Help--looking for sources

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Sherlock

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Hello forum,

I have a close friend who is a fallen-away Evangelical. Her daughter was raised in an Evangelical home, but my friend divorced and her daughter became an Objectivist atheist, largely because her boyfriend was a follower of Ayn Rand. Now the boyfriend has dumped the daughter after seven years, and so my friend sees an opportunity to bring her back to some kind of faith. The problem is, she doesn’t know her faith herself. She is looking for some resources to convince her daughter that people who believe in God aren’t idiots, which is what the daughter has imbibed for seven years. I have pointed her to Peter Kreeft’s website, as he gives good but short explanations of Aquinas’s “five ways”. I am also looking for a list of important scientists who were also Catholics (or other Christians) that are examples of faith and reason. My friend is not the scholarly type: she needs short essays that she can absorb, or give to her daughter (who is also not very scholarly). Any one have any suggestions? I am especially interested in some kind of list of Catholic scientists.

Thank you all so much.
 
They’re not Catholic books, but a lot of folks have come from Atheism through them into Protestantism, and ended up all the way back home.

“Mere Christianity” by C.S. Lewis
“Orthodoxy” by G.K. Chesterton (Chesterton later became a Catholic, but was not yet there when he wrote this classic).
“Evidence that Demands a Verdict” Josh McDowell (McDowell began the project as an athiest compiling the evidence to disprove Christianity, but found to his surprise the evidence pointed the other way).
 
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Sherlock:
Hello forum,

I have a close friend who is a fallen-away Evangelical. Her daughter was raised in an Evangelical home, but my friend divorced and her daughter became an Objectivist atheist, largely because her boyfriend was a follower of Ayn Rand. Now the boyfriend has dumped the daughter after seven years, and so my friend sees an opportunity to bring her back to some kind of faith. The problem is, she doesn’t know her faith herself. She is looking for some resources to convince her daughter that people who believe in God aren’t idiots, which is what the daughter has imbibed for seven years. I have pointed her to Peter Kreeft’s website, as he gives good but short explanations of Aquinas’s “five ways”. I am also looking for a list of important scientists who were also Catholics (or other Christians) that are examples of faith and reason. My friend is not the scholarly type: she needs short essays that she can absorb, or give to her daughter (who is also not very scholarly). Any one have any suggestions? I am especially interested in some kind of list of Catholic scientists.

Thank you all so much.
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In addition to the suggestions already posted, I would recommend the book Theology for Beginners by Frank Sheed both for your friend and the daughter.

Also, look for books about Intelligent Design-- there are several good ones out there-- and a great book called Icons of Evolution that point towards a Creator God and debunk Darwinism.
 
There are many Christian scientists out there who believe in God and have written books explaining why it is reasonable to do so. A couple come to mind - although not Catholic, Hugh Ross (cosmologist) and John Polkinghorne (physicist) are two who have written extensively. Ross’s “The Creator and the Cosmos” is full of scientific reasons why God must exist. He focuses on the “The Big Bang” and how this fits well with a God who is transcendent. His insights on dimensions and string theory can be speculative but they’re fascinating nonetheless. In my mind, one of the best books addressing the existence of God and refuting the ideas put forth by the secular materialists (Dawkins, Denkins, Sagan,etc.) is “God, Chance, and Necessity” by Keith Ward. Although not a scientist, he does convincingly make the case via rationale, well-though out (albeit somewhat dense) arguments. Finally, the section on the proofs for God in the book, “Handbook of Christian Apologetics” by Peter Kreeft and Ron Tacelli is invaluable. Good luck and my prayers are with your friend.
 
