Meet Horton Moon, a street-wise (if improvident) family man trying to get by as best he can in Depression-era Minneapolis. Beside the hard times, Moon does battle with his own demons: a fickle heart, a taste for the drink, and a bad habit of slipping rather too easily from one side of the law to the other. When he meets a remarkable young girl newly arrived in the city from the Dakota plains, Moon falls in love and falls off the edge. His marriage disintegrates, he loses his job and his bearings, and he steps into a dark underworld of crime and retribution.

Few know that the great St. Thomas Aquinas, although he was a towering intellectual, also wrote much that's well within the reach of ordinary believers. In The Aquinas Catechism you'll find his deeply insightful, straightforward, and clear explanations of the Apostles' Creed, the Commandments, and the Sacraments -- as well as of the Lord's Prayer and the Hail Mary.

In other words, this book will give you a basic course in the Catholic Faith, taught by the Church's greatest theologian. Let St. Thomas teach you how to explain, defend, and live your Faith . . . with the clear-sighted wisdom of a saint!

This lively and highly accessible introduction to the thought of Thomas Aquinas focuses on his philosophy while making clear its openness to theology as reflection on Revelation.
Introduces students this great philosopher of the middle ages in one short book.
Brings together alternative approaches to Aquinas' thought.
Uses key texts to describe the trajectory of Aquinas' philosophy and the legacy it left behind.
This is the first title in a new Polity series, Classic Thinkers.

Volume 2 of "The Writings of Charles De Koninck"is part of the three-volume series presenting the first English edition of the collected works of the Catholic Thomist philosopher Charles De Koninck (1906-1965). Ralph McInerny is the project editor and has prepared the excellent translations.The second volume begins with two works published in 1943: "Ego Sapientia: The Wisdom That Is Mary," De Koninck's first study in Mariology, and "The Primacy of the Common Good Against the Personalists" (with "The Principle of the New Order"), which generated a strong critical reaction. Included in this volume are two reviews of "The Primacy of the Common Good," by Yves R. Simon and I. Thomas Eschmann, O.P., and De Koninck's substantial response to Eschmann in his lengthy "In Defense of St. Thomas." The volume concludes with a group of short essays: "The Dialectic of Limits as Critique of Reason," "Notes on Marxism," "This Is a Hard Saying," " Review of] "Between Heaven and Earth,"" and "Concept, Process, and Reality."

"Volume Two of "The Writings of Charles De Koninck"reveals a Thomist at home not merely in the deepest questions of natural science and natural philosophy, but also in the highest reaches of ethical and political philosophy, and in the most wonderful realm of revealed theology. De Koninck combines a justified confidence in his wisdom about the highest things with humility and gratitude for the gift of that wisdom. The series edited by Dr. McInerny is taking shape as a recovered treasure of a philosopher who labored to receive, and to pass on, the gift of wisdom." --David Quackenbush, Thomas Aquinas College

Murder Most Divine is an anthology of short stories in which the murders are solved by clergy using the cleverest of methods.

In Characters In Search of Their Author, the Gifford Lectures delivered at the University of Glasgow in 1999-2000, Ralph McInerny discusses natural theology as it can be discussed in the present philosophical climate. The first five lectures ask "Whatever Happened to Natural Theology?", and trace the fate of philosophical efforts to establish the existence and nature of God in modern times. In the second set of lectures, dealing with "The Recovery of Natural Theology," McInerny defends the viability of the philosophical effort against certain dominant trends in contemporary philosophy. It has been the practise of Gifford Lecturers to write a book based on the lectures, often years after the event. This book contains the text of the lectures McInerny actually delivered.

Jacques Maritain's An Introduction to Philosophy was first published in 1931. Since then, this book has stood the test of time as a clear guide to what philosophy is and how to philosophize. Inspired by the Thomistic Revival called for by Leo XIII, Maritain relies heavily on Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas to shape a philosophy that, far from sectarian theology in disguise, is driven by reason and engages the modern world. Re-released as part of the Sheed & Ward Classic series, An Introduction to Philosophy is sure to enliven the minds of students and general readers for years to come. From the new introduction by Ralph McInerny: You are about to read a magnificent introduction not only to a kind of philosophy but to philosophizing itself. Jacques Maritain was a relatively young man when he wrote this book, but his effort is one that attracts any philosopher more and more as he grows older. However odd and unusual what he says becomes, the philosopher yearns to show how even the most abstruse claims can be put into relation with what the reader already knows. That, in its essence, is what teaching is. In this book, the reader will find a wise and certain guide into philosophizing as such. And, in the end, he will find that what he reads is really only a refinement and development of what he and everybody else already knew.

