If you were to carry one piece of evangelisation literature

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If you were to carry just one piece of Catholic evangelisation literature to give to non-Catholics - i.e. leaflet or booklet - what would it be?

I ask this because yesterday, as I walked to Mass, a man working for the city council (he was driving one of their bin-trucks) u-turned his truck and parked it near where I was walking. He got out and called to me - I thought he was looking for directions or something (which in itself would be odd, given that he was a council employee). I stopped, he came over, and then he asked me if I knew what day it was! I replied that I did, and he started going on about how Sunday is the first day of the week & that the Sabbath is Saturday. He quoted the Old Testament, to which I replied that Christ had fulfilled the Old Law - if I could have gotten an extra few words in, of course I would have mentioned the not-insignificant place of Christ’s Resurrection in the lives of Christians…If I had time, I probably would have argued with him, but after hearing his rant about idolatry and graven images I really had to go. Incidentally, when he mentioned graven images, I mentioned the Ark of the Covenant and how God had ordered it to be decorated - his reply was “well…that was the Ark of the Covenant”. He was rather stumped, but I didn’t have time to elaborate - I told him that I had to go as I was late for the Holy Mass!

Anyway, the point is that I would love in situations such as that to have a leaflet or booklet which I could give to such inquisitors. I know there are lots out there, but I’m wondering which, in your opinion are the best?
 
A sincere smile works best. It can be used in any situation and will not be thorn away without being read.

Peace
 
I know CA has many tracts. Do they have one that covers several of the top contested points in one tract. Such as Mary and the Saints…Purgatory…Faith and Works…The Holy Eucharist…Indulgences…etc?

Even with the limited time you had you did good I think. I’m sure there are those that would not have bothered with it especially if it was going to make one late for Mass. A very good time for some literature for sure.

I remember once a JW approached me in the parking lot at Wal-Mart. She tried to hand me her literature and I said hold on a minute. I just happened to have some CA literature in my truck about JW’s just for this sort of occasion. I said to her; if you read mine I’ll read yours and tried to hand her the tract…she said no and left. 🤷
 
Pillar of Fire Pillar of Truth from the CA homepage is the best all-purpose pamphlet to hand out.
 
I don’t know of the tract but I’m sure there is one on challenging authority.
Since all things depend on where you get your information and what authority stands behind it.

But I will add in here. That tracts are not the best media. If you had a tract that peaks the interest on many subjects and then directs the person to a web site with the answers, that might be better. Or a card with your information where they could meet with you and discuss things, even if you allowed them the luxury of thinking they were going to convert you.
 
aspirant said:
Pillar is good. “God’s Love For You” is also good. I’m not wild about tract-passing-- it’s no substitute for personal interaction– but these are good resources. OSV also has some good pamphlets, like “Top Ten Questions Catholics Are Asked.”
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Thanks, Aspirant & everyone else for the suggestions… I know that a tract is not a substitute for personal interaction as you say. I wouldn’t think that I’d be going around giving tracts and booklets to random people…However, in the situation I was in yesterday where I genuinely had to leave the “meeting”, I was left thinking how useful it would be if I had had something to give to this man - some “food for thought”, you know.
 
“The Case for Christ” by Lee Strobel is the one I’d be most likely to carry with me, as it contains bucketloads of valuable evidence for Christianity. I used to carry it with me in my backpack. I gave it to my brother Daniel when he went to UCLA, so that he’d have an invaluable apologetics resource if he found himself in a religious discussion. It’s great for responding to non-Christians.
 
aspirant said:
Pillar is good. “God’s Love For You” is also good. I’m not wild about tract-passing-- it’s no substitute for personal interaction– but these are good resources. OSV also has some good pamphlets, like “Top Ten Questions Catholics Are Asked.”
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I never feel like these pamphlets are persuasive enough, simply because they don’t have enough time to really throw the book at the non-Catholic on any particular issue. I know that if I’d read them when I was Protestant, I would not have been convinced. I would definitely have needed a deeper education. Maybe they would help some people, though.

I think the best of these pamphlets might be the ones that discuss particular issues, especially the origin of the Bible and reasons for trusting it and its canon. Also, Sola Scriptura is extremely easy to pulverize. If there is a good anti-Sola Scriptura pamphlet out there, I think that could be effective, as Sola Scriptura is the ground of Protestantism.

Wow, speaking of the origin of the Bible, I just discovered that Graham’s “Where we got the Bible” is fully written down online! We can read it without even buying it! Obviously I’m poor :p.
 
Lief_Erikson said:
I know that if I’d read them when I was Protestant, I would not have been convinced.
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I wouldn’t expect anyone to be entirely convinced of anything on the basis of a mere pamphlet. I don’t think that’s what they’re good for. 🙂
 
aspirant said:
I wouldn’t expect anyone to be entirely convinced of anything on the basis of a mere pamphlet. I don’t think that’s what they’re good for. 🙂
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What do you think they’re good for?

I guess one would say just hopefully stirring some curiosity. Which those pamphlets might do. I know if I read them as a Protestant, I probably would have just rebutted the arguments with faulty scripture interpretations and not thought about it again. But it’s true that others might very easily react differently. At least they might think of Catholicism as an option in a way they didn’t think of it in the past.
 
I understand that a verbal interaction with someone may be better then handing them a pamphlet. I think in the case of the OP they are good for something. At any rate at least they might even explain things better then one could in a short amount of time. Verbal interaction isn’t a guarantee that some one is going to believe you more then if you gave them something to read.
 
Lief_Erikson said:
What do you think they’re good for?
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Generally speaking, they may sometimes provide a small window into a different way of looking at things, and perhaps invite a reflective person to deeper investigation. But I wouldn’t expect a pamphlet alone to have a huge impact on anyone. They’re certainly no substitute for interpersonal communication. 🙂
 
ElizabethPH said:
I understand that a verbal interaction with someone may be better then handing them a pamphlet. I think in the case of the OP they are good for something. At any rate at least they might even explain things better then one could in a short amount of time. Verbal interaction isn’t a guarantee that some one is going to believe you more then if you gave them something to read.
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Yes, that’s really my point - we don’t know what impact an individual pamphlet/booklet would have on a person; however in my case, I had no option but to cut the conversation short - there were points that the man in question made that I simply didn’t have time to address. A pamphlet given in such a situation could at least have given some food for thought - I wouldn’t have been expecting an on-the-spot conversion:)
 
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