“Find out how much God has given you and from it take what you need; the remainder is needed by others.” – St. Augustine
Since I’ve built up a large collection of extra books and resources, every week I give some away absolutely free, no strings attached.
Each giveaway lasts seven days with a new one beginning every Friday. You can enter any time during the week. Check out my past giveaways here.
Thanks to the generosity of the American Chesterton Society, I’m giving away FOUR of their excellent books. One is by Chesterton himself, two analyze Chesterton’s thoughts, and the final is an exciting new book written in the Chestertonian spirit. One winner will receive all four titles, including:
The Catholic Church and Conversion
by G.K. Chesterton
Ignatius Press, 141 pages, paperback
Released on October 30, 2006
G. K. Chesterton has been described by both his admirers and even his opponents as the “apostle of common sense” and “one of the happiest, kindest, most brilliant and witty” defenders of Christianity that ever lived. From his youthful days as a free-thinking Victorian to his entry into the Catholic Church, G. K. Chesterton always seemed to be a man who loved truth, beauty and goodness, and who had a vast appreciation and gratitude for the gift of life itself, with all of its many joys as well as sorrows. Indeed, for Chesterton, the joys far outweighed the sorrows.
In this book, Chesterton’s brilliance as a writer and thinker again shines through as he explains his understanding of Catholicism and the Catholic Church, and how her appeal to reason and truth eventually won him over. For Chesterton, a man misses the point of it all unless he acts on two essentials at the heart of conversion. He describes these in his own words: “One is that he believes it to be solid objective truth, which is true whether he likes it or not; and the other is that he seeks liberation from his sins.” These two reasons are why Chesterton became a Catholic, and are what he describes in his unique and colorful way in this book.
The Complete Thinker: The Marvelous Mind of G.K. Chesterton
Edited by Dale Ahlquist
Ignatius Press, 264 pages, paperback
Released on October 17, 2012
What does it mean to be a “complete thinker”? It means being able to take on a wide variety of ideas and disciplines and put them all together in a way that they work together. It means thinking like G.K. Chesterton.
The English author G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936) was one of the most prolific and well-known writers of his time, and one of the most widely quoted in our own. For newspapers and magazines, he wrote social commentary, literary criticism, and poetry with poignancy and wit. Creator of the beloved detective Father Brown, Chesterton also wrote novels and short stories.
“Thinking”, wrote Chesterton, “means connecting things.” His ideas are not only connected to each other, they are also connected to us, showing that the thought of Chesterton is timeless. In a world of increasing specialization, Chesterton connects us to the big picture by helping us see how the many and varied elements within our experience fit together. He sheds light on almost every subject and opens doors from one thing to another with dazzling clarity.
Drawing on literally hundreds of references from Chesterton’s vast writings, Dale Ahlquist conducts a symphony, with Chesterton playing all the instruments in perfect harmony.
Chesterton’s thoughts on almost everything—from east to west, from old to new, from politics to economics, from Shakespeare to Dickens–are woven together to create an illuminating whole.
The Hound of Distributism
Edited by Richard Aleman
American Chesterton Society Books, 128 pages, paperback
Released on August 16, 2012
In a world obsessed with growth and globalization, Distributism is a political economy championing the sustainability of decentralized, local economies with the aim of ensuring the widest ownership of the means of production. The solution to our present socio-economic malaise is an economy as if people and God mattered.
The Hound of Distributism is a collection of essays written by leading distributist authors from around the world. Given our present social and economic crisis, this timely and rich volume challenges the sterility of our present by recovering the value of the socio-economic theory of Distributism.
The Catechism of Hockey
by Alyssa Bormes
American Chesterton Society Books, 187 pages, paperback
Released on October 5, 2013
Why does hockey have so many rules? Do we still need to have penalty boxes? Can’t we get rid of offside? And why is practice so important? What’s the big deal with the Commissioner? And coaches? And referees? Why can’t they just let us play?
Anyone involved in hockey—players, parents, fans—would never take any of these questions seriously. Without the rules, there would be no hockey. And without the drills there would be no thrills.
And yet Catholics ask similar questions about the Church all the time. Why does the Church have so many rules? Why do we have to go to confession? Why do we need priests? And what’s the big deal with the Pope? Why does the faith have to be so difficult? Can’t we just play?
If you have ever needed help explaining the faith to your children, your friends and family, or even your foes, this is your new playbook. The Catechism of Hockey is one of the most unlikely, but effective Catholic resources for the New Evangelization.
I’m using Rafflecopter to help with the giveaway, which is great because it gives you multiple entries for commenting, posting on Facebook, sharing on Twitter, etc. Click below to enter:
(If you’re reading this through email or RSS and don’t see the giveaway widget, click here.)
The winner(s) will be randomly selected next Friday and the books will be sent out, free of charge, shortly thereafter.
In the future I’ll be giving away more books and resources, sometimes multiple items per giveaway! So subscribe via feed reader or email to ensure you never miss your chance to win.
(Since I’m covering the shipping costs, only residents within the continental United States are eligible to win.)