Dante's Inferno, Purgatory, and Paradise (Catholic Courses)

Have you ever read through The Divine Comedy? Did you understand it all? Do you wish you understood more of it, but don't really want to read another book explaining it all? Well, you're in luck! Catholic Courses has released a three-part series! Three parts means there is one for the Inferno, one for Purgatory, and of course, one for Paradise! Each course is taught by the brilliant Dr. Anthony Esolen and is comprised of eight lessons! That means you get 24 lessons on Dante's epic poem The Divine Comedy, which if we are being honest still might feel like not enough. The individual lessons then walk us through three to five cantos. At approximately thirty minutes a lesson, you are looking at about five to ten minutes per canto. It's not enough time to give you a super in-depth explanation on each canto, but it's long enough to help you grasp the main concepts.

In the first lesson of the Inferno, we learn about the three beasts Dante first encounters - a spotted leopard, a lion, and a she-wolf. Most commentators associate these with lust, pride, and avarice. Dr. Esolen says they could also represent the sins of the flesh, the sins of the devil, and the sins of the world. Lesson Two then begins by Dante entering Limbo and the nine circles of Hell. One of the really interesting things I learned about The Divine Comedy is that it is very precisely constructed. "We have the ten-square number of cantos; the division of the poem into three realms; the age of Jesus at his Passion, thirty-three; determining the number of cantos in each (one too many or one too few for Hell, depending on how we regard it)."

Walking through this poem and course invoked a lot of emotions. In the Inferno we feel pity, fear, despair. Purgatory was probably the most eye-opening. We know a lot about Heaven and Hell from Scripture, but Purgatory is not one we read a lot about. Dante does a masterful job of demonstrating the humbling experience that Purgatory is. We are bent over and crooked with sin, but Purgatory straightens us out. It is not easy and pleasant, but we are not shackled there. We are free to move around and it is in this place that we are cleansed of our sins and climb the mountain to enter Paradise.

With 24 lessons, one can spend six months to a whole year going through all three courses. Catholic Courses also provides several methods to study these courses including MP3 audio download, MP4 video download, audio CDs, and video DVDs. I prefer the video DVDs, because they come with a lecture guide book, and because it forces me to sit down, watch and focus. If I'm just listening to audio, I might get distracted and zone out on the lecture. Others might listen to these on the commute to and from work, and if that works for you, great! We all learn in different ways. The important thing is to keep learning. I can't afford to take college courses now, but Catholic Courses is an amazing alternative, because you get great instructors who are faithful to the teachings of the Church. Be sure to check out their other selections, which include topics like J.R.R. Tolkien, books of the Bible, and Church History, just to name a few. If you're looking for something to study, there's a good chance they'll have what you're looking for.

These courses were provided to me for free by Catholic Courses in exchange for an honest review.

God of the Old Testament (Catholic Courses)

If you love learning about your faith but are on a budget like me, then you look for inexpensive ways to grow in your faith. Maybe your public library has a decent Catholic book selection. (Mine doesn't unfortunately). Maybe, there are great classes that go on at your Parish. I know mine offers several, and I try to attend when my schedule permits. I'm still waiting for an online Catholic university to offer a free class per semester to audit, but until then, we have Catholic Courses. And while we still await the release of the long-awaited Dante's Paradise, they are still producing quality studies like the one I am reviewing today entitled God of the Old Testament.

Dr. Paul Niskanen is the presenter for this Catholic Course. He begins by explaining and dismissing common misconceptions people have about the Old Testament. For example, he makes it a point to explain that all of the Bible is not history and that reading it like a history textbook won't make any sense. He also talks about the negative bias most people have of God in the Old Testament. Many people see God as vengeful and fill of wrath but there are numerous Old Testament passages that discuss His love and mercy. We then dive into the three ways to read the Old Testament - Literalist (Fundamentalist), Secular (Liberal), and Catholic (Embracing the Whole).  He then goes on to talk about languages and translations, using coffee as an example. Different countries (like Italy) translate coffee as one thing and see it as a completely different thing. The same can also hold true when trying to understand the Bible. However, we also have to take into account the culture the Bible was written in and the genre of book we are reading.

