Customer Reviews

The Catholic Source Book

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Everyone reviewed this so highly so I got it, and I don't feel it is a good piece for my Catholic arsenol of learning tools. I find that Patrick Madrid's "Why is THAT in Tradition" is the book I find the information I am initially looking for in the Catholic Source book. Or Scott Hahn's "The Bible at a Glance (Faith Charts)". (Both of these are VERY short - Madrid's is under 200 pgs, and the Chart is only 4 pages but contains more information than the Source Book.) The Source Book is extremely basic and merely touches only the surface of the topics it covers. This book has all the topics you could be interested in, but is just a tease to me.

The Catholic Source Book is not a text or a narrative, it is more of an extensive dictionary of Catholic practices, symbols, facts, trivia and history. I was looking forward to this third edition hoping that it would clean up a lot of typographical errors and poor graphics which plagued the second edition. Unfortuantely, this edition looks like it was rushed to print without a final proofing. The information is great and accurate but the layout suffers from inconsistencies in font and font size as well as from occasonally poorly drawn (illegible) maps, diagrams and charts. Content A+, format C.

This is the best book ever for Catholics or anyone wanting to know about Catholicism. It's got anything you want to know in it and some things you would never think to ask. We use it as a resource book and it's full of trivia facts. I would definitely recommend it to anyone.

I keep this by my reading chair. It is a great source of information and review. It also appears to be highly accurate.

I purchased this book for myself and my daughter liked it so much, I had to purchase another for her (she is youth director at our church and used it a lot in planning a junior high retreat). It is very user friendly and has readable yet complete definitions. This should be in every home and church library!

From what I was told by a local Catholic Supply store, this book was a step by step guide through the Catholic religion. It's not. It's more or less a Catholic terms dictionary, written in "Bible" verbiage. Most of it wasn't any easier to understand than the Bible itself. Unless you're already "very" Catholic or at least well versed in the Bible and Christianity, this book will not get you any closer to understanding the Catholic faith.

The Catholic Source Book may be just the book you need to give basic answers to the questions you have about many tenants of the Catholic Faith. It is also a great book for anyone interested in finding out the TRUTH about what the Catholic Church believes... So many people think we worship statues, Mary, etc. Many misconceptions are cleared up for both Catholic and non-Catholic. If you wish to go into greater depth, you may wish to read the books on the Early Fathers of the Church or the Catholic Catechism itself which is a bit too difficult reading for any but theologians. At least that is my opinion with three college degrees and some seminarian training.

I lead "Catholics Returning Home" at St Benedict Catholic church in Shawnee OK, this book has been very helpful. I used to borrow one, now I have my own.

This books is nothing short of "awesome"!.... The amount of information the author has compiled is enormous, and the book is well organized.... The book is "everything you ever wanted to know" -- a real treasure trove of information!