Catholic Theologians

[Brother Adam]

Scholars,

What would be your pick for the top 10 Catholic theology books written by recognized Catholic theologians in the past 100 years? Curious minds want to know.

[Cam42]

1. Summa Theologia -- St. Thomas Aquinas
2. Summa Contra Gentiles -- St. Thomas Aquinas
3. City of God -- St. Augustine
4. Apologia Pro Vita Sua -- John Henry Cardinal Newman
5. Confessions -- St. Augustine
6. An Essay in Aid to Grammar of Assent -- John Henry Cardinal Newman
7. A Dark Night of the Soul -- St. John of the Cross
8. Imitation of Christ -- Thomas a Kempis
9. Humane Vitae -- Pope Paul VI
10. Evangelium Vitae -- Pope John Paul II

As an aside....there are many more and the question is quite vague, because the various disicplines of Theology are not accounted for, in the post.

There are a couple of honorable mentions that I would like to add....

HM. Proslogium -- St. Anselm
HM. Everlasting Life -- Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange
HM. Didache

Granted, most are not in the last 100 years, however, there are not that many.....I would say that nos. 9, 10, and Lagrange's writings are the best of the last 100 years. Prior to that though, you can include all of the above.

[Pio Nono]

JMJ
10/6 - St. Bruno

Brother Adam,

Top ten within the past 100 years, hmm? I will limit myself to those which have had world-wide impact. I can only think of a few, and they are in no specific order (except that they came to my mind in this order)...

(1) [i]Catholicism[/i], by Henri de Lubac. De Lubac's work was placed on the [i]Index[/i] by Pius XII, but his work was re-interpreted and found to be completely orthodox. This work, among others, was one of the forming works of Vatican II's document [i]Gaudium et Spes[/i]. This can be placed in the field "Systematic Theology".
(2) [i]The Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma[/i], by Ludwig Ott. It's a bit dated, but it's very clear and very good. Again, "Systematic Theology".
(3) [i]The Sources of Christian Ethics[/i] by Servais Pinckaers. This is a work in the realm of moral theology.
(4) [i]Spiritual Theology[/i] by Jordan Aumann. This is a modern classic and is impossible to get a hold of - I paid $30 for a used copy. This is a work on spiritual theology, which fits under moral theology.
(5) [i]The Three Ages of the Interior Life[/i], by Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange. Aumann's work is an updated version of this; many people don't recommend this book any longer, but it is still a classic. As Ott's book is to de Lubac's (mentioned above), Garrigou-Lagrange's is to Aumann's.
(6) [i]Principles of Catholic Theology[/i] by Joseph Ratzinger. Ratzinger is, perhaps, the best theologian the Church has produced within the past 300 years. As good as John Paul might have been, Ratzinger can run circles around him, theologically. Systematic theology.
(7) [i]The Theology of the Body[/i], by Pope John Paul II. A deep elaboration on the Church's understanding of marriage. Moral theology.
(8) [i]Introduction to Christianity[/i] by Joseph Ratzinger. Quickly becoming a classic in systematic theology.
(9) [i]The Splendor of the Church[/i], by Henri de Lubac. This is his main ecclesiological work. Ecclesiology.
(10) [i]Love and Responsibility[/i], by Karol Wojtyla. A predecessor to and foundation of his [i]Theology of the Body[/i]; a wonderful exposition of the meaning of Christian liberty. Moral theology.

There are many more, but I've tried to limit myself. I couldn't think of any major works of Biblical theology written in the past hundred years (men like Dr. Hahn don't have much influence outside of a particular set of American Catholics, so he wasn't included). Hope this helps.

Yours,
Pio Nono

Edit: I just realized that many of these works are from theologians within or were deeply influenced by the [i]Nouvelle Theologique[/i] movement. Ott and Garrigou-Lagrange were outside of this, as they were Neo-Thomists. A separate list could be compiled for the Neo-Thomists (Tanquerey, et al.) and for the Transcendental Thomists (Karl Rahner, Maurice Blondel, et al.). I don't particularly like these two movements (one tends to rationalism, the other to Nietszchism), but they are still very valuable.

[Pio Nono]

edit: for Nietszchism, read "Marxism"; for [i]Nouvelle Theologique[/i], read [i]Nouvelle Theologie[/i].