Customer Reviews

Basics of the Faith: A Catholic Catechism

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Schrek's book is a very nice summary of the Catholic Catechism. One difference between the Catholic faith and the Protestant faiths is that Catholics have what can be considered checks and balances on their faith. The Bible, the Tradition, and Past Teachings must all be in agreement or there must be a reason why. So where Protestants are often under the gun to protect their belief from modern changes (whether it's something as simple as women pastors or as difficult as gay marriage) since the Bible doesn't speak to every detail of modern life, Catholics have past Tradition and past Teachings to stabilize the faith. Some reviewers would give books like this a low rating because they believe the Bible and the Bible alone should inform their faith. Since the goal of the book is to describe, summarize, explain and teach the Catholic faith, it seems wrong to blast the book for doing just that. This is an excellent read and I recommend it to anyone who wants to understand the Christian faith better than they do now.

I'll review this book from two standpoints

(1) Quality of binding, print, paper etc.

(2) Quality of content.

Published by Servant Books, this edition uses thick paper so that print from the facing page does not show through (much) and so that you can use a ball point pen for underlining and adding notes without it bleeding through, the paper is slightly cream coloured.

The pint is a good solid black. The text is about 10 point for easy reading.

The binding is typical for a paper back book but slightly stiff so that the book will not open flat when you lay it on a desk.

For quality of production I rate this book 4 out of 5 stars.

The content of the book is uniformly excellent. Alan Schreck writes clearly and manages to keep his subject interesting. He covers the following areas of Christian faith

(1) God's Revelation and Our Response

(2) God, His Creation, and Man's Rebellion

(3) God's People of the Old Testament

(4) Jesus Christ and the New Covenant

(5) The Holy Spirit and the Church

(6) Christian Prayer and the Liturgy

(7) The Sacraments

(8) Life in Christ and the Holy Spirit

(9) The Ten Commandments

(10) Catholics in the World

(11) Mary

(12) The Life of the Age to Come

His perspective is orthodox, conservative but not fundamentalist, and slightly charismatic (though this is present only in slight hints in some of the latter chapters of the book).

This catechism is an excellent resource for personal study and for evangelism, it is especially helpful for explaining the Catholic faith to people who have read or heard anti-catholic views because it presents the facts of Catholic faith without entering into any polemics against any denomination or non-christian religion.

The book is 404 pages long (excluding the notes and index at the end, the index is helpful for finding subjects but there is no scripture index).

For content I rate this book 5 out of 5 stars.

I meant that title with the utmost respect.... I am one of those people who does not understand any pages of the bible. This book explains everything in a way that even a non catholic can understand. I love how it goes through the old testament and describes who every person is. For example who Moses was , who Abraham was who was their father etc... It's like reading a story. tThen at the end of each chapter it summerizes it , so for example one could just go to the summery and only read that if you need some quick answers.

Wow, this book may actually make me a catholic again!

I strongly recommend this book to every Catholic. Mr. Schreck covers the Catechism in a very readable manner. It is detailed enough to bring an understanding of the Church's teaching. Nothing else it will enrich your faith.

Schreck is one of a handful of Catholic catechists producing excellent, orthodox expressions of the Faith based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

The author of "Catholic and Christian", a book which gently explains Catholic beliefs to Protestants, Schreck in "The Essential Catholic Catechism" describes the richness of the Catholic Faith in a comprehensive guide suitable for laymen.

The book is fully indexed to the CCC and parallels it in presentation. One reviewer has called it "a readable Catechism of the Catholic Church", an apt description.

Readers should ignore the disturbing pan of the book by an anti-Catholic nearby. Unfortunately, there will always be those who feel the need to howl against Truth.

There is no excuse for any Catholic to misunderstand the Catechism after reading this book. It is easy to understand and with the reputation of this author, it should allay any fears of being misled in doctrinal interpretation.