Disc Two Lesson Three finally looks at actual texts in the Old Testament. St. Augustine believed that you could learn about every Christian doctrine in the opening chapters of Genesis. While Dr. Niskanen doesn't completely agree with St. Augustine, he does believe that you can learn a great deal about who God is and who humanity is. He then walks us through all the days of Creation. Lesson Four talks about the importance of names and more specifically the Name of God. For reference, Dr. Niskanen refers to the book Exodus when Moses met God in the Burning Bush. It was very interesting to hear his explanation on the name of God, which is Yahweh; how we started referring to God as Lord (or Adonai); and the mistranslation that resulted in the word Jehovah.

Hands down, Disc Three was my favorite disc. In Lesson Five, Dr. Niskanen discusses covenants found in the Old Testament. He does this by using the book of Leviticus to explain what a covenant is and how it differs from a contract or a promise. Lesson Six focuses on one of the most important Biblical covenants - the Davidic covenant. Using the first account of the covenant in 2nd Samuel, he contrasts it with the Sinai Covenant. We also get a brief lesson in Hebrew poetry when the Davidic covenant is recounted in the book of Psalms. I LOVE reading and hearing people talk about covenantal theology, and I feel each time I learn a little bit more and things begin to make better sense and click. Disc Four wraps up the lesson by showing God's love and God's compassion in the Old Testament. As I said earlier, these are traits people don't often associate with God in the Old Testament, but we must remember God is unchanging. Our view of Him changes, but He never does. He is always all-loving and all-merciful.

Dr. Niskanen has a sense of humor you don't expect when it comes to theology professors, especially Old Testament ones. He makes references to both "The Sound of Music" and cartoon legend Homer Simpson, and he also makes jokes about being a Bible Man superhero with an arch-nemesis of Marcion. Sense of humor aside, what you really notice in these DVDs is the love that Dr. Niskanen has for the subject matter, God, and the Catholic Church. So if those 46 books in the front half of your Bible have always intimidated you, or you just want to learn more about the Old Testament in general, this is the Catholic Course for you. For a brief preview, check out the video below:

A Tour of St. Peter's Square and Basilica (Catholic Courses)

There are a few places on my bucket list that I want to visit before I finally keel over. My top three places, in no specific order are the Holy Land, Greece, and of course Rome. Until, I get there, though, I will have to settle for books and videos which describe the places and plan my journey for when I get there. For couch pilgrims on a budget, like myself, I would like to recommend a new resource from Catholic Courses called A Tour of St. Peter's Square and Basilica.

A Tour of St. Peter's Square and Basilica  is a masterful 8-lesson course led by Fr. Jeffrey Kirby. In Lecture One, Fr. Kirby gives a brief introduction to St. Peter's Square and the origins of Christianity. Lecture Two addresses St. Peter - the man from Scripture and his role as the Bishop of Rome and first pope. Lectures Three and Four gives a tour of St. Peter's Square. Points of interest in the Square include the obelisk, the fountains, the Apostolic Palace, the marker where John Paul II was almost assassinated, and lastly the insertion of Mary into the square overlooking it. Lectures Five through Eight, address both the original building and the renovation of the Basilica. It also gives a tour of highlights in the Basilica including the portico which contains scenes of St. Peter's life, the Holy Doors which can only be opened by the Bishop of Rome in Jubilee Years, the nave, and the altar.

Hands down, my favorite part of this was getting to see the Basilica up close and personal. Does it beat getting to see it in person? Of course not! However, it provides a cheaper alternative (not substitute) until you can save up enough money to go see it live. I know some of my audience has had the privilege of seeing it in person and might be wondering what this DVD series would offer to them. For starters, it could be a nice stroll down memory lane if it's been a while since your trip. It also gives you angles and closer looks of things you might have missed or didn't get to see as closely as you would have liked. My least favorite part of this series was the length of each episode. Each episode was roughly 20 minutes, and I would have liked them to each be closer to 30 minutes. It seemed like just as you were getting into an episode, it was over. So whether you're a lifelong pilgrim or someone still waiting to make their first pilgrimage, you will want to pick up this Catholic Course!

