This looks exciting. Thanks to Fr Robert Barron
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Catholicism Pure & Simple 
I see (or hear) that this production involved mostly Australian Catholics. That was St Patrick’s Cathedral, Malbourne at the beginning and the gentleman in the suit and tie is Professor Greg Craven, Vice-Chancellor of the Australian Catholic University.
Let’s pray for their success.
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oops!! – “Melbourne”
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No, the new hobby atheist is as brash, noisy and confident as a cheap electric kettle. They want everyone to know that they have not found God, and that no one else should. Their particular target seems to be Catholics. On the surface, this is odd, as there are plenty of other religious targets just waiting to be saved from a vengeful, non-existent deity. Smaller herds, such as the Christadelphians or the Salvation Army, might seem more manageable. But the Catholic Church has two incomparable advantages as an object of the wrath of proselytising atheists. First, it is the biggie. Taking out the Catholics is the equivalent of nuking the Pentagon. Guerilla bands of Baptists and Pentecostals can be liquidated at leisure.
Second, the Catholics have the undeniable advantage that they do still demonstrably believe in something. Attacking some of the more swinging Christian denominations might mean upsetting people who believe a good deal less than the average atheist.
More of Professor Craven’s amusing piece can be viewed here:
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/society-and-culture/a-plague-of-atheists-has-descended-and-catholics-are-the-target-20091103-hv52.html#ixzz2i2s18ZcL
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Maybe my expectations were too high after the Catholicism Series, but I soon had to force myself to continue watching this DVD set yesterday when it arrived from the States.
The first DVD is the only one with any real content. The rest of the DVDs are the interviews with Brad Gregory, George Weigel, and Brandon Vogt, from which they took snippets for the first DVD. In other words, the other three DVDs are simply ‘Bonus material’, including a low-quality version of one of his commentaries they obviously downloaded from Youtube, presumably because they couldn’t be bothered to find their original HQ version of it.
The first/main DVD is poorly edited. One of the sections is in two parts as it’d be about 45 minutes, but they’ve just cut it without closing properly, then it the next segment starts, mid-flow.
Catholic Voices features quite a bit, especially Caroline Farey’s teeth, and a Liverpudlian Catholic priest who says none of us can know the truth as we’re all seekers…There’s also a brief snippet of Vincent Nichols saying inane things.
In essence, you’re paying $60 (plus shipping and duty – which takes it to around £60) for 95 minutes of mediocre quality content. One can tell a lot of the footage is offcuts from the Catholicism series, and it’s the same old music.
Nearly all the content is simply regurgitated from the hour-or-so lectures you can watch on YouTube on the subject. So very little new, and the fifth section is simply showcasing Word on Fire and its Staff, and implying theirs and Brandon Vogt’s is the real way to do the New Evangelisation. Everything is geared towards the New Media, as if the New Evangelisation = New Media. If you’re not into video production, the final, and longest section – “New Method” – has very little to say to you.
In fact, the lectures you can find on YouTube are better, in my opinion as they’re more focussed.
It is incredibly disappointing as it provides no education whatsoever.
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Peter Northcott, thank you for taking the time to write this review. I think I’ll give this series a pass. I have a 5 disc (10 episodes) Catholicism series produced by “Word on Fire Picture Show Films” and Fr Barron in 2011. Haven’t watched it yet, but I assume the series you critique above is a different one? Hope so.
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“At the bottom, of course, lies hate. I am not quite clear why our modern crop of atheists hates Christians, as opposed to ignoring or even politely dismissing them, but they very clearly do. There is nothing clever, witty or funny about hate.”
Bonza job, Greggo!
I am not clear why these atheist wallys hate Christians, either. Possibly because if you are not for them, you must be against them – as opposed to ignoring or even politely dismissing them.
Who ever heard such an absurd notion?
Not Toad.
What a coincidence.
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I find that atheists do not hate Christians: I think this is a paranoid response.
I do find that atheists in general are completely indifferent to Christianity. And that, I suggest is far more damaging to Christianity than alleged hate. They really couldnt care less. Many younger people dont know enough about Christianity to form any kind of view. Add ignorance to indifference and you might have a problem.
It would be better if Christians adopted the same indifferent view of atheists. Then we could be friends.
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Clearly what is going on in Oz, according to Good Ol’ Greggy – is that the plaguey Atheists have taken to evangelising.
Just like the Mormons! Crikey!! Strike a flamin’ light!!!
Trying to persuade innocent people that their cause – and no other – is the correct one.
And getting all pushy about it, what’s more.
Thank goodness Catholics don’t go in for that sort of caper.
“Fair suck of the sauce bottle, Cobber” is their motto.
Fair dinkum, too. (whatever that “means.”)
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Hello johnhenrycn.
You’re right, it’s a new offering. The 10-part Catholicism Series you mention (and have) is excellent. It’s professionally produced, whereas this latest offering seems as if they had some spare footage they thought they’d cobble together and flog and, as I say, Fr Barron is simply repeating what he’s said elsewhere on YouTube. The new material is simply other ‘movers and shakers’ – with similarly large budgets, websites, or Catholic ‘celebrity’ status, not in the real world of the average parish.
It’s as if the trailer, above, are snippets of the best bits, actually.
If you’re someone who wants to learn about the New Evangelisation, Fr Stephen Wang’s recently-published CTS booklet on the subject is more helpful, in my opinion. Archbishop Donald Wuerl’s booklet on the New Evangelisation and Rino Fisichella’s book, The New Evangelization: Responding to the Challenge of Indifference, are excellent, too.
My criticism of most material and resources out there in relation to the New Evangelisation, and Catechesis in general, is that you need a city-sized Church which has the resources, (educated) man-power, etc., and can get the foot-fall to make it worthwhile. Fr Wang’s examples in his booklet fall down here too, as it’s very London-Centric.
I am in a rural setting, and sadly these resources, and their ideas, simply do not appreciate, nor translate easily, to these situations…
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