Purging non-catholic books?

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Almost_Catholic

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I have 500 plus volumes collected over the years on bible, commentaries, puritans, etc etc.
I am considering purging to a more Catholic bent. Should I keep them or purge, or something in between?
Is there a disapproved list of books that the Catholic Church puts out?
 
Almost Catholic:
Is there a disapproved list of books that the Catholic Church puts out?
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If it did, Lorraine Boettner’s “Roman Catholicism” would get top billing :whacky: . If you have that book, toss it out. Everything else I’d probably keep (then again, I hate throwing anything out:D ).
 
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Genesis315:
If it did, Lorraine Boettner’s “Roman Catholicism” would get top billing :whacky: . If you have that book, toss it out. Everything else I’d probably keep (then again, I hate throwing anything out:D ).
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Actually, Lorraine Boettner’s “Roman Catholicism” is most certainly one he shouldn’t throw out. It is an importance source regarding misconceptions about the Catholic Church. Learning how to refute its accusations can play a valuable role in Catholic apologetics to Protestants who have been influenced by Boettner either directly or indirectly.

Irenicist
 
I’m in purging mode.

I have a good 1000 books on the Bible, the church, doctrine, Christian life from various protestant persuasions. And some catholic and orthodox ones.

I am purging my collection now that I’m coming into the church. For three reasons.

Firstly to clear out the anti-catholic books (I’m getting rid of all the commentaries I have on Revelation that say that the RCC is the Whore of Babylon but keeping the other commentaries, all of them by protestants). I don’t want to read this stuff or be tempted to read it.

Secondly just to make space. I’m gradually collecting more Catholic (and Orthodox) books when they turn up cheaply. By cheaply I mean cheaply. On Ebay yesterday I bought a 5 volume edition of Butler’s Lives of the Saints (vol 5 is a later supplement) for the princely sum of 99 pence.

Thirdly because there are a lot of books in my collection that I probably wouldn’t ever have got round to reading even as a protestant. Converting to catholicism seems to be a wonderful time to let lots of them go. Now that I’m wanting to read catholic works more and more I am even less likely to read the protestant ones, even from the authors I have cherished over the years.

Having said those things, letting go of even one book is a struggle that reveals just how attached I am to material possessions. That even goes for novels that have been sitting unread on the shelves for years and probably won’t ever get read. And each batch of books is harder to clear out than the previous. Ebay makes things easier!

I’d recommend not purging too many books from a collection without much thought and prayer. And not to purge from a view that says “I’m catholic now. I don’t want this garbage”. But there are good reasons to have a good clear out. By the time I finish there will still be protestant books on the shelves, just less of them. There are some excellent books by protestants out there.

As for banned books - did I read that the Index doesn’t exist anymore? And didn’t Boettner - whose book I don’t have - say that the Bible was put on the Index, a couple of hundred years before the Bible even existed.
 
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asteroid:
I’m in purging mode.

I have a good 1000 books on the Bible, the church, doctrine, Christian life from various protestant persuasions. And some catholic and orthodox ones.

I am purging my collection now that I’m coming into the church. For three reasons.

Firstly to clear out the anti-catholic books (I’m getting rid of all the commentaries I have on Revelation that say that the RCC is the Whore of Babylon but keeping the other commentaries, all of them by protestants). I don’t want to read this stuff or be tempted to read it.

Secondly just to make space. I’m gradually collecting more Catholic (and Orthodox) books when they turn up cheaply. By cheaply I mean cheaply. On Ebay yesterday I bought a 5 volume edition of Butler’s Lives of the Saints (vol 5 is a later supplement) for the princely sum of 99 pence.

Thirdly because there are a lot of books in my collection that I probably wouldn’t ever have got round to reading even as a protestant. Converting to catholicism seems to be a wonderful time to let lots of them go. Now that I’m wanting to read catholic works more and more I am even less likely to read the protestant ones, even from the authors I have cherished over the years.

