Catechism

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Other than the CCC, is there a more readable catechism anyone can recommend? Any opinions regarding Christ AMong Us?
 
thecoach said:
Other than the CCC, is there a more readable catechism anyone can recommend? Any opinions regarding Christ AMong Us?
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I would suggest either the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church or the new U.S. Catechism for Adults.
 
If you go over to EWTN forums and search for catechism, I believe one of the experts there has a special ‘easy format’ Catechism which is taken from the Catechism of the Catholic Church and which may be helpful.
 
thecoach said:
Other than the CCC, is there a more readable catechism anyone can recommend? Any opinions regarding Christ AMong Us?
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It might help to read it in smaller chunks. There are several recommended catechism/Scripture reading programs available online which might help.

If you like electronic content and enjoy hyperlinks, Harmony Media’s “Welcome to the Catholic Church” 4.0 is quite excellent as it allows you to easily navigate between the Catechism and the documents it references. I find this makes it easier to read and comprehend, as the Catechism itself is in essence footnotes to a 2,000 - year old faith.
 
Catechisms tend not to be “readable” in that they are not really designed for people to sit down and read them; just like you don’t sit down and read the dictionary. It’s a reference book.

Some of the really old one’s are more readable, but by that I mean stuff like St. Ambrose’s “De Fide” or St. John Damascene’s “Exposition of the Faith.”
 
thecoach said:
Other than the CCC, is there a more readable catechism anyone can recommend? Any opinions regarding Christ AMong Us?
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I would NOT recommend Christ Among Us. I picked it up at the used book store when I was first learning about the Catholic Church, it is was way far on the liberal end, even from my Protestant Perspective.

In my RCIA class we are using “This is Our Faith: A Catholic Catechism for Adults” by Michael Francis Pennock. It is very readable and is structured similarly to the CCC, with references, so if you want to find out more you can go look stuff up.

They said that this one was a good jumping off point and overview and if we wanted more the US Catechism for Adults was a good step up from this book.
 
thecoach said:
Other than the CCC, is there a more readable catechism anyone can recommend? Any opinions regarding Christ AMong Us?
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The best (english language) catechism for the sake of catechesis (in my humble opinion, better even than the CCC) is the Baltimore Catechism.
 
There’s always the Baltimore Catechism – a bit old, but very “to the point.”

sacred-texts.com/chr/balt/balt3.htm

examples:

Q. 150. Why did God make you?

A. God made me to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him forever in the next.

Q. 151. Why is it necessary to know God?

A. It is necessary to know God because without knowing Him we cannot love Him; and without loving Him we cannot be saved. We should know Him because He is infinitely true; love Him because He is infinitely beautiful; and serve Him because He is infinitely good.
 
Br.Rich_SFO said:
I would suggest either the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church or the new U.S. Catechism for Adults.
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The Compendium takes the Catechism of the Catholic Church and puts it into Question and Answer format (like the old Baltimore Cathecism).
 
thecoach said:
Other than the CCC, is there a more readable catechism anyone can recommend? Any opinions regarding Christ Among Us?
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Yes. To paraphase Dorothy Sayers; this book should not be set aside lightly – it should be thrown with great force! Since being thankfully abandoned by virtually all RE programs, CAU has become in many ways the exemplar of bad catechesis.

For a readable catechism, I’d recommed either the Compendium, recommended above, or Peter Kreeft’s “Catholic Christianity.”

amazon.com/Catholic-Christianity-Complete-Catechism-Beliefs/dp/0898707986
 
ricmat said:
There’s always the Baltimore Catechism – a bit old, but very “to the point.”

sacred-texts.com/chr/balt/balt3.htm

examples:

Q. 150. Why did God make you?

A. God made me to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him forever in the next.

Q. 151. Why is it necessary to know God?

A. It is necessary to know God because without knowing Him we cannot love Him; and without loving Him we cannot be saved. We should know Him because He is infinitely true; love Him because He is infinitely beautiful; and serve Him because He is infinitely good.
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👍

The Baltimore Catechism is very straightforward and unambiguous.
 
Genesis315 said:
Catechisms tend not to be “readable” in that they are not really designed for people to sit down and read them; just like you don’t sit down and read the dictionary. It’s a reference book.
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I agree, I don’t think I could bear to sit down and read from front to back. I do however refer to it quite a bit when I have questions.
 
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