Is it unwise or sinful to read non-Catholic Christian self help books?

[LSG]

Is it unwise or sinful to read non- Catholic self help books, as long as they are not anti-Catholic?

 

[mercygate]

I sure hope not. One of my favorites is Wild at Heart by John Eldredge about the special spirituality of men and their need for adventure and the appropriate, godly use of the male gifts Christianity today – across all denominations – tends to devalue today in favor of a weak, “nice guy” Christianity.

 

[asquared]

it is not sinful, as long as you are firmly grounded in your faith and are able to discern when such an author deviates from Catholic teaching, i.e. OSAS, don’t need to confess to a priest, rosary is heresy etc.

However, we have a 2000 yr old rich glorious tradition of Christian spirituality to draw from in the works of the great saints and mystics, of which most modern self-help, sound-byte spirituality books merely skim the surface (even some by Catholic writers), so why waste your time on food that does not nourish? The best of modern spiritual writers draw from these older sources and make their wisdom accessible to our modern sensibilities, language and situations.

 

[Orionthehunter]

LSG:

Is it unwise or sinful to read non- Catholic self help books, as long as they are not anti-Catholic?

It may be unwise. I belong to a Men’s book club comprised of 4 Catholics and 2 Protestants (one Fundamentalist). On more than one occassion, we have come across a book that asserts teachings contrary to the Church. But for the “check” from the other Catholic members, I would have missed teachings that are contrary to the Church and thus misinformed. While the “teachings” were informational and even interesting, it is imperative that I know they are teachings contrary to the Church and not adopt them as “truthful.”

In particular, we ended up having to “ban” Max Lucado books as his teachings contrary to the Church are subtle and these can be the most insiduous. Specifically, he has a false concept of God’s infinite perfection (in that there is nothing that we can do to add to or detract from God), infinite wisdom (in that if we question God’s wisdom we presume to be more wise than God), and infinite power (in that all power we have is a gift from God and our power neither adds to or detracts from God’s power).

 

[Dorothy]

I think the reason it may be unwise is because as Catholics we have a wealth of in-depth good reading material to look to.

However, if you are solid in your faith and a book is highly recommended I don’t see anything wrong with that. You will probably spot something that is not right on.