Reviews for Essential Catholicism

The average rating for Essential Catholicism based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2015-03-16 00:00:00 Ashley Wilson Deft summation written just after the Second Vatican Council. Author moves effortlessly across several thousand years, assimilating scripture, history, patristic writings, decretals, theological writings, and the work of sociologists and whatnot. It’s impressive, at least to this infidel reader. Opening sections burden the text with navel-gazing items such as “do we need religion?” and suchlike, which includes a somewhat reckless survey of the opinions from Marx, Freud, Nietzsche, and so on. Text is honest in its presentation of controverted issues, such as in the historicity vel non of scriptural ‘facts.’ Am liking the basic principles of gospel reading: propositions can be considered trustworthy as to Christ if they are marked by theological disharmony, dissimilarity, multiple attestation, grave offense to the establishment, and coherence (46). The assumption, of course, is that we need to brush the text with these kinds of tools because the gospels are filled with untrustworthy mythologies. After laying down the Christological dogma now current post Second Vatican Council, text goes methodically through central church institutions (Pope, Saints, Maryology, &c.) and then through the liturgy (lotsa time on the sacraments—very interesting, as these have a distinct history). All of this is damned interesting—how could it not be, with several thousand years of debate on each question, beginning with the patristic writings and running through the present? Last sections concern the proper post-Vatican II position on certain moral questions (sex, war, poverty, &c.). Not so strong here, though these items were also things in motion at the time (abortion debate--gah). Not sure where we’re at now on anything, as we’ve gone through several big hats since then. Definitely not a substitute for reading, yaknow, the complete Ante-Nicene Fathers (which have English editions in the public domain now for free on the internets). Useful for atheist losers (i.e., me) who want a cursory review of Roman doctrine.

Review # 2 was written on 2009-03-04 00:00:00 Nicholas Anderson Ratzinger's text on eschatology is likely still one of the better volumes on the subject, and one of his best works, in my opinion. In this book, he traces the development of the concept of afterlife from pre-Christian Judaism and Hellenism through history to now, discussing the validity of our own popular notions of the soul, heaven, hell, and resurrection. This book is still cited by contemporary Catholic theologians, and is worth reading on its own merits.