Five Great Catholic Ideas

At first glance, this may appear to be a mere summary of trendy Catholic theology. The author, president and rector of St. John's Seminary College, Camarillo, Calif., discusses these five ideas: We are saved in community; the kingdom of heaven begins on earth; God respects our human freedom; scriptural interpretation is a work of the whole church; great ideas develop over time. On second glance, however, the reader sees, for example, that the author means by ""community"" something much deeper than liturgical chumminess, and by ""human freedom"" he means far more than ""do whatever you feel like doing."" It is in the church that one finds salvation, he says, and in order to make fully human decisions we need clarity of understanding and freedom of will. Five Great Catholic Ideas takes the Catholic basics and unpacks them in a way that will inform and inspire. To read this book is to discover that there is a depth and complexity to these ideas that should short-circuit facile distinctions between ""liberal"" and ""conservative"" interpretations. (Aug.)