Does anyone know any good books/websites where I can learn about the Catholic religion?

Answer 1

Catholic Answers (This website defends Catholic teaching)
http://www.catholic.com/

Website of someone who converted from Baptist to Catholic
http://www.ourcatholicfaith.org/

The Pope's website in Rome
http://www.vatican.va/

The free Catholic Online Encyclopedia
http://www.newadvent.org/

The Saint Paul Center for Biblical Theology (Scott Hahn)
http://www.salvationhistory.com/

Biblical Support for Catholicism
http://www.scripturecatholic.com/
http://www.biblechristiansociety.com/

EWTN The Catholic Channel website (excellent resource!)
http://www.ewtn.com/

CatholicCulture.Org is excellent because it provides reviews of many other Catholic websites and rates them based on Fidelity to the teachings of the Magisterium of the Catholic Church (the Bishops in union with the Pope), Resources, and Usability.
http://www.catholicculture.org/index.cfm

Answer 2

For a website go to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops http://www.usccb.org/index.shtml (the Bishops as a group produce some really good stuff.)

I found Catholicism for Dummies dumb and not worthwhile, The Complete Idiots Guide to World Religions has a much better description.

You can read the Catechism of the Catholic Church (you can buy it on Amazon fairly cheaply.

I would also recommend Hans Kung's A Short History of The Catholic Church. Kung writes wonderful ethics and religious books. (I like Charles Curran and Margaret Farley too (which might get me boiled in oil among the conservative Catholics) Kung, Curran and Farley are all Catholic theologians and ethicists) Another book is the Conpendium of Social Justice Thought or living and learning Justice. The Catholic Church has very strong social justice teaching that many do not know about, but for aalot of people they are an intergral part of the faith. (You can read either Dan or Phil Berrigan :) to understand more about the social justice movements of the faith or check out the Catholic worker website: http://www.catholicworker.org/

Also local parishes run adult education courses called RCIA...but most tend to be kind of simplicistic. If you are near a university I suggest you go to the Catholic Student Center on the university campus as they tend to be better at dealing with teaching adult theology.


It is important to remember there are close to 2 billion Catholics in the world and they express themselves in many ways from evangelicals to opus dei to catholic worker (although the core teachings remain the same(proud of myself for not knocking Opus dei here)). Some of these sites Catholics are putting up are actually closer related to how they express their beliefs (which can lead to the evangelical or more cultish views of some Catholics), My advice is to start with only the official sites the Bishops Conference, the Vatican and to read the Catechism and the history (Kung really does give an unbaised view of the history) before you go into any of the particular subsets, Because in Catholics there is weird as well.

Asking a Catholic is a good start but you must remember alot of Catholic don't completely understand their own doctrines and dogmas, I have seen Catholic after Catholic make mistakes in misinterpreting dogma. Sometimes priests don't even have that great of an understanding if the extent of their education is seminary. This is why I suggest a University Campus Center (Catholics have a Campus minister on most every university campus in the country) as they hold advanced degrees in theology and religous ed and have spent years to the devoted study of Church theology and history. Most will be women too.

EWTN sucks.

Answer 3

Ignore the whynotaskdon person.

Take a look at:

http://www.catholic.org
http://www.catholic.com
http://www.newadvent.org
http://www.ewtn.com
http://www.vatican.va
http://www.usccb.org

there are several others, but these will get you started.

Also feel free to send me email if you have specific questions.

Remember, if you want information about a Ford truck - you don't go to the Rolls-Royce website - same is true here. If you want the truth about Catholics, go to a Catholic web site - not an anti-Catholic site.

Peace

Answer 4

Mark 16:16

Answer 5

Here are a few good Catholic websites:

Official Sites:
The Vatican: http://www.vatican.va/phome_en.htm
The US Conference of Catholic Bishops: http://www.usccb.org/index.shtml
+ Catholic Bible: http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/
+ Catechism of the Catholic Church: http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/index.htm
+ Code of Canon Law: http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/_INDEX.HTM
+ Documents of Vatican II: http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/index.htm

Other sites:
Catholic Online: http://www.catholic.org/
Catholic.net: http://www.catholic.net/
Catholic Encyclopedia: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/index.html
Catholic Exchange: http://www.catholicexchange.com/
ETWN: http://www.ewtn.com/
Catholic Answers: http://www.catholic.com/library.asp
Catholic Culture: http://www.catholicculture.org/

With love in Christ.

Answer 6

Catholicism for Dummies is actually a very thorough introduction to the religion. I recommend it, despite the disparaging title.

Answer 7

Book: Catechism of the Catholic Church. (very very thick.)

Website: EWTN.com

TV station: EWTN

Answer 8

I found these free books and lessons very helpful when I was learning about Catholicism:

Answer 9

i didnt know catholic was a religion on its own :S

Answer 10

I advise the bible. specifically the e book of John. do you dare to envision that e book and seeks Gods face. I assure you that he will reveal Himself to you. take the dare buddy.