1. CHRISTIANITY IN THE 20th CENTURY

 

The Cambridge History of Christianity (New York / Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005-  ).  This new comprehensive Cambridge History will be recognized in coming decades as the standard survey of Church history.  Each of its massive volumes offer thorough introductions both to key events and to broad themes and includes contributions from leading contemporary historians.  For researching recent developments, this is the place to begin.  The two volumes which focus on the modern world are:

• Vol. 8: Sheridan Gilley & Brian Stanley, eds., World Christianities, c. 1815-c.1914 (2005).

• Vol. 9: Hugh McLeod, ed., World Christianities, c. 1914-c.2000 (2006).

Owen Chadwick, The Christian Church in the Cold War, Penguin History of the Church 7 (New York: Penguin Books, 1993).

Adrian Hastings, ed, A World History of Christianity (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2000).

Michael Howard & W. Roger Louis, eds., The Oxford History of the Twentieth Century (New York: Oxford University Press, 2002).

Darrell Jodock, ed., Catholicism Contending With Modernity: Roman Catholic Modernism and Anti-Modernism in Historical Context (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000).

Leo Kenis, Jaak Billiet & Patrick Pasture, eds., The Transformation of the Christian Churches in Western Europe, 1945-2000, Kadoc Studies on Religion, Culture and Society 6 (Leuven: Leuven University Press, 2010).

Michael J. Lacey and Francis Oakley, eds.,The Crisis of Authority in Catholic Modernity(New York: Oxford University Press, 2011).

Donald M. Lewis, ed., Christianity Reborn: The Global Expansion of Evangelicalism in the Twentieth Century, Studies in the History of Christian Missions (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2004).

Ian Linden, Global Catholicism: Pluralism and Renewal in a World Church (New York: Columbia University Press, 2009).

Mark Massa & Catherine Osborne, eds., American Catholic History: A Documentary Reader (New York: New York University Press, 2008).

Mark S. Massa, The American Catholic Revolution (New York: Oxford University Press, 2010).

Hugh McLeod, The Decline of Christendom in Western Europe, 1750-2000 (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003).

John McManners, ed., The Oxford Illustrated History of Christianity (1990; reprint: New York: Oxford University Press, 2001).

Mark A. Noll, The New Shape of World Christianity: How American Experience Reflects Global Faith (IVP Academic, 2009).

James M. O’Toole, The Faithful: A History of Catholics in America (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press / Harvard University Press, 2008).

Keith Robbins, England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales: The Christian Church, 1900-2000, Oxford History of the Christian Church (New York: Oxford University Press, 2008).

Timothy Yates, Christian Mission in the Twentieth Century (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996).

 

 2. THEOLOGY IN THE 20th / 21st CENTURY: SURVEYS & HANDBOOKS

 

In recent years, there has been a huge upsurge in multi-author handbooks and surveys, published by leading publishers such as Oxford, Cambridge, and Blackwell. Different handbooks take up one or another theological discipline or topic.  Generally, they are very high quality and are great places to survey the terrain.  I've listed a wide range of these below:

 

James C. Livingston, Modern Christian Thought, 2 vol., 2nd ed. (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2006).  A superb survey of 19th and 20th Christian theology.  In his review, David Schultenover, editor of Theological Studies, aptly described it as "at once thorough, succinct, eminently readable, and rooted in primary sources."   

• Vol. 1: The Enlightenment & Nineteenth Century (2006).

• Vol. 2: The Twentieth Century (2006). With Francis Schussler Fiorenza, Sarah Coakley, and James H. Evans, Jr.

David F. Ford & Rachel Muers, eds., The Modern Theologians: An Introduction to Christian Theology since 1918, 3rd ed. (Oxford: Blackwell, 2005).  There are surprisingly few introductory surveys to contemporary theology.  This volume fills an important gap.  The first half has chapters on leading figures, both Protestant (Barth, Bonhoeffer, Bultmann, Tillich) and Catholic (Congar, Rahner, von Balthasar, Schillebeeckx, and Kung).  The second half surveys regional theologies (North America, Latin America), themes (feminist, ecumenical, postmodern), and method (influences of natural sciences, the arts, social sciences)

 

Gregory Baum, ed., The Twentieth Century: A Theological Overview (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1999).

