Rating: 
Summary: Church Emerging...
Review: A lucid and engaging exposition of some of the more salient issues facing the contemporary Roman Catholic Church. An excellent introductory resource for students.
Rating:
Summary: Church Emerging...
Review: A lucid and engaging exposition of some of the more salient issues facing the contemporary Roman Catholic Church. An excellent introductory resource for students.
Rating: 
Summary: No better way to understand the Catholic Church today.
Review: Each of the 36 brief chapters introduces the reader to a topic with a story to illustrate the significance of the topic. Doyle gives the reader a good sense of alternative interpretations within the Catholic Church on each of the topics, usually showing how differences can be interpreted constructively. Using theology of the Church (ecclesiology) as his focus, he covers all the many issues that engage a Catholic today. Highly readable and thorough at the same time, this is an excellent basic text for a college course on Catholicism yet accessible enough for parish study.
Rating:
Summary: No better way to understand the Catholic Church today.
Review: Each of the 36 brief chapters introduces the reader to a topic with a story to illustrate the significance of the topic. Doyle gives the reader a good sense of alternative interpretations within the Catholic Church on each of the topics, usually showing how differences can be interpreted constructively. Using theology of the Church (ecclesiology) as his focus, he covers all the many issues that engage a Catholic today. Highly readable and thorough at the same time, this is an excellent basic text for a college course on Catholicism yet accessible enough for parish study.
Rating:
Summary: An ideal introduction to the theology of the Church
Review: I am astonished at how much basic and important information can be found in this book; and yet it is consistently presented in a very personal, engaging way. Doyle presents sophisticated theological reflection in a form that accurately guages the needs and abilities of undergraduates in the United Staes. The author's personal/confessional commentary makes the vital connection between experience and theology while clearly setting forth the official teachings of the Church. I have used this book for several semesters with great success. My students love it.
Rating:
Summary: Student Friendly
Review: Students are challenged by Catholic doctrine presented in very everyday situations. Conservative students are pushed to consider the value of feminist theology and social justice, while liberal students encounter the necessity of authority and revelation. Doyle's even-handed treatment of the theological spectrum makes Church Emerging more than an history book, or dry list of doctrines. Instead the book functions as a bridge between left and right by illustrating that the concerns of both stem from the gospel message. The dusty events and documents of the Second Vatican Council are presented within the context of contemporary issues so the Church Emerging both informs students of past occurences, as it jars them into considering how Catholic teaching might (gasp) apply to their own lives today.Other features which make this book an excellent choice for the classroom or personal study are the discussion questions and bibliography found at the end of each chapter. I have found students eager to engage in conversation after reflecting upon Doyle's questions. Throughout the fact-packed text main points are highlighted and summarized in tables, lists and charts, making it easier for students to identify the important concepts of each chapter. Furthermore, Doyle begins each chapter by sharing a personal experience or story. This functions not merely as a catchy intro, but students have commented that they feel close to the author and more comfortable with negotiating through the material. In writing Church Emerging from Vatican II, Dr. Doyle has provided a great service for the students, the teachers and the Church.
Rating:
Summary: Student Friendly
Review: Students are challenged by Catholic doctrine presented in very everyday situations. Conservative students are pushed to consider the value of feminist theology and social justice, while liberal students encounter the necessity of authority and revelation. Doyle's even-handed treatment of the theological spectrum makes Church Emerging more than an history book, or dry list of doctrines. Instead the book functions as a bridge between left and right by illustrating that the concerns of both stem from the gospel message. The dusty events and documents of the Second Vatican Council are presented within the context of contemporary issues so the Church Emerging both informs students of past occurences, as it jars them into considering how Catholic teaching might (gasp) apply to their own lives today. Other features which make this book an excellent choice for the classroom or personal study are the discussion questions and bibliography found at the end of each chapter. I have found students eager to engage in conversation after reflecting upon Doyle's questions. Throughout the fact-packed text main points are highlighted and summarized in tables, lists and charts, making it easier for students to identify the important concepts of each chapter. Furthermore, Doyle begins each chapter by sharing a personal experience or story. This functions not merely as a catchy intro, but students have commented that they feel close to the author and more comfortable with negotiating through the material. In writing Church Emerging from Vatican II, Dr. Doyle has provided a great service for the students, the teachers and the Church.
Rating:
Summary: Living Vatican II in the Day to Day
Review: The author of this book has created a collection of short personal stories that introduce and brilliantly exemplify explanations of the main focal points of two of the key Vatican II documents. In the best Catholic "both-and" tradition Doyle manages to thoroughly present most aspects of the issues associated with the documents, offering his skillful synthesis to the reader to then consider and digest. The book is a wonderful read, ideal for both everday "Catholics in the pews" and undergraduate students who wish to learn more about their great Vatican II heritage. Overall, a masterful work.
Rating:
Summary: Living Vatican II in the Day to Day
Review: The author of this book has created a collection of short personal stories that introduce and brilliantly exemplify explanations of the main focal points of two of the key Vatican II documents. In the best Catholic "both-and" tradition Doyle manages to thoroughly present most aspects of the issues associated with the documents, offering his skillful synthesis to the reader to then consider and digest. The book is a wonderful read, ideal for both everday "Catholics in the pews" and undergraduate students who wish to learn more about their great Vatican II heritage. Overall, a masterful work.
Rating: 
Summary: Modernist Heresy Disguised as Catholicism
Review: This book is an excellent illustration of why the post-Vatican II Catholic Church is in such sorry shape.
The book is a well-constructed arrangement of religious syncretism and relativism
towards truth masquerading as Catholicism. The author has no clue
what it means to be Catholic.His idea of Catholicism maintains an
external Catholic appearance, while crossing and conciliating it with heretical Protestantism,
theological relativism, and Marxist demagoguery. The official Church teachings are
presented in the same way and with no more validity than the views of heretical and dissident "theologians".
All of this is cleverly done in a "shades of gray" style in an endeavor to leave the reader questioning
and doubting all that he or she has ever been taught regarding the Catholic Faith, and indeed whether
absolute truth exists at all...
| 
