Giving non-Catholic books to a parish school library?

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SecretaryMonday

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For many years I was devoted to George MacDonald; he was my only “church” when I wanted to go to God but was disillusioned with Double Predestination as well as all of the denominational confusion over what Christianity was or wasn’t. He seemed to have found a secret window out of a gray prison into a multi-colored sky. I gradually bought a beautiful collection of his original works. After I became Catholic, I fell more in love with Catholicism than with MacDonald (he was still a book-friend, but he definitely wasn’t my church anymore; that’s too much to ask of any one person :p). I’ll be moving soon and I’m getting rid of the collection…
I’m so excited because I asked a vibrant parish school if their library wanted it - and they do! I was hoping the books would go to a good home where someone would read them instead of letting them rot on a shelf.
But now I’m freakin’ out. While MacDonald doesn’t positively deny the existence of eternal hell (as one example), he is generally considered to be a Christian Universalist in thought (although he was Anglican - eventually - on paper). In some ways he is very Catholic but he also dismisses certain Catholic beliefs as false.

Am I going to ruin lots of little Catholic kids if I give them my books?? I figure they’ll probably be reading Dickens anyway, and he wasn’t Catholic, either…
 
There is a major difference between Dickens, who you rightly point out wasn’t Catholic, and who was writing fiction, and books like those you mention. Dickens is not likely to actively cause confusion on matters religious. I would find some way to dispose of the MacDonald books if they are as confusing as you say. Think about it–it no longer fit you because you embraced Catholicism, why do you think they’d be good for Catholic school children to read? I would not proceed with the donation.

-ACEGC
 
I would generally agree that a parish school library should have a collection that represents varied opinions and beliefs and so it is important to see authors of many different stripes represented. However, when it comes to books on religion the book should either be informational about other religions or not contrary to the Catholic faith. These books sound like devotional and theological writings from a non-Catholic that hold views contrary to not only the Catholic Church, but perhaps Christianity in general. I’d be leery of donating these books to school parish.

ChadS
 
SecretaryMonday said:
he …dismisses certain Catholic beliefs as false.
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You may wish to err on the side of caution rather than risk teaching impressionable youngsters that certain Catholic beliefs are false.
Recalling our Lord and his admonition about little children being led astray:

Matthew 18:6 RHE
Douay-Rheims
But he that shall scandalize one of these little ones that believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone should be hanged about his neck, and that he should be drowned in the depth of the sea.

May God bless you and those you love. Amen.
 
SecretaryMonday said:
For many years I was devoted to George MacDonald; he was my only “church” when I wanted to go to God but was disillusioned with Double Predestination as well as all of the denominational confusion over what Christianity was or wasn’t. He seemed to have found a secret window out of a gray prison into a multi-colored sky. I gradually bought a beautiful collection of his original works. After I became Catholic, I fell more in love with Catholicism than with MacDonald (he was still a book-friend, but he definitely wasn’t my church anymore; that’s too much to ask of any one person :p). I’ll be moving soon and I’m getting rid of the collection…
I’m so excited because I asked a vibrant parish school if their library wanted it - and they do! I was hoping the books would go to a good home where someone would read them instead of letting them rot on a shelf.
But now I’m freakin’ out. While MacDonald doesn’t positively deny the existence of eternal hell (as one example), he is generally considered to be a Christian Universalist in thought (although he was Anglican - eventually - on paper). In some ways he is very Catholic but he also dismisses certain Catholic beliefs as false.

Am I going to ruin lots of little Catholic kids if I give them my books?? I figure they’ll probably be reading Dickens anyway, and he wasn’t Catholic, either…
Click to expand...
I don’t think a Catholic library should be carrying his books or an other book by other Protestant. Why don’t you try either an Anglican Church or just your regular public library.
Having books in a Catholic library that teach things contrary to the faith only leads to confusion and we have enough confused Catholics out there.
 
robwar said:
I don’t think a Catholic library should be carrying his books or an other book by other Protestant. Why don’t you try either an Anglican Church or just your regular public library.
Having books in a Catholic library that teach things contrary to the faith only leads to confusion and we have enough confused Catholics out there.
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I agree with this. Give the books to the denomination they support;
Mary,
 
robwar said:
I don’t think a Catholic library should be carrying his books or an other book by other Protestant. Why don’t you try either an Anglican Church or just your regular public library.
Having books in a Catholic library that teach things contrary to the faith only leads to confusion and we have enough confused Catholics out there.
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While I believe your heart is in the right place, I think in a pluralistic society we must learn about others, not just stay fixed on ourselves. I would trust the librarian and teachers to take charge of these books. Personally, I believe one of the worst things you can do to children is raise them without an understanding that the views they are taught are not universally shared and will ultimately be challenged. A faith developed in too cosseted a manner will not be able to withstand our secular culture.
 
Do you know what I like in situations like this? I like finding books that are not fully Catholic where a Good Catholic has written in indelible ink, just inside the cover where you can’t rip it out, their belief and opinions about why this book is not fully Catholic. Personally, I have always had a difficult time writing in books but I find great peace in reading the notes of a thinking reader who came before me who wants to share their impressions of the author. Your critique can live on with the book.

