Andrew Kesterson

"Love God. Live Righteously. Die Well."
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# US Catholic Catechism for Adults

2023-12-23 Books Faith 933 words

# United States Catholic Catechism for Adults

Rating: 10/10
Amazon Link: click here
TL;DR: A comprehensible and complete examination of the core doctrines and dogmas of the Catholic church in the United States.

I finished reading the Catechism of the Catholic Church (United States) today. This is something I’ve been meaning to complete for a while, but had only consumed in byte-sized pieces before. I’m glad I took the time to get through the whole thing.

For reference, I was raised in the protestant tradition. In that tradition, we are given a certain view of Catholics and Catholicism that is, let’s say, less than charitable. As I grew older (and especially after I left the church and experienced the wider world of religion), I came to understand that this view isn’t based on reality. When I came back to the church, and adopted an ecumenical view, and even went so far as to attend some Catholic masses and to debate with Catholic friends, I began to suspect that those views were founded in ignorance, perhaps willful ignorance. About that time I discovered that the Catholic church publishes a Catechism - that is, a complete written set of beliefs, doctrines, dogma, and essential practices held by the Catholic church. I had consumed pieces of it here and there and referenced it a few times, but never consumed it in its entirety. Until now.

Here are some things that you WILL find in the Catechism, among others:

- The marian doctrines (her immaculate conception; her perpetual virginity; her bodily ascension to heaven; and her reigning as the queen of heaven)
- The doctrine of papal infalibility (the pope has the power to make unilateral declarations that are beyond contestation)
- The role of the magisterium (the practice of interpreting scripture by those who are qualified to do so, and the tradition of handing that interpretation down for posterity)
- The role of the popes, bishops, priests, and laymen, and how all of that relates to the priesthood of the believer
- The function of the priest acting in the person of Christ in the execution of the liturgy and sacraments
- The essential sacraments of the faith, why they are important, how they are organized and managed, and how you are to partake of them

Here are some things you will NOT find in the catechism, among others:

- You can sin as much as you want as long as you go to confession (we are never free from the desire to sin as long as we are flesh, and confession is a necessary part of maintaining our relationship to God, but we must not continue to choose to live a life of sin, this is a rejection of Jesus’ sacrifice and an abuse of God’s mercy)
- You have to worship Mary (though I admit as a protestant I find the marian doctrines icky and the line between veneration and worship is often very thin for many people, there is nothing here that says you are outside the church or unsaved if you don’t)
- You can work your way into salvation (salvation is through grace, by faith, not works)
- If you’re Christian but not catholic you’re going to hell (The only way to escape destruction is through Christ; The Catholic church recognizes that there are many people who have been brought up in their own traditions who have accepted Christ, whose baptisms are considered valid, who are living their lives for Christ, and who are therefore brothers and sisters in Christ, and whose salvation is not for the Catholic church to judge. Although you won’t be able to take communion with Catholics unless in an exceptional circumstance. Only those who directly rejected the Church - Zwingli, Luther, and the like - are guilty of a transgression; those who grew up in other traditions are innocent of any kind of transgression against the church.)

As a protestant, I think it’s essential that we understand where we came from. The fact is that for the first couple hundred years, there was one church. Then it began to splinter. Every church wants to say they are the original church, and I don’t think any church can lay claim to that anymore. I think every church needs to get over itself, come back to Christ, and find a way to reconcile with all of the others to form a single unified body again. And a big first step in that is to step outside of your own tradition and start trying to understand where other traditions are coming from. Understand what they ACTUALLY believe and what they ACTUALLY do - not just what you have always been told about them.

If you’re a protestant, you need to pick up the Catechism and read it. You need to read the early church fathers. You need to understand the traditions of your brothers and sisters in Christ and come to the table with them. Because Christ founded one church, and it’s up to all of us to seek to reunite with the other parts of the body. Christ is calling us to unity, not to division, and we will never get there if we don’t stop treating each other like heathens and heretics.

What Catholics actually believe is not some secret. You can go to the bookstore and buy it. It’s right next to the bible. It’s even in an audiobook. And it’s only 19 hours long. As protestants, we have no excuse for being ignorant of what our Catholic brothers and sisters believe.

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