Happy Sunday and for those who follow the traditional liturgical calendar, happy feast day of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary!
I need help finding the best book for a friend of mine. She was raised catholic but knows very little about the Faith. She told me she's interested in learning because i) she's interested in me and knows that I wouldn't date anyone who wasn't a real catholic* and ii) she sincerely wants to get closer to God. So far I have two books in mind recommended by other friends and online reviews. First is "This Is the Faith: A Complete Explanation of the Catholic Faith"
by Canon Francis Ripley and the second book is "The Aquinas Catechism: A Simple Explanation of the Catholic Faith by the Church's Greatest Theologian" found here https://www.amazon.com/dp/1928832105/_encoding=UTF8?coliid=I1QZHRBWD9RFFI&colid=FG3UIDZBDFI9 (https://www.amazon.com/dp/1928832105/_encoding=UTF8?coliid=I1QZHRBWD9RFFI&colid=FG3UIDZBDFI9).
Has anyone read those books? If so, which one do you recommend? If none then which book would be best? Keep in mind I'm looking for a basic book, not like Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma (even though I would consider that a beginner's book, but everyone is different). Overall and most importantly, please keep my friend in your prayers and also that I may teach her correctly in charity our divine faith. Laudetur Jesus Christus!
*By real catholic I mean not only someone who accepts all teachings of the Church but who is also striving for perfection.
Honestly, I'd recommend this:
https://www.amazon.com/My-Catholic-Faith-Louis-LaRavoire/dp/0963903268
It has great artwork. It's broken down in small chunks. It's a great pre-Vatican 2 text covering TONS of stuff.
It's what the FSSP parishes in CO use for new convert and adult catechetical instruction.
I've got a copy of This is the Faith (paperback) for sale for like $10 shipped, if you're interested... :^) Very good condition... :D
It's a good book. I've read it, pretty engaging and comprehensible.
Quote from: Gardener on July 02, 2017, 05:26:16 PM
Honestly, I'd recommend this:
https://www.amazon.com/My-Catholic-Faith-Louis-LaRavoire/dp/0963903268
It has great artwork. It's broken down in small chunks. It's a great pre-Vatican 2 text covering TONS of stuff.
It's what the FSSP parishes in CO use for new convert and adult catechetical instruction.
A number of SSPX priests at St. Mary's recommend that one as well. I have it, and it does have nice pictures. But unfortunately I haven't been able to get much use out of it because it keeps giving me bad fruit :(
edit - Oh, another book that a priest told me to read is called
A Map of Life. And I read it, and it is excellent. It's relatively short and to the point yet it makes a lot of sense and seems to cover all the basics of the faith yet it's more general than a typical catechism (and it's not in question and answer format).
edit - To answer the question, I have the
Aquinas Catechism and I've never read the whole thing but it seems solid. From what I understand, it was compiled from notes on a series of sermons which St. Thomas gave at some point. And at a glance it seems to cover the catechism, so it's probably good. Although personally, I sometimes have a hard time with St. Thomas's writing style and word choice.
Quote from: Daniel on July 02, 2017, 07:48:02 PM
Quote from: Gardener on July 02, 2017, 05:26:16 PM
Honestly, I'd recommend this:
https://www.amazon.com/My-Catholic-Faith-Louis-LaRavoire/dp/0963903268
It has great artwork. It's broken down in small chunks. It's a great pre-Vatican 2 text covering TONS of stuff.
It's what the FSSP parishes in CO use for new convert and adult catechetical instruction.
A number of SSPX priests at St. Mary's recommend that one as well. I have it, and it does have nice pictures. But unfortunately I haven't been able to get much use out of it because it keeps giving me bad fruit :(
Bad fruit? What?
Quote from: Gardener on July 02, 2017, 07:49:54 PM
Quote from: Daniel on July 02, 2017, 07:48:02 PM
Quote from: Gardener on July 02, 2017, 05:26:16 PM
Honestly, I'd recommend this:
https://www.amazon.com/My-Catholic-Faith-Louis-LaRavoire/dp/0963903268
It has great artwork. It's broken down in small chunks. It's a great pre-Vatican 2 text covering TONS of stuff.
It's what the FSSP parishes in CO use for new convert and adult catechetical instruction.
A number of SSPX priests at St. Mary's recommend that one as well. I have it, and it does have nice pictures. But unfortunately I haven't been able to get much use out of it because it keeps giving me bad fruit :(
Bad fruit? What?