Perhaps if you tried to write something inside the covers, you can help future readers no matter where you send these books. I’ll be waiting at the rummage sale…
 
What a wonderful opportunity for catechesis.👍
May God bless you and your future inspirations.!
jt
 
SecretaryMonday said:
For many years I was devoted to George MacDonald; he was my only “church” when I wanted to go to God but was disillusioned with Double Predestination as well as all of the denominational confusion over what Christianity was or wasn’t. He seemed to have found a secret window out of a gray prison into a multi-colored sky. I gradually bought a beautiful collection of his original works. After I became Catholic, I fell more in love with Catholicism than with MacDonald (he was still a book-friend, but he definitely wasn’t my church anymore; that’s too much to ask of any one person :p). I’ll be moving soon and I’m getting rid of the collection…
I’m so excited because I asked a vibrant parish school if their library wanted it - and they do! I was hoping the books would go to a good home where someone would read them instead of letting them rot on a shelf.
But now I’m freakin’ out. While MacDonald doesn’t positively deny the existence of eternal hell (as one example), he is generally considered to be a Christian Universalist in thought (although he was Anglican - eventually - on paper). In some ways he is very Catholic but he also dismisses certain Catholic beliefs as false.

Am I going to ruin lots of little Catholic kids if I give them my books?? I figure they’ll probably be reading Dickens anyway, and he wasn’t Catholic, either…
Click to expand...
I take it you are talking about this George MacDonald?

For those exclaiming in horror, this
he was my only “church” when I wanted to go to God but was disillusioned with Double Predestination as well as all of the denominational confusion over what Christianity was or wasn’t.
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is not what is ‘taught’ in George MacDonald’s books. The ones that spring to mind instantly are ‘The Princess and Curdie’ and ‘The Princess and the Goblin’ both struggles of good against evil. I remember being quite inspired by the incident where Curdie was required to step into a space where there appeared to be no floor, just bottomless space, trusting his mentor that there would be a floor beneath his feet; like trusting God? And what about following the silken thread to get back to safety, an analogy for using prayer?

I also found this:
George MacDonald (10 December 1824 – 18 September 1905) was a Scottish author, poet, and Christian minister. Known particularly for his poignant fairy tales and fantasy novels, George MacDonald inspired many authors, such as W. H. Auden, J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, E. Nesbit and Madeleine L’Engle. C. S. Lewis wrote that he regarded MacDonald as his “master”: “Picking up a copy of Phantastes one day at a train-station bookstall, I began to read. A few hours later,” said Lewis, “I knew that I had crossed a great frontier.” G. K. Chesterton cited The Princess and the Goblin as a book that had “made a difference to my whole existence.” Elizabeth Yates wrote of Sir Gibbie, “It moved me the way books did when, as a child, the great gates of literature began to open and first encounters with noble thoughts and utterances were unspeakably thrilling.” Even Mark Twain, who initially disliked MacDonald, became friends with him, and there is some evidence that Twain was influenced by MacDonald. Christian author Oswald Chambers (1874–1917) wrote in Christian Discipline, vol. 1, (pub. 1934) “it is a striking indication of the trend and shallowness of the modern reading public that George MacDonald’s books have been so neglected.”
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which comes from the Amazon page for his book Miracles of Our Lord, a book I didn’t know, but which is now on my Kindle. For anyone who owns a Kindle and wants to check George MacDonald out, this and many of his other titles are free.

I would say give them to your local Catholic school library and trust the librarian to remove any that may teach questionable theology directly (I’m thinking of his ‘Unspoken Sermons’ which may also be a difficult read for modern youngsters anyway). I remember loving the books of his that I read as a young girl and reading many of them more than once.

Now, excuse me, I’m off to download some more free books and to get in touch with the fantasy of my childhood again.
 
edward_george said:
There is a major difference between Dickens, who you rightly point out wasn’t Catholic, and who was writing fiction, and books like those you mention.

-ACEGC
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I brought up Dickens because they were contemporaries and seem to have a lot of similarities. MacDonald wrote more fantasy than Dickens, but he also had a large output of very dense, well-written novels that tried to raise the heart and mind to God.
 
VivienneJ said:
For those exclaiming in horror, this is not what is ‘taught’ in George MacDonald’s books.
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No, no, I didn’t mean that MacDonald taught that…:eek: That was just what I did, not what MacDonald taught. He was the deepest, ‘realest’ Christian I knew, whereas I kept seeing things that seemed “off” in every church my family attended, and I felt like I didn’t have anywhere else to go at the time. :o
VivienneJ said:
The ones that spring to mind instantly are ‘The Princess and Curdie’ and ‘The Princess and the Goblin’ both struggles of good against evil.
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Yes!! I’ve read those since I was very young, and recently I realized that, while I had no idea at the time, those books were what first introduced me to Mary (even though they’re obviously fantasy fiction). I feel like she’s always been with me as a result.
 
Given what else has come up in this thread, I withdraw my previous objection. I was under the impression that MacDonald’s work was not fiction, but some kind of strange religious/spiritual writing; the original poster’s initial description threw me off a bit. It was late and I wasn’t reading carefully nor researching apart from what was given here initially.

-ACEGC
 
I’m rather relieved. I felt a need to read the books again with a hypercritical eye to see what ‘dreadful things’ I had missed when reading them in my youth; now I’ll just read them and enjoy them. Particularly as the family who recommended them to me went down a rather New-Agey path a few years later.
 
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