Contemporary reflection on a central statement of traditional Christian belief: the Nicene Creed. The author is a Redemptorist priest who has lectured in theology in both Australia and overseas. He is president of the Yarra Theological Union and the Australian Catholic Theological Association. He has also written 'A New Imagining: Towards an Australian spirituality' and 'Touching on the Infinite: An exploration in human hope'.

What God's children believe Because Jesus is risen, the world is made new. This is the good news. That's what I believe. Join FatCat as he discovers what all God's children believe. Everyone in God's big family believes these truths. And if you believe, then you are in that family too! How do God's children grasp the message of God's word? The church's answer has always been the catechism--simple confessions of deep truths. FatCat expresses the catechism in a fun and accessible way for God's children of all ages. With vibrant illustrations and thoughtful reflections for each line of the Apostles' Creed, children can visualize, memorize, understand, and confess the faith passed down over centuries.

Martin Luther had a way with words and an eye toward instruction as he wrote the Small Catechism. Written to awaken and affirm faith as well as provide a helpful tool for households and congregations, the Small Catechism delivers the precise and profound words that have become the heart of Lutheran teaching about the Christian faith. As you will see in the story of the Small Catechism, Luther saw firsthand how far removed the gospel was from the people's experience. So, he set about crafting a simple Q & A on the basics of God's word, aimed at bringing the Holy Spirit into the hearts of sixteenth-century readers, readers ever since, and into your heart too.

"The Christian faith is mysterious not because it is so complicated but because it is so simple. A person does not start with baptism and then advance to higher mysteries. In baptism each believer already possesses the faith in its fullness. ... In the same way, it takes considerable effort to begin to comprehend all that we have received in Christ. Theological thinking does not add a single thing to what we have received. The inheritance remains the same whether we grasp its magnitude or not. But the better we grasp it, the happier we are. So this small book is an invitation to happiness. I have written it with a glad heart, and I hope it will be helpful for others who want to comprehend the mystery of faith in all its 'breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love Christ that surpasses knowledge' (Eph 3:18-19)."--Preface, pages xv-xvi

Over 3 million copies sold! Essential reading for Catholics of all walks of life. Here it is - the first new Catechism of the Catholic Church in more than 400 years, a complete summary of what Catholics around the world commonly believe. The Catechism draws on the Bible, the Mass, the Sacraments, Church tradition and teaching, and the lives of saints. It comes with a complete index, footnotes and cross-references for a fuller understanding of every subject. The word catechism means "instruction" - this book will serve as the standard for all future catechisms. Using the tradition of explaining what the Church believes (the Creed), what she celebrates (the Sacraments), what she lives (the Commandments), and what she prays (the Lord's Prayer), the Catechism of the Catholic Church offers challenges for believers and answers for all those interested in learning about the mystery of the Catholic faith. The Catechism of the Catholic Church is a positive, coherent and contemporary map for our spiritual journey toward transformation.

2017 Catholic Press Association Book Awards, Second Place: Pastoral Ministry “IF FORMER CATHOLICS WERE CONSIDERED A DENOMINATION, IT WOULD BE THE SECOND-LARGEST DENOMINATION IN THE U.S.”—from A Church on the Move Many statistics on the Catholic Church today are sobering, and the future of the Church can seem bleak indeed. The average parish often feels helpless to do anything that might help turn the tide and revitalize the Church. But best-selling author Joe Paprocki insists that there is good news: with the right plans in place, the Catholic Church—and the local parish specifically—will not only survive, but thrive. A Church on the Move offers 52 practical strategies for moving parishes forward, principally by focusing on the one thing the Church can offer that the world-at-large cannot: Jesus Christ. Each chapter begins with a quote from Pope Francis, and each helpful strategy falls within one of five key categories: how a Church on the move thinks, functions, worships, forms disciples, and engages the world. Every chapter takes an honest look at a particular problem in the Church before moving to a creative, redemptive, and achievable solution. A Church on the Move brings to the parish level the great themes of Pope Francis’ papacy— mission, mercy, and evangelization—and replaces despair with a profound hope for the future of the Catholic Church.

The Apostles' Creed is the oldest, most beautiful succinct summary of Christian beliefs. Though often recited in unison during worship services, the creed begins with the phrase "I believe," making it a deeply personal profession of faith. But when was the last time you examined it closely? In Affirming the Apostles' Creed, an excerpt from Growing in Christ, noted Bible scholar and author J. I. Packer explains the meaning and implications of each phrase of this great creed. Each concise chapter serves as an invitation to dive further into the creed-and as a result, into the essentials of the Christian faith-by concluding with discussion questions and Bible passages for further study.

Of the many recent books on the historical Jesus, none has explored what the latest biblical scholarship means for personal faith. Now, in Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time, Marcus Borg addresses the yearnings of those who want a fully contemporary faith that welcomes rather than oppresses our critical intelligence and openness to the best of historical scholarship. Borg shows how a rigorous examination of historical findings can lead to a new faith in Christ, one that is critical and, at the same time, sustaining. "Believing in Jesus does not mean believing doctrines about him," Borg writes. "Rather, it means to give one's heart, one's self at its deepest level, to . . . the living Lord." Drawing on his own journey from a naive, unquestioning belief in Christ through collegiate skepticism to a mature and contemporary Christian faith, Borg illustrates how an understanding of the historical Jesus can actually lead to a more authentic Christian life—one not rooted in creeds or dogma, but in a life of spiritual challenge, compassion, and community. In straightforward, accessible prose, Borg looks at the major findings of modern Jesus scholarship from the perspective of faith, bringing alive the many levels of Jesus' character: spirit person, teacher of alternative wisdom, social prophet, and movement founder. He also reexamines the major stories of the Old Testament vital to an authentic understanding of Jesus, showing how an enriched understanding of these stories can uncover new truths and new pathways to faith. For questioning believers, doubters, and reluctant unbelievers alike, Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time frees our understanding of Jesus' life and message from popular misconceptions and outlines the way to a sound and contemporary faith: "For ultimately, Jesus is not simply a figure of the past, but a figure of the present. Meeting that Jesus—the living one who comes to us even now—will be like meeting Jesus again for the first time."

Spiritual teacher and bridge-builder Brother David Steindl-Rast translates the Apostles' Creed for today, uncovering the deeper universal truths that can be an inspiration to all people. In Deeper than Words: Living the Apostles’ Creed, Brother David reexamines the words with which the early followers of Jesus summarized their faith. Reading line-by-line with an open perspective, he reveals the often overlooked message of trust, compassion, peace, love, and awareness contained in this widely known but rarely examined statement. Deeper than Words moves beyond ritual and exclusivity and instead finds a deeper faith based in real human experience and the sense of limitless belonging that is shared by all people who seek to understand themselves and the world. The words of the Apostles' Creed are Christian, but its heart is a universal and timeless guide to fullness of life. From this transformation perspective, developed over a lifetime of contemplation, Brother David presents a powerful call to renewal through reconnection with the spiritual and a reawakening to shared sacred truths.