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Summary: superb book
Review: This book is the essential catholic church reference book. It explains all the belifs of the catholic church in depth. This book will explain any questions you have towards the church and how it is related to your life. If you are a catholic than you must buy this book. It ranks right next to the bible in importance. Buy this book and you will never regret it.
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Summary: People need to become GUIDED by faith
Review: I just read a very "misguided" review in this section about the Catholic church, not about this book! No wonder why many people (some even ministers)learn the truth and convert to the Church in which Christ began over 2000 years ago. I would suggest to read more about what this Church and faith is all about before passing judgement. Remember, everyone who is christian LOVES GOD and his son and the holy spirit. Catholics venerate Mary and the saints. We don't worship them. You don't believe that? Then Read More from Scott Hahn Patrick Madrid, Sungenis etc. and learn the truth!
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Summary: Essential reading for understanding the Catholic faith
Review: Even after my recent initiation into the Roman Catholic Church, which followed several months of fairly intense study in the RCIA program, I didn't really understand much about Church Tradition, traditions, liturgy, Dogma, doctrine, Sacraments, and its position on individual and social issues. For help, I turned to the Catechism, which proved to be a concise, well written, logically organized, and often inspirational teacher. The Catechism not only provides clear definitions of Church rites and beliefs, it explains how those definitions came about and evolved, and how they are firmly rooted in Divine Revelation. For many years I had great misconceptions about the Church, I guess primarily because I viewed Church practices and beliefs as something man-made, not God-made. After doing some investigation and study, I discovered how wrong my view had been. Reading the Catechism will deepen your understanding of the relationship between the Church and Scriptures, and the "whys" behind the "whats" of how we practice our faith.
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Summary: I was talking to a few Muslims about the Bible...
Review: Yeah. Like I said, I was talking to a few Muslims about the Bible and how we never meant for it to contain all of our Church's teachings. So this book serves as a great Visual Aid for puzzled Catholics, Protestants, Orthodox, Non-Christians alike as to the correct position of the Bible, for one thing. But why I totally love this book is this reason: philosophy, theology, apologetics, history, etc. all in one (thick!!!) roof! It is more reader-friendly (at least to 16-year olds like me) than Dr. Ludwig Ott's Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma, though I love that book too. I highly recommend this book, plus Dr. Ott's Fundamentals...Dogma, the set of Radio Replies, and the Summa Theologica (by st. thomas aquinas) to all the Homo Sapiens out there (i.e. You :) Buy it now!! No, don't give me that weird look!- put the book in your cart! lol ciao!
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Summary: 2 and 1/2 years and still going . . .
Review: Re above headline, I have had this paperback version of the Catechism for some time, and have read it over and over with Gerry Rauch's "One Year Guide to the Catechism of the Catholic Church"(Claris Pubs.) I recently bought the second edition (Yes I know all the hype about it, thank you)Other than a small dictionary and many aids for the studious, the "Green Catechism" has little more to merit a price twice that of the mass-market edition that I am rating.
Furthermore, Catholics who would never THINK of buying a catechism: they remember the old "Baltimore" with less than fond memories (grin)--Catholics in this category MIGHT spend the ... for this mass-market edition. Armed with Rauch's guide (which takes only about 10 mins. a day), if they stick to reading, will find out they've read frist half, then the whole of the catechism without even realizing it!
IF YOU REALLY want to enhance your reading of the Catechism, THEN buy the "Green Edition" and "The Companion to the Catechism of the Catholic Church"(Ignatius Pubs.) "The Companion" is more MASSIVE than most PRINTED dictionaries found in an office; it is also easy to use to track down actual quotations referred to in the Catechism: One-stop researching; they're all here! Problem is: it's hard to find, but worth hunting down. (BTW, if you haven't read the e-book "Hunted Down" by Dickens offered on Amazon; it's a REAL Victorian mystery, do so, it takes less than an hour to read, and it is, as usual, written like only the ancestor of W. Burnett/H. Robbins could write! (As far as plot-subplot building is concerned; I know; I write.)