The murder mysteries that make up this unusual anthology all have one thing in common: the hero or heroine who solves the crime is a Catholic cleric. Perhaps that should not be surprising, for since the time of G. K. Chesterton those who have explored stories with a religious belief or background have tended to place them in the Middle Ages. And during that time most Christians were in one way or another connected to the Catholic church. From Chesterton’s classic priest-turned-detective Father Brown to Peter Tremayne’s historical Celtic nun and lawyer, Sister Fidelma, religious men and women put aside their professional duties for a moment to take up an altogether different vocation for a short time—that of detective and solver of crimes unspeakable. The stories in this collection of Catholic clerical sleuthing includes: "Whispers of the Dead" by Peter Tremayne • "Bless Me Father, For I Have Sinned" by Ed Gorman • "Death by Fire" by Anne Perry and Malachi Saxon • "The Arrow of Ice" by Edward D. Hoch • "The Rag and Bone Man" by Lillian Stewart Carl • "Divine Justice" by Charles Meyer • "Cemetery of the Innocents" by Stephen Dentinger • "Veronica’s Veil" by Monica Quill • "Lowly Death" by Margaret Frazer • "Ex Libris" by Kate Gallison • "A Clerical Error" by Michael Jecks • "Through a Glass, Darkly" by Kate Charles • "The Knight’s Confession" by P. C. Doherty • "The Shorn Lamb" by Ralph McInerny

The murder mysteries that make up this unusual anthology all have one thing in common: the hero or heroine who solves the crime is a Catholic cleric. From Chesterton's classic priest-turned-detective Father Brown to Peter Tremayne's historical Celtic nun and lawyer, Sister Fidelma, religious men and women put aside their professional duties for a moment to take up an altogether different vocation for a short time - that of detective and solver of crimes unspeakable. The stories in this collection of Catholic clerical sleuthing includes: Whispers of the Dead by Peter Tremayne - Bless Me Father, For I Have Sinned by Ed Gorman - Death by Fire by Anne Perry and Malachi Saxon - The Arrow of Ice by Edward D. Hoch - The Rag and Bone Man by Lillian Stewart Carl - Divine Justice by Charles Meyer - Cemetery of the Innocents by Stephen Dentinger - Veronica's Veil by Monica Quill - Lowly Death by Margaret Frazer - Ex Libris by Kate Gallison - A Clerical Error by Michael Jecks - Through a Glass, Darkly by Kate Charles - The Knight's Confession by P. C. Doherty - The Shorn Lamb by Ralph McInerny

Although scholarship has long recognized the centrality of the Trinity in the theology of Hans Urs von Balthasar, no sustained treatment of this theme has been published until now. In this insightful new book, The Trinitarian Theology of Hans Urs von Balthasar, Brendan McInerny fills this gap, situating Balthasar's trinitarian theology in conversation with both the wider Christian theological tradition and his non-Christian intellectual contemporaries. Drawing from across Balthasar's extensive body of works, McInerny argues that Balthasar's vivid description of the immanent Trinity provides a way to speak of how "God is love" in himself, beyond his relationship to creatures. He then shows how Balthasar's speculation into the immanent Trinity serves as the substructure of his theology of deification. For Balthasar, what we say about the inner life of God matters because we are called to share in that very life through Christ and the Holy Spirit, to the glory of God the Father. Finally, responding to the criticisms that Balthasar's speculations into the inner life of God are without warrant, McInerny argues that Balthasar's bold trinitarian claims are actually a vehicle for apophatic theology. Balthasar's vivid description of the triune God does not transgress the boundaries of theological discourse. Rather, it manifests God's ever-greater incomprehensibility through verbal excess, oxymoron, and paradox.

