“Catholicism takes a path less traveled in leading us to explore the faith through stories, biographies, and images.”—Timothy M. Dolan, Archbishop of New York
What is Catholicism? A 2,000-year-old living tradition? A worldview? A way of life? A relationship? A mystery? In Catholicism Father Robert Barron examines all these questions and more, seeking to capture the body, heart and mind of the Catholic faith.
Starting from the essential foundation of Jesus Christ’s incarnation, life, and teaching, Father Barron moves through the defining elements of Catholicism--from sacraments, worship, and prayer, to Mary, the Apostles, and Saints, to grace, salvation, heaven, and hell. Whether discussing Scripture or the rose window at Notre Dame, he uses his distinct and dynamic grasp of art, literature, architecture, personal stories, theology, philosophy, and history to present the Church to the world.
Paired with his documentary film series of the same title, Catholicism is an intimate journey, capturing “The Catholic Thing” in all its depth and beauty. Eclectic, unique, and inspiring, Father Barron brings the faith to life for a new generation, in a style that is both faithful to timeless truths, while simultaneously speaking in the language of contemporary life.
This is an absolutely awesome book. It is a FIRST Tour book which usually means that I post about it, but do not quite have time to read it all. Yesterday I started reading and had serious trouble putting it down. I'm about half way through and plan to finish it today if possible. (We've already had a late start, so we'll see...) Last night I found myself trying to tell the Enginerd about this book and why I like it so much. Honestly it is hard to put it into intelligible words outside of Margaret-language. I have a Bachelor's of Religious Studies and books like this are what my college experience was for. I was trying to get an education in things that I wanted to understand. It seems that everything that I went to school to learn appears to be summed up in this one book that is just long enough, but could be oh so much longer (I'll have to check into the television documentary...). I wonder if I still would have pursued my degree if this book had come out first.
Robert Barron has a great way of explaining things. He is capable of bringing ancient examples to life to mix with the contemporary and in detail make clear life and faith. I'd say this is a hard book for me to review, because it is so personal and makes me want to expound and explode back into my research papers and exegesis studies. However what I can tell you is that even with his vast vocabulary this book is understandable and one that anyone and everyone should read. It's not "What is Catholicism?" to me, it's what is Christianity, what is true faith, what is my background, what is my heritage.
*Thanks to Image Books for providing a copy for review.*
Originally posted: http://creativemadnessmama.com/blog/2011/09/06/catholicism-by-robert-barron/
Reading updates
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7 September, 2011:
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7 September, 2011:
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