Recommend good books for protestants

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I have some protestant friends in a bible study. 8 of us total, 5 Catholic 3 Protestant. All good friends and all well versed in Scripure. Does anyone have some favorite Catholic books they have experience with, that give a good representation of Catholicism for the protestant? I have given the one guy some Henri Nouwen which he really liked, but still they don’t understand the Catholic point of view very well. I suggested he read some JP2 encyclicals but he wasn’t interested. Chesterton maybe? I have not read Chesterton. Any thoughts
 
clem456 said:
I have some protestant friends in a bible study. 8 of us total, 5 Catholic 3 Protestant. All good friends and all well versed in Scripure. Does anyone have some favorite Catholic books they have experience with, that give a good representation of Catholicism for the protestant? I have given the one guy some Henri Nouwen which he really liked, but still they don’t understand the Catholic point of view very well. I suggested he read some JP2 encyclicals but he wasn’t interested. Chesterton maybe? I have not read Chesterton. Any thoughts
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Chesterton is great, but you should read him first to see if he might appeal to your friends. Either Orthodoxy or The Everlasting Man would be two to start with.

Are you looking for something not necessarily apologetic in nature?
 
If Protestantism is True by Devon Rose
Born Fundamentalist, Born Again Catholic by David Currie
Christ in His Fullness by Bruce Sullivan

I enjoyed all 3 of these books and each offered some unique wisdom as I was discerning whether to sign up for RCIA this coming fall. All 3 authors were protestants before joining the Catholic Church.

I especially appreciated If Protestantism is True because it looks primarily at the logical consequences of various protestant doctrines being true. For example, it looks at sola scriptura and then points to the void that would have existed prior to the creation of the New testament and the difficulty in discerning what books belong in the infallible bible without an infallible church to compile it.
 
clem456 said:
I have some protestant friends in a bible study. 8 of us total, 5 Catholic 3 Protestant. All good friends and all well versed in Scripure. Does anyone have some favorite Catholic books they have experience with, that give a good representation of Catholicism for the protestant? I have given the one guy some Henri Nouwen which he really liked, but still they don’t understand the Catholic point of view very well. I suggested he read some JP2 encyclicals but he wasn’t interested. Chesterton maybe? I have not read Chesterton. Any thoughts
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I would not go that way.
The Protestant are well above average versed in the Bible.
BUT, the trouble lies on the following: the Protestant think they can interpret it individually as Catholics think that the interpretation belongs to the Community along the Centuries gathered around the Pope.

As long as the Protestant do not accept this or do not accept that Catholics are built that way, there cannot be mutual understanding.

To tell you the truth there are billions and trillions of interpretations of the Protestant. One loses patience for some many opinions…
 
Confessions of a Mega Church Pastor by Allen Hunt formed Methodist minister who converted. About 150 pages and available on Amazon for .52 and up. Excellent!

The Hand of God by Dr. Bernard N. Nathanson, a Jew who performed 60,000 abortions, who had an epiphany and gave up his practice and converted to Catholicism.
 
FCEGM said:
Chesterton is great, but you should read him first to see if he might appeal to your friends. Either Orthodoxy or The Everlasting Man would be two to start with.

Are you looking for something not necessarily apologetic in nature?
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Yes correct not so much apologetic. The one guy is a counselor and is interested more in pastoral stuff.
 
aicirt said:
Confessions of a Mega Church Pastor by Allen Hunt formed Methodist minister who converted. About 150 pages and available on Amazon for .52 and up. Excellent!

The Hand of God by Dr. Bernard N. Nathanson, a Jew who performed 60,000 abortions, who had an epiphany and gave up his practice and converted to Catholicism.
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Mega Church Pastor is good. Our parish bought this and handed it out a couple years ago. Not sure if it is for my buddy as he does not like to compare religions. I believe he could be classified as an indifferentist, if there is such a word.
 
clem456 said:
Mega Church Pastor is good. Our parish bought this and handed it out a couple years ago. Not sure if it is for my buddy as he does not like to compare religions. I believe he could be classified as an indifferentist, if there is such a word.
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How do you not compare religions?
 
clem456 said:
I have some protestant friends in a bible study. 8 of us total, 5 Catholic 3 Protestant. All good friends and all well versed in Scripure. Does anyone have some favorite Catholic books they have experience with, that give a good representation of Catholicism for the protestant? I have given the one guy some Henri Nouwen which he really liked, but still they don’t understand the Catholic point of view very well. I suggested he read some JP2 encyclicals but he wasn’t interested. Chesterton maybe? I have not read Chesterton. Any thoughts
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Regarding Hunt’s book: your friend doesn’t understand the Catholic point of view. Well, Hunt was a Protestant and actually had to compare what we teach to what the Methodist’s teach with many of his points coming from the Bible.
 