Having said those things, letting go of even one book is a struggle that reveals just how attached I am to material possessions. That even goes for novels that have been sitting unread on the shelves for years and probably won’t ever get read. And each batch of books is harder to clear out than the previous. Ebay makes things easier!

I’d recommend not purging too many books from a collection without much thought and prayer. And not to purge from a view that says “I’m catholic now. I don’t want this garbage”. But there are good reasons to have a good clear out. By the time I finish there will still be protestant books on the shelves, just less of them. There are some excellent books by protestants out there.

As for banned books - did I read that the Index doesn’t exist anymore? And didn’t Boettner - whose book I don’t have - say that the Bible was put on the Index, a couple of hundred years before the Bible even existed.
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I take it that you’re being received at the Easter Vigil this year? If so, welcome home! I did the same thing seven years ago this Easter, and, like Maurice Baring, who converted a century ago, consider it ‘the one action in my life that I have never regretted’.

I also went through the shelves purging them of stuff (mainly Evangelical theology and biography) which didn’t seem useful any more, but it didn’t really help with the acquisition problem. I’ve got boxes and boxes of Catholic books which have no shelf space to go on.

The Index was abolished in 1966. I think you mean that Boettner claims the Bible was put on the Index a couple of hundred years before the Index existed! Boettner would presumably claim that, even if the Index didn’t exist, the point he was making was that Catholics were forbidden to read the Bible at some points: and that’s true, although you have to point out that the Bibles they were forbidden to read were mainly in heretical translations; the only time, AFAIK, that it was the Bible per se was during the 13th century in southern France, where the Albigensian heresy was flourishing: see cathinsight.com/apologetics/adventism/bible.htm
for a clear explanation of this.

Anyway, all joy at Easter. And take a hanky for the first time you receive our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, otherwise you’ll be sniffing through the rest of the Mass.

Sue
 
I don’t have 1000 books, but I do find that as long as I understand the Catholic commentary for exaple, first, there is great value in reading other sources if it’s an area that’s a common interpretation (which many are). Another author could explain something that is a little better for me personally to understand.

Also, “contrast” is a great way to understand a topic better. Don’t have your head in the sand I say.🙂
 
ATTENTION ALL PURGERS!!!

IF YOU ARE GETTING RID OF BOOKS…I WILL TAKE THEM. I LOVE TO READ EVEN IF I DISAGREE WITH THEM. PLEASE PM ME IF YOU ARE REALLY INTERESTED IN GETTING RID OF BOOKS. I WILL PAY SHIPPING AND HANDLING BUT I AM EXTREMELY SHORT OF MONEY (NICE WAY OF SAYING POOR). I NEVER TYPE IN CAPS SO PLEASE UNDERSTAND I AM SERIOUS. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE GIVE ME YOUR BOOKS YOU DON’T WANT. AGAIN, I CAN’T PAY YOU FOR THE BOOKS BUT I WILL PAY FOR SHIPPING IF YOU WANT TO GIVE THEM TO ME. I PROMISE TO READ EVERY LAST ONE OF THEM.
 
Almost Catholic:
I have 500 plus volumes collected over the years on bible, commentaries, puritans, etc etc.
I am considering purging to a more Catholic bent. Should I keep them or purge, or something in between?
Is there a disapproved list of books that the Catholic Church puts out?
Click to expand...
I say keep them. You can just add Catholic ones to the shelf. Just because you are becoming Catholic does not mean you have to get rid of all books that are not Catholic. They can offer insight into the opinions of the protestants for future evangelization and other things.
 
Almost Catholic:
I have 500 plus volumes collected over the years on bible, commentaries, puritans, etc etc.
I am considering purging to a more Catholic bent. Should I keep them or purge, or something in between?
Is there a disapproved list of books that the Catholic Church puts out?
Click to expand...
My goodness man, you’re not joining a cult. Don’t shelf your thinking processes. At least hang on to the books for their reference and comparison value.
 
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