May the Grace and Peace of Jesus be with all on Logos Forums!
[Note - After my recent ‘crusading’ for the Logos publication of Tanner’s complete and critical original language and English Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils, Quasten’s Patrology, and for an Eastern Christian Studies Collection, I promise this is my last Logos publication suggestion/request for a long time. From all the great books out there, I have tried to stick to important resources which would greatly increase the usefulness of existing Logos libraries and/or which "fill a gap" in Logos resource offerings. This last suggestion/request does both.]
Apparently this one last book I suggest has been a "high priority" for Logos perhaps as long as a decade, yet it is still not even offered to Logos users on Pre-Pub. I submit this suggestion and request (with prayer!) together with some rationale as to its great value for both Catholic and non-Catholic users of Logos, in the hopes that it will help stimulate the long overdue production of a Logos Edition of The Catechism of the Catholic Church.
Many years ago when I was a Logos Independent Sale Representative (iRep) I strongly suggested that simply publishing The Catechism of the Catholic Church (which both references and is referenced by so many, many other books already available or already on Pre-pub) would do wonders to open up the vast "Catholic market" to Logos, as well as being an important and current reference resource for any Christian library.
I am surprised it is still not yet even on Pre-pub or the Community Pricing Program. It would surely get published if it is listed either way. This one book would vastly multiply the usefulness of many already-existing Logos books and quickly become the "central hub" of any Catholic Christian’s library and of any non-Catholic Christian’s research of the Catholic Church. The Catechism is profuse with references to the Bible and the Early Church Fathers as well as medieval and modern theologians and church documents which are already available in Logos editions (or on Pre-pub) – The Catechism would tie all these resources together for research purposes and it represents the current, more mature (and much more ecumenical) official teaching of the Catholic Church to boot! This is the official description of the Christian faith of not only majority Roman Catholic Christians but of all 26 Eastern and Western Rites or "Sister Churches" which together make up the Catholic (Universal) Communion of Orthodox Christian Sister Churches collectively known as the Catholic Church.
Every Catholic church is required to have a copy of The Catechism. Those many Catholic Christians who already use Logos would surely want to buy a Logos copy of the Catechism as soon as they could. As more and more Catholic pastors get into "the computer age" and start using the computer for their study and sermons/ homilies they will certainly want to have the Catechism, a basic, required text, on their system. Certainly it would be very hard for them to say no to Logos once learning of the great array of resources (Catholic Bible translations, Early Church Fathers, Aquinas, recent Councils, etc) already available or on Pre-pub, and all linked to the Catechism!
The Catechism of the Catholic Church even has great value for non-Catholic Christians, and for more than just ecumenism and understanding their Catholic brothers and sisters in Christ better. When I was an Evangelical Protestant Christian looking at the Catechism of the Catholic Church for the first time, on most topics I was struck by the feeling that I was in the presence of 2000 years of accumulated Christian wisdom – as indeed I was. My own Evangelical denomination did not have enough history of its own to have reflected as long and deeply on the truths of Christianity (most of which Catholic and Protestant Christians hold in common) and the full implications of these truths. Since then I met a Charismatic Protestant Christian pastor who taught a year’s worth of teaching sermons based on the Catechism, to the great edification of his congregation. Delicate issues like homosexuality leave many Christians in a quandary – some fundamentalist Christians have no difficulty standing up for the truth of the Bible but a much more difficult time "loving the sinner" (Jesus would have loved homosexuals like He did tax collectors who were also reviled by ‘religious’ people for their sin), while many "doctrinally liberal" Protestant Christians openly love and accept people who struggle with homosexual sin by compromising the truth of God’s Word and failing to correctly label sin. The Catechism of the Catholic Church speaks of homosexuality in beautifully balanced and tactful language which completely upholds the revealed truth of God’s Word with respect to which actions are sinful, while also affirming the human dignity of the individuals who bear this burden of temptation, giving them practical spiritual suggestions as to how to live faithfully in Jesus with this burden, and affirming the responsibility of the Christian Church to accept and love and support such persons made and loved by God. This is just one example of the wisdom contained in the Catechism.
Back when I was an iRep, I looked into what it would take for Logos to publish The Catechism of the Catholic Church first published by the Vatican in the early ‘90s. The copyright holder for it and the more recent revised edition of the American English version is the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) and its publishing arm, the United States Catholic Conference (USCC). They told me that they don’t solicit publishers, and that Logos has to approach them. They also told me back then that Logos already approached them, and they sent Logos information on how to license it from them, but they had not heard from Logos since. I strongly encourage Logos to pick this up and seek to publish the Catechism again. It is to Logos’ own benefit to provide a product so important to a demographic which represents 1 in 4 Americans, and an even higher percentage of Canadians, which is a sure buy for the many Catholic users Logos already has, and which also has great ecumenical and reference interest for non-Catholic Christian users of Logos.
I thank the Logos people and all others on the Forum for taking the time to consider this, my last but longest written resource suggestion for the overall enhancement of Logos libraries.
May the LORD bless you and keep you,
May the LORD make His Face to shine upon you and be gracious to you,
May the LORD lift His Countenance upon you, and give you Peace.
