Customer Reviews

Catholic Christianity: A Complete Catechism of Catholic Church Beliefs Based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I give this book 4.5 stars. I deducted 1/2 a star, not because of any disagreement in theology I might have with the Catholic faith, but because of a few things the book lacks.

I have been in many churches that preach the worst about Catholic Christianity from the pulpit. My late father was a non-practicing Catholic and I learned a little from his testimony about his experiences. Needless to say, I grew up with a skewed view of Catholicism. In working with several devout, intelligent and scholarly Catholics in my ministry, I have found that my initial views were wrong. While I do disagree with several Catholic theologies, I have grown to respect Catholicism and disregard that skewed reasoning with which I was initiated. This book does a superb job of doing this. Few Protestants are going to read through the Catholic Church Catechisms. But, this book does a pretty good job of explaining the general beliefs of the Catholic Church while referencing the CCC and Scripture.

Peter Kreeft begins with 10 chapters (154 pages) of what Catholics believe. He then devotes 10 chapters (126 pages) to how Catholics live and 10 chapters on the Sacraments and prayer (143 pages). The "Contents" page does a good job of pointing one in the general direction regarding the topic, and then at the beginning of each chapter, he gives a detailed and numbered topic list for the chapter. For instance, Chapter 5 is titled "Jesus Christ" in the Contents and the beginning of the chapter lists 27 topics including: 1: The Centrality of Christ through 27: Christ the conqueror of the world. This layout is unique and helps point the reader in the general direction.

Kreeft does a superb job of explaining in plain English why Catholicism believes its theology and even goes as far to explain very objectively why Protestants object to some Catholic beliefs, such as Marian theology. He does not go into the extreme Protestant positions (such as the ones I was indoctrinated with), but instead gives the even-handed Protestant objections and why they exist.

My critiques (why I deducted 1/2 star):
- The book lacks an index. This makes finding content in the book much more difficult. The Contents and Chapter details help, but not as much as an index could have.
- While this is not a book on Catholic- Protestant relations, Kreeft does delve into some Protestant objections. And since he touches on the topic, it would be helpful for Kreeft to use his superb gift of correct wording to explain why Protestants have some of the more extreme views. It would help Catholics understand this and help Protestants see the err in their ways.

The book is supremely well written and covers most topics that would help a non-Catholic understand Catholicism. I bought this book based on the Catholic Christians' reviews below, and was not disappointed in the least. I thank God that it was written since Christianity is not supposed to be divided, and the way to heal the wounds is not through extremism, but devotion and understanding to help reach other through respect and understanding. I recommend this book to all Christians and to non-Christians who find an interest in the study of religion.

Whether you are Catholic and wanting to learn more about your faith or a non-Catholic wanting to understand either the Catholic Church or the beliefs of a Catholic friend, this book is for you. This book does so much more than "give the facts" about Catholic beliefs- it gives you the reasons why Catholics believe what they do. Kreeft clearly has the non-Catholic Christian in mind when he writes- providing Biblical and historical reasons for beliefs and practices. Furthermore, his writing style is not only easy to read, but engrossing. His love for God, the Catholic Church and the Bible is infectious. I would especially recommend this book for non-Catholics who are married to or plan to marry a Catholic spouse.

Reading this book was one of my first steps in the direction of the Catholic Church. Growing up, I had always heard vague disapproval of the Catholic Church; lots of unspecific allusions to Mary-worship, "working your way to heaven", etc. Reading this book, however, lifted the veil and revealed the beauty, depth and truth that is the Catholic faith. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is willing to lay aside preconceived biases and begin an open-minded examination of the Catholic faith. I'm confident that in so doing you will be surprised by truth.

This book is by no means the ultimate guide to Catholicism. Instead, it provides an overview of the beliefs held by the Catholic church as presented in the Catechism of the Church. Anyone new to the faith should pick up one of the many great introduction and apologetic books by authors like Tim Staples, Patrick Madrid, Scott Hahn, and Karl Keating. Their books explain the faith from the perspective of dealing with myths, misunderstanding, and outright lies of the Catholic Faith.

I enjoyed reading this book because it makes references to the catechism, which in turns makes references to sacred scripture and the writings of the earliest Christians. Peter Kreeft, though at times a bit dry and verbose, does an outstanding job of putting the pieces together. I highly recommend this book if you are a Catholic who wants to gain a deeper understanding of the faith.

To respond to some of the other reviews, it is important to remember that we are all in search of truth. The author's references to Protesantism are made to illuminate the similarities and contrasts of the two modes of Christianity. What is termed "Protestant Bashing" should refer to a situation where someone deliberately says malicious things about a faith. Defending someone's beliefs against those of another belief system is not bashing, but rather argumentative discourse.

The book is highly accurate, but if you are looking for responses to any of the typical and commonly-addressed anti-Catholic arguments, look at some of the apologetics books on the authors aforementioned.

