The Father William Most Collection
General Bibliography on Various Topics
[Published electronically for use in classes taught by Fr. Most and for private theological study.]
In our NET library I have written full commentaries on the following: Matthew, Hebrews, Genesis, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Zechariah, and each individual Wisdom book of the OT. Also in library, a general introduction to study of Scripture: "Basic Scripture". -- Christendom Press, Front Royal, Va. 22630 publishes W. Most, The Thought of St. Paul -- commentary on each book.
I - Scripture
1. Biblia Comentada,by Professors of the University of Salamanca. Multivolume, both Old and New Testament. Published by Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos, Madrid, Spain. From: Ediciones y Distribuciones ISLA, Bailen 19, Madrid, Spain. Very solid and thorough. (Publisher's latest address is: C/ Don Ramon de la Cruz, n. 57. 10A 28001, Madrid, Spain. Not sure if the ISLA address is still good).
2. La Sagrada Escritura, by Jesuit Professors, Multivolume, both OT and NT. Same publishers etc. as #1. Very solid and thorough.
3.Anchor Bible, Doubleday Inc. Various authors, Catholic and Protestant. Sifting required. Always scholarly, most views not unsound. Long introduction, fresh translation, spot notes and general comments.
4. Navarre Bible, commentary by Faculty of University of Navarre, Spain. Being translated from Spanish. Moderate size introductions. Prints text of RSV, Catholic edition, plus new Vulgate, and much commentary. Explicitly not intended to resolve difficulties of seeming contradicitons etc. But helpful for devotion. Many quotes from Magisterium, Fathers, Msgr. Escrivá of Opus Dei. Entirely sound. Good on Gospels and Acts. Not unsound, but inadequate on Galatians and Romans: does not solve difficult problems.
5. Jerome Biblical Commentary, Prentice Hall, 1968 edition. One large volume, comments and essays on OT and NT. Needs some sifting, most items not objectionable. 1989 edition needs much more sifting. Some things very unsound, especially on inerrancy of Scripture. Both editions are scholarly in general.
New Jerome Biblical Commentary, 1990. More unsound things. Insists Vatican II lets us hold there are errors in Scripture in science, history, and even religion - only things needed for salvation are protected. Yet Vatican II gave notes on same passage, DV 11, referring reader to older documents, esp. VaticanI , saying God is Chief Author - so all error is excluded. Some good things, but should be used only by someone who is capable of recognizing what is good and what is not.
6. New Catholic Commentary On Holy Scripture, 1969, Nelson, Westminster, England. Similar to 1968 edition of Jerome Commentary, needs less sifting.
7. Expositor's Bible Commentary, general editor F. Gaebelein, Zondervan, Multivolume. Strictly Evangelical, and so needs sifting, but not a lot. OT volumes more useful than NT.
8. Kittel, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Articles headed by a Greek word, but last volume contains index to them.
9. Hartmann, Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Bible. Translated from Dutch, but sound, not recent.
10. John L. McKenzie, Dictionary of the Bible. McKenzie is leftist but not much of it shows in this work.
11. Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible. A standard protestant reference work. Alphabetical articles on all topics. Needs much sifting. At first came in 4 large volumes. A supplement was added in 1976. Article on faith in Paul in supplement is specially good, incompatible with Lutheranism.
12. Martin Hengel, Studies in the Gospel of Mark, Fortress, 1985. A Protestant Professor at University of Tübingen. Yet defends Papias saying that Mark wrote from the preaching of Peter. Finds "the smell of truth" in Mark's and Matthew's account of the episode at Caesarea Philippi.
13. Elenchus Bibliographicus Biblicus - Lists articles on biblical topics.
14. James D. G. Dunn, Jesus, Paul and the Law. Studies in Mark and Galatians. Westminster, John Knox, Louisville, KY, 1990. Sums up 10 years of research on the law in early Christianity. Conclusions not very good.
