Self-Study in the Faith

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ColumnadeFuego

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I was in a quagmire trying to decide where to post this, but I eventually decided on Traditional Catholicism, since that will be the majority of what I want to focus on.

Let me explain: I have for a while now wanted to study theology and history of the Church but really don’t know how to go about doing so. I’m a religion major…but not at a Catholic University so the focus is not necessarily on Catholicism but religious systems as a whole. It’s great - I get to strengthen my own faith by learning where I disagree with and agree with other, but really I want to know more about Catholicism.

So, in short, I want to study the Faith more. I have read through the Catechism and the Bible and was sort of wondering where I should go from there. I had one book about Catholicism from my Parish library, but then it turned out to not have an Imprimatur and contain things that were contrary to the Church’s teaching once I started it. That was disappointing. I guess what I’m asking for is suggestions for self-study (intense self-study too; I plan to continue my religious studies at the Masters level at a Catholic University) that are legitimate and in accord with official Church teaching and history.

I’m particularly interested in Patristics and the writings of the Early Church Fathers, but I have found that my access to their writings has been somewhat limited - which is also disappointing and frustrating to a certain degree. So I also am looking for resources to obtain print copies of such things. (I can read a little Greek, so maybe that will help.)

Any suggestions and direction are appreciated!
 
Letme recommend you the collection of the writings of the Church fathers

newadvent.org/fathers/

Each entry references the Catholic encyclopedia entry, so you can put the autor into context, and the Church father writings. Try to start with Eusebius Church History, it gives a good compendium about the first three centuries.

If you like printed books on the net used book stores usually available Enchiridion Patristicum (I get my copy for around $20) My one is the original Greek/Latin collection, but there is English translation too.

For the Low Middle ages find the Regula of St Benedict, and some Bede Venerabilis writings

For the High Medieval eves Chesterton has two wonderful biographies: St Thomas Aquinas and St Francis gkc.org.uk/gkc/books/index.html He gives a good introduction to study the original materials. He is worthy to read about the early 20th Century too

For the time of the Trident Council imho Bellarmine is the way
 
some Catholic colleges have theology programs via distance learning, Franciscan University of Steubenville is the best
 
I am a part-time (one class-one night a week) student at Sacred Heart Major Seminary (in Detroit), and I would recommend this approach: Look up the course you would like to learn and then buy the text books for that class as listed on the seminary’s web site.

Textbook and Syllabus:
aodonline.org/SHMS/Courses+15098/TextbookSyllabi.htm

Under Graduate level courses:
aodonline.org/SHMS/Courses+15098/Course+Descriptions+13371/Course+Descriptions±+Undergraduate.htm

Graduate level courses:
aodonline.org/SHMS/Courses+15098/Course+Descriptions+13371/Course+Descriptions±+Graduate.htm#SS521
 
The Church Fathers are a great place to begin when wanting to learn more about the Catholic Faith. As I’m sure you know, the Catholic Faith has a rich history and it is up to the Church Militant to be mindful of that history and pass it down to generations of Catholics to come. I find that Church Fathers also do an incredible job of getting to the root of Catholicism and it never siezes to suprise me how many of the problems they face are still being faced today.

If you are looking for a gathering of writings from the Church Fathers then I highly recommend catholiccompany.com/teachings-church-fathers-p1001566/. Although I have never read it, I do hear that the collection is very balanced and impressive.

I have read, however, Glimpses of the Church Fathers which contains an extensive collection of works from many Church Fathers. Many works are provided by Saint Augustine of Hippo and Polycarp as well as other more time-honored Church Fathers. Here is a link to it on the Catholic Company website catholiccompany.com/glimpses-church-fathers-p1001384/.

I am sure both of these provide numerous works from numerous Fathers. After reading these selections of writing, I highly encourage you to chose some of your favorite Church Fathers and read more of their writings. You might not find all of the Fathers appealing but those that do strike you can also certainly change your understanding of the Faith and help you grow as a Catholic as well. May God bless you on your journey!
 
Thanks everyone! I’m looking into all of your suggestions.

Puzzleannie, do you know if Steubenville has a distance program?

AntoniusVII, good idea.

Any other recommendations will be greatly appreciated as well.
 
Have you gone through the catechism with the Companion to the Catechism of the Catholic Church? It’s basically the detailed footnotes of the sources.
 
puzzleannie said:
yes they do, as I said
franciscan.edu/DistanceLearning/

don’t forget to look also at their summer conferences if you already have a degree and seek certification as a catechist, DRE, youth minister, or the apologetics and scripture conferences.
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Haha sorry, I thought you were just recommending Steubenville as a great Catholic University in general. Thanks for the info!
 
ColumnadeFuego,
Some good books on learning the Faith and Church history are:

The Sources of Catholic Dogma, H. Denzinger (30th ed., trans. by R. De Ferrari, publ. in 1957)
Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma, Dr. L. Ott (TAN, 1974)
A Manual of Dogmatic Theology, A. Tanquerey (J.B. Bord, Desclee, 1959): II vol.
The Faith of the Early Fathers, W.A. Jurgens (III vol.)
Warren H. Carroll, Christendom series (VI vol.)

If you truly want to conduct an in-depth study, then you should consider learning ecclesiastical Latin, so that you could then read many magisterial documents and the great manuals of theology, dating back to St. Thomas Aquinas’ own Summa Theologiae. Here’s an article (by the excellent Msgr. C. Fenton) on the great manuals which were used at the turn of the 20th century:

catholicapologetics.info/modernproblems/vatican2/Manuals.htm

Finally, if I were you, I wouldn’t jump into going to Steubenville. Look around for where you can get a good education in traditional Catholic theology.

Here are some articles with good advice about choosing a school:

iteadthomam.blogspot.com/2006/07/schools-that-teach-philosophy-of-st_24.html
iteadthomam.blogspot.com/2006/08/schools-that-teach-philosophy-of-st_08.html
iteadthomam.blogspot.com/2006/08/schools-that-teach-philosophy-of-st.html
 
You can get for the materials online, and for free

Why don’t you read the works of the saints?

saintsbookscatechisms.blogspot.com/
saintsarefamily.blogspot.com

Listening to Mother angelica is also good to get you the resources
youtube.com/results?search_query=mother+angelica&aq=f

You can download her talks using a program called atube catcher
download.cnet.com/aTube-Catcher/3000-2071_4-10969422.html

You can enroll in CDU (Catholic Distance University), but CDU’s price is quite high

cdu.edu

While you can get the lectures for free

Catholic Distance University Lectures
CDU Presents
Hosted by Various
Join us as we present a series of seminars from the Catholic Distance University

ewtn.com/vondemand/audio/seriessearchprog.asp?seriesID=6698&T1=

Free CDU lectures!!

If you want to learn theology, the books by St. Thomas Aquinas would get you started
ccel.org/ccel/aquinas?show=worksBy

Just Register and you will get the first three books for free, for me I just re register when I want to get more books:D

You can learn the Church Councils
papalencyclicals.net/Councils/index.htm

You can also learn Theology of The Body by Pope John Paul II
ewtn.com/library/papaldoc/jp2tbind.htm

You can also learn about St. Pope John Paul II’s Sermons, Homilies
vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/homilies/index.htm

St. Pope John Paul II’s Catechisms to the audiences
vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/audiences/index.htm

That’s good enough resources:thumbsup:
May the merciful Jesus bless you.
 
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