Summa Theologica and Man and His Image

These are the Catholic books I'm reading now. The Summa, and God and His Image.

Everyone has heard of the Summa. It reads very well, after getting used to the rhythm of the language (and the century-old translation). I've gotten so used to the precision and logic and depth of treatment that it is almost hard to read less well-structured books. They just seem less solid than the Summa. It requires a definite time commitment - I started this thing over a year ago and it'll probably take another year anyway to finish - just reading about 20 minutes a morning, over breakfast.

God and His Image is a wonderful book by a very well known Old Testament scholar. It is about the history of man's relationship with God. He feels the Fall changed our concept of God from loving father to unforgiving taskmaster - a change that still echoes to our own day. Richard Dawkins' atheist group's fundraiser in England involved a poster with the message "There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy yourself." This reflects just the same mistaken image of God as unforgiving judge that the author of this book describes from the earliest beginnings of the Hebrew people. He then goes on to trace the story of salvation as God's efforts to lead people to the fuller understanding espoused by the Church today. It is people that turn away from God; He never turns His back on us.