Ignatius Press Book Giveaway!
"Find out how much God has given you and from it take what you need; the remainder is needed by others." - St. Augustine
Since I've built up a large collection of extra books and resources, every week I give some away absolutely free, no strings attached.
Each giveaway lasts seven days with a new one beginning every Friday. You can enter any time during the week. Check out my past giveaways here.
Thanks to Carmel Communications, I'm giving away FIVE just-released books from Ignatius Press. One winner will receive all five titles, including:
By What Authority?: An Evangelical Discovers Catholic Tradition
by Mark Shea
Ignatius Press, 231 pages, paperback
Released on September 23, 2013
In this newly updated, expanded version of his popular work of apologetics, Shea presents a lively and entertaining look at his conversion to Catholicism from Evangelicalism and his discovery of Christian tradition. As an Evangelical, Shea accepted the principle of "sola scriptura" (Scripture alone) as the basis of faith. Now as a Catholic convert, he skillfully explains how and why Sacred Tradition occupies a central role in Divine Revelation.
Tracing his own journey of intellectual and spiritual awakening, Shea begins by looking for a rejoinder to those modern-day false prophets who would claim that Scripture itself is not to be trusted, and ends with his conviction that tradition, as explained by the Catholic Church, is the only sure guarantee of the truth of the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Pope Francis - Our Brother, Our Friend: Personal Recollections about the Man Who Became Pope
by Alejandro Bermudez
Ignatius Press, 176 pages, hardcover
Released on September 16, 2013
Before becoming Pope Francis, Fr. Jorge Bergoglio, as a Jesuit priest in Argentina, served the Jesuit order and the Church in a variety of functions: professor, spiritual director, master of novices, provincial, and eventually Cardinal Archbishop of Buenos Aires.
This fascinating new look at Pope Francis presents the personal insights of ten Jesuits, many who have known him since his first days as a Jesuit, and were interviewed for this book shortly after he was elected the Pope. Some were his professors, some his peers, and some younger Jesuits who were his students. Also interviewed for this book are non-Jesuits, including an Argentine senator, a prominent rabbi, a priest working in the slums of Buenos Aires that Bergoglio often visited.
Their remarks are focused on different aspects of the man, including his family background, his abilities, and his personality as administrator, as friend, as teacher, as a guide, etc. Some of the predominant aspects of his personality to emerge are his longstanding simplicity and authentic spirituality; his concern for the individual and the poor; his desire for the Church to go out to the street to meet the needs of the people. More controversial issues discussed include his dealing with the issue of "Liberation Theology" and his relationship with the military regime in Argentina.
These interviews essentially transmit a mosaic that reveals little-known insights of the pontiff's personality, of his interior world, his human abilities, his work habits, his devotions, his concerns, and his friendships. Thus, they open a fascinating door to a better understanding of the man whom the Holy Spirit has elected to lead the Church at this time.
Reasonable Pleasures: The Strange Coherences of Catholicism
by Fr. James Schall
Ignatius Press, 218 pages, paperback
Released on September 30, 2013
The fact of pleasure is obvious to us, but its relation to reason is less understood. We are beings who laugh and run, sing and dance, but we too seldom reflect on why we do these things. Above all, we are beings who think and who want to know whether our lives make sense.
In this thought-provoking study of the relationship between our reason and our experience of pleasure, popular professor and author Fr. James Schall shows how reason, religion and pleasure are not in conflict with one another. Religion has to do with how man relates to God. Catholicism is not so much a religion as a revelation. It records and recalls how God relates to man.
The popular mood of our time is that neither religion nor revelation has much to do with real life. Yet when we look at things as having meaning and order, they fit together in surprising ways. This coherence should bring us joy, and teach us how reason, religion and pleasure can work together for our benefit. Schall shows us in this book why we have many reasons to think that our lives make sense, that our pleasures can be reasonable, and our reason itself is a pleasure.
How to Share Your Faith with Anyone: A Practical Manual of Catholic Evangelization
by Terry Barber
Ignatius Press, 164 pages, paperback
Released on September 25, 2013
Recent popes have challenged all Catholics to participate in the New Evangelization. But most Catholics feel ill-equipped to take up the challenge.
Terry Barber, founder of St. Joseph Communications, has written a practical guide that takes much of the pain and uncertainty out of sharing one's faith. Based on Barber's decades of personal experience as an effective evangelist and masterful communicator, and drawing on the perceptions, examples, and lessons of other great evangelists and apologists, How to Share Your Faith with Anyone informs, entertains, and inspires would-be, as well as, seasoned evangelists and teachers.
Barber uses clear examples and insightful stories to explain such topics as:
- What evangelization is
- Why Catholic often don't evangelize
- Preparing to be an evangelist
- The eight laws of effectively sharing the faith with anyone
- Jesus the perfect Evangelizer
- The heart of evangelization
- How to share your personal testimony
Barber explains how to bring people to Christ and to his Church without compromise or conflict. This is a superb, easy-to-follow playbook for the New Evangelization.
Faith of the Fatherless: The Psychology of Atheism
by Paul C. Vitz
Ignatius Press, 232 pages, paperback
Released on October 18, 2013
In this updated, expanded edition, starting with Freud's "projection theory" of religion—that belief in God is merely a product of man's desire for security—Professor Vitz argues that psychoanalysis actually provides a more satisfying explanation for atheism. Disappointment in one's earthly father, whether through death, absence, or mistreatment, frequently leads to a rejection of God.
A biographical survey of influential atheists of the past four centuries shows that this "defective father hypothesis" provides a consistent explanation of the "intense atheism" of these thinkers. A survey of the leading defenders of Christianity over the same period confirms the hypothesis, finding few defective fathers. Vitz concludes with an intriguing comparison of male and female atheists and a consideration of other psychological factors that can contribute to atheism.
Professor Vitz does not argue that atheism is psychologically determined. Each man, whatever his experiences, ultimately chooses to accept God or reject him. Yet the cavalier attribution of religious faith to irrational, psychological needs is so prevalent that an exposition of the psychological factors predisposing one to atheism is necessary.
I'm using Rafflecopter to help with the giveaway, which is great because it gives you multiple entries for commenting, posting on Facebook, sharing on Twitter, etc. Click below to enter:
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The winner(s) will be randomly selected next Friday and the books will be sent out, free of charge, shortly thereafter.
In the future I'll be giving away more books and resources, sometimes multiple items per giveaway! So subscribe via feed reader or email to ensure you never miss your chance to win.
(Since I'm covering the shipping costs, only residents within the continental United States are eligible to win.)
