Wondering what to think about the doctrinal deviations of Vatican II? "The laity cannot remain silent in the face of the errors that threaten their Faith. While remaining in their place as laity, they must fight these errors and, at the same time, know well, profess, and defend the truths to which these errors are opposed."-Fr. Arnaud De Lassus The Layman's Guide to Vatican II is a summary of the need-to-know essentials from the Second Vatican Council. It offers a concise outline of events, an explanation of the Council origins and a breakdown of its key documents. Using accessible language, it proceeds with astounding clarity to define and explain each of the errors of Vatican II. Topics of interest for the curious Catholic:* History of Vatican II* Documents produced by Vatican II* What are Religious Liberty, Collegiality, and Ecumenism * Protestant-inspired shift from a God-focused Church to a man-focused Church * Departure of the Second Vatican Council from the traditional teachings of the ChurchThis brief, easy-to-read text is an aid for Catholics to better understand Vatican II and today's modern crisis. If you're looking for quick access to the facts, or simply trying to help others understand what really happened at the Second Vatican Council, this book is for you!

The sixteen documents of the Second Vatican Council are the most important texts produced by the Catholic church in the past four hundred years. They shape virtually every aspect of church life today. But hardly anyone ever reads them… —From the Introduction In this indispensable guide, Edward P. Hahnenberg outlines each of the documents produced by the Second Vatican Council. Offering the background for each work, its language and context, this book provides a clear and concise overview of the Council's work and its significance in the life of the church. Each document's history, content, major concerns and effects are considered. Significant quotes provide a sample of the language, and contemporary topics provide discussion opportunities. Scripture scholars and students—and every Catholic—will find this a valuable resource.

A Layman's Guide to Religion is a provocative, factual often-humorous personal study of evolution and religion. The author is unsparing in his contempt for all religions and cults and for the hypocritical rascals, the pied pipers who sidetrack their innocent victims, robbing many of them of their most productive years. The author finds those who claim to speak for God while defrauding the elderly of their life's savings especially loathsome. One scholar, who prefers anonymity, remarked after reading the manuscript, that when published, this one thin volume would contain more common sense than the hundred of thousand dusty works by so called theologians over the past several millennia. The comment was most gratifying as the author world rather have the admiration of one intelligent person whom the author highly regards than the admiration and even reverence of a billion fools! Bold, blunt and unflinching, this thin volume, cuts through millenia of B.S.! The author's purpose is not offend one religion but to denigrate all of them and, hopefully, replace religion with reason and common sense. Targeting historical unpleasant facts in an engaging and humorous manner, and the role of evolution, the author shows where religion has today become a compost of hypocrisy and pretense and the root cause of all evil! Plainly, this volume contains "All You Ever Wanted To Know About Religion Before You Put The Subject To Rest And Get On With Your Life!"

A lively debate continues in the Roman Catholic Church about the character of the teaching provided by the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965). Did it represent a decisive rupture with previous doctrine, or the continuation of its earlier message under new conditions? Much depends on whether the Council texts are read in the light of subsequent events, which shook and sometimes smashed the life, worship and devotion of traditional Catholicism – rather than considered for themselves, in their own right as documents with a prehistory that historians can know. In this work Dominican scholar and writer Aidan Nichols maintains that the Council texts must be interpreted in the light of their genesis, not their aftermath. They must be seen in the light of the public debates in the Council chamber, not the hopes (or fears) of individuals behind the scenes. On this basis, he provides a concise commentary on the eight most significant documents produced by the Council, documents which cover pretty comprehensively all the major aspects of the Church’s life. Nichols describes the Council as a gathering where the Conciliar minority – guarded, prudent, and concerned for explicit continuity at all points with the preceding tradition – played a beneficial role in steadying the Conciliar majority, enthused as the latter was by the movements of biblical, patristic and liturgical ‘return to the sources’ and a desire to reach out to the world of the (then) present-day in generosity of heart. The texts that emerged from this often impassioned debate remain susceptible to a reading of a classically Christian kind. That is precisely what Nichols offers in this book.

This history of the origins and development of Christian denominations is in layman's language. Readers will not become bogged down in technical or archaic terms. Begin by reading about the Christian groups, denominations, that developed in the time between Jesus' crucifixion and the formal origins of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches. Learn how the Roman empire came to accept Christianity as its religion, of the cooperation and struggles between the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches and how that led to their separation. Read about how the Black Death, the Crusades, the struggles within the Roman Catholic Church led some church leaders, such as Martin Luther, to attempt to reform the church, and how those attempts led to The Reformation. That opened the door to England declaring that the Church of England, the Anglican Church is the true Christian church. John Calvin laid the ground work for what became the Presbyterian and the Reformed churches. Then came the Huguenots and the Walloons, and the Puritan-Pilgrims who came to America and evolved into such as the Congregationalists. Back in England the Quakers experienced persecution that encouraged them to move to America. John Wesley began what evolved into Methodism. The American Revolution caused American churches of English origin to separate from their English roots and to become such as the Episcopalians and the Methodists. Read about the history of the many denominations that have come into being in The United States. There are the numerous "Christian" churches, the Unitarians, Spiritualist churches, Mormons, Adventists, Jehovah's Witnesses, Christian Science, Pentecostalism and many independent non-denominational churches. It is fascinating history, and all in layman's language.

Whatever happened to the Second Vatican Council? Has the Catholic Church backed away from its teachings? What, exactly, were those teachings? Did the Council stand for the renewal of the liturgy, for example, or its destruction? Did it bring the Church into the world, or has it allowed the world to infiltrate the Church? On the occasion of the fortieth anniversary of the closing of Vatican II, Alan Schreck discusses the key documents of the Council and their meaning for Catholics today. He also takes a close look at the ferment and criticism Vatican II left in its wake. What he finds will surprise some Catholics but encourage all to lean into the task of renewing and strengthening the Church for the twenty-first century.

The Layman’s Guide to Revelation is a compilation of renowned expositors with different interpretive views of eschatology. The book guides its readers into an in depth study of the Revelation using the critical analysis of commentators of the past to help the reader better understand the present times and God’s plan for the future. The guide defines key words in the Greek translation, and explains the symbolic use of numbers, colors and the foreshadowing of crucial aspects of Israel’s history which will aid in deciphering the visions given to the apostle. The guide further explains the types and use of the Old Testament prophets. By understanding the Old Testament Scriptures the student will better appreciate the background of the language and the Hebraic symbolism used in Revelation. The guide also sheds light on the use of foreshadowing of past empires used in the Old Testament that will further aid in the interpretation of the future and the end-times that we are assuredly apart. The guide takes the reader verse by verse; chapter by chapter through the commentators interpretive views so they can study at their own pace and arrive at their own conclusions. The book also includes a commentary by the author that offers his own insights into Revelation that will surely be of use to those who look to God’s word to better understand the times we live.