The Best Single Catholic Resource

Sacred Scripture is the primary resource used by Catholics.  After that...hmmm...there are several ways to go depending on how much you want to delve into the riches of the faith.  (Many layers all beautifully interconnected.)

If you can have only one, it would be the Catechism of the Catholic Church.  It's comprehensive, can be a little technical and requires thoughtful reading.  You can have it as a single resource or as part of the Catechism of the Catholic Church Collection...that would be more than one resource but the other resources you get would help you go even deeper.  The collection would give you almost all the documents linked within the catechism so that you can unpack the source material a little better.

If you wanted something at a higher level...very, very brief and basic...you could look at the Catholic Faith Basics.  If you wanted something more along the line of explanations from adult converts and reverts you could look at Catholic for a Reason.

Those would be the ones Logos has that I would point you to.  You can find Logos Catholic resources at www.logos.com/catholic.

Perhaps others have some ideas.

Blessings,

Steve

Let me take a stab at answering your questions David - namely, does the CCC explain WHY the Catholic Church teaches what it does?

I would say the answer is yes - the CCC is extensively footnoted.  The CCC did not in itself introduce any new teaching, it was a new attempt to provide a comprehensive first-stop source for Catholic teaching   The footnotes are both scripture, and Church documents - Encyclicals, Apostolic Letters, Apostolic Constitutions, Papal Bulls, and more, which were the most likely "source" of the formal teaching. Many of these papal documents are in Logos too!

Now there is a caveat with the word "source". Often, a Church teaching was only formalized or defined when there was a need - for example, a heresy, confusion of some sort had gotten traction among the faithful. For example, the Catholic Church teaches that the Eucharist is the Body and Blood of Christ. So how come the Church's most followed creeds, Nicene and Apostle's (prayed at many Masses), don't mention it? Because at that time, there was no dispute, no misunderstanding about the teaching!  On the other hand, Mary's Immaculate Conception was defined solemnly many centuries after the time of the early Church Fathers, when it was believed and taught way back then.

So - how to come to grips with the MORE LIKELY source of the teaching? There are two excellent books that cite the source - both are in Logos - "Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma", and "The Sources of Catholic Dogma". Both books have been around a very long time, and they show where the teaching came from, which is important because not all teaching is the same; teachings are "categorized" in a way. What i mean - God being a Trinity, Father Son and Holy Spirit, is considered "Divinely revealed". That commands a much greater requirement for the faithful to assent and believe.  These "categories" are called "Theological Grades of Certainty" by Ott. While there is much more to read, this might give you a flavor of the grades in Ott's book, and by reading this the puzzle will be more complete as to why the Church considers a teaching more or less important based on its source:

1. The highest degree of certainty appertains to the immediately revealed truths. The belief due to them is based on the authority of God Revealing (fides divina), and if the Church, through its teaching, vouches for the fact that a truth is contained in Revelation, one’s certainty is then also based on the authority of the Infallible Teaching Authority of the Church (fides catholica). If Truths are defined by a solemn judgment of faith (definition) of the Pope or of a General Council, they are “de fide definita.”

2. Catholic truths or Church doctrines, on which the infallible Teaching Authority of the Church has finally decided, are to be accepted with a faith which is based on the sole authority of the Church (fides ecclesiastica). These truths are as infallibly certain as dogmas proper.

3. A Teaching proximate to Faith (sententia fidei proxima) is a doctrine, which is regarded by theologians generally as a truth of Revelation, but which has not yet been finally promulgated as such by the Church.

4. A Teaching pertaining to the Faith, i.e., theologically certain (sententia ad fidem pertinens, i.e., theologice certa) is a doctrine, on which the Teaching Authority of the Church has not yet finally pronounced, but whose truth is guaranteed by its intrinsic connection with the doctrine of revelation (theological conclusions).

5. Common Teaching (sententia communis) is doctrine, which in itself belongs to the field of the free opinions, but which is accepted by theologians generally.

6. Theological opinions of lesser grades of certainty are called probable, more probable, well-founded (sententia probabilis, probabilior, bene fundata). Those which are regarded as being in agreement with the consciousness of Faith of the Church are called pious opinions (sententia pia). The least degree of certainty is possessed by the tolerated opinion (opinio tolerata), which is only weakly founded, but which is tolerated by the Church.

Ludwig Ott, Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma, 9–10 (St. Louis: B. Herder Book Company, 1957).

David Paul said:

Do the resources in this collection explain WHY the CC professes its doctrinal perspective?  

Hi David,

I thought I would follow up again.  Others have provided some additional detail.  It's always difficult to answer another persons questions of WHY without being in a face-to-face dialogue where I could respond more attentively.   You have a VERY GOOD question.

Let me see if I can zero in on your question by very briefly saying what the Catechism is and is not.  Then I can point you to some reading that may help clarify further. 

The Catechism of the Catholic Church will not answer all your questions regarding why "this is done" and "that is done".  It does not cover Canon Law nor Liturgical Rites and Norms.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church is the norm for teaching what Catholics call the "deposit of faith".  It is divided into four major parts:

     1.  The Profession of Faith (what we believe)

     2.  The Celebration of the Christian Mystery (liturgy and sacraments)

     3.  Life in Christ (Christian morality - Ten Commandments and The Beatitudes)

     4.  Christian Prayer

Each of these major parts will elaborate in detail the respective articles and the underlying sources.

I can reccomend to you the Vatican wesite where you can review the content of the Catechism and other documents.  It will not have the extensive linking that Logos provides but it is a start.

Please let us know if you any more questions.  We are here to help.  [:)]

Blessings,

Steve

Thanks DMB - IMHO - Our God is a God of mercy and justice; he balances them perfectly out of love based on what is best for us. We do not balance mercy and justice perfectly in our beliefs or actions. This is why you see differences in the practice of Catholicism among individuals - we prioritize and include/exclude what we see as most important; God is a God of "both/and". I suspect most could point to a strong foundation in Catholic teaching for what they believe.

We just don't do it as well as Jesus does!                                                                                                                              

David Paul said:

I appreciate the responses given. Thanks.

 Your welcome, David. 

Also, I failed to respond to your last question regarding Catholic for a Reason.  Yes, this collection provides Catholic perspectives rooted in Sacred Scripture to a variety of subjects to include the Mass, Marriage and Family Life, Baptism, Purgatory, Mary, the Priesthood, etc.  Each volume contains 10 or more essays by various authors.  The sample pages should give you a flavor of the material.  There are other collections of this type available...this is a good one.

Happy reading!!!