Kreeft's "Catholic Christianity" is an excellent overview of the Faith, organized to parallel and explain the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

Particularly useful are his explanatory analogies and defenses of Church teachings from misinformed and hostile critics. For instance, he uses the analogy of a flower to describe the three theological virtues, likening faith to the root, hope to the stem, and love to the flower or bloom.

His chapters on the Liturgy introduce readers to a solidity and "vertical" dimension missing from the guitar-strumming, irreverent exercises in self-worship that many Catholics experience at Mass.

In a section on the universality of Christ and the salvation of non-Christians, Kreeft correctly identifies the Church's "Christocentric" view: one must have faith in Christ to be saved, but that faith may be implicit or unclear or unaware of itself, as is the case with a good, God-seeking pagan who is unaware of the Gospel. He contrasts that with the conservative "ecclesiocentric" view of some within the Church who claim explicit membership is required for salvation and with the equally-wrong (and liberal) "theocentric" belief that all who seek God in any way are saved.

Similarly, "Catholic Christianity" is a corrective to revisionist presentations of the Gospel. In the section on the meaning of the names "Jesus" and "Christ", Kreeft cites paragraph 549 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church: "By freeing some individuals from the earthly evils of hunger, injustice, illness and death, Jesus performed messianic signs. Nevertheless he did not come to abolish all evils here below, but to free men from the greatest slavery, sin." Hence, the primary message of the Gospel is salvation, not the materialism that lurks behind some modernist, unorthodox views of social justice.

This book solidifies Kreeft's reputation as a latter-day G.K. Chesterton.

A suggestion to Ignatius Press: include an index in subsequent editions.

Most people will find plowing through the Catechism of the Catholic Church a hardy task. Professor Kreeft comes to the rescue presenting the material faithfully but in his usual light and compact way. A great reference tool!

This book 9is a very valuable and useful guide to what the Catholic Church ACTUALLY teaches, rather than what her more vocal opponents would like us to THINK she teaches. It adds "muscle" to the "skeleton" of the Catechism. I would certainly recommend this book for RCIA classes.

Whew! The "Catholic Christianity" is the one that explains the doctrine of the Catholic faith in a down-to-earth manner (pun intended).

Reading the book awakened my faith into a new level, I realized the Catechism's principal task is to present the Christian faith more accessibly to lay people; to understand the Catholic faith without needing a Philosophy degree. If you have a QUESTION, 9 out of 10, you'll find the ANSWER in this book. After all the Catechism was a product of the ordained Council of Bishops and Saints springkled with common sense, so rest assured that they are all Holy inspired. Think about it...it's a money back guarantee!

The sub-title of Peter Kreeft's "Catholic Christianity" really does say it all: this is a thoroughly worthwhile catechism of Catholic beliefs based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church: Second Edition, as all good adult compendiums & catechetical resources on Catholic teaching should be. The book is very accessible, with a very user friendly format that is fully referenced to the Catechism. The writing is clear and concise, allowing readers to easily comprehend what Holy Mother Church actually teaches. Prof. Kreeft's book received an Imprimatur from William Cardinal Leveda, the current Prefect for the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith ( Pope Benedict XVI's old post under JP II,) while His Eminence was still the Archbishop of San Francisco. So many books purporting to be true distillations of the Faith do not have this designation, which grants a book a bishop's permission to be published. Further, "Catholic Christianity" has a Nihil Obstat, granted by the Rev. Milton T. Walsh, STD. This declaration is given by a competent authority who has examined the work in question, and has determined that the book is free from doctrinal or moral error ( Richard P. McBrien's "Catholicism," for example, has neither designation.)
Aside from the Catechism of the Catholic Church: Second Edition, there is no finer teaching tool for explaining the beliefs of the Catholic faith than Peter Kreeft's "Catholic Christanity," from perhaps the finest Catholic publisher in America today, Ignatius Press. This is the one to choose, my friends. Buy with confidence! Highly recommended!!

and then you will want to hang onto it as a reference book for your own personal library. Dr. Kreeft is a professor of Philosophy at Boston College and has authored many, many good Catholic books. Additionally, he is a outspoken defender of the Catholic Faith.

Catholic Christianity is a common sense, plain English, easy to read commentary on the Catechism of the Catholic Church. It makes a great companion to the Catechism offering easy to read explanations for most of the content of the Catechism. It would also make a good introduction to the Catechism. If you have been a bit intimidated by the size and language of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, this would be a good way to get started. It will give you a good overview that you can then follow up with the actual text of the Catechism. But this book, as good as it is, can in no way replace the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Dr Kreeft himself writes in the Preface, "Let no one read this book instead of that one."

This book will not act as an impediment to ecumenism, nor is it in any way anti-Protestant. Instead it can exert a strong unifying effect, presenting the Catholic faith as it does in plain English without the use of technical theological jargon.

All of us need to understand that the Catechism of the Catholic Church is a tremendous gift to all who would understand the Catholic Church, its teaching and its practices. There is no excuse for anyone not knowing their faith in all its beautiful fulness. Every Catholic, everyone who loves a Catholic, and anyone interested in understanding the faith of the Roman Church can benefit from the Catechism and from Catholic Christianity.