Other reads this year ...

In chronological order ....
1. The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini
2. A Thousand Splendid Suns, Khaled Hosseini
3. La Verità del Papa, Aldo Maria Valli
4. The White Tiger, Avarind Adiga
5. All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque
6. The Help, Kathryn Stockett
7. The Book Thief, Markus Zusak

Fraternity of the Capuchin General Curia, Rome

Click on the pic!

Just finished reading...

1. Alister McGrath and Joanna Collicut McGrath, The Dawkins Delusion?, 2007 (ISBN 978-0-281-05927-0)
2. Alister McGrath, Why God won't go away. Engaging the New Atheism, 2011 (ISBN 978-0-281-06387-1)
3. Alister McGrath, Surprised by Meaning. Science, Faith, and How We make Sense of Things, 2011 (ISBN 978-0-664-23692-2)

Overall, I enjoyed reading these and am glad I did. Stimulating, they outline and critique the fundamental tenets of the "New Atheism" clearly, simply, persuasively. I would have liked to see a recognition of metaphysics as a legitimate science with its own degree of abstraction and certainty, with its capacity for deductive proof distinct from that of mathematics. Such a discussion may have been beyond the scope of these volumes and disrupted the accessibility of the text.  Nonetheless, it would be regrettable if a reader were left with the impression that the philosophy of science trumps other philosophical sciences, and that mathematics alone enjoys an a relatively unassailable degree of certitude.  In short, I am left wondering about some epistemological pre-suppositions in the books. Having expressed that one, personal un-ease I have, I must say again that the books are a great read, and I would recommend the second one the most of all.

Franciscan Ascetical Writings

A "must see" page. Fr. Campion Murray OFM has, over the years, made English translations of early Franciscan ascetical texts. The texts can be downloaded in PDF format. Excellent! Go to http://www.franciscans.org.au/spirituality/campion/index.htm

Corrections to capdox

Until a 'reader' wrote today, I was unaware that Short Discourse Concerning the Observance of the Vow of Poverty of the Friars Minor had not been linked to its PDF file. The problem is fixed and the English translation of Giovanni di Fano's text is now available. Four or five more photographs have been added to the collection of header images too.
If you know of other difficulties with the capdox site, I would be grateful to hear about them.