I’m happy to announce a new addition to the Free .Pdf Library, a curious book from 1968 titled Keeping Your Balance in the Modern Church.

This book was written three years after the Council ended, and tries to address the turmoil that was just beginning among rank-and-file Catholics. Many theologians started teaching a different gospel from what most laity had heard since childhood, the Council’s implementations were still in their infancy (the Novus Ordo was a year away!), and Catholics were confused over what to make of the goings-on.

I first discovered this book sometime around 1998, and if memory serves, it was on a website called St. Michael’s Abbey based out of Australia. One thing that always impressed me about it was the play-by-play description of what happened behind the scenes at Vatican II (Chapter 2), and its attempt to break Continental philosophical developments down into bite-size pieces for the average American Catholic to understand.

From what I can tell, the book was the ninth installment in something called the “Catholic Lay Series,” and people have posted it on Amazon as part of the “Catholic Living Series.” Considering how many versions of the book are available for sale, I can only conclude the title has been abandoned by its publisher.

In any case, if you decide to download and read this book, I ask you to do so with two things in mind: 1) remember that this book was intended for the average layperson who knows little-to-nothing about theology or philosophy, and 2) construe the book’s statements in the context of the time in which it was written, of which this book is very much a product.

I hope you enjoy the library’s new entry, and there will always be more to come!

[The entire Free .Pdf Library can be viewed here.]