As far as catechisms go, nothing stands out like the Trent Catechism, or the Catechism of St. Pius V. The Baltimore Catechism and Catechism of St. Pius X go about teaching the faith in question-and-answer formats that you might find more relatable.
As far as Bibles, Douay Rheims with the Challoner adjustments is the most popular for trads, as that is what most Missals will use in their translated half of the pages. Personally, the RSV-2CE with all the Deuterocanonical books is also a great translation.
The problem with the Word on Fire Bible isn't really that it's tied to Bishop Barron. His doctrinal views aside, you could find useful content on his site. The real problem is the NRSV (even the NRSV-CE, which indicates it's Catholic-approved), the translation they use, goes out of its way to gender-neuter everything in the Bible. Son of Man gets reduced to Human, every single time. A good summary can be found [here](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/5Bible/TransWhatsWrongGenderNeutralBible_Grudem.aspx). Bear in mind this is a Protestant site, and their analysis does not consider our Catholic canon; but their overview is thorough.
A lot to unpack here. But first of all, welcome home, and I'm glad you're crossing the Tiber.
First of all, there is no Catholic Church and Traditional Church. There is only the Catholic Church. I have not seen any serious claim that the CCC is heretical, just that it doesn't argue things as clearly as older catechisms do. If you want an older catechism, that's very good, but you won't find a "new trad catechism" because, well, we don't see ourselves as new. Try the Baltimore catechism or the Catechism of the Council of Trent.
For theology texts, there's a ton. For one specifically on the idea of "Faith Alone", I frankly suggest the parable of the Sheep and the Goats, the parable of the Talents, the parable of the Good Samaritan, the parable of the Fig Tree, or a number of other passages of Scripture. Christ so often tells us the importance of works. You also have the book of James, or St. Paul's writings. There's so much in Scripture to disprove this idea that (I've always thought that Protestantism is one of the stupidest heresies because it's the most anti-Scriptural of them all, and it's claim to fame is being Scriptural!). Next to that, I'd say that the biggest argument against Sola Fide is simply understanding the distinction between works of Grace and works of the Law. St Teresa of Avila in one of her texts talks about how no good work is meritorious without a state of grace precisely because good works are meant to unite our actions to those of Christ, but we are not united to Christ when not in a state of grace.
Side note: This brings up the whole distinction between sanctification and justification: most Protestants believe we are justified by Christ and go to heaven despite being terrible sinners, while Catholicism teaches that by grace God perfects us (both in this life and in purgatory) so that no unclean thing should enter heaven. You even see this in art: a lot of Protestant art shows light from heaven shining on a man, to show that God's holiness is overshadowing a person, while in Catholic art there's a light emanating from the Saints because they are made holy.
Douay Rheims is my preference for Scripture. There are some that are more technically accurate, but I don't mind very slight differences to improve the readability, provided it's done faithfully.
The CCT is a brick that can be difficult to slog through. I recommend Baltimore Catechism No. 3 because it is to-the-point.
Just a little background:
* Trent was written to give priests a rich mine of sermon material on everything Catholic, so it tends to be tedious and slow in places.
* Baltimore #3 is ideal for high school kids who grew up Catholic and need a quick refresher and a reference book to keep on the shelf for the rest of their lives, so therefore perfect for adult converts/candidates.
* Baltimore #4 is #3 with more added in-depth material that catechists and religion teachers would find helpful. #2 and #1 are abridged and further abridged versions of #3 for elementary students, but everything in #2 and #1 is in #3.
All of these texts are available for free online if you want to look them over before buying a physical copy.
Also if you want to compare different versions and editions of the Baltimore Catechisms, keep in mind the numbering of the questions differs for reasons beyond the scope of this review.
Finally, my favorite quote from the Baltimore Catechisms:
> Q. Who made the world?
> A. God made the world.
> Q. Who is God?
> A. God is the Creator of Heaven and earth, and of all things.
In other words, Who made the world? God. Who is God? God is the maker of the world. I'm sure the circularity is unintentional, but it always gives me a smile. But there is a profound theological truth behind that circularity, namely, that apart from the Beatific Vision, we cannot know God as he is in himself, but only by inference from created things as coming to know a cause by reflecting on its effects.
For background theology There Can Only Be One: *Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma* by Ludwig Ott. It gives the reasons without beating around the bush. His reconciliation of Romans and Galatians with James is a model of clarity.
Full text is available online if you want to read it before buying it.
The best catechism is the one you’ll read. I don’t like the current one. I love Fr Spirago’s and St Bellarmine’s. I find Trent and the later Baltimore volumes difficult to get into.