15. idem, "Mark 2.1 - 3.6."A Bridge Between Jesus and Paul on the Question of the Law," in NTS 30.1984. On p.396: "If the stereotype of striving for works-righteousness usually drawn from Paul does not fit first century Judaism, the obvious alternative is to test the reverse correlation: does the Jewish doctrine of salvation as outlined by Sanders provide a closer 'fit' with the view Paul rejected. I believe the answer is Yes.... My conclusion... is that what Paul was objecting to was not the law per se , but the law seen as a proof and badge of Israel's election; that in denouncing 'works of the law Paul was not disparaging 'good works' as such, but observances of the law valued as attesting membership of the people of God - particularly circumcision, food laws and Sabbath. The theological rationale opposed by Paul was straightforward and firmly rooted in the scriptures: Israel was the elect nation; the covenant promises were given to the descendants of Jacob, forgiveness and atonement were provided for the people of God through the law of Moses. Therefore to be a beneficiary of God's righteousness, the saving acts covenanted to his people, it was necessary to be a member of that covenant people. That means, in the first place, circumcision - the terms of the covenant with Abraham left no room for dispute about that (Gen 17.9-14). But membership of the elect people also meant life-long observance of the law, particularly those regulations which characterized and marked out the Jews in their distinctiveness as the people of the one God - among which food laws and Sabbath held places of particular preeminence.… It was this understanding of the law from which Paul broke away when he objected to works of the law. that is to say, he objected to works of the law as limiting the grace of God, not because they constituted impossible merit-earning demands, but because they were so firmly identified as distinctive marks of the Jewish nation and so in effect confined the grace of God to members of that nation."
idem (more recent): Romans 1-8 in WBC, 1988. review in CBQ l991, pp. 494-95 -- agrees with E. P. Sanders on covenantal nomism. Handles Paul on law by sociological perspective: circumcision, diet and sabbath had become markers for Jewishness, Paul sought to free from promise and law for a wider range of recipients. Says Cranfield Hahn did not see this. "From faith to faith" means "from God's fidelity to man's faith".
16. C. E. B. Cranston, International Critical Commentary, Romans, T.& T Clark, Edinburgh, 1979, 6th ed. Usually considered the best of all on Romans. Yet fails to solve most of the greater problems in Romans.
17. G. J. Botterweck and H. Ringren, Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, 6 vols. Articles on key Hebrew and Aramaic words.
18. Eerdmans Analytical Concordance to the Revised Standard Version, An exhaustive concordance. At head of article on each word, it gives Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek words for the English word, with numbers to match numbers opposite each entry. Also glossaries of same languages in the back.
19. The Eerdmans Bible Dictionary, Up to date, conservative and Evangelical information.
20. J. Fitzmyer, Romans,Anchor Bible. Very complete on sideline data, but simply ignores most of the major problems in Romans.
II - Magisterium
1. Norman P. Tanner, ed., Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils. Brings together for the first time in English and in the original languages the decrees of all ecumenical councils from Nicea I to Vatican II. Two volumes, about 2400 pages. Introduction and bibliography for each council plus notes, and very full indices. Georgetown University Press, 1990.
2. J. B. Mansi, Sacrorum Conciliorum Nova et Amplissima Collectio. Florent. et Venet. 1759-98.
3. J. Harduin, Collectio Conciliorum. Paris, 1715.
4. Acta et Decreta Sacrosancti Oecumenici Concilii Vaticani cum permultis aliis documentis ad concilium eiusque historiam spectantibus, auctoribus Presbyteris S.J. de Domo B.V.M. ad Lacum, Friburgi, Brisgoviae, 1892.-- also called Collectio Lacensis.
5. The Church Teaches, Partial translation of earlier edition of Denzinger.
Neuner-Dupuis, eds., The Christian Faith. More complete, up to date translation of Denzinger, with subsequent doctrinal statements. Translation better than in The Church Teaches, but tendentious introductions.
6. John Paul II, Original Unity of Man and Woman. Catechesis on the Book of Genesis, Boston, St. Paul, 1981. p.41, favorable to JEPD. In Audience of Nov. 7, 1979, says putting Adam to sleep could stand for a return to the moment before creation, so that man might reemerge in his double unity as male and female. In same audience he called the genre of Genesis 1-3 myth, but explained in a note: "The term myth does not designate fabulous content, but merely an archaic way of expressing deeper content."
III - Biblical Archaeology
1. Kenneth Kitchen, Ancient Orient and Old Testament. Inter Varsity Press, Downers Grove, Il. Seldom found data useful to defend historicity of OT.
2. idem, The Bible in Its World: The Bible and Archaeology Today. Downers Grove, 1977. Has helpful information on problems of excavations of Biblical sites.
3. Peter C. Craigie, Uragit and the Old Testament. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 1983. Cf. esp. pp. 53-55 on Ugaratic literature.
4. Michael D. Coogan, Stories from Ancient Canaan. Westminster, Phila., 1978, esp. 14-18 on language similar to that of Psalms, such as God riding upon the clouds.
5. "Yigal Shiloh. Last Thoughts" In BAR, March-April 1988. Finds serious defects in work of Kathleen Kenyon in the City of David.
