My friend

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Hi Everyone,

I have a friend who comes from China. He works for my company. Being born and raised in communist China, he has never been exposed to religion, but recently he has started visiting local churches. He doesn’t have any idea or exposure to the traditional divisions within Christianity, but finds himself attracted to the emphasis to loving your neighbour, and the unifying aspect of the idea of God. I think he is pretty much convinced that Christianity is totally superior to anything that communism can offer, given that Chinese communism has become mere dictatorship.

So given his background, I wanted to introduce him to Catholicism, while trying to avoid polarizing apologetics. I was thinking of buying him a Catechism as a gift and possible invite him to come to our local church with us.

Can anyone recommend anything good resources for someone with his history, (online, books, CDs, enclicals, etc…) who is clearly questioning his atheistic background? He definitely sees things in terms of politics. Christianity clearly beats out communism when it comes to providing for the good of the most people. So maybe an apologetical Catholic book with regard to communism and atheism… Any ideas?

God bless,
Ut
 
I’m guessing you’ll want something heavy on reason, like from Dr. Peter Kreeft. If he likes MP3, check out the topics at Kreeft’s audio page. He has a ton of books too and will likely cover the concerns your friend has with regard to skepticism and such. One of his books written with Tacelli, is The Handbook of Christian Apologetics (There is also an explicitly Catholic version). These books are organized as quick reads, almost like Q&A but with slightly longer answers than just a sentence or two. It might be conducive for your friend. God bless! :o
 
utunumsint said:
Hi Everyone,

I have a friend who comes from China. He works for my company. Being born and raised in communist China, he has never been exposed to religion, but recently he has started visiting local churches. He doesn’t have any idea or exposure to the traditional divisions within Christianity, but finds himself attracted to the emphasis to loving your neighbour, and the unifying aspect of the idea of God. I think he is pretty much convinced that Christianity is totally superior to anything that communism can offer, given that Chinese communism has become mere dictatorship.

So given his background, I wanted to introduce him to Catholicism, while trying to avoid polarizing apologetics. I was thinking of buying him a Catechism as a gift and possible invite him to come to our local church with us.

Can anyone recommend anything good resources for someone with his history, (online, books, CDs, enclicals, etc…) who is clearly questioning his atheistic background? He definitely sees things in terms of politics. Christianity clearly beats out communism when it comes to providing for the good of the most people. So maybe an apologetical Catholic book with regard to communism and atheism… Any ideas?

God bless,
Ut
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Ut, a book you might consider giving to you friend is Bamboo Swaying in the Wind: A Survivor’s Story of Faith and Imprisonment in Communist China; it is the story of Jesuit Father George Bernard Wong (Huang Hua Quan). This would expose him to a fellow countryman who lived the Faith while in the midst of the most trying circumstances.
 
Sure. How about this article in This Rock magazine about the 16th century Italian priest, Matteo Ricci, S.J.?

Matteo Ricci, S.J.: An Apologist for Dialogue

You can print it out and hand it to him.

And… he can look it up to read on his own – for free, of course, since it’s an article in an issue that is not a current issue.

Complete issues of This Rock can be viewed… and printed… as their PDF file format.

This is the entire issue of This Rock in which that article about Fr. Matteo Ricci is published.

The article, itself, is pages 22 through 25.

Volume 20, Number 8
November-December 2009

You can select just any of particular pages of any issue … without the whole issue … if you want.

By the way, pages 47 through 48 of that issue – which is the last issue of the calendar year – lists ALL the articles, broken out by category, published in that year’s This Rock magazine.

👍
 
VeronicaAnne said:
Sure. How about this article by Anthony E. Clark in This Rock magazine about the 16th century Italian priest, Matteo Ricci, S.J.?

I mention this because he was a missionary priest who went to China. I quote here, below, a paragraph from that article to give you an idea for why I think this example of a Christian missionary – a Catholic Jesuit priest – got the missionary points across by accessing the culture of China at the time.

When I read it last year, I could only help but think – the Church is called “catholic” for a reason!! 👍

One of his most effective weapons, however, had little to do with his intellectual brilliance; the Chinese were in fact more impressed with his ability to live his “foreign” religion without threatening their own cultural identity.

Ricci’s approach was partially inherited from his fellow Jesuit, Fr. Michele Ruggieri, who taught him to adapt Catholicism to Chinese language and traditions rather than make Europeans of the native Chinese.

The so-called “Ricci method” was little more than adapting the teachings of the Church to Chinese society, of accommodating Catholic devotional and liturgical life to Chinese sensibilities.

Matteo Ricci, S.J.: An Apologist for Dialogue

You can print it out and hand it to him.

And… he can look it up to read on his own – for free, of course, since it’s an article in an issue that is not a current issue.

Complete issues of This Rock can be viewed… and printed… as their PDF file format.

This is the entire issue of This Rock in which that article about Fr. Matteo Ricci is published.

The article, itself, is pages 22 through 25.

Volume 20, Number 8
November-December 2009

You can select just any of particular pages of any issue … without the whole issue … if you want.

Don’t miss page 3 of that issue that has a clip from the book — Catholicism for Dummies by Fr. Tragillio and Fr. Brighenti.

For the “Dummies” in Your Life
TRIGILIO AND BRIGHENTI BRING CHURCH
TEACHING TO THE MASSES

By the way, pages 47 through 48 of that issue – which is the last issue of the calendar year – lists ALL the articles, broken out by category, published in that year’s This Rock magazine.

👍
Click to expand...
 
If your friend is interested in modern history and is more of a light reader, I would recommend GK Chesterton (I seem to recommend him a lot on this forum). He does have some writings that go into the follies of communism and eugenics. The Screwtape Letters make a great intro for looking more critically at the falsehoods of our society, and Orthodoxy/Heretics are also very interesting and relevant to questions of our time.

If you go on the EWTN audio library, they also had a show on Catholic authors where they go over different books, which might be helpful in finding something more specifically suited for your friend’s interests.
 
I am in the middle of Theology for Beginners by Frank Sheed and love it. It defines the terms we hear around thrown around so much but don’t take the thought on if we are brand new to theology (i.e. our faith) such as God, Trinity, angels, soul, spirit, matter; as well other doctrines.
It is a fantastic starting point and should be read first so one can understand the deeper books/writings, such as the catechism.
 
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