Books by Paul Haffner

Every day of the year is a day for the Lord, but also for His Blessed Mother, Mary. Daily, Daily Sing to Mary lies in the tradition of the Marian Calendar, a collection of feasts honouring the Blessed Virgin Mary. Each day brings to mind the actions the Mother of God has undertaken on behalf of Christians of all nations and kingdoms throughout the ages. The story for each day of the year also brings a lesson for us. The original Marian Calendar was first published when King Louis XIV of France was still a boy, and it is in reality a collection of famous sites of pilgrimage to the Blessed Virgin throughout all of Christendom. This work is offered to the Christian world for the hundredth anniversary of the apparitions of Our Lady at Fatima. The accounts provide abundant proof that Mary, the Mother of God, has indeed claimed the hearts of Christians from the earliest centuries down to the present day. They are also evidence of the value of the Blessed Mother's influence and mediation on the behalf of her children before the throne of God. In these pages, for each day of the year, we have endeavoured to list a particular miracle, apparition, conversion, or healing which took place on that day through the maternal hands of Our Lady. On occasions we also recall events in which Our Lady saved people from all kinds of danger, at sea or on land. We have also documented simple events, like the finding of a Marian image, which may not seem in themselves to be miraculous, but point to a deep care which the Mother of God has for her Son's people. We have taken episodes from all parts of the world in a truly Catholic way, showing that Our Lady has influenced so many people's lives and often in non-Catholic and even non-Christian lands.

EARLY CHRISTIANITY explores how in the first centuries the followers of Jesus Christ lived their faith centred upon Him. It provides a comprehensive introduction, starting from New Testament times, to key figures in the rise of Christianity including Mary, Mother of God, and Saint Peter and Saint Paul, the founders of Christian Rome. The book shows how the theological tradition of the primacy of Rome developed in the Church and with the Papacy. It considers a wide range of issues in the life of the nascent Church, helping us to understand how the early Christians related faith and reason, and were prepared to suffer martyrdom for their belief. Early liturgical and sacramental life is fully described, including a broad examination of the issues surrounding the date of the Easter celebration. It also illustrates how the Church had to face internal conflict and heresy, and examines the work of the first general Councils. Paul Haffner explores the significant role played by women in early Christianity, and describes the contribution of monks and missionaries in spreading the faith. He illustrates the impact on early Christianity of its leading figures, who exercised the major influence then and are still the most important of the Church today. This study is carried out from a Roman perspective, as the cradle and centre of Christianity. The book intertwines doctrine and history, tradition and legend, in the hope that the reader will have a colourful ride through the first centuries of the Christian epoch, enabling them to emulate what they find there.

A popular myth put about by secularists is that between the Church and science, the relationship has been, and continues to be, a stormy one. Nothing could in fact be further from the truth. An analysis of historical data shows that modern science developed in the medieval period against a background of Christian faith in the creation. Pope Sylvester II was a brilliant mathematician whose discoveries led to the number system we use today. Pope Innocent III founded a hospital in Rome which was the basis for the modern city hospital system world-wide. The civil calendar in use today owes its existence to Pope Gregory XIII. The Pontifical Academy of Sciences and the Vatican Observatory are both highly-respected institutions which continue to contribute to scientific progress. Paul Haffner also shows how four modern Popes have contributed in a special way to the dialogue between faith and science: Pope Pius XII who renewed the proofs for the existence of God in the light of modern science, Pope St John Paul II who reaffirmed the crucial importance of the dignity of the human person in science, Pope Benedict XVI who proposed the rational basis for creation in terms of the doctrine of the Logos, and Pope Francis who sees science in terms of the existential periphery to be evangelised.

Il fascino della ragione propone un pellegrinaggio del pensiero umano alla ricerca di Dio. Le persone hanno sempre trovato indicazioni per dimostrare l'esistenza di Dio incise nel mondo e nella condizione umana. Questo libro esamina le prove classiche dell'esistenza di Dio e afferma la loro perenne validità. Esso mostra che il pensiero umano può essere in relazione con Dio e con altri aspetti dell'esperienza religiosa. Inoltre, descrive come la fede cristiana è razionale, e non è né cieca né nuda. Senza la ragione, la fede degenererebbe nel fondamentalismo: ma senza la fede, il pensiero umano può restare incagliato sullo scoglio della propria autosufficienza. Il testo suggerisce che la mente umana deve essere in stretta relazione con il cuore in ogni sua ricerca di Dio.