6. Recent debates on Jericho:
Bryant Wood, "Did the Israelites Conquer Jericho? A New Look at the Archaeological Evidence." In BAR Mar/Apr.1990. Claims Kenyon was wrong, in dating remains to 1550 BC, should be about 1400 BC.
Piotr Bienkowski, "Jericho was Destroyed in the Middle Bronze Age, not the Late Bronze Age" in BAR Sept/Oct. 1990. Defends Kenyon.
Bryant Wood, same issue, replies to Bienkowski.
IV - Women
1. Louis Bouyer, Woman in the Church, Ignatius, 1979. Mostly theological study.
2. Roger Gryson, The Ministry of Women in the Early Church. Liturgical Press, 1976. Mostly historical study.
3. Jean Galot, Theology of the Priesthood. Ignatius, 1986. Only a little on women, mostly general theology of priesthood.
4. Most, "Women Priests?"
V - Course Readings
St. Augustine 527
Required
Wm. G. Most, The Philosophy of St. Augustine, Selected Readings. NDI office.
Supplementary
G. Bonner, St.Augustine of Hippo: Life and Controversies.
V. Bourke, Augustine's Quest of Wisdom.
F. Cayré, Manual of Patrology.
E. Gilson, The Christian Philosophy of St. Augustine.
K. Jaspers, Plato and Augustine.
J. O'Meara, The Young Augustine: The Growth of St.Augustine's Mind up to His Conversion.
J. Quasten, Patrology.
E. TeSelle, Augustine the Theologian.
F. Moriones, Enchiridion Theologicum Sancti Augustini.
Wm. G. Most, The Consciousness of Christ, Christendom, 1980.
Theology 532: Mariology
Vatican II, Lumen Gentium, chapter 8 (Constitution on Church).
John Paul II, Redemptoris Mater (Mother of the Redeemer).
John Paul II, Mulieris dignitatem (the Dignity of Women).
Pius XII, Munificentissimus Deus (Definition of the Assumption).
Pius XII, Fulgens corona gloriae (Encyclical for Marian Year).
Pius IX, Ineffabilis Deus (Definition of the Immaculate Conception).
Juniper B. Carol, editor, Mariology, 2 volumes.
Cyril Vollert, The Study of Mary.
Wm. G. Most, Our Father's Plan.
Consciousness of Christ: 557
Required
Pope Pius XII, Encyclical Mystici Corporis (DS 3812).
idem, Encyclical Sempiternus Rex, (DS 3905).
idem, Encyclical Haurietis aquas (DS 3924).
Suggested
Wm. Most, "Jesus Christ, Yesterday, Today and Forever" in Homiletic & Pastoral Review, June 1983.
idem, "Did Jesus Ever Worry?" in Homiletic & Pastoral Review, November 1985.
Bertrand de Margerie, The Human Knowledge of Christ, Boston, 1980.
idem, "The Double Consciousness of Christ" in Faith & Reason, Spring, 1987.
R. Brown, Jesus God and Man, Macmillan, 1967(as source of charges of ignorance).
Theology 562: Apologetics
Required
Wm. G. Most, Catholic Apologetics Today. Tan Books, Rockford, Il.
Wm. G. Most, Supplementary Files to Apologetics. NDI office.
Suggested
J. Mirus et al. Reasons for Hope. Christendom College Press.
Ruth Cranston, The Miracle of Lourdes. Doubleday, 1988 edition.
Bruno Sammaciccia, The Eucharistic Miracle of Lanciano, Stella Maris Books
Jody Smith, The Image of Guadalupe. Doubleday
Martin Hengel, Studies in the Gospel of Mark. Fortress,1985
Wm. Most, "Did St. Luke Imitate the Septuagint?" in Journal For Study of the New Testament, July 1982, pp. 30-41.
Mircea Eliade, The Myth of the Eternal Return. Princeton,1954
Readings for Theology 601:The Living God
Required
Wm. G. Most, The Living God. NDI Press.
Vatican I, Constitution Dei Filius.
Vatican II, Constitution Dei verbum.
Pius XII, Encyclical Divino Afflante Spiritu, 1943.
idem, Encyclical, Mystici Corporis, 1943.
Paul VI, Credo of the People of God.
Recommended
Kenneth Baker, S.J., Fundamentals of Catholicism. 3 vols.
