Catechism of the Catholic Church: Complete and Updated

I don't consider myself to be a Catholic or a Christian, however I do enjoy studying religion. As a part of my studies, I wanted to learn about the beliefs and practices of the Catholic Church. This book was excellent for that purpose. The book is well-structured and extremely comprehensive. It is not an easy book to read. It is long and assumes certain knowledge about Christian and Catholic theology. If you are looking for a "Catholicism for Dummies" type book, then this is not the book for you. However, if you want to know what the Catholic Church authorities say is doctrine and practice, and you are willing to put in the work outside of the book researching unfamiliar terminology, concepts, history, scripture, and so on, then you will find this book to be both highly engaging and educational. Beyond its contents, I found the book to be well constructed and in good condition. It is compact, but thick. It feels well bound and sturdy (especially considering its high page count). The font is on the smaller side, but I didn't have trouble reading it. And the paper is thinner than an average book, but thicker than the paper found in many bibles. I fully recommend this book if you want to understand Catholic doctrine, but don't expect it to be your typical non-fiction read.

Get the answers to your questions... I’m 36, grew up Catholic—Mass every Sunday, fish on Fridays, the whole thing—but half the time I had no clue why. Grabbed this Catechism to get a better understanding of Catholic teaching and to understand the bible better. This has 2000 years of Church history and passages from the bible to learn from. It's honestly a great start to understanding your faith. If you never read the bible front to back before... start here. It's a lot easier to understand. Pros: Straight-up answers: Why confession? Why Mary? Why no birth control? Boom—Scripture, history, done. Four sections: Belief, Sacraments, How to live, Prayer. I skip to whatever I’m wondering about. Short paragraphs (like 2-3 sentences). Tons of footnotes—Bible verses, old councils, popes. Feels legit, not made-up. Index in the back is clutch. Look up “divorce” or “hell” and go right to it. Cons: Some parts are thick—like the chapter on grace. I just skim and come back. Zero pictures I just wanted to know my own faith. This book delivers. Took this on my trip to the Philippine and was able to experience my faith around the world in our beautiful universal church. God gave us a Church and our Church gave us both the Bible + Catechism to be more connected to Jesus Christ.

This smaller sized Catechism of the Catholic Church volume has the EXACT SAME wording, information & structure of any larger sized volume, but in an easier to carry/transport/pack size. While the Catholic Bible is the fullness of truth from God, Jesus & The Holy Spirit of historical revelation to mankind the Catechism of the Catholic Church is the Encyclopedia that explains the faith and doctrinal magisterium of the Universal Church founded by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ Himself.

It is a small and compact enough size to travel with it to your classes, to your small groups and to mass if you wanted to. It is thick volume, but the pages are thin and soft to the touch and the print is nice enough to be clearly readable. It’s good quality product, definitely recommend!

I had read the book once back when my mind was not so developed and thought I would give it another read. This book is full of valuable information from start to finish, some of which is very hard to find referenced anywhere else as the Vatican guards official records very tightly. It begins appropriately , Speaking of God and man. Our desire to know Him, ways in which he has revealed himself. It speaks of mans ultimate vocation. It speaks of Christ. The scriptures, The Holy Spirit, creation, the fall, heaven and earth. These things it touches on a very general level, yet with truth. It then goes on to elaborate on every word of the creeds of Christendom ( the apostles and the Nicene). It lays out what the individual and the Church believes as a whole. Only after these are put in light to the reader are we informed on the liturgy and brought into the insiders sphere of the church, We touch on the sacraments, baptism, confirmation, the Eucharist , penance and more. Finally we arrive at Life in Christ, this section of the book touches on every subject from man's purpose, to his passions, vices, virtues, sin, social justice, the persons relation to society and government, to the church, to strangers. It then walks us through the 10 commandments in great detail and finally closes with a thorough discussion of Christian prayer. This book is an amazing read and is filled with the insight and wisdom of some of the greatest men in history. The words have more than once brought me to tears. I must admit that I do not believe everything the Roman Catholic Church states nor follow some practices, but if one can tone out the over-admiration and dang near idolatry that for some reason so many Catholics around the world apply to the saints and Mary, almost everything else in this book is spot on and I applaud the Church for putting this fine piece of work together. God Bless all. Praise Jesus!

Very handy. I’m using it to deepen my understanding when pre-reading for mass, since related CCC sections are listed in the Great Adventure Bible footnotes. It’s also brought much needed clarity to what is - or is not - sinful. It would be probably a profound cover to cover experience too, one day. Already at a great price as far as books go, this is turning into a well used little book and carries higher value than most.

Love reading. So much information and so spiritual.

Great size to have for reference.

Good in every other respect

わたしの英語力は、特別高いわけではありませんが、本書の日本語版を最初に 手に取った時に翻訳語感満載で、非常に内容が分かりにくく感じました。 それで、英語版（さすがにラテン語とかフランス語は無理ですから…）を 手に取ったところ、一部の専門用語を辞書で調べる程度で、仮に義務教育の 英語の範囲でも「伝えたいこと」は十分ななめ読みで理解できる感じです。 かなりのボリュームがあるので、見た目に引いてしまいそうですが、章立て、 各章の最後に要約などもあり、脚注も充実していますから、毎日チョビチョビ、 またはようやくだけ一気になどの読み方ができます。

Very to the point and easy to read.

Einen Katechismus braucht man, wenn man katholisch sozialisiert ist. Auf Deutsch und auf Englisch. Das sind die Sprachen, die ich spreche. Wie bei der Heiligen Schrift auch. Manches kommt oft in der anderen Sprache deutlicher an. Diese Ausgabe ist ein Taschenbuch-Ausgabe. Für den sporadischen Gebrauch perfekt.

Very useful information and teachings and classes. A 2000 year old knowledge condensed in a small compatible and beautiful Book.