Stephen B. Bevans, An Introduction to Theology in Global Perspective (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2009).

James J. Buckley, Frederick Christian Bauerschmidt & Trent Pomplun, eds., The Blackwell Companion to Catholicism (Oxford: Blackwell, 2006).

William Cavanaugh & Peter D. Scott, eds., The Blackwell Companion to Political Theology, Blackwell Companions to Religion (Oxford: Blackwell, 2006).

Peter Clarke, ed., The Oxford Handbook of the Sociology of Religion, Oxford Handbooks (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009).

Philip Clayton & Zachary Simpson, eds., The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Science, Oxford Handbooks (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006).

John Corigan, ed., The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Emotion, Oxford Handbooks (New York: Oxford University Press, 2008).

Lawrence S. Cunningham, An Introduction to Catholicism, Introductions to Religion (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009).

Derek Davis, ed., The Oxford Handbook of Church and State in the United States, Oxford Handbook (New York: Oxford University Press, 2010).

Richard K. Fenn, ed., Blackwell Companion to Sociology of Religion, Blackwell Companions to Religion (Oxford: Blackwell, 2003).

Thomas P. Flint and Michael Rea, eds., Oxford Handbook of Philosophical Theology, Oxford Handbooks in Religion and Theology (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009).

Gilles Emery and Matthew Levering, eds., The Oxford Handbook of The Trinity, Oxford Handbooks in Religion and Theology (New York: Oxford University Press, 2012), hardcover, $150.  NEW.

Roger S. Gottlieb, ed., The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Ecology, Oxford Handbooks (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006).

Peter Harrison, ed., Cambridge Companion to Science and Religion, series: Cambridge Companions to Religion (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010).

Andrew Hass, ed., The Oxford Handbook of English Literature and Theology, Oxford Handbooks (New York: Oxford University Press, 2007).

Stanley Hauerwas & Samuel Wells, eds., The Blackwell Companion to Christian Ethics (Oxford: Blackwell, 2006).

John R. Hinnells, ed., The Routledge Companion to the Study of Religion (New York: Routledge, 2005).

Gareth Jones, The Blackwell Companion to Modern Theology, Blackwell Companions to Religion (Oxford: Blackwell, 2004).

Bruce Kaye, An Introduction to World Anglicanism, Introductions to Religion (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008).

Phillip Kennedy, Twentieth-Century Theologians: A New Introduction to the Modern Christian Thought (London: I.B. Tauris Press, 2010).

Julia A. Lamm, The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Christian Mysticism (Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2012) hardcover, $200. NEW.

Gerard Mannion and Lewis S. Mudge, eds., The Routledge Companion to the Christian Church (New York: Routledge, 2008).

Rachel M. McCleary, ed., Oxford Handbook of the Economics of Religion (New York: Oxford University Press, 2011).

Alister E. McGrath, ed, The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Modern Christian Thought (Cambridge, MA: Blackwell, 1993).

Gilbert Meilaender & William Werpehowski, eds., The Oxford Handbook of Theological Ethics, Oxford Handbooks (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005).

Chad Meister and Paul Copan, eds., Routledge Companion to Philosophy of Religion (New York: Routledge, 2010).

Ed L. Miller & Stanley Grenz, eds., Fortress Introduction to Contemporary Theologies (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1998).

Lisa J. Miller, ed., The Oxford Handbook of Psychology and Spirituality (New York: Oxford University Press, 2012) hardcover, $150.  NEW.

Andrew R. Murphy, ed., The Blackwell Companion to Religion and Violence, Blackwell Companions to Religion (Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2011).

Gerald O’Collins, Catholicism: A Very Short Introduction (New York: Oxford University Press, 2008).

Neil Ormerod, Introducing Contemporary Theologies: The What and Who of Theology Today (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1997).

Michael D. Palmer and Stanley M. Burgess, eds., The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Religion and Social Justice (Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2012) hardcover, $200. NEW.

