Regis Martin - What Is the Church: Confessions of a Cradle Catholic

Praise for What Is the Church?

The author poses a big question, and he provides a grand answer. Using the rich threads of literature, historical events, Scripture and Tradition, and his lively Catholic faith, Regis Martin weaves a splendid tapestry that shows the beauty and the reality of Christs Church. Like the Gospel, this book challenges us in our depths to receive the gift of God and to live it without compromise in the one place where that is possibleHis Church.

M ost R ev . C haRles J. C haput , o.F.M. C ap ., D.D.Archbishop of Denver

Regis Martins sheer zest for the English language is only the first of the delights of this book. The reader finds himself drawn into a glorious and scholarly (never pedantic, always agile) encomium on the ancient Church, from a massively orthodox point of view (Lumen Gentium is Martins principal text). An added delight is that Martin has read, quite simply, everything, and brings it all into vigorous play.

t hoMas h owaRD , p h .D.
Author, On Being Catholic

In graduate school, I had the privilege of taking a theology class with Regis Martin on the Church. Regis did more than teach about the Church: he taught us why we should love the Church. In What Is the Church?, Dr. Martin shares this same vision with his readers. In a culture that does not understand Jesus Christ and His Bride, it is vitally important to have saints who understand and love them both.

C uRtis M aRtin

Founding President, Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS)
Regis Martin is himself a gift to the Church. He uses his manifold talents as theologian and teacher to lead his students, his readers, and his friends more deeply into the Christian mystery. He has taken the time, even in the midst of all that is demanded of a committed family man, to ponder more deeply on biblical, theological, and conciliar texts, and to follow the God-given truths wherever they will lead. He does this with a sensitivity and an elegance in writing that add to the joy.

His new book, What Is the Church?, reflects all of these aspects of his life and work. In the face of the tens of thousands of pages which have been written in recent decades about the Second Vatican Council and what it really meant, Dr. Martin takes a fresh and profound look at the Churchs understanding, especiallyasitisexpressedin Lumen Gentium.

This is not a casual choice. As Dr. Martin states, If modern man wishes to understand himself completely, if he longs to overcome such blindness as prevents him from reaching his own Damascus, then he stands in need of Christ and His Church. Nowhere is the nature and mission of the Church more captivatingly put then in the premier conciliar document, Lumen Gentium, which lays bare the whole life and destiny of Christs Bride and Body.

I do not hesitate to endorse and recommend this work, which is a genuine contribution to the emerging, more accurate understanding of the teaching and accomplishment of the Second Vatican Council.

M ost R ev . J ohn J. M yeRs , D.D., J.C.D.Archbishop of Newark
It is always a pleasure to see words dance on the page, animated by an author who loves to write and does it well. What Is the Church? is such a book, and Regis Martin is such a writer. We are amply supplied with stories of converts to the Catholic Church, but in this delightful book we have the confessions of a cradle Catholic. It is very much like sitting in front of a warm fire and listening to a great love story full of conversational moments and passionate insights. It is obvious that Regis Martin loves the Church and has loved her richly, for in this fine book he reveals his heartand his rich intellect.

s tephen R ay
Author, Crossing the Tiber

In his meditation on the mystery of the Church of Jesus Christ, Dr. Martin not only gives us deep and moving insights, but also clothes those insights in language both striking and beautiful. That is no surprise for those who know him. That is how he lectures and even talks, wordsmith that he is. His final tribute to our Blessed Mother is as eloquent as any I have read. If you read with a pencil in hand, have a sharpener handy when you read this book!

R ev . R ay R ylanD , J.D., p h .D.
Editor, The Russian Church and the Papacy (by Vladimir Soloviev)

Regis Martin has written a deeply theological, richly poetic meditation on the Church as we learn of her in that central document of the Second Vatican Council, Lumen Gentium. In an era of widespread ecclesiological confusion, What Is the Church? is filled with clarity, charity, and discernment. Dr. Martin wears his learning lightly and shares it beguilingly in a book that is at the same time light for the intellect and music for the soul.

R ussell B. s haw
Author, Papal Primacy in the Third Millennium and Ministry or Apostolate?O ther W Orks by r egis M artin

Author
Images of Grace
(Franciscan University Press)

The Last Things:
Death, Judgment, Hell, Heaven
(Ignatius Press)

The Suffering of Love:
Christs Descent into the Hell of Human Hopelessness(St. Bedes Publications)

Unmasking the Devil:
Sin and Grace in the World of Flannery OConnor(Sapientia Press)

Editor
Garlands of Grace:
An Anthology of Great Christian Poetry(Ignatius Press)

Emmaus Road Publishing 827 North Fourth Street Steubenville, Ohio 43952

2003 by Regis MartinAll rights reserved. Published 2003 Printed in the United States of America First Impression 2003

Library of Congress Control Number: 2003102912ISBN 1-931018-10-3

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are taken from the Catholic Edition of the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1965, 1966 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission.All rights reserved.

Excerpts from the English translation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church for the United States of America copyright 1994, United States Catholic Conference, Inc.Libreria Editrice Vaticana.
English translation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church:Modifications from the Editio Typica copyright 1997, United States Catholic Conference, Inc.Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Cited in the text as Catechism.

Cover design and layout byBeth Hart
Cover artwork:Velasquez, Christ (detail)

Nihil obstat: Rev. James M. Dunfee, S.T.L., Censor LibrorumImprimatur: R. Daniel Conlon, D.D., J.C.D., Ph.D.Bishop of Steubenville
February 12, 2003

The nihil obstat and imprimatur are official declarations that a book or pamphlet is free of doctrinal or moral error.No implication is contained therein that those who havegranted the nihil obstat and imprimatur agree with

the contents, opinions, or statements expressed.

In honor of my father,

Regis E. Martin, Sr.,
a cradle Catholic eighty-four years and counting.

I love best of all that Church mud-splashed from history.Jean Cardinal Danilou, S.J.
Abbreviationsix
Forewordxi
Introduction1
C hapteR i
The Courtesy Owed God7
C hapteR ii
The Courtesy Owed the Author19
C hapteR iii
The Courtesy Owed Our Ancestors29
C hapteR iv
While Angelo Slept39
C hapteR v
Mistaking God for Golf47
C hapteR vi
A Fingernails Opening to Faith