Need a good book to help someone believe in God [by tomorrow]!

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well i just met this guy and he’s an atheist be he secretly knows he’s confused. He won’t admit it, and he said he would read a couple book that i recommend to him, but he won’t listen to me. He and i debated for about 3 hours and then i asked him to just read. Like i said, he said he would, and tomorrow’s the last day i’m going to see him and I’d love if you all could just me some good books to recommend to him. He needs something that not obviously “catholic”…for some reason he hates the church.

If you could also pray for him that would be wonderful!!! [and for me so i can know what to say to him] God Bless you all!!!
 
You can’t do better than the writings of G. K. Chesterton. I recommend Orthodoxy, The Everlasting Man, and The Catholic Church and Conversion–in that order.
 
Della said:
You can’t do better than the writings of G. K. Chesterton. I recommend Orthodoxy, The Everlasting Man, and The Catholic Church and Conversion–in that order.
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this kid is like 15…and not that bright…do you think he will get the orthodoxy? [and is that prove for him that there is a god?]]
 
Nat2 said:
this kid is like 15…and not that bright…do you think he will get the orthodoxy? [and is that prove for him that there is a god?]]
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Ah, perhaps not then. How “bright” is he? He’s not mentally impaired? If not then some of the popular works by Fulton Sheen or C. S. Lewis might be helpful. If he likes science fiction, maybe Lewis’ Space Trilogy would attract him. It all depends on how limited he is and what his interests are. The best way to help someone is to be a friend–which means knowing him well enough to know what would be best for him, if you follow me.
 
Della said:
Ah, perhaps not then. How “bright” is he? He’s not mentally impaired? If not then some of the popular works by Fulton Sheen or C. S. Lewis might be helpful. If he likes science fiction, maybe Lewis’ Space Trilogy would attract him. It all depends on how limited he is and what his interests are. The best way to help someone is to be a friend–which means knowing him well enough to know what would be best for him, if you follow me.
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yeah i read you 🙂 i just thought that if i gave him a great book to read maybe, just maybe he could start thinking a little more open mindedly.

no he’s not mentally impaired - just you average high school freshman.
 
Nat2 said:
yeah i read you 🙂 i just thought that if i gave him a great book to read maybe, just maybe he could start thinking a little more open mindedly.

no he’s not mentally impaired - just you average high school freshman.
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I think I understand the kind of young man he is. Like a lot of young people these days he’s learned just enough to think he knows way more than he does, and our culture (I use the term loosely) doesn’t help with all the relativism and doubt it implants in young minds.

He probably wouldn’t read a book. A pamphlet might be a better idea. Perhaps a few salient quotes by some of the best orthodox minds in Christianity might be the ticket.
 
Peter Kreeft’s book Yes or No would be on topic and at a reading level he could handle. It’s written as a dialogue between an atheist and a Christian. You might be able to get it at a Catholic bookstore. Kreeft is a Catholic, but the book is not about being Catholic as much as about being Christian.
 
There’s also Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis. It’s fairly pithy and not too wordy.😉
 
Perhaps you could find a pamphlet with Aquinas’ arguments for the existence of God. It’s very similar to the Kalaam Cosmological Argument, and it’s not as wordy as you might think. It’s actually a fairly simple argument of logic when reduced down to the bare basics.
I realize you said debating didn’t do much good, but if you ever try that again, perhaps you could use logic, too:

Everything must have a cause. The Universe must have a cause. God is that cause.

Also, as someone said, Fulton Sheen is wonderful, as is Lewis. Lewis, though a Protestant, is in almost perfect agreement with what Catholics believe, and though I can think of a few cases where he doesn’t believe Catholic teaching, I can’t think of any when he goes against it. Some Fulton Sheen videos are here: www.fultonsheen.com
And some MP3s of him can be found here: americancatholictruthsociety.com/articles/sheen.htm
Also, if you go to Youtube and do a search for ‘Fulton Sheen Fatima’ there’s a nice video, though it’s not on the www.fultonsheen.com. It talks about the apparition and I think it was very inspiring, and his descriptions of the miracles might help show the existence of God. However, be careful when you bring arguments with miracles to an atheist. It will simply turn some away. You need to judge carefully what sort of approach is best for him.
 
Sorry - I just found this thread & you needed the recommendation about 6 days ago, but
Prove It - God by Amy Welborn is very very good and written in a conversational style that could engage a 15 yo.

Please let us know his reaction and the book you actually got for your friend. If you have an address, you could send him the Prove It book.

Pray for him even if you don’t get to talk further with him. The Holy Spirit will work on his heart as well as intellect.

God bless,
Mimi
 
If he is 15, I would point him to the “Chronicles of Narnia” series as a start. Especially since he will probably know the movies. Heck, rent the first 2 movies and start drawing parallels to Aslan and Christ, especially after he is killed on the stone table for the salvation of Edmund.

The series of books are VERY religious and draw many, many parallells to Christ’s life and works. C.S. Lewis, a convert to Christinity, wrote Narnia specifically to get the message to kids.

You see some of the overtones in the first 2 books (and movies) but by the middle and end of the series it screams Christianity. Matter of fact, I don’t know how they will keep the religious overtones out when they try to mainstream the movies as they are released one by one.

May be a good point of conversation, a springboard, between you and he. It’s not blatent, but with your help he could probably see the parallells.

I know in my own conversion, it was a ficticious series that got me asking questions and delving more into my faith. (The Left Behind series, which is very Protestant, but got me asking the right questions).

Good luck.
 
Perhaps you could find a pamphlet with Aquinas’ arguments for the existence of God. It’s very similar to the Kalaam Cosmological Argument, and it’s not as wordy as you might think. It’s actually a fairly simple argument of logic when reduced down to the bare basics.
I realize you said debating didn’t do much good, but if you ever try that again, perhaps you could use logic, too:
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I was going to suggest St. Thomas Aquinas too. I know at 15 I wanted empirical information and solid logic that provided “truth”. St. Aquinas is about as close to logic as you’ll ever get when dealing with religion.

Even if you fail to convince this young individual of the Catholic faith and Chrisitan religion you have done your part by planting a seed. I grew up with parents that were Methodist and none of my family ever attended church of any type, yet it was seeds planted a long time ago that finally brought around my conversion starting at age 36. Don’t give up hope but don’t expect a total conversion…you did your part by giving him the WORD.
 
Nothing like a good conversion story to fire a shot across the bow: I came across this one and enjoyed it greatly. The author is a writer and poet and so perhaps your young friend will find more in his story. I was struck by this:

"Perhaps it is never disbelief, which at least is active and conscious, that destroys a man but unacknowledged belief, or a need for belief so strong that it is continually and silently crucified on the crosses of science, humanism, art, or (to name the thing that poisons all these gifts of God) the overweening self.”

Christian Wyman’s story is here (great name don’t you think?):

payingattentiontothesky.com/2…-bright-abyss/

dj
 
If you have access to We Believe By Oscar Lukefahr, C.M…which can also be attained here ( amm.org/chss.htm* ) for free…then let the person borrow that or give them the website to it.

This book is outstanding as it is the Nicene Creed broken down into its tiny pieces and explained bit by bit as well as historical happenings in the Church. One narrative that inspired me and motivated me was the introduction of Chapter 7 (pg 73). In it Annie, a dying woman, is remembering speaking to her unborn son. When she comes out of her daze Jesus is speaking to her in the same way she spoke to her unborn son. Sounds corny the way I explained it but the short story is awesome when read.*
 
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