Reviews for Where does the church stand?

The average rating for Where does the church stand? based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2018-03-06 00:00:00 Charlene Wagner I enjoyed this gentle overview of the Catholic faith. Mr. Groome points out the difference between being an individual and being a person (which I thought was quite interesting), and highlights the power of the Catholic world view in shaping one's reality. Being socialized as a child into the Catholic Church has a powerful effect on one's imagination and spirituality. It is something I have struggled with, and often times against, my entire life. But at its best, Catholicism really is a beautiful tradition that helps people see the world differently, and which can inspire us to greater depths of kindness, compassion, reverence, forgiveness, and peace. I like the idea of sacrementalism, or sacrementalization: that is, viewing the world as though it is a sacrament (a visible sign of invisible grace, as I recall from my catechism). Viewing life, and reality, as though there is a greater depth behind it all is not a bad world view of adopt. I read this recently on Andrew Sullivan's blog, and thought it perfectly encapsulated much of what I think and feel about Catholicism: Philosopher Gary Gutting: Pursuing the question,'Is there a God' is a noble endeavor. Catholic intellectual and cultural tradition is valuable. The moral ideas of the Bible are far more important than the theology or literal truth of the stories.Whether or not that account is historically accurate, the New Testament Christ remains an exemplar of an impressive ideal. Engagement with the practices (ethical and liturgical) inspired by that ideal is the only requirement for being a Catholic. Beyond that, historical narratives and theological doctrines can at least function as useful means of understanding, even for those who aren’t prepared to say that they are true in any literal sense. People need to believe something that provides a satisfying a way of living their lives, and most people need to find this in a community. So far atheism has produced nothing like the extensive and deep-rooted communities of belief that religion has. St. Augustine once wrote that the church is the crucifix to which we are nailed. I don't disagree.

Review # 2 was written on 2014-12-14 00:00:00 Anguts Sadalak While Mr. Groome had a lot of interesting ideas, at times his words became very uninteresting. I had a hard time finishing the book. I did enjoy his emphasis on Catholics taking the world view when it came to evangelization. He said that we should not bring people into Catholicism but that we Catholics should go into the world and set an example. His emphasis on being part of our community and the world was very meaningful. He also said Catholics should be Christ-like in our love and compassion. We should imitate Christ on our path to heaven.