Two free downloads from Circle Press.

August 14, 2009. Circle Press has just released new free study guides to two of its most popular titles: Strength of a Woman by Amy LeBlanc and The New Fundamentalists by Fr Daniel Brandenburg, LC.

Strength of a Woman

The original book Strength of a Woman is a creative re-telling of the stories of 11 courageous Biblical women who used their feminine genius to accomplish difficult missions.

The spinoff study guide’s 11 chapters are written as meditations with practical applications for daily life, followed by reflection questions. The study guide can be useful even if one has not read the book. Download the study guide here.

Sample text and questions:

You or I may never be accused of adultery, but that doesn’t mean we can’t learn from the silence, courage, and serenity that Su¬sanna had in the face of this trial. In silence, we will always be sur¬prised to discover strengths that we never knew we had. Many times we find ourselves addicted to noise, afraid to face silence and the loneliness that comes with it. But there is nothing to fear in silence if we see it as a place to encounter ourselves in God. And when we take those brief moments of silent reflection, we will be surprised to discover that we really do have the courage and strength we need to make it through each day…

What do I most need courage for? Family relationships? Situations at school or work? Difficulties with friends? Moral dilemmas? In light of Susanna’s courage, how can I face my fears with more serenity?

The New Fundamentalists

The original book The New Fundamentalists by Daniel Brandenburg, LC, is a resource to help readers understand how “tolerance” has become the new fundamentalism in today’s world. At the same time, it also equips readers to engage in authentic dialogue with secular society.

The companion study guide, which presents a series of questions to go with each chapter, is meant to go along with the book. Download the study guide here.

Sample questions:

1. In recent years, the media provided exhaustive coverage of new diseases that later proved to be blown out of propor¬tion. This included the scare over swine and avian influenza outbreaks, since both strains proved much less severe and far less widespread than normal, seasonal flu. Meanwhile several types of sexually transmitted disease infect millions of people each year, even after subtracting new HIV/Aids cases, but the media pays almost no attention to these. Sev¬eral STDs are incurable, life-altering contagions – and all of them are easily avoided. What factors account for the glaring discrepancy in media coverage of these two very different public health hazards, new flus and ever-expanding STDs?

2. Pro-abortion activists nearly always frame abortion as an issue of women’s rights; they refuse to acknowledge the dignity of the unborn baby as a human person endowed with rights of his or her own. “It’s not a baby, just a blob of tissue” – that’s their story and they’re sticking with it. But in spring of 2009, for the first time since polling began on this issue, more Americans identified them¬selves as pro-life than pro-abortion. What do you think accounts for this turning point? How might pro-lifers capitalize on the moment so as to win over more and more hearts and minds?

Circle Press will be producing more free study guides in the future. Visitwww.circlepress.org to keep an eye on new releases.