Jaroslav Pelikan, Christian Doctrine and Modern Culture, vol. 5 of The Christian Tradition: A History of Development of Doctrine (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1989).

Peter Phan, ed., The Cambridge Companion to the Trinity (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011).

Christopher Rowland, ed., The Cambridge Companion to Liberation Theology, 2nd ed., Cambridge Companions to Religion (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007).

Hans Schwartz, Theology in a Global Context: The Last Two Hundred Years (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2005).

Don Schweitzer, A Fortress Introduction to Contemporary Christologies (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2010).

Corwin E. Smidt, Lyman A. Kellstedt, and James L. Guth, eds., The Oxford Handbook of Religion and American Politics, Oxford Handbooks in Religion and Theology (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009).

Bonnie Steinbock, ed., The Oxford Handbook of Bioethics, Oxford Handbooks (New York: Oxford University Press, 2007).

J.B. Stump and Alan G. Padgett, eds., The Blackwell Companion to Science and Christianity (Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2012) hardcover, $200. NEW.

Charles Taliaferro and Chad Meister, eds., Cambridge Companion to Christian Philosophical Theology, Cambridge Companions to Religion (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009).

Elizabeth Theokritoff and Mary B. Cunningham, eds., The Cambridge Companion to Orthodox Christian Theology, Cambridge Companions to Religion (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009).

Kevin J. Vanhoozer, ed., The Cambridge Companion to Postmodern Theology (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003).

William J. Wainwright, The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Religion, Oxford Handbooks (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005).

Jerry Walls, ed., The Oxford Handbook of Eschatology, Oxford Handbooks (New York: Oxford University Press, 2008).

Graham Ward, ed., The Blackwell Companion to Postmodern Theology, Blackwell Companions to Religion (Oxford: Blackwell, 2004).

John Webster, Kathryn Tanner, Iain Torrance, eds., The Oxford Handbook of Systematic Theology, Oxford Handbooks (New York: Oxford University Press, 2007).

 

 3. VATICAN II: EVENT & THEOLOGY

 

Texts & Translations: Vatican II (1962-1965) has been called the most significant religious event of the 20th century. For the Latin texts of the Council's documents, with a facing English translation, see Norman P. Tanner, ed., Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils, 2 vol. (Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 1990).  The standard Austin Flannery, ed., Vatican Council II, Vol. 1: The Conciliar and Post Conciliar Documents, new revised edition (Northport, NY: Costello Publishing Company, 1996).

 

Studies:

 

John W. O'Malley, What Happened at Vatican II (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press / Harvard University Press, 2008).  At last, we have a comprehensive, balanced, and nuanced one-volume survey of Vatican II: the events, the debates, the behind-the-scenes politics, the theological issues.  O'Malley is a master historian, best known for his work on the Italian Renaissance and the early Jesuits.  He takes huge amounts of raw historical data and distills it down to its core without shortchanging nuance or the vibrant issues at stake.  This work will become the new standard for understanding the council and its enormous achievements.

 

Giuseppe Alberigo & Joseph Komonchak, ed, History of Vatican II (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books / Leuven: Peeters, 1995-2006) 5 vol.  This massive project is the most thorough study of the events and debates of Vatican II to date.  The authors draw on the texts of the debates, diaries of the participants, and news reports to trace out the slow evolution of each of the documents.  A vital tool for all scholarly study of the Council:

• Vol. I: Announcement and Preparation of Vatican II (1995)

• Vol. II: The Formation of the Council's Identity: First Period & Intersession, October 1962-September 1963 (1998)

• Vol. III: A Mature Council: The Second Period & Intersession, October 1963-September 1964 (2000)

• Vol. IV: Church as Communion: Third Period & Intersession, October 1964-September 1965 (2004).

• Vol. V: The Fourth Period and the End of the Council, September 1965-December 1965 (2006).

