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Rating: 
Summary: A compendium of Roman Catholicism in Transition
Review: Author's theme:
A concise but comprehensive compendium of Roman Catholicism, doctrine and tradition presented by an established ecclesiastical historian and doctrinal peritus who provided a well researched, thorough examination of the issues of integral Catholic thought and progressive belief in transition through the last century and its historic roots. The author Thomas Bokenkotter is a parish priest, and instructor at Xavier University, Cincinnati.
Book overview:
Fr. Bokenkotter advances his catechetical apology in five main parts starting with basic fundamentals of process theology; religion, theism, revelation, faith. Part II deals with christology; person and message, resurrection,& incarnation. part III defends the Churchand its authority, infallability, icons of mary & saints. Part IV discusses worship, sacraments, baptism, eucharist, penance, Marriage & divorce, priesthood. Concluding with part V on Christian daily life, morality, sin, sex, social justice, bioehics, and destiny.
Historical dogmatic evolution:
The knowledgeable and affluent author of the History of the Roman Catholic Church masterfully exposes the historical evolution of the Church's teachings of pre to post Vatican II Catholicism as seen in their theological-historical development. He tries to be impartial, having in his mind that he addresses those issues in an audience brought up in a mostly Protestant America. Bokenkotter summarizes scholastic thought of Ansalm and Aquinas, inviting some of the most influential contemporary thinkers to debate them including; Kung, Rahner, and Schillebeeckx. Meanwhile he could not ignore Calvin, Luther, and Barth since he has to defend the main issues that the reformers criticized.
Reviewers Reactions:
In theology you can be rational, but hardly impartial, and that is why the Amazon.com reviewers conceived the book controversially.
"A lot of the material in the book describes not what the church is all about, but rather 'what some people think' the church is all about." Steven K. Szmutko
"Dynamic Catholicism by Thomas Bokenkotter is a breath of fresh air. ... I want my faith to be like that of the thief that hung next to Christ and believed He was the Son of God. A faith based on the risen Christ that I can express with the Apostles or Nicene Creed and I don't have to be worried about all the other rules and regulations created by a group of people who's opinions change with time (albeit centuries). " Tom Blasi
"While the core truths of the Catholic Church do not change, Dynamic Catholicism outlines one thinker's view on how the interpretation and emphasis of various teachings evolve with historical context. ... Even the most conservative of Catholics must accept that the human element in the Church is capable of error by act or omission, even blunder, when viewed through the lense of historical hind sight." "gbortnyk"
"This book provided wonderful insight into the breadth and diversity of the Catholic Church. I understand and agree with the concept of strong central control of the Church. The core beliefs are what they are and it seems ridiculous that the congregation should "vote" on the catachism." "scutchen"
"Dynamic Catholicism is an example of poor Church historical scholarship. It contains just enough facts mixed with great personal interpretation written in an engaging style to make it a highly misleading book. For the person who wants to understand what Catholics believe and how these beliefs were articulated through time--this is not the book to read." "tnotare"
"I enjoy reading Bokenkotter, his writing style is quite enjoyable. Nonetheless, his content is predictable: quite liberal, too much so in fact. Dynamic Catholicism is deficient as a clear presentation of the Catholic Faith. There are also, I believe, seriously insulting remarks made about Catholics of previous generations." AKKTER3
Rating: 
Summary: A Layman's view of what really is Dynamic
Review: Dynamic Catholicism by Thomas Bokenkotter is a breath of fresh air. When I have shared the title of this book with friends and told them I thought it is a great book they may want to read, they say "Catholicism --- dynamic?" It's inconceivable, to my circle anyway, to put those 2 words together positively. However, I feel it's a book that opens the windows of time and humanity and allows a review of historical events and how they shaped what we now call Catholicism which is still growing under Vatican II. It appears that a lot of folks think that the reference in the Nicene Creed to "one, holy, catholic and apostolic church means 'their' Catholic church. A sincere reading of Dynamic Catholicism will clearly expose that attitude to be very narrow and uninformed. We could just use one example to make this point. Christianity (Catholicism) before Emperor Constantine verses after Constantine made Christianity the state religion. Before and after, is it still valid Catholicism / Christianity? Oh, here's another : the dialogue that was engaged in by Luther, Calvin and others and the Roman Catholic Heirarchy in their day. Were they all wrong, some of them partly wrong or did they all really care about the practices of faith in their time? I want my faith to be like that of the thief that hung next to Christ and believed He was the Son of God. A faith based on the risen Christ that I can express with the Apostles or Nicene Creed and I don't have to be worried about all the other rules and regulations created by a group of people who's opinions change with time (albeit centuries). I can now be free in Jesus' Love and not bogged down by the 'laws' which He came to set us free from in the first place. This book has helped me struggle for the faith. Let all the modern day Pharisees lighten up and let the Holy Spirit do His work in the spirit of love and understanding that Jesus' promised us before He left this earth. Amen Brothers and Sisters
