John Paul II: The Encyclicals in Everyday Language (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"A great idea, brilliantly edited...the clearest and most readable way that anyone will encounter of presenting the encyclicals of this extraordinary Pope." --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Description

Father Donders has brought together all 12 of Pope John Paul II's encyclicals in the first complete edition designed with the ordinary lay reader in mind. Father Donders puts the central message of each passage in sense lines that display the core of each text in an abbreviated format. This enablesthe reader to grasp the Pope's meaning easily. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 373 pages
• Publisher: Orbis Books; Updated edition (March 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1570753741
• ISBN-13: 978-1570753749
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,013,292 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent reference, May 29, 2006

By	Anthony J. Warren (Cincinnati, OH United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a great book to have on hand. Pope John Paul's set of encylicals compromise a modern, comprehsensive presentation of Catholic theology. Father Donders makes these writings available to the more casual reader. Reading these encyclicals is a great way to reflect on the great pontifcate of Pope John Paul II. Highly recommended.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Encyclicalese translated, September 19, 2009

By	John ODonnell "jono" (St. Paul, MN USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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This review is from: John Paul II: The Encyclicals in Everyday Language (Paperback)

John Paul II stood across the last quarter of the twentieth century like a Collosus. His intellect was formed in modern and scholastic philosophy. The larger corpus of his thought and output consisted of many speeches, sermons, letters, interviews, etc. In the top tier of his output stand his encyclicals. In Roman Catholic tradition, encyclicals are letters from the Bishop of Rome to other bishops, to the church and to the world. Encyclicals contain teachings accepted as true and are given great deference among Catholics.

Unfortuantely, much of the wisdom contained in encyclicals comes wrapped in centuries' old manners of communication, much of which are foreign to today's ear.

Father Joseph Donders has provided a service to Catholics and others by rendering all of John Paul II's encyclicals into language more accessible to modern readers who are not professional theolgians. Donders points out, appropriately, that the first source always are the original encyclicals; Donders recommends having the original encyclical alongside his "translation." To enhance using this book as a refernce, Donders prepared a short Epilogue which traces some of the threads that run through the encyclicals. This makes it possible to trace the development of certain of John Paul's thought over time. This is aided also by an index of main terms and themes found in the encyclicals.