Shakespeare's Catholicism (Catholic Courses)

William Shakespeare is considered history's greatest playwright for many reasons. His way with words has yet to be matched and the stories he told still capture the attention of audiences today. Hollywood, in fact, still likes to bring his plays to life on the big screen, as can be seen in the many adaptations of Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, and Othello to name a few. Today, I have the privilege of reviewing another wonderful study program from Catholic Courses entitled Shakespeare's Catholicism by Joseph Pearce.

Mr. Pearce begins by discussing how to read and how to think. In both cases, he states that there is an objective way to read/think and a subjective way to read/think. The best way to read literature in his opinion is to read it through the eyes of the author. Why is all of this important? It is important because both lectures on Disc 1 are biographical in content. Mr. Pearce believes if you want to truly understand the plays of Shakespeare and their Catholicity then you have to understand the following:

1. Who was Shakespeare?
2. What do we know about his life?
3. What were his beliefs?
4. How do these beliefs inform his works, and do we see those beliefs in his works?

If you don't understand these things about Shakespeare, then your own subjective biases will creep in and color the way you read the plays. T.S. Eliot felt this way about Dante as well, and expressed it in the quote, "You cannot afford to ignore Dante's philosophical and theological beliefs, or to skip the passages which express them most clearly...You are not called upon to believe what Dante believed." Therefore, you don't have to be Catholic to see the Catholicism in Shakespeare's work; you just have to see the evidence for Shakespeare's Catholicism and expect to see the Catholicism reflected in the work. You also don't have to agree with it.

The remaining 3 discs (6 lectures) focus on the following Shakespeare plays:

• Romeo and Juliet (2 lectures)
• The Merchant of Venice
• Hamlet
• Macbeth
• King Lear

I have recently read Joseph Pearce's book on Romeo and Juliet, so Disc 2 (Lectures 3 and 4) was a bit of a re-hash for me, but if you have not had the time to read this book, it will be fresh information to you. The most interesting lecture to me was on Hamlet, as this was my favorite play I read in high school. If you went to a secular high school like I did, you will notice a vast difference between your English teacher's interpretation and Mr. Pearce's. I vastly prefer Mr. Pearce's, but others may not. Having studied this Catholic Course, I have a new desire to re-read Hamlet or even tackle Macbeth since I never had the opportunity to study it previously. If you are a lover of Shakespeare, literature, and/or Catholicism, you will want to pick up a copy of Shakespeare's Catholicism. For a brief preview, check out the video below:

I received this course for free from Catholic Courses in exchange for an honest review.

Catholic Courses: The Hobbit: Discovering Grace and Providence in Bilbo's Adventure

Today, I am reviewing the Catholic Courses' product The Hobbit - Discovering Grace and Providence in Bilbo's Adventure. If you recall, last month I reviewed The Hidden Meaning of The Lord of the Rings - The Theological Vision in Tolkien's Fiction. If you're wondering why I started with the one on "The Lord of the Rings" first, it's because it has two introductory lessons covering J.R.R. Tolkien's biography and his writing style. These are covered again in the course on "The Hobbit," but not to the same level of detail.

If you're like me and read "The Lord of the Rings" before you read "The Hobbit," you were probably a bit disappointed by "The Hobbit."  Alongside the action-packed trilogy, "The Hobbit" might seem rather lackluster by comparison. However, this tale serves as more than a precursor to the grand epic of "The Lord of the Rings." It is in-fact a coming of age story of the young Bilbo Baggins. Joseph Pearce also points out that Biblo's journey has many parallels with a person's journey throughout life. He further illustrates these points by addressing the ideas that every life is a pilgrimage and that the impossibility of growth without grace.

