The Vatican II’s Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation is universally acclaimed as one of the council’s most important documents. Published in 1965 after a long and circuitous route throughout all four years of the council, Dei Verbum sets forth the Catholic Church’s official teaching about divine revelation and the complex interrelationship between Scripture and Tradition. With the approach of the fiftieth anniversary of the constitution, this book—intended for general audiences—summarizes the history and principal teaching of this groundbreaking document. Accompanying the text of The Word of God at Vatican II is a paragraph-by-paragraph commentary and an exploration of the impact the constitution has had in the church’s life. Readers will be amazed at how influential Dei Verbum continues to be, even today.
This document's purpose is to spell out the Church's understanding of the nature of revelation--the process whereby God communicates with human beings. It touches upon questions about Scripture, tradition, and the teaching authority of the Church. The major concern of the document is to proclaim a Catholic understanding of the Bible as the "word of God." Key elements include: Trinitarian structure, roles of apostles and bishops, and biblical reading in a historical context.
Over 3 million copies sold! Essential reading for Catholics of all walks of life. Here it is - the first new Catechism of the Catholic Church in more than 400 years, a complete summary of what Catholics around the world commonly believe. The Catechism draws on the Bible, the Mass, the Sacraments, Church tradition and teaching, and the lives of saints. It comes with a complete index, footnotes and cross-references for a fuller understanding of every subject. The word catechism means "instruction" - this book will serve as the standard for all future catechisms. Using the tradition of explaining what the Church believes (the Creed), what she celebrates (the Sacraments), what she lives (the Commandments), and what she prays (the Lord's Prayer), the Catechism of the Catholic Church offers challenges for believers and answers for all those interested in learning about the mystery of the Catholic faith. The Catechism of the Catholic Church is a positive, coherent and contemporary map for our spiritual journey toward transformation.
Winner of a first-place award for a first time author and second-place in popular presentation of the faith from the Catholic Media Association. During the past five decades, the Second Vatican Council has been alternately celebrated or maligned for its supposed break with tradition and embrace of the modern world. But what if we’ve gotten it all wrong? Have Catholics—both those who embrace the spirit of Vatican II and those who regard it with suspicion—misunderstood what the council was really about? Fr. Blake Britton discovered the truth and beauty of the council while he was in seminary and he has witnessed firsthand the power of its teachings in the life of his own parish. In Reclaiming Vatican II—a partnership between Ave Maria Press and Word on Fire Catholic Ministries—Britton presses beyond the political narrative foisted upon the post-conciliar Church and contends that Vatican II was neither conservative nor liberal, but something much more beautiful and challenging. Britton clears up misconceptions about the council and reveals how—when properly understood and applied—it fosters a richer experience of being in the Church. Britton says Vatican II promotes a radical return to the Church Fathers and the Scriptures, holding both a commitment to tradition and the need for constant renewal in life-giving balance, recenters the Church on sacred liturgy and encourages both active participation and genuine encounter with transcendence, and charts a clear path for the Church’s renewal and empowers it for evangelism and transformative engagement with the world. Britton invites all Catholics to step beyond the polarization and embrace Vatican II as one of our greatest resources for being in the Church in a way that is faithful, engaged, and effective if we answer its radical call to worship and renewal.
