"The Wisdom of the Word," by Michael Dauphinais and Matthew Levering, is the latest title from the Word on Fire Institute imprint

NEWS PROVIDED BY
Word on Fire Catholic Ministries
June 1, 2021

IRVING, Texas, June 1, 2021 /Christian Newswire/ -- Why believe God exists, or believe Jesus is God? Why listen to the Catholic Church? Why is the Church so strict about sex? Questions like these have propelled a crisis of disaffiliation and disbelief among Catholics in recent decades. Half of millennial Catholics have turned their backs on the Church, and at many churches, only a minority of parishioners believe in all of its teachings about faith and morality.

Building on the call of the Second Vatican Council for a greater appreciation of Scripture, "The Wisdom of the Word: Biblical Answers to Ten Pressing Questions About Catholicism," a new book from the Word on Fire Institute, invites Catholics who are thinking about leaving the Church, or who are confused about elements of Catholic faith and practice, to pause and give the Bible a chance to illuminate their way. From the infighting among the Catholic faithful to the sins of Catholic leaders, and from Christ's sacrifice on the cross to the Church's emphasis on caring for the poor, theologians Michael Dauphinais and Matthew Levering explore common challenges to the faith in light of the timeless insights of the Word.

"Many Catholics today are leaving the Church, at least in part, because they no longer believe the faith," Dauphinais explains. "To respond to the crisis of faith, this book seeks to help people discover that the Bible is understandable, true, and ultimately meaningful for their lives. We do so by considering ten common problems people have with the Catholic faith, showing how the biblical stories and teachings address these problems and offer a way back into the fullness of faith, a way back to God our Creator and Redeemer. The hope is that those who read the book will discover a greater sense of the meaning and truth of God's Word to us in the Bible and with perhaps more options to assist friends and family members who are leaving the Church."

"Today, it is often assumed that the words of Scripture are unlikely to have much to say," Levering adds. "One finds the new atheists arguing that the Old Testament God is a moral monster, fundamentalist Christians arguing that the Bible is unrelated to the Catholic Church, and many Catholics no longer worrying about Scripture at all, except as testimony to Jesus' liberative spirit. All this is a mistake. Catholics should and must hear Scripture; and the joy of it is to discover that, actually, Scripture is not so bad and indeed is radical, extraordinary, joyful, and life-giving in the revelatory words and deeds that it records about the living Creator God, his holiness, and his unfathomably glorious mercy and love in Jesus Christ. This is good news indeed—and it is worth being Catholic!"
 
Word on Fire Catholic Ministries (wordonfire.org) exists to draw people into the Body of Christ, which is the Church, and thereby give them access to all the gifts that Jesus wants his people to enjoy. To be most effective in this mission, Word on Fire places an emphasis and urgency on the use of contemporary forms of media and innovative communication technologies.

"The Wisdom of the Word: Biblical Answers to Ten Pressing Questions About Catholicism"
by Michael Dauphinais and Matthew Levering
May 17, 2021
Hardcover | 344 pages
Word on Fire Institute
wordonfire.org/wisdom
 
FOR RELEASE ON: 06/01/2021
 
SOURCE Word on Fire Catholic Ministries

CONTACT: Will Sipling, Communications Director, 866-928-1237, communications@wordonfire.org

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