Theology: The Basic Readings Book

I was born Catholic, raised in a stringently Catholic household in a predominantly Catholic country, and I went to a Baptist school for four years, so I spent practically all of my life governed by Christian theology, which, frankly, I never understood. Nobody likes to admit it but most of us can't keep up with the dogma, and when we do try to engage with authority figures to ask the questions that should have been explained to us from the very beginning, we are suddenly heretics and the antichrist.

The level of clarity that this book gave me... I learned more about my own faith in the week that I have spent reading this than in the years that I have spent going to mass Sunday after Sunday. Why do we always take the basics for granted? There are so many present disagreements within my church and within my community that would be answered or at least enlightened by just... critically finding its place in the development of Christian theology.

That's what I really appreciated about this book: the dialectical presentation of a subject matter. The chapters are very brief and really just introductory, but it does a really good job of situating a certain belief within what has become a doctrine of beliefs that would normally be complicated, hard to follow, and sometimes confusing. It shares articles from literally antiquity to present discourses like Christian feminism, which I really appreciated.

This book is perfect for (1) if you really have no idea what the flip Christiany is about, or (2) if you have been Christian your whole life and everything is confusing now. It gives a good overview of the foundational Christian beliefs as well as points you to further readings that you can then explore after having seen its place in the "bigger picture," so to speak.

Anyway, when I was 8, a catechist came to school to teach us about the eucharist. Being, as you might imagine, eight, I had some follow up questions, such as (nonverbatim): but sister, if that is the body of Christ... like, that is the real body of Christ... we are... eating Christ??? Where are we getting such large amounts of Christ to go around?! WHERE ARE WE KEEPING HIM--

I was promptly expelled from the premises. Only after years was I ever to learn about transubstantiation. Years of questions... years of moral crisis... years of guilt... Happy to announce to all my peers that I am not "technically a cannibal" after all.