What is Reddit's opinion of Introducing Moral Theology: True Happiness and the Virtues?

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So I have a degree in theology. While I'm not aware of a comprehensive course of study that can replicate the breadth of content covered in an undergraduate theology degree, a motivated layperson can cobble together books, audio courses, lectures, and other resources that will permit for a deeper, more serious level of theological study than one finds in popular resources. Here are some resources that I myself have found useful, many of which helped to enrich my own academic journey in theology when I was a student:

Philosophy:

• I found The Great Courses' lecture series on Reason & Faith: Philosophy in the Middle Ages to be an excellent survey of foundational philosophical thought in the Christian tradition. The presenter does a great job of outlining the central features of Augustine, Boethius, Anselm, and Aquinas' thought.
• For moral theology/philosophy, Introducing Moral Theology is a good, if dry, resource. It was the textbook I had to read through in an intro to moral theology class and is very thoroughly based on the moral theology of Thomas Aquinas.
• Ratzinger's On Conscience is a great read for questions about conscience and moral reasoning.

Biblical Studies:

• I think that any student of the New Testament would benefit from reading through N.T. Wright's series Christian Origins and the Question of God. While we read Scripture to glean timeless truths, Christians of all persuasions are also increasingly coming to understand the importance of appreciating what the gospel meant in its historical context. The 4-part Christian Origins and the Question of God series does a fantastic job of outlining how Jesus' ministry fit within the context of Israel's extended exile and messianic hopes. The third volume in the series, The Resurrection of the Son of God, is a masterpiece of historical and theological scholarship that puts forward an incredibly compelling case for the historicity of the resurrection.
• A supplementary resource would be Isaiah Gafni's Beginnings of Judaism course, which is available through the great courses. This course really focuses on the Second Temple period, that is, the period following the Babylonian exile and immediately preceding Jesus' birth. My sense is that anyone who wishes to understand the historical backdrop against which the events of the gospels took place would benefit from this course.
• The Bible Project produces a podcast, very ecumenical in outlook, that presents wonderful detailed discussions about the Bible which draw upon contemporary biblical scholarship and inquiry.
• I recommend Ratzinger's A Catholic Understanding of the Story of Creation and the Fall to everyone I meet who's interested in the creation narratives.
• Additionally, it would be advisable to pick up a variety of Bible translations. Popular translations in theological circles are the NRSV and RSV, as well as the Jewish Study Bible (for the OT).

Other:

• I honestly think the best place to start for dogmatic theology is with Lumen Gentium. I think this dogmatic constitution beautifully describes the intersection between ecclesiology and sacramental theology.
• Ratzinger has a number of excellent volumes that treat various topics of theological interest — God is Near Us for Eucharistic theology, The God of Jesus Christ for trinitarian theology, etc. Additionally, no student of theology should go without reading Introduction to Christianity.
• Hard to study theology without reading through Augustine's Confessions at least once. The Great Courses has a decent course on this volume, though I do think the medieval theology course I cited above is more engaging.

>This is partly what I was looking for, but basically I'm asking how impartial and dry and such the approach is. I definitely had a bit of that in seminary, so I'm sensitive about it.

Oh, it's not incredibly impartial. The Notre Dame theology department (which has improved markedly since 2003, largely during John Cavadini's tenure as chair) is committed to Anselm's vision of theology as faith seeking understanding. They even say as much on the front page of their website. That is, theology is predicated upon faith and (to borrow from Aquinas) is the discipline that presupposes revelation as its first principle. Theology was never done impartially at Notre Dame; it was always done within the context of faith, with the assumption that God really has revealed truths and mysteries to us that we can attempt to make sense of.

>I'm fully in favor of "fullness of Truth" instead of "only place with any truth," as well.

Ah, yes, that is a beautiful formula. "Fullness of truth" indeed.

>Noooooooooooo! This hurts my scholastic heart! Have you heard anyone take a holistic approach to his moral theology? It's quite positive and focused on the virtues and I really like it.

I actually did take a moral theology course at Notre Dame that relied heavily on Introducing Moral Theology: True Happiness and the Virtues as its textbook. Unfortunately, it was precisely this course that I perceived as 'dry'—partially because the professor was a graduate student and hadn't quite gotten the hang of the whole 'teaching' thing yet, and partially because my mind isn't given to compartmentalization and categorization of theological truths under categories like the seven virtues. I prefer a more integrative, even Augustinian, approach, though I don't doubt the immense contribution of Aquinas and the scholastics to theology.

>Who led the retreats? What were they like? How many students would go on them? How many students go to daily Mass? And thanks for answering the questions.

Pilgrimages were usually led by priests, though the Rome pilgrimage was led by full-time lay Campus Ministry staff. Retreats were typically organized by the full-time Campus Ministers with students serving as facilitators. I remember that on one retreat I went to (the one where I learned to pray the Lectio Divina), they brought in several speakers, ranging from students telling personal stories of God's grace, to members of the theology faculty providing a more academic approach (yet one applicable to the life of faith), to clergy. We visited a bunch of chapels and learned about a bunch of saints. And of course there was Mass.

I don't think very many students go to the non-themed daily Masses held in dorm chapels. A few hundred people, however, would go to what Campus Ministry calls 'specialty' Masses—that is, Masses associated with a subsequent social event. My dorm would host 'Milkshake Masses' at 10PM on Thursday nights, which were Masses (free of liturgical abuse, though ripe with the post-Vatican II Haas and Haugen fare) that were then followed afterward by free milkshakes. I would go to those a lot as a sophomore.

Sunday Masses were a different beast. There's a Sunday Mass in each residence hall during the evening hours (some beginning as late as 10PM). I would say that maybe half of Notre Dame students would go to Mass on any given Sunday.

>I didn't think that you had to be Catholic. You just have to teach the Catholic faith when that's what's in your class, from my limited understanding.

Huh. That's interesting.