S. Congregation for the Clergy, General Catechetical Directory.
Wm. G. Most, Free From all Error. Prow Press, Libertyville, IL, 1985.
idem, Catholic Apologetics Today. Tan Books, Rockford, Il., 1986.
idem, Our Father's Plan. Christendom Press, Front Royal, Va., 1988.
Samson Levey, The Messiah: An Aramaic Interpretation. Hebrew Union College, Cincinnati, Oh.
Hershel Shanks, ed., Ancient Israel.
Kitchen, The Bible in its World: The Bible and Archaeology Today. Intervarsity Press.
idem, Ancient Orient and Old Testament.
Edwin R. Thiele, The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings.
A. Grillmeier, Christ in Christian Tradition, vol. I. 2d ed. John Knox Press, Atlanta, 1974.
Alexander Heidel, The Babylonian Genesis.
Science, Research notes, 21 Nov, 1980, pp. 883-87.
Newsweek, 11 Jan, 1988, pp.46-52.
Bertrand de Margerie, S.J., The Christian Trinity in ….
E. L. Martin, The Birth of Christ Recalculated.
Bryant Wood, "Did the Israelites Conquer Jericho?" in Biblical Archaeology Review, March- April, 1990.
"Yigal Shiloh:Last Thughts" In Biblical Archeology Review. March-April,1988.
Readings for Theology 602:Christology
Required
Wm. G. Most, Christology. NDI office.
George H. Duggan, "Christologies, ancient and modern" in HPR, July 1990, pp. 10-18.
Supplementary
Pius XII, Encyclical Mystici Corporis.
idem, Encyclical Haurietis aquas.
John Paul II, Encyclical Redemptor hominis.
R. E. Brown, Jesus God & Man, Paulist, 1972.
idem, Biblical Reflections on Crises Facing the Church.
J. A. Fitzmyer, A Christological Catechism, NY 1982.
idem, Scripture & Christology (Biblical Comm. Statement & Comment)
W. Kasper, Jesus the Christ, NY 1976.
G. O'Collins, What are They Saying about Jesus? NY, 1977.
X. Leon-Dufour, The Gospels and the Jesus of History. NY, 1968.
E. P. Sanders, Jesus and Judaism, Phila., 1985.
Hans Urs Von Balthasar, Origen: Spirit and Fire. tr. R. Daly, CU Press, c. 1984.
idem, Parole et mystère chez Origène. Paris, Cerf, 1957.
Aloys Grillmeier, Christ in Christian Tradition. 2d ed. I. Tr. John Bowden, John Knox, Atlanta, 1975
Jean Daniélou, Gospel Message and Hellenistic Culture. tr. John Baker, Westminster, Phila., 1973.
idem, Origen. Tr. W. Mitchell, Sheed & Ward, c.1955.
A. d'Alès, La théologie de Tertullien. Paris, 1905.
Raniero Cantalamessa, La christologia di Tertulliano. Friburg, 1962.
Jean Galot, Who is Christ? Franciscan Herald Press, 1981.
Leopold Sabourin, Christology, Basic Texts in Focus. Alba House, NY, 1984.
Ed. Hans Dieter Betz, Christology and a Modern Pilgrimage. Scholars Press, 1974.
Patristic Works on Christology
St. Ignatius of Antioch, Letters to Smyrna and to Tralles.
St. Justin Martyr, First Apology.
Tertullian, Against Praxeas.
Origen, First Principles.
St. Athanasius, Orations Aganst the Arians I-III.
idem, Apology Against the Arians.
idem, On the Incarnation.
St. Basil, Against Eunomius.
idem, Epistles 214, 210, 8.
St. Gregory of Nazianzus, Orations 27-31.
St. Gregory of Nyssa, Antirrheticus against Apollinaris.
idem, Great Catechetical Oration.
St. Cyril of Alexandria, Treasury on the Holy and Consubstantial Trinity.
idem, Against the Blasphemies of Nestorius.
idem, Epistles 4, 17, 39; Sermon 4.
Theology 603:The Holy Spirit. Constitution and Mystery of the Church
Required
Vatican II, Constitution on the Church Lumen gentium.
Wm. G. Most, The Mystery of the Church. NDI office.
Supplementary
Vatican I, Supremi Pastoris (Schema of Dogmatic Constitution, 1870).
Leo XIII, Encyclical Satis cognitum, 1896.
Pius XII, Encyclical Mystici Corporis, 1943.
Paul VI, Encyclical Ecclesiam Suam, 1964.
idem, Credo of the People of God.
S. Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Declaration Mysterium Ecclesiae. 1973.
Herbert Vorgrimler, ed. Commentary on the Documents of Vatican II.
