Some notices about forthcoming books

Free post

1. The first upcoming title I will mention is my brother David’s long-awaited tome, All Things Are Full of Gods: The Mysteries of Mind and Life. Yale University Press has it scheduled to launch on August 27th. It promises to be provocative and weighty. Here’s the description from the publisher:

   A world-renowned philosopher’s genre-defying exploration of the mystery of consciousness
    
   In a blossoming garden located far outside all worlds, a group of aging Greek gods have gathered to discuss the nature of existence, the mystery of mind, and whether there is a transcendent God from whom all things come. Turning to Eros, Psyche asks, “Do you see this flower, my love?”  
    
   So begins David Bentley Hart’s unprecedented exploration of the mystery of consciousness. Writing in the form of a Platonic dialogue, he systematically subjects the mechanical view of nature that has prevailed in Western culture for four centuries to dialectical interrogation. Powerfully rehabilitating a classical view in which mental acts are irreducible to material causes, he argues through the gods’ exchanges that the foundation of all reality is spiritual or mental rather than material. The structures of mind, organic life, and even language together attest to an infinite act of intelligence in all things that we may as well call God.  
    
   Engaging contemporary debates on the philosophy of mind, free will, revolutions in physics and biology, the history of science, computational models of mind, artificial intelligence, information theory, linguistics, cultural disenchantment, and the metaphysics of nature, Hart calls readers back to an enchanted world in which nature is the residence of mysterious and vital intelligences. He suggests that there is a very special wisdom to be gained when we, in Psyche’s words, “devote more time to the contemplation of living things and less to the fabrication of machines.”

   

   In the meantime, do pray for David (and if you don’t pray, I’m really not sure why you’d be reading this Substack in the first place). He is incapacitated and in constant pain, and will most likely be requiring surgery.

2. The second book I would urge you to keep an eye out for — it’s due out in the autumn from Angelico Press — is the reprinting of Warriors of God: The Great Religious Orders and Their Founders. Originally published in English in 1959 (the original German version was published in 1955), it’s an excellent work long overdue for a new edition. I have contributed the Foreword, and in it I explain how the reprint came about. Here’s a snippet from that Foreword:

When I first read the 1959 English translation of Walter Nigg’s Warriors of God, the book was already twenty years old. I was a young man at the time, 23 years old, and I had – to my benefit – “discovered” monasticism…

I reread it last year, purchasing a copy online, in the same edition – indeed, its only edition in English until now – that I read back in 1979. I was a little surprised that, apparently, no one had ever thought to reprint it. In fact, its virtual disappearance was somewhat distressing for me to realize. True, some of its scholarship (although it displays an erudition on every page, made accessible by Nigg’s engaging style) is in a few places slightly dated, but those instances are few and far between. We can be thankful that many translations of monastic texts have become available in scholarly editions since the mid-1950s, when the book’s Swiss author wrote it in German. But even if there are a few passages in it that naturally reflect its own era, the text nonetheless holds up extraordinarily well in our day. I dare say it’s still got what it takes to inspire intelligent, seeking readers in the 2020s. In recent years, it should be noted, there has been something of a reigniting of interest among Christians of all sorts in the wisdom of monasticism and the religious orders. Walter Nigg’s book is tailor-made for those today who would most benefit from his sweeping overview of the pertinent history, in the form of well-crafted miniature biographies and judicious reflection. It is long overdue to have this work back in print. Hence, this past year, I resolved to try to make that happen if I could.

     I thought it might involve a real sell-job, perhaps some sweat and tears, approaching a string of dubious publishers… But it didn’t take much effort on my part at all. My first stop was the last one. I arranged to have a copy sent to John Riess, president of Angelico Press, and he agreed almost immediately that the book should be republished. He acquired the rights and lo, here it is in a brand new, attractive, and affordable edition. I could not be more pleased…

I will certainly be saying more about this book in the not-too-distant future.

3. Lastly, Fr. Patrick Henry Reardon will have a new book out sometime this year or next. When St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press plans to release it, I don’t know. I have had the privilege of reading a few of its chapters and the Introduction in advance, and I’m enthusiastic about it. The title is Biblical Piety and Prayer, and its scholarship is impeccable (the footnotes alone are an education). What’s more, it’s written in Reardon’s typically engaging, stimulating style. I consider it, without exaggeration, an important and needed book. What it has to impart is matter close to my own heart (as this Substack page could very well attest). Keep an eye out for it (and I will be alerting you when it’s available, you can be certain).

   In the meantime, you might consider reading some of his other superb books. You can see those titles and descriptions by clicking here.