Where to begin.. Can you help me learn about our religion?

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Frank18

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Hey guys! Happy new year!

My name is Frank and I’ve created an account here recently, so if this question should be somewhere else, do let me know.

Like many, I was “raised” Catholic by my parents… in this case by raised, I mean, I went throught the motions of Baptism, some sunday school… without really understanding any of it.

Some years ago, I began reconstructing my faith from the ground up: I knew I believed in God and I believe the Catholic Church to be the earthly fulcrum of this faith. Fast forward to the present and I recently began praying daily.

I would like to take my studies a step forward and learn about Jesus and the Lord and the Church’s Doctrines and Dogmas. I understand the Holy Bible might be the best way to do so. Do you think I should read it cover to cover or should I follow a particular order?

That said, I still have a lot of questions: I understand Catholicism has a long tradition of powerful thinkers and strong philosofical roots and I would like to know them. If anything I just wrote makes any sense to you, could you point me towards some resources you think I should look into?

Thank you for your help,
Frank
 
You can go to the RCIA classes. Even if you are already Catholic. You’ll learn a lot!
 
Start with John 6 and Matthew Mark and Luke and their account of The Last Supper. That The Bread and Wine or not a symbol of his body and blood but are actually his body and blood. Then there are some different volumes I don’t know the author’s name about the early church fathers. And how the Bible ties in with the fathers and their beliefs. Then I would suggest reading the lives of the Saints. I hope that helps God bless
 
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I’d recommend a Catechism.
Frank18 said:
I understand the Holy Bible might be the best way to do so. Do you think I should read it cover to cover or should I follow a particular order?
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Not sure if I can help here. Cover to cover is not generally recommended. I’d start with the New Testament.
 
See if your parish offer Symbolon or Catholicism by Robert Barron DVD’s to borr ow, or a subscription to formed.
Ascension Press has wonderful videos by Fr Mike Schmitz on Youtube, you can subscribe for free. Not long, straight and to the point, very entertaining as well as spot on teaching,
Welcome home, and welcome to the fora.
 
The thing about Bible study, is make sure you are going to a CATHOLIC one. Otherwise you’ll be more confused than ever. Certainly praying with the Bible is encouraged. Read the daily readings found at www.usccb.org and also maybe pray the psalms. Lovely and cover nearly every emotion and topic.
 
I wouldn’t reccomend reading the Bible first of all if you are not well informed on the other parts of the Faith.

Maybe read the Catechism first. After you understand and have a good hold on the Faith, then read the Bible with a good Catholic commentary.
 
Frank18 said:
I would like to take my studies a step forward and learn about Jesus and the Lord and the Church’s Doctrines and Dogmas. I understand the Holy Bible might be the best way to do so. Do you think I should read it cover to cover or should I follow a particular order?
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I’m not sure if reading the Bible is the best way to learn about the “Church’s doctrines and dogmas”, but it is a good activity to do, just to get familiar with what is in the Bible in chronological order.

I read the Bible all the way through when I was in high school and I recently started doing it again. I’m using the Great Adventure Bible Study reading plan (it’s a free PDF) http://assets.ascensionpress.com/tga/student/Reading_Plan.pdf

Note however that if you are not super-familiar with the New Testament, it might be better if you read all four of the Gospels through first, before you started a reading plan like this which is heavily Old Testament-focused.

I would further suggest that you get very familiar with Scripture before you go out and start reading stuff by “powerful thinkers” and philosophers as they often refer to Scripture and it’s helpful to first understand what they are basing their writings upon.

And like someone else said, you might want to consider taking RCIA - you’ll probably learn things you weren’t aware of.

IMPORTANT: Be sure that any Bible reading you do uses a Catholic Bible. Don’t use a Protestant Bible! I usually read online at either the Vatican official website (has the New American Bible, but the Psalms are omitted, long story) or the USCCB official website (has the version being used for current Mass readings which also includes the Psalms). This way I don’t have to carry around a Bible, I can access it by Internet wherever I go. Avoid reading it off other websites. If you decide to buy a Bible, make sure it is a Catholic one!

Good luck and God Bless.
 
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Dear Frank,

Welcome to Catholic Answers and congratulations on deciding to learn more about your Faith.

RCIA is good, very good. if your parish or a nearby one has it, Catholics Come Home or Re Membering the Church are good programs.

Reading; quick and dirty; Catholacism for Dummies is really good, written by a priest and covers the basics. From there I would go to a study of the Mass the Eucharist. Get through those and there will probably be about 1000 books you will want to read next.

I started your journey about 9 years ago and I am constantly finding new things to learn.

Good luck

Patrick
 
For doctrines and dogmas, it’s the Catechsim of the Catholic Church. That’s the authoritative book. And never leave it.
 
Good suggestion. It’s a very important resource but can’t be read in one sitting. Just take your time with it.

Best,
Ed
 
Welcome, Frank! (Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)

You have already received some great suggestions, and I don’t want to overwhelm you with too many more. Are you more inclined to reading books or websites? Or watching videos? There are lots of great Catholic resources out there.

And if you have any questions, you can always come here and ask and we’ll try to help as best we can. Just ignore the grumpy posters. 😜

God bless!
 
Check with your Parish if they offer Adult Faith Formation courses as well as FORMED. Also, you may want to think about attending RCIA courses. They are not just for those wanting to come into full Communion with the Catholic Church.
 
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Hi, I recommend RCIA as a good intro to being a Catholic adult. The video series “Catholicism” is also excellent. And you can sign up to receive a short and simple catechism email every weekday from flocknote.com/cathechism.
 
Actually Frank I don’t think reading the Bible is the way to go. There is so much in it that is Profound and requires a qualified explanation, that once can easily go wrong; evidence the thousands of Protestant churches EACH with its own set of faith believes from their OWN reading of the Bible.

IF you wish to understand the Bible go to ww.agapebiblestudy.com

Its an awesome site and VERY Catholic; but I still maintain that this is not the most prudent way to learn our Beautiful Catholic Faith.

What you need my friend is actual INSTRUCTION in the Catholic Faith

May the Holy Spirit guide your path
Patrick [PJM} here on CAF
 
@Frank18

Do read the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the Bible,especially with the New Testament.

http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM

The Mystical City of GodSister Mary Jesus Agreda was a 17th Century Spanish nun who received spiritual revelations about Mary and Jesus, both on earth and in heaven, including the creation of the angels and the fall of lucifer and his renegade band of angels. They are presented here for you, in “The Mystical City of God”. While not biblical, these revelations did receive the Imprimatur of The Church in 1949. An Imprimatur (from Latin, “let it be printed”) is an official declaration from the hierarchy of the Catholic Church that a literary or similar work is free from error in matters of Catholic doctrine and morals, and hence acceptable reading for faithful Catholics. Below is a partial list of events that you might find interesting reading, if you want to know “the rest of the story”.

 
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Frank18 said:
If anything I just wrote makes any sense to you, could you point me towards some resources you think I should look into?
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It makes sense, but I have a couple of questions for you.

You said you were baptized, so did you also make first communion and confession too? Did you receive confirmation? Are you attending mass now?

Now start by attending mass, and if you have already made first communion and confession, then go to confession and receive communion too.

You can also focus on the scripture readings from mass that day.

Oh and welcome home.
 
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