book by Thomas Bokenkotter

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I have come across “Dynamic Catholocism,” formerly known as “Essential Catholicism,” by Fr. Thomas Bokenkotter. Is this a “safe book”? Correct teaching of Catholic doctrines and teeachings, no iffy theology or teachings, etc.? I am trying to learn more about my faith and do not want to be led astray; I don’t know enough to discern any errors there might be.
 
i havent read the book, but baised on the amazon.com page for it, i notice 3 things. first it dosnt appear to have an imprimatur. second the table of contents lists quite a few hot topics within the church that might be problimatic if the author isnt a really solid catholic, and third there are a couple of reviews that claim that the author inserts too much of his personal views which they further claim are fairly liberal. though i cant account for the possable bias of the reviewers, they do give some specific examples that make their claims seem plausable.

overall i would be extrimely wary with this book, though again i am working on limited information. perhapse someone else knows more about it.
 
I’ve read the book Essential Catholicism by Thomas Bokenkotter. Somebody gave it to me. As I was reading it I wanted to burn it and be done with it, but I read it just in case somebody, such as yourself, asked me about it.

Stay away from this book, it is poison for the soul, Thomas Bokenkotter is in the same heretical league as Fr. Curran, Fr. McBride, Daniel Maguire, Hans Kung.

I swear these authors who had their time of prosperity in the 70s and 80s can’t disappear soon enough.

The portion of the book that is really off the edge (much of what he says is cleverly disguised, but his section on morality is blatantly wrong and evil) is the morality section.

Shortly after I read his book I had to quickly pick up Pope John Paul II’s Veritatis Splendor to counteract any negative impact it had on me, as Veritatis Splendor so splendidly debunks all of his claims in regards to morality.

If you want some recommendations here you go:

“Glories of Divine Grace” by Fr. Matthias Scheeben
anything written by the Saints (I am particularly fond of the 3 great Carmelites: St John of the Cross, St Teresa of Avila, and St. Therese of Lisieux, I also like St. Francis de Sales and St. Alphonsus de Ligouri), pick up anything written by these holy people.

Also pick up Imitation of Christ.
 
I have another recommendation:

You may want to consider joining the Marian Catechists and going through their formation.

It is the same catechetical formation that Mother Teresa’s nuns received.

mariancatechist.com/
 
Stay away from ANYTHING
by Thomas Bokenkotter. Bad news.

I read parts of Dynamic Catholicism years back.
In that book he claimed that Saint Philomena
was made up out of whole cloth. At that point,
I knew he was not a reverent man and vowed not to
read anything else of his.

Jaypeeto4
+JMJ+
 
Thanks evreyone for the feedback. I keep the swap table at church in order and remove and examine all books. I have removed a number of egregiously bad items like some on Pius Xthe group but really wasn’t sure about this. I will destroy it and not read any further than the bit I have.

And Proud, when I get back from my retreat this weekend I will check out that website.
 
proud2bcatholic said:
Stay away from this book, it is poison for the soul, Thomas Bokenkotter is in the same heretical league as Fr. Curran, Fr. McBride, Daniel Maguire, Hans Kung.

I .
Click to expand...
which Fr. McBride?
Fr. Alfred McBride O.Praem is as orthodox and reliable a priest and as good a teacher, speaker and writer as you will find anywhere. please be extremely careful about slinging these names around.
 
Why are you all so scared of ideas that you think they need to be banned? Fr. Bokenkotter is a priest in good standing. His teachings and his books have never been condemned by any of the bishops in the church so I do not understand why you should not read his works. If you find something disagreeable, then you should continue your reading and research in order to evaluate Fr. Bokenkotter’s statements on your own. Those who are telling you that his works do not represent Catholic teaching are claiming an authority that is reserved for the successors to the Apostles who have received the fullness of ordination and a special blessing of the Holy Spirit. Of course, I am basing my statement on the assumption that no one who has condemned this man’s work is a Bishop of our Apostolic Church with authority to make such judgements. Please correct me if I’m wrong and I will gladly defer to His Excellency that posts here.
 
jackxowen said:
Why are you all so scared of ideas that you think they need to be banned? Fr. Bokenkotter is a priest in good standing. His teachings and his books have never been condemned by any of the bishops in the church so I do not understand why you should not read his works. If you find something disagreeable, then you should continue your reading and research in order to evaluate Fr. Bokenkotter’s statements on your own. Those who are telling you that his works do not represent Catholic teaching are claiming an authority that is reserved for the successors to the Apostles who have received the fullness of ordination and a special blessing of the Holy Spirit. Of course, I am basing my statement on the assumption that no one who has condemned this man’s work is a Bishop of our Apostolic Church with authority to make such judgements. Please correct me if I’m wrong and I will gladly defer to His Excellency that posts here.
Click to expand...
Remember, Pope Gregory XVI supported the destruction of bad books, because they can be harmful to unsuspecting souls (cf. Mirari Vos, n. 16).

In the last 50 years, how often has the Church condemned works written by Catholic authors? And wasn’t the Index of Forbidden Books done away with?

Many priests “in good standing” (and ‘theologians’) preach heresy and are rarely corrected. Exhibit A: Fr. McBrien still teaches theology at Notre Dame and is in good standing, despite his well-documented heterodox teaching. catholic.com/thisrock/2005/0507fea4.asp

ourladyswarriors.org/dissent/disspeop.htm (How many of these Catholics have been duly corrected by their bishops, in an authoritative manner?)

