| I offer a book by one of Catholicism’s foremost apologists and catechists, Frank Sheed. Sheed was an Australian, who became known for his teaching the faith on the street corners of London (yes, literally on the street corners), and for his famous publishing company, Sheed & Ward. As a lay theologian he wrote extensively for the laity on many subjects of the faith, including a reading guide for the education of the faithful.
TO KNOW JESUS CHRIST was written in 1962, just before the beginning of Vatican II. As Sheed states in his “Forward” of the book, this work is not a biography. It is designed to allow the reader to KNOW Christ on a person to person level. Sheed achieves this effect by the occasional question he poses to the reader on a particular event or teaching of Christ. He does follow chronologically the life of Christ, but he weaves the Old Testament in with the New Testament to show the bridge Christ makes for us to know and believe in Him with greater intimacy. Sheed himself becomes a teacher of the faith, and it is this style which helps to make the reading of the book most enjoyable and very appealing. |
