer scholarly editions translated by Colm Lubheid. Foundational documents for Western monastic practice and spirituality. The sections on the eight evil thoughts in Institutes and the first ten Conferences in particular are still works of great spiritual and psychological insight. The notes and commentary have links that would, once again, make these books valuable in Verbum. I've also found these works very valuable in the discernment of my own calling as a priest/hermit.
5) These works by Denys Turner: Thomas Aquinas, Julian of Norwich, The Darkness of God, and Faith, Reason and the Existence of God. The first two are the best little works on Thomas and Julian that I have yet seen. The third looks at the Western mystical tradition and how they understood "experience" (in contrast to how we understand it), and how easily contemporary popular works can misread people like Julian or Eckhart. The fourth examines the teaching of Vatican I that the existence of God can indeed be known through human reason. None of these are light reading, but they will repay slow, thoughtful reading.
6) Catholicism by Robert Barron: One of the best one-volume introductions to the Catholic faith (outside of the Catechism) that one can find. A good starting point for study and reflection on a number of topics.
7) Quest for the Living God and Ask the Beasts by Elizabeth Johnson: As a good Catholic, I had to have seven suggestions! Johnson's approach has been questioned in some quarters, but her work should not be missed by any serious student of Catholic theology. In the first, she presents a number of insights into the ways of God that have come from the experiences and reflections of various people in the last century. As such, it also functions as a good summary of approaches to the theology of God during this time. Ask the Beasts is an effort to read Darwin's theory of evolution through Christian eyes. It makes particularly interesting reading if you also read Laudato Si alongside it. (Laudato Si could be an eighth suggestion!)
I have tried to focus on works that are not only worthwhile in themselves, but which also would be more useful in the Verbum/Logos format. I hope that Faithlife can offer some of these eventually.
Comments
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Excellent suggestions, I have been asking about New Jerome for years.
I would add as many of Fr. Barron's video series as is possible. Video is working pretty well in Verbum as shown in the Mobile Education series, time to expand that!
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I enjoyed your list of suggestions and would agree that all of it would be beneficial. I'd appreciate seeing the works by Denys Turner and Elizabeth Johnson. Robert Barron is a great communicator, and it would be really good to see more of his resources in Logos.
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Interesting list. As you find that Logos has them on CP or Pre-Pub kindly update this thread to remind us so we can order them.
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Mark Nolette said:
The Institutes and The Conferences, by John Cassian: Not the edited Schaff translation, but the newer scholarly editions translated by Colm Lubheid.
Colm Luibheid's translation of Cassian's Conferences is part of the Classics of Western Spirituality. I don't see a translation by him of the Institutes. Are you thinking of Boniface Ramsey's translation, which is part of the Ancient Christian Writers series? [Correction: We have Ramsey's ACW Conferences, but didn't get his Institutes. I'll look into that, but there were a few ACW volumes we weren't able to license because of rights complications. This may have been one of them.]
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Hi, Louis,
My mistake! I meant Boniface Ramsey for both. Thanks for checking!
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