I would add two books: The Case For Christ and the Case for Faith both by Lee Strobel. He was a researcher and an atheist and he wanted to prove Christianity wrong so he started investigating and became a Chrisitian himself. He is Protestant but not anti Catholic from what I recall. Anyhow, both are very easy to read and deal with all the objections one might have to trusting God like evil in the world and bad things done in the name of Christ. God Bless. <>< CM
 
Hugh Ross has a book called the Genesis Question that is very good. It’s about the creation and showing that there doesn’t have to be a conflict between science and the Bible. He’s not one of these that say science is wrong, and their dating systems aren’t accurate. Another book about an athiest that became Christian is called *The Case For Christ *by Lee Stroble. It is a very logical approach and a very easy read.
 
God bless you for wanting to help your friend and her daughter. There is a Catholic-Christian family ministry in MN called Couples for Christ (CFC) and Singles for Christ (SFC). This is a Vatican approved lay ministry which helps build and rebuild families and communities.

Check out www.couplesforchrist.us and contact me if you have any questions or want more information.
 
Thanks to all of you who have responded to my question: may God bless you and keep you.
 
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Sherlock:
… She is looking for some resources to convince her daughter that people who believe in God aren’t idiots, which is what the daughter has imbibed for seven years.
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I would recommend C.S. Lewis’ autobiography, Surprised by Joy.

Lewis’ was brought up as nominal Christian, became an atheist for a while, and then had a real conversion experience. In his autobiography, it almost seems that C.S. Lewis reasoned his way into becoming a Christian. Surprised by Joy reveals Lewis’ thinking (and lack of thinking) in his spiritual journey. I don’t see how a person could read this book and come to the conclusion that an intelligent person can’t believe in Christianity.
 
The Handbook of Christian Apologetics by Peter Kreeft and Ronald K. Tacelli.

I know I am not the first to mention this one, but it is full of 10-20 page “essays” on various topics of God, Jesus, Faith and Reason, Good vs. Evil, etc… it would be a perfect read for person of faith turned atheist. It should definitely plant a seed if nothing else.

Although, I always fail to see how someone can look out of the window and NOT believe in God. This universe is so complex and amazingly beautiful in it’s design, that it had to be created by a higher power. To believe all of this got here by accident is ludicrous. Every effect (the universe) must have a cause (God).
 
Sherlock,

Theodosius Dobzhansky was a devout Russian Orthodox scientist. He was that author of Nothing in Biology Makes Sense Except in the Light of Evolution.
The organic diversity becomes, however, reasonable and understandable if the Creator has created the living world not by caprice but by evolution propelled by natural selection. It is wrong to hold creation and evolution as mutually exclusive alternatives. I am a creationist and an evolutionist. Evolution is God’s, or Nature’s method of creation. Creation is not an event that happened in 4004 BC; it is a process that began some 10 billion years ago and is still under way.
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rossum
 
*Intelligent Design *by William Dembski. Dembski holds a Ph.D. in mathematics, a Ph.D. in philosophy, degrees in theology and psychology. I bought the book but have not yet had time to read it, http://forums.catholic-questions.org/images/icons/icon11.gif but it comes recommended by Richard John Neuhaus, a leading Lutheran theologian who converted to Catholicism.

***The Case for a Creator ***by Lee Strobel. Mr. Stobel is a legal journalist who used to be an atheist. During his academic years, he concluded that science had made the idea of a Creator irrelevant. However, in this book, he recounts his own journey from skeptical atheist towards belief that the universe was intelligently designed.

I thought Mr. Strobel’s book was very readable, so I bought another of his books, The Case for Christ. However, I haven’t found the chance to read it yet. My professors insist that I do some actual coursework from time to time, which really takes up much of my reading time. 🙂
 
that’s alot of books! where to start?

i’ve read (or read AT) almost everything mentioned here, and i’d say that for ease of read, interest, and lucidity, your best bet would be to begin with mere christianity, by cs lewis. after that, strobel’s stuff is good, or if you wanna go the science route, i’d recommend taking the hugh ross suggestions.

i was gonna actually recommend some of these people, but the other posters beat me. 🙂 so all i can do is give you a bit of an annotated bibliography…
 
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