2002 Catholic Press Association Award Winner One of the most significant changes initiated by the Second Vatican Council was the direct encouragement for Catholics to rediscover the Bible. Unfortunately, education has lagged behind Catholic interest in exploring the Bible and its mysteries. Consequently, vital questions, including how to read and interpret the Bible, remain unanswered for many Christians. In Biblical Fundamentalism, Father Ronald Witherup offers Catholics a guide to the questions that arise when they desire to use the good book" in their personal lives. Father Witherup provides an overview of the origins, history, basic tenets, and problems with biblical fundamentalism and its influence in contemporary culture. He summarizes Catholic teaching on the Bible and points out both the strengths and the weaknesses in the fundamentalist approach to the Bible. He also provides a concise but thorough response to questions that Catholics have about fundamentalism and discusses resources for further study. Biblical Fundamentalism is divided into five chapters. The first chapter explains the historical origins of Christian biblical fundamentalism and why it is a uniquely American phenomenon. The second chapter outlines the main tenets of fundamentalist faith and how it approached the Bible. The third chapter does the same for the Catholic faith. The fourth chapter explores why biblical fundamentalism is attractive in our day and offers a critique of it. Finally, the fifth chapter imparts some practical advice about how to fashion a sensible (and courteous) Catholic response to fundamentalism. Chapters are *The Origins of Biblical Fundamentalism, - *Bible Basics: A Fundamentalist Approach to the Bible, - *Bible Basics: A Catholic Approach to the Bible, - *Evaluating Fundamentalism, - and *A Catholic Response to Fundamentalism. - Ronald D. Witherup, SS, PhD, is Provincial of the U.S. Province of Supicians and former academic professor of Sacred Scripture at St. Patrick's Seminary in Menlo Park, California. He holds a doctorate in biblical studies from Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, Virginia. He is the author of Conversion in the New Testament, a liturgist's Guide to Inclusive Language, and is a contributor to The Collegeville Pastoral Dictionary of Biblical Theology. "
The central document of the Second Vatican Council, Lumen Gentium was promulgated by Pope Paul VI on November 21, 1964. This document is "the keystone" of the Councils whole Magisterium. It focuses on the whole Church as a communion of charity. With it, according to John Paul II, the Second Vatican Council wished to shed light on the Churchs reality: a wonderful but complex reality consisting of human and divine elements, visible and invisible.
Pope Benedict XVI says the word of God "draws each of us into a conversation with the Lord: the God who speaks teaches us how to speak to him." In this apostolic exhortation --an extended reflection on the work of the Bishops' Synod on the Word of God in 2008-- the Holy Father affirms that the word of God is at the heart of our faith and at the heart of every activity in the Church. He calls for an increased emphasis on the Bible in catechesis and pastoral work, and recommends lectio divina, or prayerful reading of Scripture, so that all believers can encounter Christ in his the living word. And because the Church by its nature is missionary, what we have received through the word we must proclaim to the world.
Introductory Essay by Pope Benedict XVI This collection includes the four constitutions of the Second Vatican Council, the most popular and key documents for understanding the Council itself, its decrees, and its declarations. Few events in the history of the modern Catholic Church have been as far-reaching as the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965). And few have been as controversial. No one denies great changes have come about since the close of the Council. Have the changes been all good, all bad, or a mixture of both? To what extent were the changes, for good or ill, the result of the Council itself? Some have criticized the Council for not going far enough, though they maintain that the "spirit of Vatican II" supports their rejection of many firmly established Catholic beliefs and practices. Others claim the Council went too far and abandoned certain fundamental Catholic tenets in the name of "updating" the Church. The popes of the Council-John XXII and Paul VI-and their successors who also participated in the Council -John Paul I, John Paul II, and Benedict XVI-have insisted that the Council itself was the work of the Holy Spirit. They have aggressively criticized misinterpretations and distortions of it. They insist that the Council be understood in fundamental continuity with the Church's Tradition, even while deepening the Church's self-understanding and calling for authentic reforms and renewal of Catholic life. Readers can learn for themselves what the Second Vatican Council taught using this highly accessible collection of its basic texts. This book uses the Catholic Truth Society translation and features: The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium, introduced by Cardinal Francis Arinze.The Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium, introduced by Cardinal Paul Poupard.The Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, Dei Verbum, introduced by Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, OFM, Cap.The Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, Gaudium et Spes, introduced by Cardinal Angelo Scola. Four major aspects of the Church's life-the Sacred Liturgy, the mystery of the Church herself, the Word of God, and the Church in the world as it is today-are explored. No twenty-first-century Catholic should be without these four foundational texts in this superb translation. The collection also includes a general introduction by Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco, as well as an address given by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI in 2005, explaining how best to understand the Second Vatican Council in the history of the Church.
