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3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
A compromise rating, because as a source of information it was good. There have always been so many things about Catholicism that I've never really understood, and this answered a lot of questions. But as a non-Catholic, I would have preferred it to have been written in a neutral, third person manner, as in "this is what Catholics believe" rather than by a priest from the point of view "this is what is true, of course." It made me a little crazy quite a few times, some homophobic and misogynistic crap in particular made me almost quit, and do not bother reading the history of the Catholic church as told by a priest, (Galileo was right--darn science!-- but he didn't PHRASE things correctly, that's why he got in trouble and had to go into "very comfortable" house arrest"..sort of thing)
A good read for anyone! Well written with humor, insight, and explanations for Catholics and non Catholics alike. Many times I read passages out loud to my husband because they just needed to be shared.
I am not Catholic, but I have been wanting to learn the foundations of the major religions, and I started with this one for unrelated reasons. I have been to Catholic Mass a few times and watched movies with Catholics in them (the extent of my prior knowledge).
I tried to go into this with an open mind because all I wanted from it was to know what was up with the religion [Caveat: I am very pro-choice]. There were definitely a few places where I wanted to throw my Kindle at the wall, but I persevered and made it through. Needless to say, I will not be converting to Catholicism, but I think the current Pope is a real cool guy and it was very interesting to learn all of the little details that go into Mass and the Catholic year.
This was very well written, detailed, and well-organized. I did not feel like it was preachy or attempting to convert me, but there were one or two spots where I did think it sounded overly defensive. And I side-eyed a segment at the end that praised Christopher Columbus--facts were a little rose-tinted in that one, I think. Overall a solid basis for learning more about the Catholic faith, whether for academic reasons like me or for with an eye for converting to it.
I tried to go into this with an open mind because all I wanted from it was to know what was up with the religion [Caveat: I am very pro-choice]. There were definitely a few places where I wanted to throw my Kindle at the wall, but I persevered and made it through. Needless to say, I will not be converting to Catholicism, but I think the current Pope is a real cool guy and it was very interesting to learn all of the little details that go into Mass and the Catholic year.
This was very well written, detailed, and well-organized. I did not feel like it was preachy or attempting to convert me, but there were one or two spots where I did think it sounded overly defensive. And I side-eyed a segment at the end that praised Christopher Columbus--facts were a little rose-tinted in that one, I think. Overall a solid basis for learning more about the Catholic faith, whether for academic reasons like me or for with an eye for converting to it.
A bit confusing at times but the authors do a good job of explaining things in layman's terms.