Xavier Rynne, Vatican Council II (reprint: Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1999).  Francis X. Murphy was a patristics scholar working as a peritus at Vatican II.  Writing under the pseudonym of “Xavier Rynne,” he sent weekly dispatches to New Yorker magazine, published as “Letters from Vatican City.”  In the process, he unveiled to the wider public what was happening behind closed doors: the backroom politics, the pitched debates, and the wide-ranging theological issues.  This enormously popular account of the day-to-day happenings at the Council still reads well after 40 years—now back in print, with a new edition and preface. 

 

Rediscovering Vatican II (New York: Paulist Press, 2005-2009).  This series offers a popular and very brief introduction to individual documents of Vatican II, highlighting how they have been implemented over the last 40 years.  Volumes to date are:

• Stephen B. Bevans and Jeffrey Gros, Evangelization and Religious Freedom: Ad Gentes, Dignitatis Humanae, Rediscovering Vatican II series (New York: Paulist Press, 2009).

• Edward Cardinal Cassidy, Ecumenism and Interreligious Dialogue: Unitatis Redintegratio, Nostra Aetate, Rediscovering Vatican II (New York: Paulist Press, 2005).

• Maryanne Confoy, Religious Life and Priesthood: Perfectae Caritatis, Optatam Totius, Presbyterorum Ordinis, Rediscovering Vatican II (New York: Paulist Press, 2008).

• Rita Ferrone, Liturgy: Sacrosanctum Concilium, Rediscovering Vatican II series (New York: Paulist Press, 2007).

• Richard R. Gaillardetz, The Church in the Making: Lumen Gentium, Christus Dominus, Orientalium Ecclesiarum, Rediscovering Vatican II (New York: Paulist Press, 2006).

• Dolores Lecky, The Laity and Christian Education: Apostolicam Actuositatem, Gravissimum Educationis, Rediscovering Vatican II (New York: Paulist Press, 2007).

• Norman Tanner, The Church and the World: Gaudium et Spes; Inter Mirifica, Rediscovering Vatican II (New York: Paulist Press, 2005).

• Ronald Withrup, Scripture: Dei Verbum, Rediscovering Vatican II (New York: Paulist Press, 2006).

Raymond F. Bulman & Frederick J. Parrella, eds., From Trent to Vatican II: Historical and Theological Investigations (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006).

Robert Burns, Roman Catholicism After Vatican II (Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 2001).

Yves Congar, My Journal of the Council (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2012) hardcover, $70.  NEW. Congar was one of the architects of the council.  This publication of his private journal is a significant event.

Massimo Faggioli, Vatican II: The Battle for Meaning (New York: Paulist Press, 2012)paperback, $15.  NEW.

Richard Gaillardetz and Catherine E. Clifford, Keys to the Council: Unlocking the Teaching of Vatican II (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2012) paperback, $20.  NEW.

Adrian Hastings, ed., Modern Catholicism: Vatican II and After (New York: Oxford University Press, 1991).

Adrian Hastings, Alistair Mason, Hugh Pyper, eds., Oxford Companion to Christian Thought (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000).

James L. Heft and John O’Malley, eds., After Vatican II: Trajectories and Hermeneutics (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2012) paperback, $40.  NEW.

Matthew Lamb & Matthew Levering, eds., Vatican II: Renewal Within Tradition (New York: Oxford University Press, 2008).

René Latourelle, ed., Vatican II: Assessment and Perspectives, 3 vol. (New York: Paulist Press, 1988).

William Madges and Michael J. Daley, eds., Vatican II: Fifty Personal Stories (Orbis Books, 2012) paperback, $28.  NEW.

Timothy G. McCarthy, The Catholic Tradition: The Church in the Twentieth Century, rev. 2nd ed. (Chicago: Loyola Press, 1998).

John O’Malley, Stephen Schloesser, Joseph Komonchak, Neil Ormerod, Vatican II: Did Anything Happen? (New York: Continuum / T&T Clark, 2007).

John W. O’Malley, Tradition and Transition: Historical Perspectives on Vatican II (reprint: Academic Renewal Press, 2002).

Ormond Rush, Still Interpreting Vatican II: Some Hermeneutical Principles (New York: Paulist Press, 2004).