I recommend " Rome Sweet Home : Our Journey to Catholicism" by Scott Hahn (a protestant convert) - beautiful easy reading!
 
aicirt said:
How do you not compare religions?
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Right.
At this point he attends United Church of Christ but has attended Alliance and some others. He indentifies a lot with Catholicism by his own admission, mostly because of the huge social concerns of the Church. But he chafes at authority.

He loved the Henri Nouwen Prodigal Son which is great reading for any Christian. I also gave him Mother Teresa Come Be My Light and he really found that meaningful. But not enough to investigate further.
These are middle aged men who have lived good Christian lives of service, so I have a hard time “preaching” to them.
 
clem456 said:
Right.
At this point he attends United Church of Christ but has attended Alliance and some others. He indentifies a lot with Catholicism by his own admission, mostly because of the huge social concerns of the Church. But he chafes at authority.

He loved the Henri Nouwen Prodigal Son which is great reading for any Christian. I also gave him Mother Teresa Come Be My Light and he really found that meaningful. But not enough to investigate further.
These are middle aged men who have lived good Christian lives of service, so I have a hard time “preaching” to them.
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Authority…the Methodist run the church by votes. Every four years or so they vote. According to Hunt, the bishops are not in charge. At one meeting they actually vote to be pro-choice, and four years later they might vote against abortion. No doctrine. Give everyone a chance and be nice.
Marriage…same problem. No turning away someone who has been married multiple times. As you know from reading his book, he was confronted by an elderly Methodist who asked him how he could possibly say “to death do you part” when the groom was on his fifth wife. He couldn’t answer her.
Your friend might chafe at authority but one can see by the above it has a definite purpose.
 
Agape_Thom said:
Wow! Really? I never knew we had that many!
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Look, there are 1 billion Protestant. There are thousands of verses in the Bible, thousands only ? And how many interpretations for each verse?

Well, sorry, I could not discover whether you were joking or speaking seriously…
 
The Screwtape Letters is always fun… have they read that one? Not catholic, though…

How about Theology and Sanity by Sheed? I like that one; it should have broad appeal across beliefs without having a “conversion” theme to it, and does get into some Catholic beliefs. Too academic for what you want?
 
I’m not sure your friends would read or appreciate a book that is doctrinal in nature, especially one that seeks to debunk Protestant mistakes about Catholicism or that argues that Protestant doctrines are wrong. I think and your friends would be well served by something that puts Catholicism in a positive light. Something on a great modern Catholic, the eucharist, or prayer, for example:

“Mother Teresa: A Complete Authorized Biography,” by Kathryn Spink

amazon.com/Mother-Teresa-Complete-Authorized-Biography/dp/B006QS1N2E/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1341610053&sr=8-1&keywords=mother+teresa+spink

“The Eucharist in the New Testament and the Early Church,” by Eugene LaVerdiere, OMI

amazon.com/The-Eucharist-Testament-Early-Church/dp/0814661521/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1341610094&sr=8-3&keywords=eucharist+laverdiere

“Praying Scripture for a Change: An Introduction to Lectio Divina,” by Tim Gray

amazon.com/gp/product/1934217484/ref=s9_simh_gw_p14_d0_g14_i5?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=0VV5QTGG6SHWJBEQ0XEY&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938631&pf_rd_i=507846#_
 
How about:
Life Worth Living or Your Life Worth Living by the Venerable Fulton Sheen.
 
Thanks everyone for the great suggestions. I will pick a couple of these up and read this fall. Thanks.
 
Aggies08 said:
The Screwtape Letters is always fun… have they read that one? Not catholic, though…

How about Theology and Sanity by Sheed? I like that one; it should have broad appeal across beliefs without having a “conversion” theme to it, and does get into some Catholic beliefs. Too academic for what you want?
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Haven’t read Screwtape Letters. I am currently reading Mere Christianity. Lewis is so solid in his reasoning. I am really enjoying it as well as The Four Loves.
 
clem456 said:
Haven’t read Screwtape Letters. I am currently reading Mere Christianity. Lewis is so solid in his reasoning. I am really enjoying it as well as The Four Loves.
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I read the Screwtape Letters a couple of weeks ago. It’s really good.
 
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