ANTHOLOGY OF SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS FOR SOPHOMORE RELIGION

Click on the book/film picture  for purchasing information, Click on the pictures for biographies!

Fiction

"A Hint of an Explanation" by Graham Greene 

      Greene, Graham. (First: 1947, 1986). "A Hint of an Explanation" Collected Short Stories.  New York: Penguin Books.  pp. 10, 367.  

Have you ever wondered why God, who we believe is good, allows evil to exist in the world?  Have you ever wondered about the "real presence" of Christ in the Eucharist?  This short story tells the story of a young boy who discovered these answers and more and shows the the effect that his new understanding had on his life.  

     O'Connor, Flannery. (1977).  A Good Man is Hard to Find. New York: A Harvest/Hbj Book.  251 pp. 

Have you ever heard anyone say "What is the meaning of life?"  Usually people are joking when they same something like that?   Is life worth living and worth living well?  Read this story of a woman who never took these questions seriously.  Includes other short stories!  

"With an keen eye for the dark side of human nature, an amazing ear for dialogue, and a necessary sense of irony, Flannery O'Conner exposes the underside of life in the rural south of the United States. One of the powers in her writing lies in her ability to make the vulnerability of one into that of many; another is her mastery of shifting "control" from character to character, making the outcome uncertain. Sexual and racial attitudes, poverty and riches, adolescence, old age, and being thirty-four which "wasn't any age at all" are only some of the issues touched on in this collection."  From the Amazon Editorial Page 

Non-Fiction

                                                                      MERE CHRISTIANITY/ SCREWTAPE LETTERS /CS LEWIS'S CLASSICS                                                                             

   Lewis, C.S. (1943, 2001).  Mere Christianity San Francisco: Harper-Collins. 240 pp.  

Why be a Christian at all?  What does it means to be a Christian?  Is being a Christian just for people who cannot handle real life?  C.S. Lewis, while not a Catholic, writes in Mere Christianity a modern explanation and defense of why Christians believe what and the way they do.  This book is appropriate for all  Christians, Catholic and Protestants alike.  

"The late Lewis, Oxford professor, scholar, author, and Christian apologist, presents the listener with a case for orthodox Christianity. This is definitely not the shouting, stomping, sweating, spitting televangelist fare so often parodied; Lewis employs logical arguments that are eloquently expressed. He describes those doctrines that the four major denominations in Britain (Anglican, Methodist, Presbyterian, and Roman Catholic) would have in common, e.g., original sin, the transcendent Creator." -From the Amazon Reviews  

             Lewis, C.S.  (1942, 2001).  The Screwtape Letters  San Francisco: Harper-Collins.  160 pp.  

Did you see Dogma, Fallen, or Stigmata?  Are you curious about how demons work?  This is an interesting book about the work of demons in the world.  These demons consider it their job to corrupt humans.  Take a peek inside their daily "work" and see what they are up to!  

"Who among us has never wondered if there might not really be a tempter sitting on our shoulders or dogging our steps? C.S. Lewis dispels all doubts. In The Screwtape Letters, one of his bestselling works, we are made privy to the instructional correspondence between a senior demon, Screwtape, and his wannabe diabolical nephew Wormwood. As mentor, Screwtape coaches Wormwood in the finer points, tempting his "patient" away from God."-From the Amazon editorial Page

Plays/Films    

A Man for All Seasons

    Bolt, Robert. (1966, Book ,1999).  A Man for All Seasons.  Hopkinton, MA: Vintage Books.  163 pp. Academy Award for Best Picture, 1966.    

Required Reading

Having trouble understanding the importance of the first semester?  Why do we spend so much time talking about the nature of the Church?  Thomas More understood all of those things and by understanding his life, you can understand why these things are essential to the Church.  

" The exceptionally talented Robert Bolt, who wrote the very literate and memorable screenplay for Lawrence of Arabia, turns his attention in "A Man for All Seasons" to the conflict between Sir Thomas More and King Henry VIII over the question of Henry's marriage to Anne Boleyn and the subsequent creation of the Church of England in order to jusify it. More believes that the marriage is not legal and that attacks on the church are not justified, and cannot make himself swear the mandated oath recognizing Henry as the head of the church in England. Since More is Chancellor and one of Henry's chief advisors, this sets the stage for that well known conflict."

-From the Amazon Review Pages  

Babette's Feast

      Story by Isak Dinesen; Film by Gabriel Axel. (1958,1986).  Babette's Feast.  Directed by Gabriel Axel: Denmark.   Best Foreign Film, 1987 

Why is the Eucharist so important to the  Church?  In this movie, you can see (very subtly depicted)  the difference between the Catholic and Protestant understandings of the way God's grace works in our lives.  This film will be very important when we talk about the sacraments.  

From Leonard Maltin's Movie & Video Guide:
Exquisite, delicately told tale of two beautiful young minister's daughters who pass up love and fame to remain in their small Danish village. They grow old, using religion as a substitute for living life... and then take in Parisian refugee Audran, a woman with a very special secret. Subtle, funny and deeply felt, with several wonderful surprises: an instant masterpiece that deservedly earned a Best Foreign Film Academy Award. Axel wrote the screenplay, from an Isak Dinesen short story originally published in the Ladies Home Journal. Don't miss this one.
Copyright© Leonard Maltin, 1998-2001, used by arrangement with Signet, a division of Penguin Putnam, Inc.