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Zynxensar
Guest
Is the Old Catholic Encyclopedia still able to be used today? Or is it outdated? (It was published in the early 1900s)
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CRM_Brother
Guest
While a great deal of the information is still relevant, the entries which refer to liturgy and canon law can be considered outdated.
The New Catholic Encyclopedia, for that matter, can also be considered outdated on many of those same topics as the primary articles were written for the 1917 Code of Canon Law and many entries were simply added over time to try to keep current instead of trying to rewrite the errant entries. Most of the entries do not have reference to any sources after 1925.
The New Catholic Encyclopedia, for that matter, can also be considered outdated on many of those same topics as the primary articles were written for the 1917 Code of Canon Law and many entries were simply added over time to try to keep current instead of trying to rewrite the errant entries. Most of the entries do not have reference to any sources after 1925.
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Joe_5859
Guest
Yes.
Also yes.
Obviously, you cannot pull up the Old Catholic Encyclopedia to read up on Vatican II or Pope St. John Paul II. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t still useful. You just have to factor in the date when reading it.
As CRM Brother said, things pertaining to liturgy and canon law are going to be largely outdated. So you wouldn’t want to consult it for the current liturgical calendar. But to look at what it says about St. Francis, or the Council of Nicea, there’s no problem.
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BridgetN
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It is not outdated if you are a Traditional Catholic and only want pre-Vatican II ways of doing things.
If you follow the VII changes, then it is outdated.
If you follow the VII changes, then it is outdated.
And since this is quite probably the reason you ask, yes, some of its moral theology methodology is also outdated. It does not fully account for more recent studies on OCD and scrupulosity. Some of its writings can cause you, and I mean you, personally, serious harm.
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JulianN
Guest
Canon Law is not a pre- nor post-Vatican II thing. The Catholic Encyclopedia is outdated when it comes to Canon Law.
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BridgetN
Guest
Canon Law was changed after VII
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angel12
Guest
It is still the law of the Church.
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commenter
Guest
The great majority of it refers to topics unchanged by Vatican 2 or the 1980s code of Canon law. Even on those topics that are, it provides a useful background on what led up to them. It provides much more detail on topics than the recent encyclopedia. it gives information the non specialist would not easily find elsewhere.
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Dovekin
Guest
The old Catholic Encyclopedia was written before the 1917 Code of Canon Law, or perhaps more accurately, while it was being codified.
I have not looked at what it says about canon law, but I imagine there have been big changes in perspective based on he fact of codification and the later revisions afte Vatican II.
I have not looked at what it says about canon law, but I imagine there have been big changes in perspective based on he fact of codification and the later revisions afte Vatican II.
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Seagull
Guest
Someone said they thought the Bible was outdated -
There’s nothing new under the sun -
The old is better than the new -
Are books - being outdated by the computer ?
It’s the ancients vs “ the moderns “ !
There’s nothing new under the sun -
The old is better than the new -
Are books - being outdated by the computer ?
It’s the ancients vs “ the moderns “ !
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JulianN
Guest
Exactly. Which makes the Encyclopedia outdated. But the changes are not part of VII.
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CRM_Brother
Guest
The Old Catholic Encyclopedia is even outdated with respect to the Church pre-Vatican II. It was written before the 1917 Code of Canon Law which was in effect before, and even for some time after VII. I believe you are thinking of the New Catholic Encyclopedia with respect to the pre-Vatican II Church. The basis of which was written from 1917 to about 1925 with new articles added gradually in subsequent editions. The Old Catholic Encyclopedia is purely pre-1917.
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Joe_5859
Guest
Certainly, it is true that the Old Catholic Encyclopedia predates even the old 1917 Code of Canon Law, but honestly that has very little to do with the great wealth of info on various doctrines, saints, Church history, and such. I’ve been utilizing the online version at NewAdvent for more than 15 years and I have seldom come across issues related to canon law.
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mdgspencer
Guest
It obviously is outdated in some ways, simply because it came out about 1910. So is misses developments since then, including Popes, Church history, Vatican II, information on Catholic demographics of countries, etc. But it is still an excellent source for some matters. I recall wondering about hell when I was younger (60 years ago) and read its article on this which resolved my questions in this matter (and also curled my hair). I sometimes go to its appearance on the new advent website to look up one matter or another, and sometimes it provides an informative article (though at other times the article on the subject there is mediocre). And so I have a copy of the 1910 Catholic Encyclopedia in the library in my house (besides the later New Catholic Encyclopedia).
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commenter
Guest
It is obvious that an older encyclopedia will be limited by the cultural bias of its era. It will overemphasize some things, and fail to notice other things. But it is equally true (but often forgotten) that a newer book is limited by the cultural bias of its own era, with different blind spots. The blind spots of the older book are less dangerous to us, because we usually do not have those same blind spots. So we can allow for them.
The blind spots of the newer book are more dangerous, because we often do share them; so we don’t notice them as blind spots.
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