Those who warn us of Fr. Bokenkotter’s horrible works are doing us a favor and looking out for us (which is a charitable thing to do).
 
What of Bokenkotter’s Concise History of the Catholic Church ?

Any red flags in it ?
 
At_Trent said:
What of Bokenkotter’s Concise History of the Catholic Church ?

Any red flags in it ?
Click to expand...
After reading a few pages I came across several lines which bothered me in which he says…

" Moreover, parallels to the Gospel miracles have been found by scholars in contemporary pagan and rabbinic literature…"

Also

“The Gospels would have us believe that both political and religious motives were involved”

This also bugs me…but I will continue to read it though to see what else it says.
 
proud2bcatholic said:
I’ve read the book Essential Catholicism by Thomas Bokenkotter. Somebody gave it to me. As I was reading it I wanted to burn it and be done with it, but I read it just in case somebody, such as yourself, asked me about it.

Stay away from this book, it is poison for the soul, Thomas Bokenkotter is in the same heretical league as Fr. Curran, Fr. McBride, Daniel Maguire, Hans Kung.

I swear these authors who had their time of prosperity in the 70s and 80s can’t disappear soon enough.

The portion of the book that is really off the edge (much of what he says is cleverly disguised, but his section on morality is blatantly wrong and evil) is the morality section.

Shortly after I read his book I had to quickly pick up Pope John Paul II’s Veritatis Splendor to counteract any negative impact it had on me, as Veritatis Splendor so splendidly debunks all of his claims in regards to morality.

If you want some recommendations here you go:

“Glories of Divine Grace” by Fr. Matthias Scheeben
anything written by the Saints (I am particularly fond of the 3 great Carmelites: St John of the Cross, St Teresa of Avila, and St. Therese of Lisieux, I also like St. Francis de Sales and St. Alphonsus de Ligouri), pick up anything written by these holy people.

Also pick up Imitation of Christ.
Click to expand...
 
Thanks for your (name removed by moderator)ut…I had the same thoughts as I read the book…I actually put it down after a few chapters. Then, one day I picked it up and read it through and thought he made some good points. I think, however, that he does disguise a lot, and I believe it is better not to read it.
I would like to get a Apoligists view, but I never get an answer when I try.
Anyway, thanks, I am going to disgard the book.
 
Thomas Bokenkotter is dangerously close to being a material heretic. A Concise History of the Catholic Church is a book full of heresy, particularly the sexual nihilism combated by Popes John Paul the Great and Benedict XVI. He creates an artificial distinction between ‘historical truth’ and ‘religious belief’ (guess which one is real and which one is not), claims the events of Jesus’ birth and life cannot be said to be ‘history’ (i.e. the Church made them up centuries after His death), and treats Him as only man, not the God-Man of our creed.

He supports women’s ordination, married priests, contraception, and probably advocates a “loving acceptance” of those who choose abortion as well. He further attacks the dogma of papal infallibility and Petrine Primacy, and speaks warmly of heretics like Kung.

Ditch him. He is supposed to lead souls to God and instead leads them into error. May his errors be condemned, lose their force, and may none believe a heterodox word he says.
 
Philosoraptor said:
Thomas Bokenkotter is dangerously close to being a material heretic. A Concise History of the Catholic Church is a book full of heresy, particularly the sexual nihilism combated by Popes John Paul the Great and Benedict XVI. He creates an artificial distinction between ‘historical truth’ and ‘religious belief’ (guess which one is real and which one is not), claims the events of Jesus’ birth and life cannot be said to be ‘history’ (i.e. the Church made them up centuries after His death), and treats Him as only man, not the God-Man of our creed.
Click to expand...
I would agree that the biblical events are not written as a “history” in the classic sense; we don’t know for instance, the precise date and time of Christ’s birth for instance. I do think however that it is widely accepted that Jesus is a historical figure, in that He really did exist in the approximate biblical time frame.

The Gospels are really meant to convey the story of God’s relationship with mankind, His incarnation, and His time amongst us. These are really only things that can be accepted on faith. Moreover they must be accepted on faith to be able to come to God freely in love. If we had a detailed, historically accurate and scientifically verified account, we would not be able to accept God freely, He would essentially be imposed on us like one’s boss at work is imposed!

The flip side of this is that while some will come to accept Jesus as God made man in free will, many will also reject Him. This shouldn’t surprise us nor should it scandalize us that many have not yet accepted Him (and some never will). We may :eek: actually come across a book or two that tries to challenge our faith. We will be faced in fact on a daily basis with people and ideas that challenge our faith. We can’t completely isolate ourselves from this. The antidote is not to try to isolate and protect ourselves from them. That’s a recipe for disaster.

The antidote for me, is to not run from those books, people or ideas, but rather, to work on nourishing my faith through practice, popular devotions (like the LOTH that I’m deeply attached to), my attachment to the Benedictines as an oblate, and to a wider faith community, and of course through the Graces that our Lord showers on us through His sacraments. And for those who with good will challenge our faiths, and those who with less good will taunt us because of our faith, the answer is to love them anyway and pray for them that they too may be set free by the Truth.
 
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