Candide

Life of St. Ignatius of Loyola by Frances Alice Forbes.

Saint Ignatius of Loyola (1491– 1556) was a Spanish knight from a local Basque noble family, hermit, priest since 1537, and theologian, who founded the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) and was its first Superior General. After being seriously wounded in the Battle of Pamplona in 1521, he underwent a spiritual conversion while in recovery. De Vita Christi by Ludolph of Saxony purportedly inspired Loyola to abandon his previous military life and devote himself to labour for God. He died in July 1556, was beatified by Pope Paul V in 1609, canonized by Pope Gregory XV in 1622, and declared patron of all spiritual retreats by Pope Pius XI in 1922.

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Revival Addresses by Reuben Archer Torrey.

“Salvation begins in thinking. People say that Christianity is blind faith; not a bit of it. Christianity is a rational faith that comes from honest, candid, close thought. … Men often say to me, ‘I am not a Christian, because I think for myself.’ My dear friend, you are not a Christian because you don’t think for yourself. You are bound not to think. You deliberately refuse to read every book that would make you think. At a meeting like this you will go out when the preaching becomes too pointed and you are compelled to think. If I could get you men and women who are out of Christ to think for thirty consecutive minutes, I would get you saved.” Here are 17 of Torrey’s addresses, designed to get us to think.

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Of Education.

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Philosophy of Teaching by Saint Augustine of Hippo.

Saint Augustine's De Magistro, Englished here under the title of "The Philosophy of Teaching or a Study in the Symbolism of Language", was written about A.D. 389, probably during the third year after his conversion. He was baptized by Saint Ambrose in Milan at Easter time, 387. A chief aim of the translator has been to do something to counteract a widely prevalent tradition in the "history of education", which exhibits the Christian Fathers unfairly and untruthfully as patrons of "reaction" and leaders in a "retrograde movement".

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St Augustine's Treatise on the City of God by Saint Augustine of Hippo.

After the storming and the sack of Rome by the Goths under their king, Alaric, the worshippers of false gods or heathen, as we call them, tried to prove that this calamity was due to the Christian religion, and began more fiercely and bitterly than ever to blaspheme the true God. This it was that kindled my zeal for the House of God, and induced me to defend the City of God against the calumny and misrepresentations of her foes. After many serious interruptions this great undertaking, which was extended over many years, was at length finished in twenty-two books. Of these, the first five are written in answer to those who believe that worldly prosperity is insured by the old polytheistic religion of Rome, and that calamities have followed by reason of its neglect.

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On The Predestination Of The Saints by Saint Augustine of Hippo.

Wherein the truth of predestination and grace is defended against the semi-Pelagians — those people to wit, who by no means withdraw altogether from the Pelagian heresy, in that they contend that the beginning of salvation and of faith is of ourselves; so that in virtue, as it were, of this precedent merit, the other good gifts of God are attained. Augustine shows that not only the increase, but the very beginning also of faith is in God's gift. On this matter he does not disavow that he once thought differently, and that in some small works, written before his episcopate, he was in error, as in that exposition, which they object to him, of propositions from the epistle to the Romans. But he points out that he was subsequently convinced chiefly by this testimony, "but what have you that you have not received?" which he proves is to be taken as a testimony concerning faith itself also.

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Blue Island by W. T. Stead.

Ten years after the Titanic went down, W.T. Stead's daughter Estelle published The Blue Island: Experiences of a New Arrival Beyond the Veil, which purported to be a communication with Stead via a medium. In the book, Stead describes his death at sea and discusses the nature of the afterlife. The manuscript was produced using automatic writing, and Ms. Stead cited as proof of its authenticity the writer's habit of going back to cross "t's" and dot "i's" while proof-reading, which she said was characteristic of her father's writing technique in life.

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Commentary on the Epistle to the Colossians by John Calvin.

Accordingly, not long after this Epistle was written, three Churches of great renown perished by a mournful as well as horrible occurrence—a bright mirror truly of divine judgment, if we had but eyes to see it. The Colossians had been, not indeed by Paul, but with fidelity and purity by Epaphras and other ministers, instructed in the gospel; but immediately afterwards, Satan had, with his tares, crept in, (Matt. xiii. 25,) according to his usual and invariable manner, that he might there pervert the right faith.

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Spirit of the Curé of Ars by Alfred Monnin.

St. Jean-Baptiste Marie Vianney (known in English as St. John Vianney), was a French priest that lived from 1786-1859. He would later become famous as the Curé of Ars. Despite notoriously little formal education, he inspired an untold number to convert to the Catholic Faith, through the way that he spoke both passionately and simply, and the way that he lived his life. This book presents some of his catechisms, sermons, exhortations, and thoughts. It offers some of the most passionate pleas to the faithful, allowing him to inspire another generation from beyond the grave.

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Voltaire and the French Enlightenment by Will Durant.

In this Little Blue Book Number 512, Will Durant describes François-Marie Arouet, the writer, historian, and philosopher known as Voltaire (1694-1778) as "unprepossessing, ugly, vain, flippant, unscrupulous, even at times dishonest" and "tirelessly kind, considerate, ...as sedulous in helping friends as in crushing enemies." "My trade is to say what I think," wrote Voltaire, and he did so in ninety-nine "sparkling and fruitful" volumes. He advocated for freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and for the separation of church and state. In 1791, when his ashes were carried through Paris to be re-entombed in the Panthéon, 100,000 men and women joined the procession, while 600,000 flanked the streets. Written on his funeral car were the words: "He gave the human mind a great impetus; he prepared us for freedom."

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