Apologetics Library

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ESMDHokie77

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Hey CAF,

I was thinking, would you all mind looking at a list of my apologetics library? Please give me any feedback on books or topics you think I am lacking in. I’ve been busy reading most of these since January, and am wondering about more books to get. I deal mostly with defending the faith against non-Catholic Christians, with some atheists thrown into the mix.
Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: NT RSV-CE
NABRE
CCC (the '92 and '05 editions)
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Search and Rescue, Pat Madrid
How Not to Share Your Faith, Mark Brumley
Where We Got The Bible, Graham
150 Bible Verses, Pat Madrid
The Catholic Verses, Dave Armstrong
Catholic Q&A, Dietzen
Catholicism Answer Book, Trigilio
Catholicism for Dummies, Trigilio
The Godless Delusion, Pat Madrid
A Refutation of Moral Relativism, Peter Kreeft
Handbook of Catholic Apologetics, Kreeft
Catholic Christianity, Kreeft
The Fathers Know Best, Jimmy Akin
Mass Revision, Akin
The Salvation Controversy, Akin
Reasons to Believe, Scott Hahn
The Lamb’s Supper, Hahn
Lord Have Mercy, Hahn
Swear to God, Hahn
Hail Holy Queen, Hahn
What Catholics Really Believe, Karl Keating
Signs of Life, Hahn
Humanae Vitae
Theology of the Body
Seven Lies About Catholic History, Moczar
Why Catholics are Right, Michael Coren
If Protestantism is True, Devin Rose
Rome Sweet Home, Hahn
The Rite, Baglio
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God Bless,
Phil
 
One thing that I did not notice (unless it is addressed in some of the books I haven’t read and isn’t indicated in the title) and often don’t notice in Catholic apologetics, is much attention to Jewish objections to Jesus being the Messiah. Addressed to Jews specifically, apologetics and evangelization efforts tend to be counterproductive, but these same claims sometimes give Christians difficulties in their own faith lives and so I think they are worthy of attention. Likewise I don’t see anything dealing with Islam, “Catholic Traditionalism” (especially SSPX, sedevacantists, etc.) , Eastern Orthodox claims, etc. Of course, in America you will generally find yourself dealing primarily with Protestantism and Atheism, so if you choose to focus on them that is ok, but there is a much wider field of views and objections to the Catholic Church which at least some Catholic apologists should give attention to.

Also there are a number of more general resources I would add to the first section, especially the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas (the Summa Theologica, which I have only read excerpts from, or for an easier and shorter read the book often published under the title Aquinas’s Shorter Summa which I’ve read in it’s entirety and is great), the Roman Catechism (Catechism of the Council of Trent) which is not just for “Traditionalists” but is a wonderful, very readable and pastoral resource frequently quoted by the CCC, and the actual documents of Vatican II, to counter false claims of what the Council taught. You also might want to look into G.K. Chesterton, and even C.S. Lewis even though he was not Catholic.

Also if you intend to deal really seriously with non-Catholics I’d encourage you to read their own sources, including the writings of Luther, Calvin, Dawkins, etc. You don’t want to get caught misunderstanding their views, or being hypocritical when suggesting people read the teachings of the faith they are criticizing directly from the source instead of only things written by the enemies of that faith.
 
I doubt if it would add much to your collection but I liked Alan Schreck’s “Catholic and Christian”.
 
I would add,

The Catholic Controversy – St. Francis de Sales
Will Catholics be Left Behind — Carl Olson
Nuts and Bolts – Tim Staples
Crossing the TIber – Stephen Ray
Radio Replies all 3 volumes
 
Good list!

I’d add Prof. Edward Feser’s “The Last Superstition: A Refutation of the New Atheism,” which is both a primer on St. Thomas Aquinas’s theology and its application to the claims of Dawkins, Dennett, et al. A very good companion book is Feser’s “Aquinas.”

I’d also highly recommend “Catholicism and Fundamentalism” by Karl Keating; “Born Fundamentalist, Born Again Catholic” by David B. Currie; and "By What Authority"by Mark P. Shea.

“The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Bible” by Robert J. Hutchinson

Dinesh D’Souza’s “What’s So Great About Christianity” isn’t specifically Catholic but is a good overview of arguments against a secular mindset.

George Weigel’s “Letters to a Young Catholic” is one of the most inspirational, thoughtful books about Catholicism I’ve read and contains insights anyone interested in defending the Faith should read.

I second the recommendation of the “Radio Replies” series - all 3 volumes are on the Internet, so using the search function on Google with some of the topic in which you’re interested will probably work better than the index in the book.

“College Apologetics” by Father Anthony F. Alexander - great Catholic apolgetic overview.

“How Not to Share Your Faith: The 7 Deadly Sins of Catholic Apologetics and Evangelization” by Mark Brumley

“Rapture” by David B. Currie - very in-depth review of pre-milleniarism from a Catholic perspective.

Anything by Frank Sheed, but especially “Catholic Evidence Training Outlines,” a training manual for street-corner Catholic apologists in England in the 1950s.

Hope this gives you some reading ideas.
 
again, thank you for the replies and suggestions. I am finding that I would prefer to focus on the more pressing matters with defending the faith against protestants, but at the rate that I’ve been reading my current books, there’s no reason that I won’t be able to soon dabble in reading the other subjects.

Pax Christi,

Phil
 
ESMDHokie77 said:
Hey CAF,

I was thinking, would you all mind looking at a list of my apologetics library? Please give me any feedback on books or topics you think I am lacking in. I’ve been busy reading most of these since January, and am wondering about more books to get. I deal mostly with defending the faith against non-Catholic Christians, with some atheists thrown into the mix.

God Bless,
Phil
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You may want to check out Dave Armstrong’s website if you like ebooks. He is selling all of his ebooks for $40. I think thats a good deal.
 
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