Reading Protestant Theology

[adawgj]

Is it ok to read works of people like Luther, Calvin, and other protestant theologians?
If I am to evangelize I think I should know more about the other persons perspective and beliefs that way I don’t act ignorant.

“The only good is knowledge the only evil is ignorance”-Socrates

 

[DAML72]

I don’t see a problem with it. There’s nothing that I know of in Catholic theology that restricts educating oneself. Once you know the Truth, you aren’t going to be swayed by anything less, so I don’t see any threat to your faith (assuming you are well Catechized).

 

[adawgj]

I don’t see a problem with it. There’s nothing that I know of in Catholic theology that restricts educating oneself. Once you know the Truth, you aren’t going to be swayed by anything less, so I don’t see any threat to your faith (assuming you are well Catechized).

So far I have no need to change because what would I change to?
I like to be open minded on the other sides perspective.

 

[DavidFilmer]

I’m a convert from protestantism. I knew almost nothing about my original faith, but I was challenged by reading Karl Keating’s Catholicism and Fundamentalism. (FWIW, Mr. Keating is our host on this Forum).

I began a quest (which would consume several years and thousands of dollars in books, in a pre-internet age when people bought books). I started with the “protestant fathers” (why not begin on my own turf?)

Finding those arguments unsatisfying (and strangely incompatible) I turned to Catholic sources.

After becoming Catholic, I thought that my studies of Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, etc would prove a valuable asset in apologetic discussions with those who were still protestant. I was wrong. No protestants I have ever talked to had any knowledge of the theology upon which their faith was founded (other than very broad concepts, such as “the Bible”). No protestant was interested in discussing these topics. As a protestant, I had been ignorant of protestant history, and I have never found a protestant who was interested in discussing it.

So there is nothing wrong with reading protestant authors, but don’t expect it to help you if you want to talk to protestants about it. They won’t know, and they won’t care. You won’t come off as “ignorant” if you talk to a Presbyterian and you haven’t read Calvin’s Institutes. He hasn’t read it either. He might not have even heard of it, and he won’t be interested in discussing it with you (you will actually intimidate him if you reveal that you know anything about it, because he does not).

 

[Spencer3096]

I’m a convert from protestantism. I knew almost nothing about my original faith, but I was challenged by reading Karl Keating’s Catholicism and Fundamentalism. (FWIW, Mr. Keating is our host on this Forum).

I began a quest (which would consume several years and thousands of dollars in books, in a pre-internet age). I started with the “protestant fathers” (why not begin on my own turf?)

Finding those arguments unsatisfying (and strangely incompatible) I turned to Catholic sources.

After becoming Catholic, I thought that my studies of Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, etc would prove a valuable asset in apologetic discussions with those who were still protestant. I was wrong. No protestants I have ever talked to had any knowledge of the theology upon which their faith was founded (other than very broad concepts, such as “the Bible”). No protestant was interested in discussing these topics. As a protestant, I had been ignorant of protestant history, and I have never found a protestant who was interested in discussing it.

So there is nothing wrong with reading protestant authors, but don’t expect it to help you if you want to talk to protestants about it. They won’t know, and they won’t care. You won’t come off as “ignorant” if you talk to a Presbyterian and you haven’t read Calvin’s Institutes. He hasn’t read it either. He might not have even heard of it, and he won’t be interested in discussing it with you (you will actually intimidate him if you reveal that you know anything about it, because he does not).

Agreed. Many of the Protestants that I know are the same way – not well educated in their own theology and history. Protestant ministers, OTOH, have likely read more of the works by Luther, Calvin, et al, so that might be helpful in conversations with them. Learning the basics of what Protestantism holds to (which is pretty broad) is probably a better approach. Make sure you’re well catechized before undertaking any reading like that.

 

[TK421]

Most protestants don’t have any sort of concept of an apostolic succession with teachings to authoritatively rely on, so historical musings from certain famous protestants is going to carry very limited weight except for a few historical mainline denominations that have been in decline for the past couple decades. Catholics (that I have observed) still care a lot about Lutheranism and such, but few modern protestants care in the least. That ship has already sailed. In other words, most modern protestants don’t consciously think of themselves as “protestant”; they just see themselves as Christians, which is sort of a good thing and a bad thing at the same time. Good because the Catholic Church is a curious enigma to them rather than something they’re rebelling against, and bad because it’s going to take some more work to show them why unity within the Church is so important.

 

[Isaiah45_9]

Nothing wrong with that.

Contrary to David, I was raised Catholic and walked away from the faith while in College. After several years away from the Church, I started attending Non-Catholic Churches for several years, being attracted the most to the Reformed Theology ranks in the beginning. Like David, I wanted to know the history of the Reformed Faith - but for a different reason. My conscience wanted me to come back home to Rome, but I wanted to prove my conscience wrong.

I found out the exact same thing David did. None of my protestant friends had read the Institutes, Christian Liberty, etc from any of the Reformers. Further, they didn’t even know about the 95 thesis and what they were about. Basically,if it wasn’t in the Bible or about the Bible they didn’t care. Thankfully, most of my books and materials are electronic and I didn’t have to spend thousands of dollars.

What I found to need to learn the most was about - Salvation, Justification, Sanctification, Glorification, Scriptures and the Church. And most importantly - learn about logic, reason and critical thinking. Further, when I came back home to the Catholic Church, I had to learn my faith like never before, in order to withstand the barrage of attacks and misconceptions about us. I lost some whom I thought were very good friends.

So my advice would be to first learn the Catechism, read the Papal Encyclicals, and learn about Church History and her Councils, and about the Church Fathers. You will develop a very strong foundation, able to withstand and attacks and doubts. But more important than anything -

Read the Gospels several times!!! You’d be surprised at what Christ actually said.

God bless you on your journey.

 

[JonNC]

Is it ok to read works of people like Luther, Calvin, and other protestant theologians?
If I am to evangelize I think I should know more about the other persons perspective and beliefs that way I don’t act ignorant.

“The only good is knowledge the only evil is ignorance”-Socrates

I might recommend a couple of things.

1. Don’t confuse different communions simply because they fall under the deceptive label protestant. A knowledge of Luther will probably not be of great value if you intend to evangelize Baptists or Presbyterians or American evangelicals.
2. Regarding Lutherans, having a knowledge of Luther is a good thing, but not the most important thing. Lutherans are not bound to Luther. We are bound to Christ, scripture, and what we believe to be the true reflection of the catholic faith in the Book of Concord.
   bookofconcord.org/

Jon

 

[QNDNNDQDCE]

As has been said, most of the Evangelicals I know, have virtually no knowledge of the writings of the Protestant Reformers. Their beliefs are not so much shaped by Luther and Calvin as contemporary writers like John Piper or R.C. Sproul. If they are into “the classics” the might read something by C.S. Lewis or, even more ancient, Charles Spurgeon. That said, while it may have minimal practical value for real-life apologetics, it is still interesting to read the Institutes at least to see how much Calvin’s teachings contrast what your average Presbyterian off the street believes.