The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Catholic Catechism [Paperback]

This is the first book I've bought in either the Idiot's Guide or Dummies Guide series. Those phrases have always raised concerns for me about whether the books are accurate and at least somewhat serious.

Although I bought the Guide to the Catholic Catechism as a possible reference book, and so have not read it cover to cover, I have dipped into a number of sections and have found it to take its subjects seriously, even while being written in an accessible, conversational way. In other words, you will learn a lot without feeling like you are working at it.

Another plus, important to me, is that every section I have read seems straightforward and free of bias. I could not tell you if the author is a liberal or a conservative. (As someone involved in Catholic education, I was happy to see that the book has an imprimatur, meaning that it is not contrary to defined Catholic doctrine.)

In short, I very much like what I have seen, and would recommend this guide as a personal reference tool or a tool for the classroom.

We are grateful that the publishers of the Complete Idiot's Guide has finally shown enough respect for Catholicism to have a book done which actually conforms to the Catechism. Rather than seeing Father David Fulton and Mary DeTurris Poust as 'rival' authors, we consider them colleagues and compliment them on their book. As Pope Benedict XVI often points out, Catholicism is the religion of the great 'et ... et' (which translates from Latin into: "both ... and") rather than a religion of 'aut ... aut' (either ... or). Therefore, any author and any book which defends orthodox doctrine and any author who is loyal to the Magisterium is on the same side, i.e., the side of truth. We are NOT competing against one another. ALL authors and books which faithfully explain the accurate teachings of Catholicism should work TOGETHER to refute and repudiate the errors being proliferated by heterodox sources and from dissenting theologians.

BOTH "Catholicism for Dummies" AND the "Complete Idiot's Guide to the Catholic Catechism" have imprimaturs AND BOTH serve the common good in evangelization and catechesis. The dichotomy is rather between those authors and books faithful to the Magisterium and those which are disloyal. EITHER orthodox OR heterodox since something is EITHER true or it is false. We wish to congratulate Mary and Fr. David for doing a book on the Catechism. Doing so does not conflict with our pride in our recent work "Catholicism Answer Book: 300 of the Most Frequently Asked Questions" since we sincerely believe our books complement the 'Complete Idiot's Guide to the Catholic Catechism.' While we embraced the same blueprint of the four pillars of faith [creed, code, cult, & contemplation] in our most recent book, we also added some interesting Catholic curiosities along with a potpouri of trivia as well as some abridged but fundamental church history.

If there is any professional rivalry whatsoever, it is merely along the lines of the friendly competition that has always existed between the Dominicans and the Franciscans. That being said, we wish success to both authors and to their book and hope that readers will look at ALL the available resources where one can find authentic, accurate and orthodox Catholic teaching on faith and morals. Those sources which have no allegiance to the Magisterium warrant nothing less than being completely ignored.

Every Catholic individual, family and home should have SEVERAL if not more solid books on the faith in addition to a copy of the actual Catechism and a copy of Catholic Bible. Better to have a whole bookcase of shelves of various Catholic authors who are all loyal to the Magisterium, is it not? We are not arrogant or stupid enough to think that our six books exhaust every notion contained within Catholicism. Our goal has simply been and remains thus: give the readers nothing less than pure, unadulterated [single-malt, so to speak] orthodox doctrine in everything we write. Whenever we see others doing likewise, we take it as a sign of Divine Providence.

Sincerely, Fathers Kenneth Brighenti and John Trigilio

I recently read The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Catholic Catechism by Mary DeTurris Poust with theological advisor Fr. David Fulton STD, JCD. Like other books in the Complete Idiot's Guide and Dummies series they present a subject on a beginners level in a somewhat lighthearted way.

Since this one is on the Catholic Catechism itself it is really an introduction to the Catholic faith for beginners along with and introduction explaining the Catechism and the format. For many the size of the Catechism of the Catholic Church is daunting and some might find the language used to be difficult so there will always be a place for a smaller catechism. I remember when I first came across a small catechism at the library written by a source I don't remember, though the experience of reading even these short explanations of the Catholic faith had quite an effect on my life and got me to accept some sins that I up to that point I would have rather have not learned were sins. So I can certainly see how important even a shorter treatment of the Catechism can be.

I found the Complete Idiot's Guide to the Catholic Catechism to be totally in conformance with the Catholic faith and presented the faith quite well. There are plenty of sidebars to further explain words and concepts likely to be unfamiliar to the reader as is common with these types of books. It is also written in a manner easy to read and she uses some humor in her explanations. Though she does not let the humor get in the way and mainly keeps to explaining the various paragraphs of the Catechism. As you would expect there are paragraph reference numbers to the Catechism throughout the book.

I found the book to be a quite useful addition to the number of books concerning the Catechism and I think good orthodox books that serve as an introduction to the faith are always useful. There are only a couple of places in the book where I might have wanted something worded a bit differently, but really nothing to the point where it was in real error. She does make the quite common mistake of thinking the Pope charism of Papal Infallibility to be rare when the fact is it is exercised at every canonization.

There is also another book with a similar format called Catholicism for Dummies by Fr. Trigillo and Fr. Brighenti. I have heard a lot of great things about this other book, though I haven't read it myself yet. Regardless Mary DeTurris Poust book is an excellent entry into the field and one I can recommend to those looking for a solid introduction that is also light reading.

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