"Dante and the Blessed Virgin "is distinguished philosopher Ralph McInerny's eloquent reading of one of western literature's most famous works by a Catholic writer. The book provides Catholic readers new to Dante's "The Divine Comedy "(or "Commedia") with a concise companion volume. McInerny argues that the Blessed Virgin Mary is the key to Dante. She is behind the scenes at the very beginning of the "Commedia," and she is found at the end in the magnificent closing cantos of the "Paradiso." McInerny also discusses Dante's "Vita Nuova," where Mary is present as the object of the young Beatrice's devotion.

McInerny draws from a diverse group of writers throughout this book, including Plato, Aristotle, St. Bernard, St. Bonaventure, St. Thomas Aquinas, and George Santayana, among others. It is St. Thomas, however, to whom McInerny most often turns, and this book also provides an accessible introduction to Thomistic moral philosophy focusing on the appetites, the ordering of goods, the distinction between the natural and the supernatural orders, the classification of capital vices and virtues, and the nature of the theological virtues. This engagingly written book will serve as a source of inspiration and devotion for anyone approaching Dante's work for the first time as well as those who value the work of Ralph McInerny.

"Dante was a literary genius with a profound understanding of St. Thomas Aquinas and the "philosophia perennis" that structured and permeated the "Divina Commedia." Who better to help us get beyond the (brilliant) surface to the depths of Dante than the most literarily genial of Thomas' twentieth (and twenty-first) century disciples, the indefatigable Ralph McInerny? Dante needed guides, from Vergil to Beatrice, to reach the summit of "Paradiso." Fortunately, we have Ralph McInerny to accompany us on the same journey." --Fr. Joseph Fessio, S.J., Founder and Editor, Ignatius Press

"Weaving together poetry, philosophy and theology, Ralph McInerny shows that 'the Blessed Virgin Mary is the key to Dante.' Starting with the "Vita Nuova "and the beginning of the "Divine Comedy," this becomes ever more explicit throughout the great poem, till the magnificent closing cantos of the "Paradiso." The book is beautifully written, making sense of every step, however complex at times, of the great journey to the gate of heaven described by Dante in the "Commedia," drawing on Scripture, on Aquinas, on philosophers like Aristotle, on a medley of modern and contemporary writers, with immense learning, always worn lightly and made easily accessible. Dominant are themes that concern everyone, such as love or happiness, are treated with freshness and clarity so the reader is made to feel he or she is discovering them anew. The total effect is joy induced by the incredible wealth of content of this little book and by the light it sheds on so many vital issues." --Thomas De Koninck, Laval University

The essays in Modernity and Religion comprise the reflections of eight seminal thinkers on various aspects of the problems of modern thought and its attitude toward religion. The effort to free intellectual pursuits from the influence of religion was a hallmark of the modern world. However, despite the many blessings and advances of the modern age - many of which were initially opposed by the Church - the assumption that humans can prosper when their relation to God has been broken has been disproved in a myriad of ways in recent decades. Thus, rethinking the roots of modernity has become imperative and reexamining the modern attitude toward religious belief provides the most radical critique. By concentrating on the supposed chasms between modern thought and the assumptions of Christianity the contributors do much more than show that modernity has failed by its own standards; they also demonstrate that there are truths about humans and their relations to others and to God that are necessary components of any epoch, past or present.

'This story will compel you to both laugh and cry, just as the title promises. May we all bring Nora's honesty, passion and hope to our lives' Lena Dunham This isn't a cancer story. It's a love story. Twenty-something Nora bounced from boyfriend to dopey 'boyfriend' until she met Aaron - a charismatic art director and comic-book nerd who made her laugh. When Aaron was diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer, they refused to let it limit their love. They got engaged on Aaron's hospital bed and had a baby boy while he was on chemo. In the period that followed, Nora and Aaron packed fifty years of marriage into the three they had, spending their time on what really mattered to them: Buffy the Vampire Slayer re-runs, each other and Beyonce. A few months later, Aaron died in Nora's arms. The wildly creative obituary they wrote during Aaron's hospice care touched the hearts of many. With It's Okay to Laugh, Nora puts a young, fresh twist on the subjects of mortality and resilience. What does it actually mean to live your own wild and precious life to the fullest? How can a marriage that contains more sickness than health be so joyful? How do you keep going when life kicks you in the gut? Deeply moving and funny, It's Okay to Laugh is a love letter to life, in all its messy glory.

