The 35 Doctors of the Church: Revised Edition

by Christopher Rengers, Dr. Matthew E. Bunson

“The declaration that a saint is a Doctor of the Universal Church implies the recognition of a charism of wisdom bestowed by the Holy Spirit for the good of the Church . . .”— Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI The 35 Doctors of the Church presents the most comprehensive and fascinating collection available anywhere on the lives and labors of the saints who have been declared the Church’s Doctors.From St. Athanasius (c. 297–373) to St. Thérèse of Lisieux (1873–1897), you’ll find the amazing stories of 35 extraordinary men and womenwho are honored both for their holiness and for the eminence of their teachings about the Faith.Their work and witness are truly timeless; their lives and wisdom show us how to be holy in our own lives, how to confront the challenges of today,and how to proclaim the Gospel to a modern world hungering for Jesus Christ.Originally published as The 33 Doctors of the Church by Father Christopher Rengers, O.F.M. Cap., The 35 Doctors of the Church has been updated by Dr. Matthew E. Bunson, K.H.S.,to include two new chapters about recently pro-claimed Doctors, St. John of Ávila and St. Hildegard of Bingen. The revised edition also includes a new Introduction with a detailed explanation of how the Church proclaims Doctors and their meaning for today.

Genres: Christianity

778 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 2, 2014

Reviews

[Antonio · Rating 5 out of 5]

An extensive and comprehensive study of the lives, philosophies, and teachings of the 35 Doctors of the Church would take thousands of volumes.
However this book is capable to comprise all that in just over 700 pages, or about 20 pages per Doctor, making it a pleasant reading, without missing the essence of the Saints, their theologies, life experiences, and meditations.
Good reference book if you need to go deeper on specific subjects or mystic’s life stories.
A great read for all Christians.

[Christopher Pokorny · Rating 5 out of 5]

A treasure chest filled with gems of The Church. Through these teachers, we
approach the gospel with a fresh perspective. A must have for any spiritual library!

[Jonathan Worley]

To me, there are really no heroes in the world if heroism revolves around power. Try a saint. They are averse to power, except the power of God's grace (and Grace isn't the back door to power.

[Sandra Cianci · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing!

What an incredible journey! I am hooked on Saints now! To see 35 all on one place, so much detail is wonderful and lit the spark for more, so many more to read their stories...will take me a lifetime voyage. Thank you for this beautiful book, will be
a constant resource.

[Fiza Pathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book was very informative & enlightening for a person who is not aware of the 35 Doctors of the Catholic Church. However, my copy of the book had about 70 pages missing. I therefore could not read two biographies completely & Saint John of the Cross was totally missing! I hope to buy or borrow another copy hoping that I can read what I missed. I wish there was a bibliography in the book which could aid readers to source the books penned by the Doctors. My favorites in this book were the early church Fathers & I look forward to reading up more about them in the coming months. I noticed that a lot of focus was given to Saint Catherine of Siena & Saint Therese of Lisieux which was good but humongous reads. I really appreciate the Feast Days list given at the end of the book & will keep track & maybe make novenas during every Doctor's Feast Celebrations. I just adore the Doctors of the Church & thanks to this book, I have grown to love & respect their contribution to our Catholic theology & philosophy. My ultimate favorite will have to be Saint Anthony of Padua because he learnt the whole Bible by heart & I wish to follow in his footsteps. I really feel sad that I missed Saint John of the Cross !!! I would have loved to read about the way Rengers penned down the mystical theology of this Doctor of the Church. Hope to get a new copy ASAP to check it out. Rengers gets 4 stars from me.

[Richard R., Martin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a huge book. It is very unwieldy to read unless you are at a desk or the book is sitting in your lap. Also, while it does cover all the doctors of the church, the author's treatment is very uneven. St. Lawrence of Brindisi's chapter is excellent, and his along with St. Catherine of Sienna and St. Theresa of Lisieux chapters were over 50 pages long while the others were 12-18 pages. I also did not like the way he laid out most of the biographies. He does a brief biographical sketch (3-4 pages) and then would go into brief discussions of their teachings and writings and there didn't seem to be a pattern to why he presented the order nor did he relate to how they developed over the saints life. This is an OK reference book to prepare a homily on the saint but outside of St. Lawrence of Brindisi you would be much better served looking elsewhere.