One topic that caught my interest in this Catholic Course was the juxtapositions Mr. Pearce made between Thorin Oakenshield and Aragorn. Both of them are kings. However, as kings they are vastly different. Aragorn is seen as a true and just king who can be seen as a Christ-figure. Thorin, on the other hand, is an easily corrupted king who values gold and treasures over people throughout his life. Another part of this course I found fascinating was the discussion on the dragon symbology, Smaug, and dragon sickness. It is no surprise that dragons represent evil, demons, and devils. This was true in early Christian iconography and can be seen clearly in the icon of St. George to your left. Mr. Pearce makes the astute observation that we all must either fight our dragons or become one.

Perhaps, the biggest lesson I took away from the course had to do with materialism. We can see this most clearly through the dragon Smaug, who had no use for gold but could tell you the exact amount in his possession, down to the ounce, and Thorin Oakenshield, who had such a great love of gold that he didn't want to share the gold with the people in Laketown whom he rightfully owed. Both Smaug and Thorin allowed their love of gold to consume them.  This underscores the message of "where your treasure is, there your heart is." While my heart doesn't value gold, I can see how some of my other possessions (my books) can be a stumbling block for me if I let them.  It is important for us as Catholics to keep our heart as close to God as possible.

If you're looking to gain a better appreciation for "The Hobbit" and the Catholic messages within it, this Catholic Course will be a good starting point. You can then follow it up with The Hidden Meaning of The Lord of the Rings - The Theological Vision in Tolkien's Fiction if you haven't studied it already. If you don't have time for an eight lecture course, Mr. Pearce also wrote a book on the subject called, Bilbo's Journey: Discovering the Hidden Meaning in The Hobbit. There are also other great courses that cover Dante's Divine Comedy or William Shakespeare if you are interested in literature, so be sure to check them out as well. For a brief introduction of the course, see the video below.

Catholic Courses: The Hidden Meaning of "The Lord of the Rings"

The world is once again buzzing with thoughts of Tolkien and hobbits thanks to Peter Jackson's "trilogy" on "The Hobbit." I am conflicted with the movies. I am glad that they exist as they will hopefully encourage people to actually read the books associated with Middle Earth. However, I am disappointed with the gross inaccuracies in the films. Also, don't get me started on the money-grab attempt of turning "The Hobbit" into three movies.

What a lot of people don't realize is that Tolkien's works are distinctly Catholic. Joseph Pearce, a Tolkien expert (though I imagine my aunt could give him a run for his money), has two Catholic Courses on Tolkien. The one I am reviewing today is called The Hidden Meaning of the Lord of the Rings - The Theological Vision in Tolkien's Fiction. I will review The Hobbit - Discovering Grace and Providence in Bilbo's Adventure in August.

The first two lectures (Disc One) don't immediately dive into "The Lord of the Rings," but instead discuss the who, what, when, where, and why of Tolkien. I was slightly disappointed at first, because I knew there was a limited number of lectures, and I wanted to dive right into the book discussion. Looking back on it though, it makes sense to discuss the author first. It's hard to completely understand an author's works if you don't understand both the author's point of view and the context within which he was writing. It was also interesting to learn about his involvement in C.S. Lewis' conversion to Christianity; unfortunately, Mr .Lewis didn't choose Catholicism.

Lecture Three was by far my favorite lecture, as Mr. Pearce discusses the meaning of the One Ring. Spoiler Alert: The One Ring symbolizes sin. He also talks about how the One Ring was destroyed on March 25th. This is significant, because this is the Feast of the Annunciation. The day Jesus became human was not the day He was born, but it was the day He was conceived. March 25th is also traditionally given for the day that Jesus died, and that is why Mr. Tolkien chose this date to have the ring destroyed.

Another topic addressed was the Everyman figures of the Hobbits, Gollum, Boromir, and Faramir. In this lecture he shows ways we can see ourselves in these characters. He also criticizes Peter Jackson for completely getting the character of Faramir wrong in the movies. Lecture Six discusses who the Christ-figure is in The Lord of the Rings. My wife and I disagree. She says Gandalf. I say Aragorn. However, we can both be right, because The Lord of the Rings isn't a strict allegory like The Chronicles of Narnia, which only has Aslan as the Christ-figure. I would disagree with Mr. Pearce that Frodo is a type of Christ-figure, though, as he is too flawed. I am especially pleased that Mr. Pearce took the time to address some of the overlooked characters, i.e., Tom Bombadil. He got excluded from the movies, and that was a shame!