First published fifteen years ago, Ethica Thomistica is widely recognized as one of the finest introductions to St. Thomas's moral philosophy. Though the book has been out of print for several years, scholars and students still refer to it as the standard resource on Thomistic ethics. In this much-anticipated, revised edition, Ralph McInerny revisits the basics of Thomas's teachings and offers a brief, intelligible, and persuasive summary.

Natural Law Today: The Present State of the Perennial Philosophy explains and defends various aspects of traditional natural law ethical theory, which is rooted in a broad understanding of human nature. Some of the issues touched upon include the relation of natural law to speculative reason and human ends (teleology), the relationship between natural law and natural theology, the so-called naturalistic fallacy (deriving "ought" from "is"), and the scope of natural knowledge of the precepts of the natural law, as well as possible limits on it. It also takes up certain historical and contemporary questions, such as the various stances of Protestant thinkers toward natural law, the place of natural law in contemporary U.S. legal thought, and the relationship between natural law and liberal political thought more generally. It brings together a number of the leading exponents of a more traditional or classical form of natural law thought, who claim to root their arguments within the broader philosophy of Thomas Aquinas more deeply than other major representatives of the natural law tradition today.

The need for another study on the doctrine of analogy in the writings ofSt Thomas may not be obvious, since a complete bibliography in this area would doubtless assume depressing proportions. The present work is felt to be justified because it attempts a full-fledged alternative to the interpretation given in Cajetan's De nominum analogia, an interpretation which has provided the framework for subsequent discussions of the question. Recently, it is true, there has been growing dissatisfaction with Cajetan's approach; indeed there have been wholesale attacks on the great commentator who is alleged to have missed the clef de voute of the metaphysics of his master. Applied to our problem, this criticism leads to the view that Cajetan was not metaphysical enough, or that he was metaphysical in the wrong way, in his discussion of the analogy of names. As its title indicates, the present study is not in agreement with Cajetan's contention that the analogy of names is a metaphysical doctrine. It is precisely a logical doctrine in the sense that "logical" has for St Thomas. We have no desire to be associated with attacks on Cajetan, the meta physician, attacks we feel are quite wrongheaded. If Cajetan must be criticized for his interpretation of the analogy of names, it is imperative that he be criticized for the right reasons. Moreover, criticism ofCajetan in the present study is limited to his views on the analogy of names."

The present volume brings together a number of things I have written on the subject of analogy since the appearance of The Logic of Analogy in 1961. In that book I tried to disengage St Thomas' teaching on analogous names from various subsequent accretions which, in my opinion, had obscured its import. The book was widely reviewed, various points in it were rightly criticized, but its main argument, namely, that analogical signification is a logical matter and must be treated as such, was, if often confronted, left finally, I think, standing. The studies brought together now reflect the same concentration on the teaching of Aquinas. I am not of the opinion that everything important on the question of analogy, and certainly not everything of importance on those problems which elicit the doctrine of analogy, was said by Thomas Aquinas. But it was my decision, for my personal work, first to achieve as much clarity as I could with respect to the teaching of Thomas, and then to go on to other writers, both ancient and modern. I am currently engaged in working out the relations among equivo cation, analogy and metaphor in Aristotle. When that study is com pleted, I shall turn eagerly to some quite recent contributions to the nature of religious language. In short, the present work, which is by and large a prolongation of my attempt at an exegesis of Thomistic texts, marks the end of one phase of my research into the problem of analogy."

An essential tool for our post-truth world: a witty primer on logic—and the dangers of illogical thinking—by a renowned Notre Dame professor.

Logic is synonymous with reason, judgment, sense, wisdom, and sanity. Being logical is the ability to create concise and reasoned arguments—arguments that build from given premises, using evidence, to a genuine conclusion. But mastering logical thinking also requires studying and understanding illogical thinking, both to sharpen one’s own skills and to protect against incoherent, or deliberately misleading, reasoning.

Elegant, pithy, and precise, Being Logical breaks logic down to its essentials through clear analysis, accessible examples, and focused insights. D. Q. McInerney covers the sources of illogical thinking, from naïve optimism to narrow-mindedness, before dissecting the various tactics—red herrings, diversions, and simplistic reasoning—the illogical use in place of effective reasoning.

An indispensable guide to using logic to advantage in everyday life, this is a concise, crisply readable book. Written explicitly for the layperson, McInerny’s Being Logical promises to take its place beside Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style as a classic of lucid, invaluable advice.