It could just be me. But I begin by reading some of the catechism from that book, and I am like, "Yeah, that seems to be what the Church teaches. So far so good." But then I continue reading and the next paragraph is usually something from Scripture, which the book is trying to use in order to prove that the Church's teaching is entirely correct. Yet, when I read the Scripture quote, it just comes across as a really bad argument. And it makes me start doubting the teaching altogether. That, or I begin doubting Scripture.
The other thing that I take particular issue with is the page regarding superstition. What it says is that magicians and fortune tellers these days are all fake. And while it's true, most of the public magicians and fortune tellers and psychics you come across these days are fake and are just trying to scam people, it seems that the book is implicitly denying the reality of sorcery and divination. Sorcery and divination are not fake.
I don't believe the scripture references are supposed to be exhaustive, but rather to introduce the reader to the concept of how one might approach a verse in relation to the subject.
If you read further down on that page (195 in my copy), where he covers "spiritism", you see that he does not deny such things.
Rather, he is drawing a distinction between some Virginia Slims smoking "fortune teller" (Madam Cat Lady in the Single Wide Trailer?), who can't seem to fortune tell her way out of a bad income level, and actual instances of contacting demons. Same thing with magicians who do tricks vs magicians who engage in utilizing (really, being utilized by) demons.
For anyone interested in a peek in the book: http://www.catholicbook.com/AgredaCD/MyCatholicFaith/Contents.htm
Quote from: Kaesekopf on July 02, 2017, 06:44:49 PM
I've got a copy of This is the Faith (paperback) for sale for like $10 shipped, if you're interested... :^) Very good condition... :D
It's a good book. I've read it, pretty engaging and comprehensible.
What's the year of publication? The 1949 edition is good. Bp Morrow unfortunately slipped into modernism and so the latest edition is bad.
Quote from: Lynne on July 03, 2017, 05:47:08 AM
Quote from: Kaesekopf on July 02, 2017, 06:44:49 PM
I've got a copy of This is the Faith (paperback) for sale for like $10 shipped, if you're interested... :^) Very good condition... :D
It's a good book. I've read it, pretty engaging and comprehensible.
What's the year of publication? The 1949 edition is good. Bp Morrow unfortunately slipped into modernism and so the latest edition is bad.
The tan publication.
And there's like two sentences that are maybe questionable, lol.
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Quote from: Daniel on July 02, 2017, 07:56:50 PM
Quote from: Gardener on July 02, 2017, 07:49:54 PM
Quote from: Daniel on July 02, 2017, 07:48:02 PM
Quote from: Gardener on July 02, 2017, 05:26:16 PM
Honestly, I'd recommend this:
https://www.amazon.com/My-Catholic-Faith-Louis-LaRavoire/dp/0963903268
It has great artwork. It's broken down in small chunks. It's a great pre-Vatican 2 text covering TONS of stuff.
It's what the FSSP parishes in CO use for new convert and adult catechetical instruction.
A number of SSPX priests at St. Mary's recommend that one as well. I have it, and it does have nice pictures. But unfortunately I haven't been able to get much use out of it because it keeps giving me bad fruit :(
Bad fruit? What?
It could just be me. But I begin by reading some of the catechism from that book, and I am like, "Yeah, that seems to be what the Church teaches. So far so good." But then I continue reading and the next paragraph is usually something from Scripture, which the book is trying to use in order to prove that the Church's teaching is entirely correct. Yet, when I read the Scripture quote, it just comes across as a really bad argument. And it makes me start doubting the teaching altogether. That, or I begin doubting Scripture.
The other thing that I take particular issue with is the page regarding superstition. What it says is that magicians and fortune tellers these days are all fake. And while it's true, most of the public magicians and fortune tellers and psychics you come across these days are fake and are just trying to scam people, it seems that the book is implicitly denying the reality of sorcery and divination. Sorcery and divination are not fake.
That's interesting Daniel. Even as a kid, I loved reading that book. As I grew up and now getting older, I still find new things to learn about my Faith in that book. I've always highly recommended it for learning basic knowledge about it. In my opinion, and I know there are people out there, like you, who disagree, the scriptural quotes are there to show where in the Bible, the basic premise of the teaching comes from for that particular subject. I never took it as though it were an argument "to prove that the Church's teaching is entirely correct". I think there are specific books out there that will go in depth for each subject for that. Like I said, I have and continue to highly recommend this book for gaining a basic knowledge of the Faith put in a format that is interesting.
Quote from: Kaesekopf on July 03, 2017, 09:06:45 AM
Quote from: Lynne on July 03, 2017, 05:47:08 AM
Quote from: Kaesekopf on July 02, 2017, 06:44:49 PM
I've got a copy of This is the Faith (paperback) for sale for like $10 shipped, if you're interested... :^) Very good condition... :D
It's a good book. I've read it, pretty engaging and comprehensible.
