“In an era when so much of business ethics treats only issues within the firm, O’Brien, Collier, and Flanagan’s Good Business: Catholic Social Teaching at Work in the Marketplace employs Scripture, tradition, and contemporary Catholic social thought to provide a lively and more expansive vision of what businesses are called to be. An excellent resource for the classroom.”

“O’Brien, Collier, and Flanagan’s Good Business strikingly illustrates how Catholic social teaching challenges the overemphasis on individualism and profit for a few in contemporary American capitalism. In eight chapters the book develops and applies a different theme of Catholic social teaching to the structure of economic life… The authors admirably bring together theory and practice by relating in each chapter a different approach to economic enterprises illustrating the incorporation of the theme developed in that chapter.”

“The abstract reflections of theologians and philosophers have often had little impact on the work of practicing business managers. Good Business seeks to bridge that gap and is a welcome addition to the project of applying the principles of the Catholic social teaching to the challenges of business. The authors provide a useful summary of basic concepts .  .  .  and survey some of the issues that surround them. But beyond that they do a rare thing, which is to make a serious and determined attempt to explain how these basic concepts might play out in the practical management of business enterprises  .  .  .  illustrated by a set of case studies that helps to ground theory in application. The result is a thought-provoking volume for anyone interested in bringing the Catholic social tradition to the world of business.”

Kevin McCruden’s introduction to the four Gospels and letters of Paul combines a thorough familiarity with serious scholarship and a sensitivity to the important questions that new readers bring to these ancient texts. Within a framework defined by religious experience and the common life and with a view to their impact on modern interpreters, McCruden offers a sensitive reading rich in insight. His work is a superb tool for introducing undergraduates to the critical study of the New Testament.

Professors of New Testament as well as leaders of Bible study groups often find themselves searching for outside sources in the biblical field that go beyond the strictly academic analysis of the New Testament texts to address the personal experience of the community members and how that holds coherence with our current reality.

It is precisely for this reason that Kevin McCruden’s On the Way distinguishes itself from other scholarly introductions to the Gospels and the letters of Paul. Without any mitigation of the scholarly knowledge necessary for the understanding of each document, and with his gift for gracefully communicating erudition in a smooth readable style, McCruden trains his special focus on those most pertinent texts that evince the convert’s personal life and his or her desire to commit to community, and then moves to discussions of contemporary heroes and issues of religio-socio-political recent history.

As a result, McCruden effectively connects the Gospels and letters of Paul to our own world, as vibrant conversation partners from across the millennia, where we find common ground in their evidence of personal transformation and a community commitment that becomes a passion and joy.