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Doors to the Sacred has endured as an indispensable account of the sacraments of the Catholic Church. Used in hundreds of university and seminary courses and full of critical acclaim, it details their historical and cultural evolution and the rituals and practices associated with them. This Vatican II Golden Anniversary Edition explains the liturgical changes found in The Roman Missal, Third Edition, and provides extensive resources for students and seekers alike, including: A visual timeline of people, events, and sacramental changes in Church history, A glossary of philosophical and theological terms An updated annotated bibliography for further reading An improved design for easier reading and reference.
This historical introduction - the only such study of the sacraments in the Catholic Church available - has been called "illuminating," "thorough," & "reliable."
Catholic sacramental doctrine has lost much of its credibility. Baptized people leave the church, adolescents stop attending shortly after they are confirmed, supposedly indissoluble marriages regularly dissolve, few go to confession, and many do not believe in transubstantiation. Drawing upon his decades-long study of the sacraments, Martos reveals how teachings that seemed rooted in the scriptures and Catholic life have become unmoored from the contexts in which they arose, and why seemingly eternal truths are actually historically relative. After carefully constructing Catholic teaching from the church's own documents, he deconstructs it by demonstrating how biblical passages were misconstrued by patristic authors and how patristic writings were misunderstood by medieval scholastics. The long process of misinterpretation culminated in the dogmatic pronouncements of the Council of Trent, which continues to dominate Catholic thinking about the church's religious ceremonies. If the sacraments are released from their dogmatic baggage, Martos believes that the spiritual realities they symbolize can be celebrated in any human culture without being tied to their traditional rites.
The contents of this volume offer the reader a broad insight into Catholic theology. Established as an indispensable introduction to six areas of study: The Old Testament, The New Testament, The Person of Jesus, The Church, Christian Morality, and The Sacraments. This collection provides key texts from some of the most distinguished writers in Catholic theology today.Contributors include: Philippe BTguerie and Claude Duchesneau, Christopher Butler, Raymond Brown, S.S., Joseph A. Fitzmyer, S.J., Gideon Goosen and Margaret Tomlinson, John H. Hayes, Monika Hellwig, Aidan Kavanagh, O.S.B., Dermot A. Lane, Enda Lyons, Vincent MacNamara, Richard P. McBrien, Enda McDonagh, Joseph Martos, Robert Murray, S.J., Denis F. O'Callaghan, Timothy E. O'Connell, John F. O'Grady, Jean-Pierre PrTvost, Thomas P. Rausch, S.J., Jeffrey S. Siker, Daniel L. Smith-Christopher, Francis Sullivan, S.J.
In The Church, Donald G. Bloesch explores with clarity and balance the contours of ecclesiology. He forthrightly takes up the most controversial of issues ranging from matters of church authority, the sacraments and worship to the church's place in the plan of salvation, the church and the kingdom of heaven, and church reunion. Evangelical in spirit, ecumenical in breadth and biblical in depth, Bloesch's work presents a theology of the church that calls for reformation and renewal according to the Word and Spirit of God.
This Handbook introduces the theology of the sacraments from a variety of perspectives. It contains historical overviews, biblical discussion, philosophical and theological reflection, as well as ecumenical discussion. It is one of the most comprehensive overviews of the sacraments throughout the tradition of the Christian church.
Honest rituals are ceremonial actions that celebrate what is actually happening in people's lives. Religious rituals, however, often celebrate beliefs and doctrines (e.g., the birth of Christ, God's forgiveness of sins, or the gifts of the Holy Spirit) that have little to do with people's experience. Martos argues that early Christian rituals were grounded in experiences such as conversion, community, commitment, and self-giving. Lacking a vocabulary to name such experiences, the authors of the New Testament and other early documents resorted to metaphors such as baptism into Christ, receiving the Holy Spirit, forgiveness by God, and the presence of Christ during worship. By the fourth centu...
Many people believe that the Roman Catholic Church's teaching on marriage is clear and consistent: marriage is a sacrament, the marriage contract is indissoluble, divorce and remarriage are forbidden. In this book, theologians, historians, and sociologists overhaul the church's teaching and practice on divorce and remarriage, as well as personal testimonies from a number of persons who have gone through the annulment process. >
Rohr and Martos answer the question, "Why Be Catholic?" fairly and squarely, showing a deep appreciation about what is good in Catholicism and a penetrating honesty about the Church's shortcomings. They also examine what it means to be Catholic in the United States today. Finally, to answer the title question in a more personal way, they present portraits of some outstanding Catholics, especially those we call saints, who have found personal fulfillment by living their faith to the utmost.