Sacraments: A New Understanding for a New Generation

Rating:
Summary: Very informational - I though a little liberal
Review: Noll does a great job of explaining the sacraments in a historical and sacramental way. You get a full understanding of why we have the sacraments and where they might be changing in the future. I used this book as a reference for a class I took and it was right on the money for what I needed.

Rating:
Summary: Very informational - I though a little liberal
Review: Noll does a great job of explaining the sacraments in a historical and sacramental way. You get a full understanding of why we have the sacraments and where they might be changing in the future. I used this book as a reference for a class I took and it was right on the money for what I needed.

Rating:
Summary: Modern Heretical Fare
Review: The author, Noll, argues that sacramentality is not totally limited to the seven formal sacraments of the Catholic Church; consequently, how painful and how exciting it is to be in the transition period we are in today with the old sacramental system gradually passing away and new dimensions, new intimations, new systems just beginning to show themselves. Have you heard enough?

His book ends with a chapter on the future of sacraments where Noll suggests, for example, that as the consensus developed worldwide, the church would experience the ministry of women ordained as deacons and priests (p. 168). According to Br. Nicanor P.G. Austriaco, Jr., OP, the book "is fundamentally flawed. Though for Noll, the seven sacraments are 'formal ritual celebrations' which serve as symbols for the community, he fails to acknowledge that the sacraments are more than symbols. They also confer the grace that they signify (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1127)." Would you believe that this book is being used to educate (deform) the ministry formation class in my diocese?

Rating:
Summary: Sacramental Theology with a Twist
Review: This introduction to contemporary sacramental theology is solid, but easy to read. A CD-ROM[included] provides a wealth of insights by other authors. Thought-provoking projects add another dimension. A joy.