Los siete sacramentos están en el centro de la vida y de la experiencia cristiana, porque por medio de ellos la Santísima Trinidad, alcanza la vida y el corazón de las personas. Actualmente este libro es uno de los pocos que ofrece una síntesis global de los temas principales del misterio sacramental, en el cual el universo humano y divino, material y espiritual, están íntimamente ligados. Paul Haffner ilustra el hecho que los sacramentos tienen un significado central en la Iglesia, pues con ellos el pueblo de Dios se reconcilia con el Padre, mediante Su Hijo, por obra del Espíritu Santo. El libro propone algunas cuestiones clásicas, como las condiciones para la validez y la eficacia de los sacramentos, desarrolla los temas del ministro, el receptor y los efectos de estos misterios sacros, asimismo trata algunas particulares problemáticas, como la necesidad del bautismo, el carácter sacrificial de la Eucaristía y la naturaleza del matrimonio. En el análisis de cada sacramento, el autor explora también las nuevas cuestiones ecuménicas y su influencia sobre la comprensión sacramental cristiana. Este libro, escrito originalmente en inglés, ha sido también publicado en idioma italiano y ruso.

LA CRISI ECOLOGICA non nasce da cause semplicemente tecniche ma da errori dottrinali. Quando la natura e, in primo luogo, l'essere umano vengono considerati semplicemente frutto del caso o del determinismo evolutivo, rischia di attenuarsi nelle coscienze la consapevolezza della responsabilità. Papa Benedetto XVI, sin dall'inizio del suo Pontificato, ha indicato la linea essenziale di una ecologia cristiana: «I deserti esteriori si moltiplicano nel mondo, perché i deserti interiori sono diventati così ampi. Perciò i tesori della terra non sono più al servizio dell'edificazione del giardino di Dio, nel quale tutti possano vivere, ma sono asserviti alle potenze dello sfruttamento e della distruzione.» L'opera inizia descrivendo alcuni dei problemi più seri che oggi gravano sull'ambiente e come questi possano essere valutati sul piano del rapporto fra l'uomo ed il mondo creato, per poi passare alla comprensione storica della questione ecologica; in questo contesto è necessario distinguere l'ecologia come scienza dall'ideologia ambientalista, ormai molto diffusa, che spesso è di tendenza pessimista. In seguito, il testo elabora le risposte remote e recenti dei Papi per quanto concerne la questione ambientale. La parte centrale del testo propone una sintesi della teologia della creazione per l'ambiente. Questa teologia viene poi applicata ad alcune questioni morali. Nei suoi approcci il libro tenta di apportare una novità particolare, presentando una sintesi organica della teologia dell'ambiente, dal punto di visto dell'Occidente e dell'Oriente cristiano.

The Mystery of Reason investigates the enterprise of human thought searching for God. People have always found stepping-stones to God's existence carved in the world and in the human condition. This book examines the classical proofs of God's existence, and affirms their continued validity. It shows that human thought can connect with God and with other aspects of religious experience. Moreover, it depicts how Christian faith is reasonable, and is neither blind nor naked. Without reason, belief would degenerate into fundamentalism; but without faith, human thought can remain stranded on the reef of its own self-sufficiency. This book proposes that the human mind must be in partnership with the human heart in any quest for God.Paul Haffner is lecturer in systematic and dogmatic theology in Rome at the Pontifical Gregorian University, the Pontifical Lateran University and the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum. In this series he has published The Mystery of Creation, The Mystery of Mary and The Sacramental Mystery.

The book description also needs to be modified as follows, as there was a typo:How often have you struggled over your creative writing or over an academic text and found that you needed help with the style and layout? Many students and scholars find difficulty in organizing their method for producing short papers, dissertations or even books. Here at last is a guide, originally developed for philosophy and theology students, but not exclusively so, which accompanies the would-be writer through the maze of style and method. One consistent approach is followed, in which method is viewed as a means rather than as an end, so that the student should be able to see the wood for the trees. This manual will come to your aid especially if you want to figure out footnotes, end notes, and bibliographies, so as to make your essay or thesis both readable and professional.

