The Christian Moral Life: Directions for the Journey to Happiness

By: John Rziha

Narrated by: Andrew L. Barnes

Length: 16 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's summary

To take a journey, travelers must know where they are, where they are going, and how to get there. Moral theology examines the same three truths. The Christian Moral Life is a guide for moral theology that uses the theme of a journey to explain its key ethical concepts. First, humans begin with their creation in the image of God. Secondly, the goal of the journey is explained as a loving union with God, to achieve a share in his eternal happiness. Third and finally, the majority of the audiobook examines how to attain this goal. Within the journey motif, the audiobook covers the moral principles essential for attaining true happiness. Based on an examination of the moral methodology in The Bible, the audiobook discusses the importance of participating in divine nature through grace in order to attain eternal happiness.

The entire project builds upon the insights of great Christian thinkers, such as Thomas Aquinas, Thérèse of Lisieux, and John Paul II, to uncover the moral wisdom in scripture and to show people how to be truly happy both in this life and the next. This audiobook will be of great interest to undergraduate students of moral theology, priests and seminarians, parents, and teachers seeking to raise and to form happy children, and anyone interested in discovering the meaning of true happiness.

The book is published by University of Notre Dame Press. The audiobook is published by University Press Audiobooks.

©2017 University of Notre Dame (P)2020 Redwood Audiobooks

Critic reviews

“Eminently readable and enlightening.” (Leon Suprenant, Archdiocese of Kansas City, Kansas)

"Dr. Rziha's book exemplifies true Christian and Catholic humanism at its finest." (Michael G. Sirilla, Franciscan University of Steubenville)

“A sound introductory textbook on the complexities of moral theology.” (Catholic Library World)

A Great Study For Seekers of the Truth in Morality

Lets start off with a bit of information. This book, and therefore I assume John Rziha, is based in Catholicism. For the average "non-denominational" Christian this might be perceived to be a problem. It should not be. I found very little to object about and nothing in the realm of the moral philosophy this book is presenting to its readers. To say it another way, The Christian Moral Life is for everyone looking to improve themselves, their relationships, and all aspects of life.

This book is not a "story" to listen to. Some authors use stories to get there message across. This is not one of those. This is a study and should be treated as such. This would be a great companion audio to the written textbook. It is very well spoken and presented in a format to keep your interest and to help you understand the topic. But you should be prepared to put some thought into the words you are hearing. On that basis, this is not a background listen while you are doing other work. Pay attention. You just might learn something.

Mr. Barnes does an excellent job presenting the material for your ears. Pauses in all the right places let you feel like you can see the text and the breaks in subject that is built into the written word. Many narrators could learn something from the presentation of this book.

I was given this free review copy audio book at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Solid Treatment of Moral Philosophy

Performance: Let's be real ... I expected this book to read like a text book and that's okay because I am very interested in the topic. This makes evaluating the narration difficult ... so I started with a comparison to my college professors somewhat monotonous lectures (multiple character voices are obviously missing). In that regard, I enjoyed Andrew's performance. His tone and cadence varied just enough to keep me paying attention to the content ... which is the goal here right?

Story: The first part of the book explores "ethical concept" of what it means to be created "in the image of G*d" ... specifically what is the soul and what is its connection to the body. The text skillfully includes references to some of the greatest Christian Theologist of the Western Faith to support the authors narrative (without subordinating the author's voice to these great thinkers). As might be expected, there are a few assumptions that are necessary to fully accept the philosophical arguments built upon these assumptions; principle of these would be the assumption that the reason or purpose behind the creation of man was for man to seek a knowing and loving relationship with his creator ... to be in harmony with body and soul and creation itself (aka perfection or paradise). Once the archtype of creation has been established, the author then explores the fallen nature of man. Finally the book gets to the whole point of the journey ... how do we get back to where we were ...

Bottomline ... I learned a lot from this book that I didn't know or had not thought about. That gives this a solid 4 stars. The fact that I anticipate coming back to this book to reinforce my understanding of the material gives it another star (I rarely come back to books after the first read)

Highly Recommended for any who wish to explore human morality.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Long and in-depth like a textbook

This is a comprehensive, in-depth composition. Reads like a textbook. Written from a Catholic Christian perspective.
Narrator did a good job.