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Summary: To Know and Love God
Review: "God, infinately perfect and blessed in himself, in a plan of sheer goodness freely created man to make him share in his own blessed life. For this reason, at every time and in every place, God draws close to man. He draws man to seek him, to know him, to love him with all his strength . . ." and so begins the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
The Catechism is a gift to mankind. Through it the faith taught by Christ and handed on to his apostles can be heard echoing through the centuries. It speaks to the mind, but even more so to the heart.
I love the hardback version because it has the Index of Citations listing Scriptures, Councils and Popes that allow you to find those references within the specific numbered paragraphs of the Catechism. The glossary in the new edition is very useful as well. I also recommend the hardback version because you will want to keep this book your whole life, referring to it often and reading it over and over. The quality of this edition lends itself more readily to this kind of use. A paperback copy can be useful as a second copy to keep in the car or office.
Please, if you are Catholic you must own this. If you are not Catholic but are interested in what the Catholic Church teaches, this is where you want to go for the truth of what the Catholic faith teaches and believes.
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Summary: Catholics Need This
Review: I grew up Catholic, served as an altar boy, followed the sacraments and thought I was a Catholic.I received this as a gift from my parents. While thumbing through it, I had no idea what being a Catholic was. "Catechism of the Catholic Church" -- officially published by the Vatican -- is used by both protestant and Catholic schools to teach what Catholics believe. The top evangelical college in America (Wheaton College) even uses it for their Catholic theology course. I realized while reading this I had no idea what a Catholic baptism was, what the Catholic Church said about saints, what Rome has to say about Catholics who have converted to another Christian faith. And I learned some things the priest in our Chicagoland parish was not teaching Catholic doctrine. Whether you are Catholic or not, there is a fair chance you've bought into some of what pop-culture has said Catholic is and is not. This easy-to-read (thick, but well-organized) book will give you the Catholic position on the matter. I fully recommend "Catechism of the Catholic Church." Anthony Trendl
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Summary: Quality Edition
Review: Surprisingly well written. I was expecting this to be difficult to read. There is a handy glossary and excellent index. It is well organized and cross-indexed for ease of use, whether you are reading it cover to cover or using for reference. The best thing about this edition, and the reason to choose the hardcover over the paperback version, is the physical quality of the book. The type is large enough to read. In a book of this size, the publishers usually squeeze everything together. Even though the paper is thin, it's not transparent and holds the ink well. Makes it easier to read. The binding is great. The book opens easily and stays open to the page you want when placed on a table. I do not foresee pages falling out anytime soon. The same cannot be said of paperbacks. It's worth the extra money for the better version.
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Summary: Important for Catholics More important for Non Catholics
Review: Two of the biggest problems faced by the Catholic church are solved by this book. #1. Catholics who don't know or are wrong about their own church's beliefs and #2. Non Catholics (both critics and supports of the church) who have a false idea of what the church teaches. As simply a reference tool this book is vital to any scholar of religion. Judged as a reference it is well done, Very organized and easy to reference. In addition to the standard index in the back on topics, each section concludes with a summery of basic themes of that section. Even more useful is the very complete use of numeric margin references to other section on similar topics. Quite useful , but if you are just reading it through resist the urge to jump to those sections or you will be jumping all over the place. It also references many church works which are available on the internet for clarification. I didn't have the page problem that other reviews have talked about and I've had two different copies of the book. As an explaination of faith and duty it is complete and uncompromising, sometimes painfully uncompromising. If you want to know what the church thinks about almost anything you will find it here. It is not a blunt instrument but it says what it says and removes ignorance as an option. Put simply if you really want to know what the church thinks vs what some people say it teaches, read this book, if you have your own agenda or don't really want to be told something is wrong (and we all sometimes feel that way) then avoid it like the plague.
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Summary: Must have for the thinking bookshelf
Review: If you are not catholic, and I wish I were a better one, I would reccommend this book as it belongs on the shelf of anyone who ever had a good "why do Catholics say that?" question. But if you are a devout Catholic, or a wannabee, or maybe wannabee, I stand in amazement at how the Catchism becomes a loving teaching document, brightly ringing with both clarity and enthisiasm for its subject. This is something no mere reference book can accoplish. Pax
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