Book Description
The Catholic Church may be the most controversial institution in the world. Whether the question is the uniqueness of Jesus Christ, the relationship of Catholicism to other religious communities, the meaning of freedom, the use and abuse of sex, the dignity of human life from conception until natural death, or the role of women, the Catholic Church has taken challenging positions that some find inexplicable, even cruel.
In The Truth of Catholicism, George Weigel, author of Witness to Hope: The Biography of Pope John Paul II, explores these perennial questions and more, showing Catholicism and its controversies from "inside" the convictions that make those controversies not only possible but necessary. The truths of Catholicism then come into clearer focus as affirmations and celebrations of human life and human love, even as they challenge us to imagine a daring future for humanity and for ourselves.
About the Author
George Weigel is the author of the international bestseller Witness to Hope: The Biography of Pope John Paul II. A Roman Catholic theologian and senior fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, he is one of the world's preeminent commentators on the Catholic Church.
The Truth of Catholicism: Inside the Essential Teachings and Controversies of the Church Today FROM THE PUBLISHER
The Catholic Church is, arguably, the most controversial institution on the planet. Whether the question is the uniqueness of Jesus Christ, the relationship of Catholicism to other religious communities, the meaning of freedom, the use and abuse of sex, the dignity of human life from conception until natural death, or the role of women, the Catholic Church has taken challenging positions that some find inexplicable, even cruel.
This book explores many of the controversies provoked by Catholicism from inside the convictions that make the Church's teaching not just possible, but necessary. It will enable the curious and the discontented to see in Catholicism affirmation and celebration of the human condition, not condemnation and mindless prohibition. Weigel presents Catholic faith and practice as a vast and liberating terrain on which to live a fully human life.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
Because the teachings of the Catholic Church are best known to the general public and to many Catholics through the filter of the secular press, papal biographer Weigel (Witness to Hope) uses this book to clarify 10 issues that have engaged the public's attention in recent years. A theologian and Catholic commentator, Weigel undertook his task after encountering numerous misconceptions about the faith during a 16-month book tour for Witness in 2001 and 2000. Here, he illuminates the church's teachings about Jesus, morality, sexuality, suffering and women's ordination, as well as Catholicism's relationship to democracy, other Christian denominations and other religions. In doing so, he offers much-needed precision about teachings that have often been muddled, as reporters, forced to condense church documents into sound bites and headlines, have missed much of their texture and shading or have tried to interpret them using secular standards. For example, Weigel begins the book by revealing how some news organizations reported on the 2000 Vatican declaration, Dominus Iesus (The Lord Jesus), by claiming the Catholic Church had declared itself "Number One," even though the document did little more than reassert traditional Christian teaching that Jesus Christ is the savior of all. Weigel's approach makes this book an excellent resource for anyone curious enough about Catholicism to look behind the headlines. (Nov.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
Library Journal
A widely published lay Catholic commentator on religion and public life and a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, Weigel (Witness to Hope: The Biography of John Paul II) describes the basis of his faith in terms of ten focal issues, e.g., Is Jesus the only savior? Does belief in God demean us? How should we live? Why do we suffer? What will become of us? These explorations from the "inside" clarify basic church teachings and reasoning, especially in the face of faulty media interpretations and secular cultural overlays. Weigel emphasizes the positive and freeing aspects of doctrine and moral life today, identifying them as calls to true goodness. While the portion devoted to women is narrow, this book should be useful for discussion groups. Recommended where there is a subject interest in the fundamentals of Catholic beliefs. Anna M. Donnelly, St. John's Univ. Lib., NY Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
A concise catechism of the Catholic faith, with specific reference made to common objections of nonbelievers, by papal biographer Weigel (Witness to Hope, 1999, etc.). Weigel's approach is unusual insofar as it proceeds from ten (often highly skeptical) queries (e.g., "Does Belief in God Demean Us?"), meant to reflect prevailing contemporary views, which the author addresses in the course of portraying the outlines of Catholic belief. The influence of Pope John Paul's thinking on Weigel is evident from the start: He quotes the pope extensively, and he makes use of the pope's distinctive terminology (the result of his philosophical training as a phenomenologist) throughout. The result, in consequence, shares many of the same strengths and weaknesses that keen-eyed observers have credited to the Holy Father himself: original, bold, and erudite, but also frequently obscure, highly analogical, and sometimes downright eccentric in its meaning. And, also like the current papacy, the author is wont to straddle the fence a good deal-arguing, for example, that the exclusion of women from Holy Orders does not entail a repudiation of postwar feminism and that the (vehemently antidemocratic) political doctrines of modern popes were not contradicted by the Second Vatican Council's endorsement of religious freedom. But this is a refreshing account all the same, forthright in its unwillingness to gloss over controversial questions and highly original in its reliance on literary works (e.g., the poetry of Gerard Manley Hopkins, the novels of Evelyn Waugh) to illustrate moral or philosophical arguments. In its contrast of the "brave new world" of modern technological man to the "better world" of theChurch, it is very much a continuation of the underlying theme of Weigel's biography of John Paul II. A bit too reverent to withstand scrutiny, this will find a welcome audience among believers but is unlikely to bring many others into their ranks.
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