Rating:
Summary: A Layman's view of what really is Dynamic
Review: Dynamic Catholicism by Thomas Bokenkotter is a breath of fresh air. When I have shared the title of this book with friends and told them I thought it is a great book they may want to read, they say "Catholicism --- dynamic?" It's inconceivable, to my circle anyway, to put those 2 words together positively. However, I feel it's a book that opens the windows of time and humanity and allows a review of historical events and how they shaped what we now call Catholicism which is still growing under Vatican II. It appears that a lot of folks think that the reference in the Nicene Creed to "one, holy, catholic and apostolic church means 'their' Catholic church. A sincere reading of Dynamic Catholicism will clearly expose that attitude to be very narrow and uninformed. We could just use one example to make this point. Christianity (Catholicism) before Emperor Constantine verses after Constantine made Christianity the state religion. Before and after, is it still valid Catholicism / Christianity? Oh, here's another : the dialogue that was engaged in by Luther, Calvin and others and the Roman Catholic Heirarchy in their day. Were they all wrong, some of them partly wrong or did they all really care about the practices of faith in their time? I want my faith to be like that of the thief that hung next to Christ and believed He was the Son of God. A faith based on the risen Christ that I can express with the Apostles or Nicene Creed and I don't have to be worried about all the other rules and regulations created by a group of people who's opinions change with time (albeit centuries). I can now be free in Jesus' Love and not bogged down by the 'laws' which He came to set us free from in the first place. This book has helped me struggle for the faith. Let all the modern day Pharisees lighten up and let the Holy Spirit do His work in the spirit of love and understanding that Jesus' promised us before He left this earth. Amen Brothers and Sisters
Rating: 
Summary: An example of what a Church historian ought not do!
Review: Dynamic Catholicism is an example of poor Church historical scholarship. It contains just enough facts mixed with great personal interpretation written in an engaging style to make it a highly misleading book. For the person who wants to understand what Catholics believe and how these beliefs were articulated through time--this is not the book to read. In some cases the facts of Catholic Church history are completely wrong. A glaring example of this is in the section on birth control. Bokenkotter begins by stating that the issue must be understood within the context of what he calls the "population problem"--he believes this is an issue which informs Catholic teaching. As an "historical Catechism," that statement could not be more incorrect. Bokenkotter neglects to tell his readers a number of facts: 1. The consistent historical teaching of Christianity is that artificial birth control is immoral because the unitive and procreative goods of intercourse are assaulted by them. This belief was only altered in 1930 by the Anglican bishops at their Lambeth conference because they wanted to legislate for the "hard cases" (i.e., those married couples who for serious reasons could not use periodic abstinence). 2. The Catholic Church has always allowed for birth regulation in marriage--so long as the couple worked within God's divine plan (i.e., doing nothing to separate the unitive and pro-creative nature of intercourse.) The "pleasure" of the couple has never been the focus of this teaching--it is only the "fruit" of the giving of the self to the spouse in marriage. This belief has been held since the Apostolic Age. Throughout time, Church leaders struggled with the meaning of intercourse and often wrote extensive works on how sexuality could be misused (that is, focusing on the negative or sinful inclinations of human nature). From a positive perspective, the Early Church Fathers primarily focused on the pro-creative good. It wasn't until Augustine that the unitive or "sacramental bonding" of intercourse was articulated and discussed as a good. And it wasn't until John Paul II (20th cent.) that a full positive theology has been pronounced. Throughout Church history and until the 1970's, periodic abstinence was the only means of regulating births naturally. From the 1970's to the present day, viable natural methods of birth spacing have been developed. 3. The negative reaction to Humanae vitae in 1968 was the result of many factors including: a poorly educated clergy and laity on the issue of Church teachings on marriage, sexuality and birth control; no means to live the beliefs (that is, Rhythm was not reliable and the natural methods --Sympto-Thermal and Ovulation Method--of family planning were not yet developed); by 1968 Catholic people were fully accepting of modern technology and open to the idea of artificial methods of birth control; and the 1960's were a ime of cultural transition where people questioned everything--authority, truth, gender roles, sex, etc. All the above facts of the era are completely ignored by Bokenkotter as he communicates his personal opinion that the Church teachings are simply "wrong." That is not history, it is opinion. "Dynamic Catholicism" is terrifically sloppy and personal in approach. There are many further examples which I could give, but space limits my comments. In summary, this is not an historical catechism. It is a catechism "according to Bokenkotter. Don't buy this book!