Alberic Stacpoole, ed., Vatican II Revisited: By Those Who Were There (Minneapolis, MN: Winston Press, 1986).

Maureen Sullivan, The Road to Vatican II: Key Changes in Theology (New York: Paulist Press, 2007).

Maureen Sullivan, 101 Questions and Answers on Vatican II (New York: Paulist Press, 2003).

Norman Tanner, The Church in Council: Conciliar Movements, Religious Practice, and the Papacy from Nicaea to Vatican II (Palgrave Macmillan / I.B. Taurus, 2011).

Herbert Vorgrimler, ed., Commentary on the Documents of Vatican II, 5 vol. (New York: Herder & Herder, 1967). A major resource. Most of the commentaries were written by those who helped compose the documents themselves.

 

 4. POPE JOHN XXIII & THE PAPACY BEFORE VATICAN II

 

Eamon Duffy, Saints & Sinners: A History of the Popes, 3rd ed. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006).  A great one-volume history of the papacy originally designed to accompany a 6-part television series.  Duffy, a Reformation historian by training, threads his way with finesse through a complex, many-sided history.  He offers a fine brief overview of the papacy of the 20th century.  A superb point-of-entry and overview.

 

Mario Benigni, John XXIII: The Official Biography (Pauline Books, 2002).

Pierre Blet, Pius XII and the Second World War (New York: Paulist Press, 1999).

Thomas Cahill, Pope John XXIII, Penguin Lives (New York: Penguin Books, 2002).

Owen Chadwick, A History of the Popes, 1830-1914, Oxford History of the Christian Church (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998).

Frank J. Coppa, The Modern Papacy Since 1789, Longman History of the Papacy (London: Longman, 1998).

Frank J. Coppa, The Policies and Politics of Pope Pius XII: Between Diplomacy and Morality (New York: Peter Lang, 2011).

John XXIII, Journal of a Soul: The Autobiography of Pope John XXIII (reprint: New York: Image Books, 1999).

Christine Feldman, Pope John XXIII: A Spiritual Biography (New York: Crossroad, 2000).

Peter Hebblethwaite, John XXIII: Pope of the Century, 2nd ed. (New York: Continuum, 2000).

José M. Sanchez, Pius XII and the Holocaust: Understanding the Controversy (Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2001).

 

 5. REFERENCE WORKS: DICTIONARIES & ENCYCLOPEDIAS

 

Daniel Patte, ed., Cambridge Dictionary of Christianity (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010).  A massive 1400 page dictionary, unusually thorough.  A good place to start.

 

David B. Barrett, ed., World Christian Encyclopedia: A Comparative Survey of Churches and Religions in the Modern World, 2 vol., 2nd ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001).

Wolfgang Beinert & Francis Schussler Fiorenza, eds., Handbook of Catholic Theology (New York: Crossroad, 1995).

Orlando Espín and James B. Nicoloff, eds., An Introductory Dictionary of Theology and Religious Studies (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2007).

Michael Glazier & Thomas J. Shelley, eds., Modern Catholic Encyclopedia (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1997).

Justo Gonzalez, ed., The Westminster Dictionary of Theologians (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 2006).

Rene Latourelle & Rino Fisichella, eds., Dictionary of Fundamental Theology (New York: Crossroad, 1994).

Philippe Levillain, ed., The Papacy: An Encyclopedia, 3 vols. (New York: Routledge, 2001).

Richard McBrien & Harold Attridge, eds., The HarperCollins Encyclopedia of Catholicism (San Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 1995).

Ian A. McFarland, David A.S. Fergusson, Karen Kilby, Iaian R. Torrance, eds, Cambridge Dictionary of Christian Theology (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011).

Josef Neuner & Jacques Dupuis, eds., The Christian Faith in the Doctrinal Documents of the Catholic Church, 7th ed. (Staten Island, NY: Alba House, 2001).

Bruno Stemier & Michael G. Parker, eds, Dictionary of Popes and the Papacy, trans. Brian McNeil & Peter Heinigg (New York: Crossroad, 2001).

 

 

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Revised: January 4, 2013

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  William Harmless, SJ