I love the BC I teach my children with it. i think that it really helps them understand and later defend their faith. I too don’t understand why it is not used anymore.I purchased the Baltimore Catechism so that I could use it to teach my children the faith at home (they also go to Religion class). these books are WONDERFUL! They teach things that they water down now. I love these books and learned alot myself. Is there any reason why I should not use them? I would like to recommend them to other parents.
I really shouldn’t be suprised… they don’t go to Mass either, and their parents complain mightily whenever they are asked to attend anything. I wonder why they are Catholic? I find that for the most part, anyone that is willing to volunteer can be a catechist, with minimal training. I have educated myself with books by Scott Hahn, the Beginning Apologetics series, reading the Catechism of the Catholic Church (in full) and taking classes at our local seminary. I so want to share the fullness of our beautiful Catholic faith with these kids, but they are in no way disposed to hearing it. So we take baby steps… “Who is Jesus?” “What is the Bible?”- stuff they should be way beyond by now but are not. My own kids are going through the same program, but I do not leave it to the class to teach them the faith… I realize it is MY primary responsibility. I have found that the BC is incredibly helpful, especially the cute pictures that really help illustrate the point! I suspect that they went out of favor when it was decided that it was more important to make kids “feel good about themselves” instead of giving them meat and potatoes Catholic doctrine. There are also some ideas expressed in the BC which are no longer “politically correct…” ideas such as non-Catholic religions being “defective” and fallen away Catholics being “bad Catholics.” It also makes several mentions of “women’s work” and how little girls should learn to “cook,clean, sew, make beds, care for children, and let others have their own way” (presumably their husband!) You can see where the feminists were having a heyday with this stuff! Personally I have no problem with it! I was an outspoken feminist once (in college), but when I became a Christian and then a Catholic my whole perspective changed. My marriage works because I ***do ***submit to my husband and respect his God-given authority over me. Anyway… perhaps if we still taught this stuff the divorce rate wouldn’t be so high!
The pictures add so much explanation for small learners… I loved the one about confession where the little boy goes into the confessional carrying 4 boxes (each one representing a sin) but because he was too ashamed to confess one of the sins he comes out with 5