Complete Idiot's Guide to... | Buy

You're no idiot, of course. The historical importance of the Catholic Church and the significance that we still attach to statements from the pope haven't exactly escaped your notice. But when it comes to having a handle on the sacraments, theology, and Church history, you have to confess -- you're about to lose faith ... Don't excommunicate yourself! Full of idiot-proof explanations of Catholic rites and rituals, beliefs and history, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Catholicism, Second Edition, is the answer to your prayers. Book jacket.

Bob O'Gorman holds both a Master's degree and a Ph.D. in religious education. He has published several books on U.S. Catholic history and education and teaches at the Institute of Pastoral Studies at Loyola.

Mary Faulkner holds a Master's degree in religious education, and is a freelance writer, director of the Institute of Integrated Healing Arts in Nashville, and a psychotherapist in private practice. She is the author of Supreme Authority: Understanding Power in the Catholic Church.

What's a Catholic?	p. 1
Can You Judge a Catholic by the Cover?	p. 3
Why You Might Be Interested	p. 4
What You Have to Believe	p. 6
Catholic Ways	p. 13
The Classic Definition	p. 16
The People: Many Faces, Many Flags	p. 19
Would I Know One if I Saw One?	p. 19
So Where Would I Find a Catholic?	p. 26
Catholicism: It's a Big Tent	p. 31
From Bishop Sheen to Dan Berrigan	p. 32
From Cesar Chavez to Clarence Thomas	p. 34
From Bing Crosby to Madonna	p. 36
From Mother Teresa to Mother Angelica	p. 39
From Ted Kennedy to Pat Buchanan	p. 42
The Vatican: The Church That's a Country	p. 45
Just Who Is the Pope?	p. 45
The Big Church and the Little Church	p. 49
Rules and Regulations	p. 50
The '60s: Seeds of Revolution	p. 57
The Stillness Before the Storm	p. 58
Church as Listener	p. 63
Ecumenism: Catholics' Relationship to Other Christians	p. 66
Conscience Reigns Supreme	p. 68
A Painful Side Effect of Vatican II: Loss of Tradition	p. 68
Fasting and Fish Rules Relaxed	p. 69
Putting the "Ism" in Catholicism: Becoming Catholic, Becoming Different	p. 75
"It's Elementary, My Dear Watson"	p. 77
Ritual: The Old Religion, Roots, and Renewal	p. 78
"Yada, Yada, Yada"	p. 80
Influences of the Greeks, Romans, and Indigenous Peoples	p. 85
The Bible	p. 91
Sacred Scriptures	p. 91
The Canon: How Are We Sure What Texts Are Sacred?	p. 96
Birth and Spirit of a New Religion	p. 101
How We Know What We Know About Jesus	p. 101
The Key Stories of the Christians	p. 103
Was Jesus the First Catholic?	p. 107
Catholics Separate from the Jews	p. 109
The Sensuous Side of Catholicism: How Catholics Experience God	p. 113
Tasting, Touching, Smelling God	p. 115
Feeling Faith	p. 116
Now You See Him, Now You Don't: How God Is Present	p. 116
A Full-Bodied Experience	p. 119
The Right Brain/Left Brain of Catholics	p. 124
Formal and Informal Rituals	p. 126
God's Constant Comment: Catholics' Cup of Tea	p. 128
Jesus: The Original Sacrament	p. 131
The Very Brief Story of Jesus	p. 132
Just What Is a Sacrament?	p. 133
Wonder Bread	p. 136
The Kingdom of God Is Within	p. 137
Seven Sensual Sacraments	p. 141
Baptism: More Than Just Water on the Head	p. 142
Eucharist: It's More Than Just a Bite of Bread	p. 144
Confirmation: It's No Longer a Slap on the Face	p. 147
Menage a Trois: It's More Than Just Two in a Marriage	p. 149
Holy Orders: It's More Than Just Oil on the Fingers	p. 151
Penance: It's More Than Just a Kick in the Pants	p. 154
