“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.
Today I’m giving away THREE copies of Peter Kreeft’s newest book, Practical Theology.
Practical Theology: Spiritual Direction from St. Thomas Aquinas
by Peter Kreeft
Ignatius Press, 376 pages, paperback
From a lifetime of studying the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas, popular author Peter Kreeft says that his amazement has continually increased not only at Aquinas’ theoretical, philosophical brilliance and sanity, but also at his personal, practical wisdom, his “existential bite.” Yet this second dimension of St. Thomas has usually been eclipsed by the other. Kreeft wrote this book to help bring that sun out from its eclipse. He provides easily digestible samples of the religious wisdom of Aquinas.
Here are 359 pieces of wisdom from St. Thomas’s masterpiece, the Summa Theologiae, which Kreeft says “are literally more valuable than all the kingdoms of this world because they will help you to attain ‘the one thing needful,’ or ‘the greatest good’ “, the ultimate end and purpose and meaning of life. Three of its names are “being a saint,” “beatitude” (“supreme happiness”) and “union with God.” That was the principle for Kreeft in choosing which passages to use: do they help you to attain your ultimate end – sanctity, happiness, union with God? St. Thomas would have agreed with writer Leon Bloy, who often wrote that in the end “there is only one tragedy in life: not to have been a saint”.
These 359 gold nuggets have helped Kreeft in the struggles of real life, to live in the real world, to grow closer to the Lord, and he hopes they will do the same for his readers. After each passage directly from Aquinas, Kreeft provides brief spiritual commentary to help explain it and apply it – practical, personal, existential, “livable” thoughts.
He has framed these readings as answers to questions that people actually ask their spiritual directors. Each answer is taken word for word from Aquinas.
Among the many topics Aquinas and Kreeft cover here include:
- The problem of evil
- Interpreting the Bible
- Love vs. knowledge
- Reconciling justice and mercy
- Human freedom and divine grace
- Angels and demons
- The need for theology
- Predestination and free will
- Three kinds of goods
I’m using Rafflecopter to help with the giveaway, which is cool because it allows 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.)