Is anyone familiar with "Discipleship Essentials" by Greg Ogden?

[brach]

A protestant friend of mine asked me to do a 25 week study with a small group following this book. Is anyone familiar with it? I would be the only Catholic and just want to be sure it is “Catholic friendly”. Thanks.

 

[Joe_5859]

Welcome to CAF, brach!

You can preview the study on Google books if you want to become more familiar with it:

Discipleship Essentials

I would be cautious about it. Any non-Catholic study like this, at the very least, is going to be deficient. You’re not going to get the full picture of the Church (or Redemption or Justification, etc.).

The book looks like it has a lot of subjective discussion questions. Thus, the tone of the study will probably be set by the theological opinion of the majority of the participants.

If you’re willing to do a lot of homework on your own to supplement each lesson with Catholic teaching, then it might be okay.

If it were me, I’d rather attend a 24 week Great Adventure Bible Study. Talk to your local priest about starting one up at your parish.

 

[brach]

Thanks for your thoughts on this book/study. I just finished the Great Adventure Bible Study and loved it. We plan on bringing the Matthew study to our parish in the fall. Thanks again.

 

[Alan55]

As a concept, Ogden’s book makes sense: each person helps others to learn about and practice Christian faith. However, you’re very likely to be urged, sublly or not-so-subtly, to adopt evangelical protestant theology (grace v. works, sola scriptura, etc., etc. – and no stinkin’ Pope! And don’t get me started about Mary worship!!) and encouraged to leave the Roman Catholic church so that you can become a real bible-believing Christian.

Of course, your friend may be the rare evangelical christian who thinks that Catholics really can be saved and are truly Christians of a different sort, but based on several decades of interactions with evangelical protestants, I doubt it.

 

[CMatt25]

Welcome to CAF, brach!

You can preview the study on Google books if you want to become more familiar with it:

Discipleship Essentials

I would be cautious about it. Any non-Catholic study like this, at the very least, is going to be deficient. You’re not going to get the full picture of the Church (or Redemption or Justification, etc.).

The book looks like it has a lot of subjective discussion questions. Thus, the tone of the study will probably be set by the theological opinion of the majority of the participants.

If you’re willing to do a lot of homework on your own to supplement each lesson with Catholic teaching, then it might be okay.

If it were me, I’d rather attend a 24 week Great Adventure Bible Study. Talk to your local priest about starting one up at your parish.

Yeah we Catholics have to beware we don’t study with our non Catholic friends and brothers and sisters in Christ. Best to stick in our own cocoons. We give lip service to even greater unity but heaven forbid we might risk possibly learning something from them in the process.

Go figure. I however did a study in SDA for instance. It helped me to better understand where they are coming from it didn’t mean I converted.

 

[Joe_5859]

Yeah we Catholics have to beware we don’t study with our non Catholic brothers and sisters. Best to stick in our own cocoons. We give lip service to even greater unity but heaven forbid we might risk possibly learning something from them in the process.

Thanks for the charitable spin on my post.

I prefer to err on the side of caution when dispensing advice on these sorts of scenarios to people whom I do not know personally, particularly when they are new CAF members. The OP could be a college-age kid with very little catechesis or he could be a older person with a masters in theology or anything in between. I have no idea.

I know people who have left the faith because they accepted invitations such as this. Therefore, I recommend first becoming knowledgeable of our own Catholic faith. This is a 25 week study! That’s a six month commitment. That’s a lot of time to be led astray if one has not been properly catechized.

I don’t see why it’s so problematic to be cautious.

 

[CMatt25]

Thanks for the charitable spin on my post.

I prefer to err on the side of caution when dispensing advice on these sorts of scenarios to people whom I do not know personally, particularly when they are new CAF members. The OP could be a college-age kid with very little catechesis or he could be a older person with a masters in theology or anything in between. I have no idea.

I know people who have left the faith because they accepted invitations such as this. Therefore, I recommend first becoming knowledgeable of our own Catholic faith. This is a 25 week study! That’s a six month commitment. That’s a lot of time to be led astray if one has not been properly catechized.

I don’t see why it’s so problematic to be cautious.

Sorry Joe if you took me as uncharitable. My priest told us this wk we can only try to be holy in this holy week but no one can achieve perfection in this world. And I agreed with that. So if I sounded uncharitable, I wasn’t in the best of moods right then. As I was also thinking about something else unrelated right then which he also said which I didn’t agree with.

 

[Joe_5859]

Sorry Joe if you took me as uncharitable. My priest told us this wk we can only try to be holy in this holy week but no one can achieve perfection in this world. And I agreed with that. So if I sounded uncharitable, I wasn’t in the best of moods right then. As I was also thinking about something else unrelated right then which he also said which I didn’t agree with.

Not a problem. I can also be melodramatic at times, which colors my reading of certain posts. That, and the eyeroll emoticon always gets to me.

I do agree with your sentiment that we need not cocoon ourselves away from anyone who thinks differently than us. My advice generally varies based on the scenario. I try to keep it simple (even though it can sometimes come off as one-sided), unless called upon to elaborate. So, thanks for the opportunity to elaborate.

 

[CMatt25]

Not a problem. I can also be melodramatic at times, which colors my reading of certain posts. That, and the eyeroll emoticon always gets to me.

I do agree with your sentiment that we need not cocoon ourselves away from anyone who thinks differently than us. My advice generally varies based on the scenario. I try to keep it simple (even though it can sometimes come off as one-sided), unless called upon to elaborate. So, thanks for the opportunity to elaborate.

Have a Blessed Holy TH, Good Fri, Holy Sat, and a Happy Easter.

 

[Alan55]

Yeah we Catholics have to beware we don’t study with our non Catholic friends and brothers and sisters in Christ. Best to stick in our own cocoons. We give lip service to even greater unity but heaven forbid we might risk possibly learning something from them in the process.

Go figure. I however did a study in SDA for instance. It helped me to better understand where they are coming from it didn’t mean I converted.

I have not only studied with protestants, including evangelical protestants, but taught courses in their churches over the years, including courses on scripture. I am not counselling that we avoid discussions on scripture and theology with protestants and study only with Catholics. But how many Catholics do you know who can hold their own against a group of evangelical protestants in a discussion of how to understand the scriptures and apply them to your life? Even a well-trained Catholic will find themselves ganged up on – not a situation for true learning in most cases, and possibly disastrous in others.

Roll your eyes all you want, but my comments were the result of several decades of bad experience. In many fast-growing evangelical churches, 30-40% of their adult baptisms are of former Catholics. How do you think those new recruits are convinced to leave the Church?

 

[brach]

Thanks for all the advice. I decided against the study. I know I will be doing The Great Adventure Bible Study of Matthew’s Gospel in the fall and I continue to meet with a small group with whom I completed the Familia series. Between doing reading on my own and rearing my four children I will keep busy enough. Deep inside I think I prefer to do studies that I know agree with church teaching. Thanks again for helping me reach my decision. By the way, my friend was very understanding and we will continue to talk frequently about our faith journeys.