What's the year of publication? The 1949 edition is good. Bp Morrow unfortunately slipped into modernism and so the latest edition is bad.
The tan publication.
And there's like two sentences that are maybe questionable, lol.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk
Yeah, it's only a couple of drops of poison, lol.
Quote from: Lynne on July 03, 2017, 10:59:54 AM
Quote from: Kaesekopf on July 03, 2017, 09:06:45 AM
Quote from: Lynne on July 03, 2017, 05:47:08 AM
Quote from: Kaesekopf on July 02, 2017, 06:44:49 PM
I've got a copy of This is the Faith (paperback) for sale for like $10 shipped, if you're interested... :^) Very good condition... :D
It's a good book. I've read it, pretty engaging and comprehensible.
What's the year of publication? The 1949 edition is good. Bp Morrow unfortunately slipped into modernism and so the latest edition is bad.
The tan publication.
And there's like two sentences that are maybe questionable, lol.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk
Yeah, it's only a couple of drops of poison, lol.
Anything specific you can cite?
Quote from: Lynne on July 03, 2017, 10:59:54 AM
Quote from: Kaesekopf on July 03, 2017, 09:06:45 AM
Quote from: Lynne on July 03, 2017, 05:47:08 AM
Quote from: Kaesekopf on July 02, 2017, 06:44:49 PM
I've got a copy of This is the Faith (paperback) for sale for like $10 shipped, if you're interested... :^) Very good condition... :D
It's a good book. I've read it, pretty engaging and comprehensible.
What's the year of publication? The 1949 edition is good. Bp Morrow unfortunately slipped into modernism and so the latest edition is bad.
The tan publication.
And there's like two sentences that are maybe questionable, lol.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk
Yeah, it's only a couple of drops of poison, lol.
That old catchphrase gets really tiresome, particularly when the speaker is ignorant of the topic at-hand. The one particular section I can think of offhand (and can cite later tonight) is something on evolution (maybe qualified support? I forget, ill provide the cite, regardless).
Considering that the evolution section is maybe, at most, a paragraph, that doesnt taint the rest of the text. But, yes, your catchphrase is oh so witty, isnt it?
Also, which book are you talking about? Are you talking about My Catholic Faith or This is the Faith? You reference Bp Morrow, but you quoted my text. Which is it?
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Quote from: Kaesekopf on July 03, 2017, 05:36:28 PM
Quote from: Lynne on July 03, 2017, 10:59:54 AM
Quote from: Kaesekopf on July 03, 2017, 09:06:45 AM
Quote from: Lynne on July 03, 2017, 05:47:08 AM
Quote from: Kaesekopf on July 02, 2017, 06:44:49 PM
I've got a copy of This is the Faith (paperback) for sale for like $10 shipped, if you're interested... :^) Very good condition... :D
It's a good book. I've read it, pretty engaging and comprehensible.
What's the year of publication? The 1949 edition is good. Bp Morrow unfortunately slipped into modernism and so the latest edition is bad.
The tan publication.
And there's like two sentences that are maybe questionable, lol.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk
Yeah, it's only a couple of drops of poison, lol.
That old catchphrase gets really tiresome, particularly when the speaker is ignorant of the topic at-hand. The one particular section I can think of offhand (and can cite later tonight) is something on evolution (maybe qualified support? I forget, ill provide the cite, regardless).
Considering that the evolution section is maybe, at most, a paragraph, that doesnt taint the rest of the text. But, yes, your catchphrase is oh so witty, isnt it?
Also, which book are you talking about? Are you talking about My Catholic Faith or This is the Faith? You reference Bp Morrow, but you quoted my text. Which is it?
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Gah! My Catholic Faith! ::)
Rekt. ;)
[emoji38]
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Thanks to everyone for the responses! I spoke to her recently and I was surprised that she is willing to read something with more meat. I knew she was very intelligent but that just surprised me lol.
Kaesekopf thanks for the offer, I really appreciate it! But I will have to pass on that one. However, is there any chance you might have (or anyone on here) "The Catechism Explained: An Exhaustive Explanation of the Catholic Religion" for sale? If not it's fine, I have two books in mind that would be perfect for my friend.
Please continue to pray for her and me. We have had good conversations (she has many questions about the Church's teachings) and I hope they keep on getting better and better. Laudetur Jesus Christus!
[emoji38] booooo [emoji38] but, I think the copies I have are spoken for.
Is that the spirago text? I dont have that one.
Will keep praying tho
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It's available for free.https://archive.org/details/catechismexplain00spir (https://archive.org/details/catechismexplain00spir)