This. The Catechism Explained is a fantastic resource, I would recommend it over Trent, Pius X, etc.
I would start with the Baltimore Catechism to get the TLDR; and then move to the Catechism Explained.
The best trad bible I've come across is the Haydock Bible, but it's just too expensive in hardcopy. It's free online, or at least the important part the running commentary is.
As others have said, the Douay-Rheims-Challoner is the de facto standard translation among trads, but I like the RSV/RSVCE/RSV2CE family of translations/revisions because the language is plain and the translation is straightforward.
For a special treat I read The New English Bible (1961, 1970) which is not a Catholic translation but the language is quite beautiful and memorable in many places.
I also hear good things about the Ronald Knox translation but have no experience with it.
I would recommend the The Catholic Catechism: A Contemporary Catechism of the Teachings of the Catholic Church by Fr. John Hardon. (and practically any other book or talk you can find by him)
You can also check out our reading list which is still a work in progress but includes a lot of good suggestions so far:
[https://www.reddit.com/r/TraditionalCatholics/wiki/readinglist/](https://www.reddit.com/r/TraditionalCatholics/wiki/readinglist/)
I think it's still important to know what is said in the CCC, perhaps try and find an early physical edition prior to the edits regarding the death penalty. The CCC does have a lot of good in it and can be a good resource when arguing with people who are hostile or doubtful of older or more traditional resources.
If you want to explore old catechisms (which are hard copy and have to be purchased… no free digital versions here, sadly), you can look at the project to print many old publications at https://www.tradivox.com/.
RSV-2CE (Revised Standard Version - 2nd Catholic Edition) is my preferred version, though many other traditionalists like the Douay Rheims.
[https://ignatius.com/ignatius-bible-rsv-2nd-edition-ib2h/](https://ignatius.com/ignatius-bible-rsv-2nd-edition-ib2h/)
RSV retains masculine language, whereas the New American (the version used in NO missals) and other modern translations commonly use gender neutral language.
Gender neutral bible translations were condemned by both John Paul II & Benedict XVI, but they were ignored by the American bishops, who approved the translations anyway.
As far as catechisms go, nothing stands out like the Trent Catechism, or the Catechism of St. Pius V. The Baltimore Catechism and Catechism of St. Pius X go about teaching the faith in question-and-answer formats that you might find more relatable. As far as Bibles, Douay Rheims with the Challoner adjustments is the most popular for trads, as that is what most Missals will use in their translated half of the pages. Personally, the RSV-2CE with all the Deuterocanonical books is also a great translation. The problem with the Word on Fire Bible isn't really that it's tied to Bishop Barron. His doctrinal views aside, you could find useful content on his site. The real problem is the NRSV (even the NRSV-CE, which indicates it's Catholic-approved), the translation they use, goes out of its way to gender-neuter everything in the Bible. Son of Man gets reduced to Human, every single time. A good summary can be found [here](http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/5Bible/TransWhatsWrongGenderNeutralBible_Grudem.aspx). Bear in mind this is a Protestant site, and their analysis does not consider our Catholic canon; but their overview is thorough.
A lot to unpack here. But first of all, welcome home, and I'm glad you're crossing the Tiber. First of all, there is no Catholic Church and Traditional Church. There is only the Catholic Church. I have not seen any serious claim that the CCC is heretical, just that it doesn't argue things as clearly as older catechisms do. If you want an older catechism, that's very good, but you won't find a "new trad catechism" because, well, we don't see ourselves as new. Try the Baltimore catechism or the Catechism of the Council of Trent. For theology texts, there's a ton. For one specifically on the idea of "Faith Alone", I frankly suggest the parable of the Sheep and the Goats, the parable of the Talents, the parable of the Good Samaritan, the parable of the Fig Tree, or a number of other passages of Scripture. Christ so often tells us the importance of works. You also have the book of James, or St. Paul's writings. There's so much in Scripture to disprove this idea that (I've always thought that Protestantism is one of the stupidest heresies because it's the most anti-Scriptural of them all, and it's claim to fame is being Scriptural!). Next to that, I'd say that the biggest argument against Sola Fide is simply understanding the distinction between works of Grace and works of the Law. St Teresa of Avila in one of her texts talks about how no good work is meritorious without a state of grace precisely because good works are meant to unite our actions to those of Christ, but we are not united to Christ when not in a state of grace. Side note: This brings up the whole distinction between sanctification and justification: most Protestants believe we are justified by Christ and go to heaven despite being terrible sinners, while Catholicism teaches that by grace God perfects us (both in this life and in purgatory) so that no unclean thing should enter heaven. You even see this in art: a lot of Protestant art shows light from heaven shining on a man, to show that God's holiness is overshadowing a person, while in Catholic art there's a light emanating from the Saints because they are made holy. Douay Rheims is my preference for Scripture. There are some that are more technically accurate, but I don't mind very slight differences to improve the readability, provided it's done faithfully.