This was a well thought out course, and I can't wait to begin The Hobbit - Discovering Grace and Providence in Bilbo's Adventure. Mr. Pearce did a fantastic job of showing just how Catholic The Lord of the Rings actually is. Whether you're a homeschooling parent looking for a way to help your kids understand Tolkien better or a nerd like me who just loves Tolkien and his many works, this is a study for you!

Catholic Courses: Unveiling the Apocalypse

Before the birth of our son, my wife and I were involved in several different ministries. We both taught Catholic Religious Education, were active at our parish in the Young Adult ministry, led one Bible Study, and participated in another Bible Study. Some of you might be thinking, "Where do they find the time?" Let me assure you that we have a set of friends who do ten times (at least) that much WITH two kids! After the birth of our son, we have had to set aside more time for family life and some cuts had to be made. One painful cut was the Bible Study in which we were just participants. They were studying the book of Revelation at the time, and unfortunately it didn't fit into our schedule anymore. Fortunately, Catholic Courses has a study on Revelation!

Revelation is a book that fascinates basically every Christian of every denomination. In fact some denominations avoid the book altogether. In addition to being a fascinating book, it is also a grossly misunderstood book. If you asked five different Christians what a specific passage meant, you would get five different answers. In this course, Unveiling the Apocalypse: The End Times According to the Bible,  Fr. Alfred McBride looks to answer these types of questions:

• Does the book of Revelation disclose the date of the end of the world?
• Will there be a millennium?
• Does Scripture support a belief in the Rapture?
• When will the seven years of Tribulation begin?
• Who was the book of Revelation written for?

You might recognize Father McBride from another Catholic Course - The Christ: A Faithful Picture of Jesus from the Gospels. I reviewed that course back in April, and he does another masterful a job in this course on Revelation. Like most Catholic Courses  this one is four DVDs and eight lectures. If you think that there is no way he can cover all of Revelation in four DVDs, you would be correct. For example, there are letters addressed to seven churches in the first few chapters of Revelation. Fr. McBride doesn't try to cover them all by cramming too much information into our heads. Instead, he picks a few, explains the meaning of the letters he does cover, and lastly explains the format of the letters so we can later study the ones he omitted. I greatly appreciated that.

I liked many things about this course. For starters, Fr. McBride approached the book of Revelation from different perspectives including historical and present day. Secondly, he taught this course from the idea that Revelation is inspiring and beautiful, not scary and to be avoided. I appreciate that viewpoint. I grew up Protestant and was basically indoctrinated to believe you could pick up a newspaper and find a passage in Revelation that relates to it. It definitely took a few years to eradicate that line of thinking. Lastly, he didn't bog you down with information, which is very easy to do when studying Revelation.

However, one aspect that I would liked to have seen touched on was Patristic thought on the book of Revelation. Since this book nearly was omitted from the Canon of Scripture, there was very little commentary on it. However, Andrew of Caeserea (6th to 7th Century) provided a full commentary on it, which I believe is very important as it gives us one of the earliest views of this book. This commentary is beneficial for Catholics, Orthodox, and Protestants to read. because it is dated closer to the time Revelation was actually written than all modern commentaries.

Fr. McBride did an excellent job of cracking open the Scriptures. He provided a detailed but straightforward study of Revelation and also helped dispel some of the misinterpretation related to end of the world mania and fear. I recommend this course for anyone looking to better understand the most misunderstood book of the Bible. I especially recommend it for converts as it will provide you with the real way that Revelation is to be read and not some doom and gloom version you grew up with. To see a brief preview of this course, check out the video below. Also, tune in next month when I review The Hidden Meaning of "The Lord of the Rings."