Dogma 1300–1700, and the history of modern theology (Christian Doctrine
and Modern Culture since 1700.
Schaff, Philip. The Creeds of Christendom. 3 vols. Grand Rapids: Baker,
- Affordable reprint of a 19th-century classic, containing a more
extensive set of documents than Leith, including a history of the creeds in
vol. 1 and the full text of the decrees of Trent and the First Vatican Council
in vol. 2.
United States Catholic Conference. Catechism of the Catholic Church.
Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1994. A translation of the of¿ cial catechism
authorized by the Vatican under Pope John Paul II, this is the ¿ rst place to go
to ¿ nd out what the Roman Catholic church currently teaches.
Willis, John R., S.J. The Teachings of the Church Fathers. San Francisco:
Ignatius Press, 2002. A systematic presentation of Roman Catholic doctrine
based on a rich selection of excerpts from the church fathers—a ¿ ne
introduction to the deeper roots of the tradition.
More Specialized
Anselm. The Major Works. Oxford and New York: Oxford University
Press, 1998. The best one-volume collection of Anselm’s works in English,
which includes the great treatise on the doctrine of atonement, Why God
Became Man.
Aquinas, Thomas. Introduction to St. Thomas Aquinas. Edited by A. Pegis.
New York: Random House, 1945. A selection of representative texts from
Aquinas’s major writings, the Summa Theologica and the Summa contra
Gentiles. Aquinas’s writing is dense and demanding, but extraordinarily
lucid and instructive once you “get it.” For beginners, it is best to read it
together with a guide like Davies’s guide below.
———. Summa Theologica. 5 vols. Westminster, MD: Christian Classics,
- A complete edition of the greatest masterwork of medieval thought,
for those who wish to pursue in-depth study of Roman Catholic theology.