Questo libro tratta il rapporto fra la fede cristiana in Dio Creatore e la scienza moderna, in uno studio di frontiera. Lo scopo è quello di fornire un commentario filosofico-teologico sugli sviluppi recenti nel campo scientifico. Altro intento è quello di offrire una chiave ermeneutica per studiare la relazione fra la visione del cosmo derivata dalla fisica e dalla biologia in relazione alla visione filosofica e teologica del mondo. Secondo il metodo di questo studio, il testo è suddiviso in cinque parti. Prima, si elabora un'analisi della storia e della nascita della scienza. Poi, segue una introduzione ai documenti del Magistero Pontificio. In terzo luogo, è proposto uno studio del rapporto odierno fra scienza e fede che richiede come ponte il realismo filosofico. Quarto, si procede all'analisi di due punti di contatto importanti fra la scienza e fede e cioè la cosmologia del Big Bang, e le teorie dell'evoluzione.

Father Stanley Jaki (1924-2009) was one of the greatest thinkers of the twentieth century and his contribution to Catholic thought and culture has been profound, especially regarding the relationship between science and religion. This work focuses on the close link joining science and Christianity, despite the differences between them. Through his study of modern science, theology and history, Stanley¿Jaki showed that faith and reason are not mutually exclusive. The problems arise because of those ideologies which seek to eliminate God from the ultimate equation. Jaki highlighted the Christian origins of the modern natural sciences. He showed that the concept of the cosmos as both contingent and rational, together with the acceptance that God could work through secondary causes, provided the unique environment for the natural sciences to flourish, from the Middle Ages onwards. He explored the crucial role played by belief in creation out of nothing and in time, reinforced by faith in the Incarnation, in enabling this birth of science. This book contains the first systematic treatment of the ideas of the late Stanley Jaki, and is the only complete work, with an entire bibliography, approved by him during his lifetime. His ideas earned him the highest forms of recognition, including the Templeton Prize, awarded to Fr Jaki by Prince Philip at Windsor Castle in 1987, and his appointment by His Holiness Pope John Paul II, as an honorary member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences in 1990.

POPE BENEDICT said at the beginning of his Pontificate that external deserts in the world are growing, because the internal deserts have become so vast. Therefore the earth's treasures no longer serve to build God's garden for all to live in, but they have been made to serve the powers of exploitation and destruction.This book is a theological investigation of the environment, and takes in scientific, biblical, moral and spiritual themes, all addressed by recent Church teaching on the subject. The starting point is a detailed analysis of the various problems assailing the environment at present. Then a distinction is made between the science of ecology and the ideological overtones which are often associated with this area. Next, an overview of Christian teaching on ecology is present as an antidote to both New Age pseudo-mysticism and political ideology. A Christian theology of the environment is then formulated which has consequences for our moral life and our prayer.PAUL HAFFNER is a priest and professor of theology at Regina Apostolorum University in Rome, visiting professor at the Pontifical Gregorian University, and adjunct lecturer at Duquesne University Roman Campus. Author of over 20 books and 100 articles on philosophical and theological themes, many of his works have been translated into several languages, including Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Russian. Other published volumes by this author include Mystery of Creation, Mystery of the Church, The Mystery of Mary, The Mystery of Reason and The Sacramental Mystery, all from Gracewing.

La Beata Vergine Maria, Cuore pulsante della tradizione cristiana, occupa un ruolo centrale nella teologia della Chiesa. La devozione e la teologia che la storia umana le ha attribuito, la riconoscono come Madre di Dio. Per diversi secoli, molto è stato scritto su ogni aspetto della vita e dell¿opera di Maria Santissima. Così tanto, che uno studio sistematico della Beata Vergine sembra un impegno piuttosto difficile. Abbiamo bisogno di aiuto per condividere la gioia dello studio e della riflessione sull¿essere e sull¿agire della Madonna nell¿economia della salvezza. In questo libro, il Professor Paul Haffner ci propone una panoramica chiara e strutturata della dottrina e teologia circa Maria, in una prospettiva storica. L¿opera propone uno schema di Mariologia, nel contesto di altri campi teologici, per poi passare al discorso biblico, articolato nell¿Antico e nel Nuovo Testamento. L¿autore, successivamente, procede ad illustrare le dottrine mariologiche fondamentali,dall¿Immacolata Concezione fino alla Maternità di Maria nella Chiesa come Mediatrice di tutte le grazie. Qui il lettore troverà una guida sicura, fedele alla tradizione che, offrendo un approccio realista, non riduce gli aspetti concreti dei doni e privilegi della Madonna ai simboli e non confonde dottrina e devozionalismo. Il mistero di Maria è pubblicato anche per celebrare il Centocinquantesimo anniversario delle Apparizioni della Madre di Dio a Santa Bernadette a Lourdes.