Customer Reviews

Catholic Replies: Answers to over 800 of the most often asked questions about religious and moral issues

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This book started me down a path of reacquaintance with my faith at a time when I was plagued with doubts and questions. Each of the queries are addressed in a concise and easily readable manner - and they're peppered with references to Scripture and Canon Law. An awesome start for those looking to answer their own doubts, as well as the questions and probings of Fundamentalists and Evangelicals. The answers are well thought out, and if you have a question regarding the faith - from Mary to Baptism, genuflection to transsubstantiation - the answer (or at least the beginning of it) can likely be found here.

I enjoyed reading this book from cover to cover. It answered questions in easily understood lanuage I have not found in other books. I was able to find direct answers by looking up a topic, without hopping all around.

Mr. Drummey is President of CR Publications which started in 1995 to publish books which are faithful to the Holy Father and the Magisterium. Mr. Drummey is the editor of a weekly question-answer newspaper column called Catholic Replies, from which this book is based off of. He is also co-author of the Catholicism Series, also published by CR Publications. I also have one of those books, however, I have not yet finished; it is called Catholicism and Reason.

The book is very straightforward, Mr. Drummey answers each question with patience and charity, however, is very careful not to cater to a language which is palatable. In other words, he shoots from the hip, and does not water down the moral teachings of the Church. There are many thought provoking questions, most of which, I think, had to do with liturgical questions, as liturgical abuse has been quite widespread over the years since the 70's. However, from other sources, namely, Father Peter Starvinskas, another noted theologian and apologist, has stated that this era of liturgical abuse is dying out since this crisis is a product of the experimental age of the late 60's and 70's.
He also puts things into perspective, making sure that the extreme ends of Catholicism, liberal-modernism and extreme-traditionalism, are brought back into the reality of what the Roman Catholic Church is, a living body, which accounts for its infallible and unchanging Traditions, as well as its ever changing and evolving tradition and outward expression of the Traditions. That is for example, although the underlying theology which lies at the heart of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass did not change between the Latin Tridentine Missae and the Vernacular Novus Ordo Missae, that is its true nature or essence, the outward expression has. Therefore, Tradition (its source from the deposit of faith) did not change and can never change but tradition (its source from the guidance and authority of the teaching Church) has changed.
Some traditionalists have argued against this by appealing to tradition and conservatism, using the old saying "lex orandi lex credendi." This is Latin for, "the law of prayer is the law of believing." In other words, how we pray is how we believe, and the logic follows, if the way we pray has changed, the way we believe or what we believe has changed. This is simply not tenable. One need only remind these extreme traditionalists that Latin was not the original language of the Mass. It was Greek, and may have even been Aramaic.
The chapters on general morality and even marriage were very interesting. Since most moral questions like pre-marital sex, abortion, contraception, even living together before marriage, suffers a silence from most pulpits, it has become an even more desperately needed apostolate for apologists and theologians to make these teachings known to those who seek such answers. The danger, however, is those who use apologetics as a weapon. Knowing, understanding, and transmitting the truth is the job of the apologist, but it does not stop there, what makes an apologist effective is not just the knowledge of the truth, but the effectiveness of his/her presentation of the faith. Catholic philosopher, Dr. Peter Kreeft quoted a Muslim proverb saying, "Before shooting the arrow of truth, dip it in honey." It does not mean water down the truth because the arrow was not cut in half or blunted. The arrow is in tact, what you do is make that truth enticing.
I highly recommend this book as it has answered many questions that have piled up over the years, which Mr. Drummey does not answer by his own authority, but by appeals to the teachings of the Church by way of the Catechism, the Code of Canon Law, Papal Encyclicals, Curia Documents, the Documents of the various Councils (most of which comes from the Second Vatican Council), and various other resources. It is about 400 pages and answers about 800+ questions. It looks to be about a 2 week or less read, if you stay on it.

Dominus Vobiscum,
Laurence A. Gonzaga.

I was looking for something different to give a teenage boy. Read the reviews and was not disappointed. I'm certain it will be a point of reference for him for years to come.

This is an excellent read for either the Catholic who went to CCD years ago and needs a wonderful update and a continued education...or the curious non-Catholic who would like an insight into the Catholic Faith. It starts your Apologetics journey. Highly recommend it.