CCC 26-143

This was my first time reading Catechism. Though I was raised Catholic, my family was never very religious and I never read many religious texts. Though I was familiar with a lot of the basic terminology, I leaned many new words and gained a better understanding of many more. I learned more about Revelation and its manifestation through different stages and the idea of Divine Revelation. I also learned the meaning of the words dogma, gospel, and covenant, among others. Most importantly, however, I gained a better understanding and outline beliefs and teachings of the Catholic Church, something I had only a basic understanding of. One of the most persuasive and interesting things I learned during this reading is how God is searched for and seen. This Catechism reading states that “we can name God by taking creatures’ perfections as a starting point” (39). Rather than providing a straightforward idea of God, the lack of knowledge and understanding is admitted and embraced. This, to me, provided me a better understanding of Catholic beliefs and reasoning when it comes to the presence of God and religion as a whole. I still find the concept of sacred scripture and its place in religion somewhat hard to understand. Despite acknowledging the truth and value of the scripture, the Catechism claims that “Christian faith is not a ‘religion of the book’”(109). Therefore, I find it hard to understand all the aspects that affect interpretation of sacred scripture.  Overall, this reading alone has improved my knowledge of Catholic religion and I look forward to taking this class!