: Fr. John Hardon S.J.
: The Faith A Question-and-Answer Guide to the Catechism of the Catholic Church
: Servant
: 9781635823424
: 1
: CHF 10.60
:
: Christentum
: English
: 304
: kein Kopierschutz
: PC/MAC/eReader/Tablet
: ePUB
In this new reissue of Fr. Hardon's classic, the universal Catechism of the Catholic Church is presented in an easy-to-use question-and-answer format. He zeroes in on what question each section is trying to answer and formulates that question in user-friendly language. He then gives a simple answer in his own words, referencing the section of the Catechism that addresses the question. Still as fresh and relevant as when it was first released, The Faith makes the Catechism of the Catholic Church accessible to a new generation of readers. Fr. Hardon helps to form Catholics in the faith by focusing on the principal points of doctrine, moral teaching, and spirituality conveyed so richly in the Catechism. In the pages of this book, you'll learn: - What the faith we profess is all about - Why Christianity is the most credible religion in the world - How the Catholic Church possesses the fullness of truth. Catholics today have a greater responsibility than ever before to educate themselves first and then the world-a world that is starving for knowledge of Christ and his truth. This question-and-answer guide will be a valuable addition to your library.
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
UNDERSTANDINGTHE CATECHISM OF THE
CATHOLIC CHURCH
The twentieth century is the most critical in the history of Christianity. The decades since 1900 are more than so many years that might just as well apply to any other period of history. They mark the beginning of a new age in human civilization and, correspondingly, of the Christian religion.
What does this have to do with our subject, “UnderstandingThe Catechism of the Catholic Church”? Everything. Unless we realize the providential period through which the Church is now passing, we shall look uponThe Catechism of the Catholic Church as just another book, or just another piece of religious literature.
This catechism is of historic importance. Depending on how seriously we take it, the future of the Catholic Church will be shaped accordingly. We may legitimately look forward to the twenty-first century as the most glorious since the coming of Christ. But we must capitalize on the gift He is giving us inThe Catechism of the Catholic Church.
UNDERSTANDING THE FAITH TAUGHT BY
THE CATECHISM
The Catechism of the Catholic Church (hereafterThe Catechism) is not a mere collection of doctrines. It provides the groundwork for understanding what we Catholics believe. On this level,The Catechism is unique.
The Holy Spirit guiding the Church knows that the modern world is the most academically sophisticated in history. In America alone, over five million students go to college every year. We are trained to the hilt in every humanistic subject under the sun. But most Catholics are undereducated in their faith. The result is predictable. By the time they finish even their secondary education, they find themselves in conflict in their own minds. They are trained in science, history, and world literature. At the same time, their minds have been, to say the least, undertrained in the religion they profess. What happens? They abandon their Catholic faith as a remnant of childhood.
The Catechism provides the beginning of what should be considered the single greatest Catholic need in the world today, namely, to understand what we believe.
Recall the sower parable of Our Lord as narrated by St. Matthew. The sower in the parable sows all good seed, but on four different kinds of ground. Only the last soil produces any yield. It is especially the first fruitless soil that applies to these reflections here.
In the words of Christ, as the sower sowed the seed, “some seeds fell on the edge of the path; and the birds came and ate them up.”
When the disciples asked Jesus to explain the parable, He told them, “When anyone hears the words of the kingdom without understanding, the Evil One comes and carries off what was sown in his heart. This is the man who received the seed on the edge of the path” (Matthew 13:10, 18–19).
That’s it! It is both that simple and that serious. The seed of God’s revealed truth has been sown in our hearts at Baptism. But that was only the beginning. We must do everything in our power to grasp the meaning of what we believe. Otherwise, the devil will come along and steal the faith from our hearts.