Eschatology: Theology 607
RequiredWm. G. Most, Eschatology. NDI Press,1994
Recommended
St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Supplement, questions 69-99 with 2 Appendices from books II and IV of Commentary on the Sentences on Limbo and Purgatory
J. P. Arendzen, Purgatory and Heaven, Tan,1972.
St. Augustine, City of God. Books 19-22
Pierre Benoit, "Resurrection at the End of Time or Immediately after Death" in Concilium 60.
J. Bonsirven, Palestinian Judaism in the Time of Christ, p.163.
Constance Cumbey, The Hidden Dangers of the Rainbow,Huntington. 1983.
Mitchell Dahood, Psalms 101-150, Anchor Bible 17A, pp. xli-lii.
W. D. Davies, Paul and Rabbinic Judaism. 1962, p.311.
Mircea Eliade, Patterns in Comparative Religion. Meridian, 1974, pp. 19-23, 39, 48, 52, 87, 102-4, 135-8.
Wm. G. Most, Our Father's Plan. Christendom, Chapter 25.
Maurice S. Rawlings, M.D., To Hell and Back. Nelson, 1993.
Elizabeth Kübler-Ross, Of Death and Dying.
H. W. F. Saggs, The Greatness that was Babylon, Mentor, 1968, pp. 34, 35, 41, 140.
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, The Phenomenon of Man, Harper & Bros., 1959.
Nicholas J. Tromp. Primitive Concept of Death and the Nether World in the Old Testament, Rome, 1969.
John A. Wilson, The Culture of Ancient Egypt, Chicago, 1951.
Philosophy 631
Required
Rhonda Chervin, Eugene Kevane, Love of Wisdom.
Wm. G. Most, An Introduction to Christian Philosophy. NDI office.
Recommended
F. Copleston, A History of Philosophy.
E. Gilson, The Christian Philosophy of St. Augustine.
Werner Jaeger, Paideia.
A. E. Taylor, Plato, the Man and His Work.
G. E. Lloyd, Aristotle, The Growth and Structure of His Thought.
Eugene TeSelle, Augustine the Theologian.
T. V. Smith, From Thales to Plato.
idem, From Aristotle to Plotinus.
K. Freeman, Ancilla to the Pre-Socratic Philosophers.
Scripture 774: St. Paul
(* before title indicates need for some sifting)
Required
W. G. Most, The Thought of St. Paul. Christendom Press.
All Epistles of St. Paul, preferably in the Revised Standard Version or New International Version.
Wm. G. Most, "Focusing in St. Paul" in Faith & Reason, II.2. Fall 1976, pp.47-70.
Supplementary
*W. D. Davies, Paul and Rabbinic Judaism, SPK, London, 3rd edition.
J. Bonsirven, Palestinian Judaism in the Time of Christ. (There is also a two volume French original.)
*S. Schechter, Aspects of Rabbinic Theology. Schocken, NY, 1969
*H. J. Schoeps, Paul. The Theology of the Apostle in the Light of Jewish Religious History.
G. Ricciotti, Paul The Apostle. tr. A. Zizzamia, Bruce, 1953.
*J. A. Fitzmyer, Paul and His Theology. 2d ed. Prentice-Hall, 1987.
Leal, Vicenti et al. La Sagrada Escritura, Nuevo Testamento II, Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos, 1965, 2d ed. Order from: Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos, C/ Don Ramon de la Cruz, 57 1 A 28001, Madrid, Spain.
*E.P.Sanders, Paul & Palestinian Judaism. Fortress, 1977.
* idem, Paul, The Law, and the Jewish People. Fortress, 1983.
* idem, Jesus and Judaism. Fortress, 1983.
*C. E. B. Cranfield, International Critical Commentary on Romans. Edinburgh, 1976.
*James D. G. Dunn, "Mark 2.1 - 3.6. A Bridge Between Jesus and Paul on the Question of the Law" in NTS 30, 1984.
Also, commentaries on individual Epistles, especially those by: *C. Barrett, *C. J. Dodd, J. Huby, M. J. Lagrange, *H. Lietzman, S. Lyonnet, *O. Michel, and those in Anchor bible.
VI - Islam
Jacques Jomier, O.P. The Bible and the Koran. Regnery, 1964.
idem, How to Understand Islam. Crossroads, 1991.
Phil Parshall, Bridges to Islam, Baker, 1983.
Josh McDowell & Ahmed Deedat, The Islam Debate. Campus Crusade for Christ, 1983.
