Doubts about Protestant authors and music

[OliveiraBR]

Hi,

I have doubts about two subjects:

1st:

I’ve read that books like “The secret” are anti-catholics since they put the man above the supreme Father, so I would like to know if self-helping books like ones written by Og Mandino, Dale Carnegie, Norman Vincent Peale are not recommended. They mention Jesus, but I know they are all protestants, is there any problem reading books written by protestants, since the subject is not religious? for example, the Adventists have good manuals about good habits of eating, etc.

2nd

My second doubt concerns music.
Nowadays we have lots of styles, singers, groups, etc…although some we easily realize they claim for being avoided, others are hard to suspect they are against the Catholic faith.
I would like to know what music styles our Catholic mates from this board recommend to enjoy and keep free from sins.
My favorite music style is the Classical one, anyways I’ve heard that the romantic songs must be avoided.

Thanks in advance.

In Corde Jesu, semper,

Oliveira

 

[Monica4316]

Hi, I think about Protestant books, it really depends. There are some great ones, like by CS Lewis. But others have lots of Protestant theology in them and IMO these are best to avoid cause they might cause confusion. They speak about salvation somewhat differently, among other things.

btw, just want to say one thing… I used to be a Protestant…and I went to Christian bookstores a lot looking for good books. But I’ve found that Catholic books about spirituality in general are soo much better, because they’re based on 2000 years of experience lol. Especially by the Saints.

…I just realized you’re talking about books that are not religious in subject. LOL sorry I missed that the first time I read your post… IMO it’s oki reading non religiuos books by Protestants, but make sure the author is good and isn’t saying anything incorrect. For example, the Secret IS a very wrong book and it’s not even Christian, never mind Catholic.

As for music…
I think it really depends on the individual… something might cause one person to stumble but not another.

Personally, I really like classical music and Gregorian chant. I also listen to some Protestant ‘praise and worship’ music to be honest lol but I choose the songs that I agree with. I’m really getting into traditional music more though now. Also there are some Catholic praise and worship artists like Matt Maher that are good but not for everyone (it depends what style of music you like).

I have this one CD, it’s the Divine Mercy chaplet in song (as shown on EWTN…) I really love it. I can listen to it on my iPod and it’s a song but it’s really a prayer, and I pray along with it.

God bless!

 

[John_Russell_Jr]

Hi, the church used to have a list of banned books but too many are published now I guess and we are expected to really learn our faith and be our own guide here now. Many people who really want to ensure their reading is ok ask a good, orthodox priest to check the book before they read it to make sure it’s ok and won’t lead them astray. I recommend doing this.

With music I have a post in this forum about much popular music seeking to inspire the emotions of sanctity falsely. Perhaps there’s some info you might like there? It’s a good idea to just listen to the music often and not the words. Listening to the words can cause feelings of pride and vainglory with lots of pop music. Classical, gregorian and good hymns won’t cause a prob though. God bless.