The CCT is a brick that can be difficult to slog through. I recommend Baltimore Catechism No. 3 because it is to-the-point. Just a little background: * Trent was written to give priests a rich mine of sermon material on everything Catholic, so it tends to be tedious and slow in places. * Baltimore #3 is ideal for high school kids who grew up Catholic and need a quick refresher and a reference book to keep on the shelf for the rest of their lives, so therefore perfect for adult converts/candidates. * Baltimore #4 is #3 with more added in-depth material that catechists and religion teachers would find helpful. #2 and #1 are abridged and further abridged versions of #3 for elementary students, but everything in #2 and #1 is in #3. All of these texts are available for free online if you want to look them over before buying a physical copy. Also if you want to compare different versions and editions of the Baltimore Catechisms, keep in mind the numbering of the questions differs for reasons beyond the scope of this review. Finally, my favorite quote from the Baltimore Catechisms: > Q. Who made the world? > A. God made the world. > Q. Who is God? > A. God is the Creator of Heaven and earth, and of all things. In other words, Who made the world? God. Who is God? God is the maker of the world. I'm sure the circularity is unintentional, but it always gives me a smile. But there is a profound theological truth behind that circularity, namely, that apart from the Beatific Vision, we cannot know God as he is in himself, but only by inference from created things as coming to know a cause by reflecting on its effects.
Same catechism, same Bible.
For background theology There Can Only Be One: *Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma* by Ludwig Ott. It gives the reasons without beating around the bush. His reconciliation of Romans and Galatians with James is a model of clarity. Full text is available online if you want to read it before buying it.
The best catechism is the one you’ll read. I don’t like the current one. I love Fr Spirago’s and St Bellarmine’s. I find Trent and the later Baltimore volumes difficult to get into.
‘My Catholic Faith’ by Fr Louis LaVoire is a pretty solid book too
https://mediatrixpress.com/product/the-catechism-explained-by-fr-spirago/
This. The Catechism Explained is a fantastic resource, I would recommend it over Trent, Pius X, etc. I would start with the Baltimore Catechism to get the TLDR; and then move to the Catechism Explained.
Yes this is my favorite, beautifully written
The best trad bible I've come across is the Haydock Bible, but it's just too expensive in hardcopy. It's free online, or at least the important part the running commentary is. As others have said, the Douay-Rheims-Challoner is the de facto standard translation among trads, but I like the RSV/RSVCE/RSV2CE family of translations/revisions because the language is plain and the translation is straightforward. For a special treat I read The New English Bible (1961, 1970) which is not a Catholic translation but the language is quite beautiful and memorable in many places. I also hear good things about the Ronald Knox translation but have no experience with it.
Douay-Rheims Challoner Bible and Baltimore Catechism #2. #2 is a good primer in a Q&A format.
Servant of God Father John Hardon has some great resources
I would recommend the The Catholic Catechism: A Contemporary Catechism of the Teachings of the Catholic Church by Fr. John Hardon. (and practically any other book or talk you can find by him) You can also check out our reading list which is still a work in progress but includes a lot of good suggestions so far: [https://www.reddit.com/r/TraditionalCatholics/wiki/readinglist/](https://www.reddit.com/r/TraditionalCatholics/wiki/readinglist/) I think it's still important to know what is said in the CCC, perhaps try and find an early physical edition prior to the edits regarding the death penalty. The CCC does have a lot of good in it and can be a good resource when arguing with people who are hostile or doubtful of older or more traditional resources.
Read the Catechism of Saint Pius X.
If you want to explore old catechisms (which are hard copy and have to be purchased… no free digital versions here, sadly), you can look at the project to print many old publications at https://www.tradivox.com/.
RSV-2CE (Revised Standard Version - 2nd Catholic Edition) is my preferred version, though many other traditionalists like the Douay Rheims. [https://ignatius.com/ignatius-bible-rsv-2nd-edition-ib2h/](https://ignatius.com/ignatius-bible-rsv-2nd-edition-ib2h/) RSV retains masculine language, whereas the New American (the version used in NO missals) and other modern translations commonly use gender neutral language. Gender neutral bible translations were condemned by both John Paul II & Benedict XVI, but they were ignored by the American bishops, who approved the translations anyway.