What does the Roman Catholic Church teach about ...? ... and why?
This book surveys the origin an development of Roman Catholic Christianity from the period of the apostolic church, through the post-apostolic church and into the conciliar movement. Principal attention is paid to the biblical basis of both doctrine and dogma as well as the role of paradosis (i.e. handing on the truth) in the history of the Church. Particular attention is also paid to the hierarchical founding and succession of leadership throughout the centuries.
This is a set of lecture notes used since 1985 to teach the basis for key doctrines and dogmas of the Roman Catholic Church. The objectives of the course were, and are:
Some key areas covered include:
The course grew out of the need for the authors to continually answer questions about their faith tradition and their work. (Both authors are active members of Ascension Catholic Community in the Diocese of Richmond, Virginia. Dr. Robert Schihl is a Professor on the Communications faculty of Regent University. Paul Flanagan is part of the executive administration of the Christian Broadcasting Network.) The authors were spending time in their faith community answering questions about their Protestant Evangelical workplaces, and time in their workplaces answering similar questions about their Roman Catholic faith community. These notes are the result of more than a decade of facilitating dialogue among those who wish to learn more about what the Roman Catholic Church teaches and why.