Rating: 
Summary: Fascinating but too Liberal
Review: I enjoy reading Bokenkotter, his writing style is quite enjoyable. Nonetheless, his content is predictable: quite liberal, too much so in fact. Dynamic Catholicism is deficient as a clear presentation of the Catholic Faith. There are also, I believe, seriously insulting remarks made about Catholics of previous generations. For example, he delves into the issue of Saint "Philomena," a martyr whose cultus was removed from all public calendars due to a lack of historical information about her. Bokenkotter, not content with this, follows in the train of many other modern writers and asserts that the Italian priest who wrote her 19th century hagiography, simply made up the story out of whole cloth. This is to call a man of God, in effect, a blatant liar, and this is frankly not right. What actually occured was that a nun with impeccable moral credentials had received a series of apparitions during which the martyr, "Philomena," allegedly revealed to the nun just who she was and how and why she was executed. These "private revelations" were included in subsequent editions of Philomena's hagiography by the priest, he did NOT make up the story out of whole cloth. Again, I enjoy reading Bokenkotter, but he should attempt to be much more factual and keep his personal and, frankly, unsubstantiated opinions about people, out of his works. There are much better introductions to the Catholic Faith available to readers: Alan Schreck's CATHOLIC AND CHRISTIAN, THE TEACHING OF CHRIST by Lawler and Wuerl, and LIFE IN CHRIST published by ACTA/HarperCollins come to mind. These are unabashedly faithful to the magisterium of the Catholic church. The CATHOLIC UPDATE which is published by the Saint Anthony Messenger Press, is also generally pretty helpful most of the time. I can't recommend DYNAMIC CATHOLICISM, unfortunately.
Rating:
Summary: Catholicism is not Totally Monolithic
Review: This book was recommended to me as I was going through RCIA, as was A Concise History of the Catholic Church. I read them both. They have different purposes. This book provided wonderful insight into the breadth and diversity of the Catholic Church. I understand and agree with the concept of strong central control of the Church. The core beliefs are what they are and it seems ridiculous that the congregation should "vote" on the catachism. But that does not mean that the way each person relates to his faith cannot be different. This book helped me to feel comfortable that there was room under the Catholic tent for me.
Rating:
Summary: Catholicism is not Totally Monolithic
Review: This book was recommended to me as I was going through RCIA, as was A Concise History of the Catholic Church. I read them both. They have different purposes. This book provided wonderful insight into the breadth and diversity of the Catholic Church. I understand and agree with the concept of strong central control of the Church. The core beliefs are what they are and it seems ridiculous that the congregation should "vote" on the catachism. But that does not mean that the way each person relates to his faith cannot be different. This book helped me to feel comfortable that there was room under the Catholic tent for me.
Rating:
Summary: Not Quite Up to Speed
Review: Unlike Bokenkatter's Concise History of the Catholic Church, I found Dynamic Catholicism a bit lacking in terms of factual information. A lot of the material in the book describes not what the church is all about, but rather "what some people think the church is all about." I realize that a one volume book is certainly not as exhaustive as a more comprehensive study of the various aspects of the church; however, there should have been a little more specificity as to the what is official church teaching, versus what is popular opinion. While engagingly written, a little more scholarly dissemination and less "popular" opinion would have been more beneficial.
Rating:
Summary: Not a "catechism," but a valuable perspective
Review: While the core truths of the Catholic Church do not change, Dynamic Catholicism outlines one thinker's view on how the interpretation and emphasis of various teachings evolve with historical context. I would not characterize Dynamic Catholicism a "catechism" per se, but a "perspective," and should be taken as an opinion on, not a definition of Catholicism. I find its value is enhanced when juxtaposed with its criticism, pro and con. Even the most conservative of Catholics must accept that the human element in the Church is capable of error by act or omission, even blunder, when viewed through the lense of historical hind sight. Pope John-Paul II himself has issued regrets for some of these human errors in recent years, which is in itself an implicit example of the dynamic nature of Catholicism. I found Dynamic Catholicism refreshing as a perspective. Yes, buy and read this book, and a dozen others as well to get differing perspectives. Catholicism is the richest religious tradition ever, in my estimation, where even its faults are instructive as reflections of human nature in the historical context. Its dynamic evolution of understanding and expression is a reflection of the human's capacity to grow over time. Its teachings, intellectual debates and struggles are most valuable and challenging -- a fantastic Way to meld faith, intellect and human purpose.
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