Anointing of the Sick: More Than a Simple Good-Bye	p. 158
Who Is Mary?	p. 161
Do Catholics Worship Mary?	p. 162
Mary, the People's Choice	p. 162
Mary's Incomplete History	p. 165
Council of Ephesus	p. 166
Apparitions: Here, There, and Everywhere	p. 167
Feasts and Devotions to Mary	p. 169
Imagination and Prayer	p. 173
Feeding the Imagination	p. 175
Sacramentals: Little Sacraments	p. 176
Sacramental Gestures	p. 180
Sacred Elements: Earth, Air, Fire, and Water	p. 182
The Liturgical Calendar: Sacred Time	p. 185
Catholic Prayers and Music: Tangible Poetry	p. 189
Personal Prayer	p. 190
The Rosary	p. 191
Monasteries, Mysticism, and Contemplative Prayer	p. 196
Sacred Music	p. 202
The Mass: The Catholics' Big Dinner Party	p. 207
Celebrating a Sacrifice: What Is the Mass?	p. 208
It's More the Food Than the Talk: The Liturgy of the Eucharist	p. 215
Here's the Church, and Here's the Steeple, Open the Doors, and See All the People!	p. 217
Catholic Identity: What Makes a Catholic?	p. 223
It's a Tribe	p. 225
Where the Tribe Meets	p. 226
Catholics' Social Face	p. 229
Getting In and Out of the Tribe	p. 235
The Teaching Church: More Than Just a Slap with the Ruler	p. 241
The Sources of the Church's Teaching: Scripture and Tradition	p. 242
Theology: Formulating New Beliefs	p. 246
Bargains from the Border: Liberation Theology and Base Communities	p. 252
The Teachings of the Church: More Than Just the Party Line	p. 257
Sin After Vatican II	p. 258
Sin: Missing the Mark	p. 258
Human Sexuality: "Male and Female He Created Them"	p. 266
The Seamless Garment	p. 270
The Church: Moving from Steeple to People	p. 275
Vocation: No Family Is Complete Without One	p. 278
Religious Orders: Know Your Players	p. 280
Lay Vocation: What About the Rest of the Folks?	p. 287
The Church's History	p. 293
The Roman Establishment	p. 295
From Underdog to Top Dog	p. 295
Christianity Comes to Your Hometown	p. 299
From Rationality to Mysticism	p. 303
A New Empire Is Born	p. 304
Division, Debauchery, and Reform: The Church's Second Millennium	p. 307
Catholic and Orthodox: The Church's Y1K Problem	p. 308
Catholicism's Dark Side	p. 309
Problems, Protest, and Protestants	p. 314
Trendy Trent: Going to Reform School	p. 316
The Church Turns Its Face to the New World	p. 318
The Birth of the Church in the New Land	p. 319
Colonization: Ready or Not, Here We Come!	p. 320
A New People Emerges	p. 324
Cultural Contributions to Today's Catholicism	p. 328
Catholics Earn Their Citizenship	p. 331
Catholicism and Colonial America: There Goes the Neighborhood!	p. 332
Coming in Droves: The Immigrant Experience	p. 334
Infallibility in the Land of Liberty	p. 342
A Checkered Church Solidifies	p. 343
Catholics Come of Age	p. 346
A Look to the Future	p. 353
Face-to-Face in the Third Millennium: The Church Looks to the Future	p. 355
Recap: Past, Present, and Future	p. 356
The Church Is One	p. 359
Women in the Wings	p. 360
The Church Is Holy	p. 362
The Church Is Catholic	p. 365
The Church Is Apostolic	p. 367
The Next Generation: Passing the Cup	p. 370
Catholic Sexuality: The Church's Dirty Little Secret?	p. 375
Sex, Lies, and Vatican Tapes	p. 376
Our Legacy: Dualism and the Mind/Body Split	p. 378
Clericalism: The Secret Culture	p. 382
Sexual Imagination (Thou Shall ...)	p. 387
Hope Born and Reborn	p. 390
Appendixes
Glossary	p. 393
Recommended Readings	p. 403
Chart of Symbolic Elements	p. 409
The Poop on Popes	p. 411
Index	p. 415
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

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