Studyin Help

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Curious

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All right. Here’s where I need some help.

Here’s what I’ve read so far:

Suprised by Truth: By Patrick Madrid
Catholic Traditions, Treasures New and Old By: Joanne Turpin
Handbook for Today’s Catholic
Life in Christ - A Catechism for Adult Catholics By: Frs Gerard Weber and James Killgallon

Now. I know I also want Karl Keating’s Catholicism and Fundamentalism but I really really really really need to get some history. Like I’ve already told some of you, my history is miserable. It consists of “someone (martin luther?) put some list on some door and some people decided not to be catholic anymore”

Pathetic.

I guess at least I’ll be pretty unbiased. I’ve been really wanting a good book - not second grade level or anything, but fairly easy to read, that will give a good broad history of the church, from as early as possible, up till now (or as recently as possible) including the protestant split and everything. After that I thought I would read some of the early church fathers and some of the saints and stuff.

My questions are these: Should I keep going with doctrine and apologetics type stuff? Or should I go ahead and get some history? And if some history, are there any books ya’ll can think of the would be good for a pathetic beginner? If I go ahead with the history I’m still going to read Catholicsm and Fundamentalism and maybe some others but not for awhile. Since I’ve finished those four books I’m not sure where to go now. help.

🤓
 
A great bok about tradition is “By What Authority” by Mark Shea.

A great book about the early Church, with an emphasis on the papacy, is “One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic” by Kenneth Whitehead.

If history is your taste, try “The Great Heresies” by Hilaire Belloc (you can find it here: www-2.cs.cmu.edu/People/spok/metabook/heresies.html). This was the book that initially shocked me out of my Protestant assumptions.
 
Isn’t ther one big one called ‘Triumph. The history of the Catholic Church’ or something like that?
 
I’m with you Curious. In order to get a good foundation we need books that are simple. When I first returned to the Church I would read books that were recommended and they were really written for scholars.
Years ago I began to learn another language and a friend of mine recommended childrens books and watching seasme street in another language. It was a brilliant idea.

Good luck!
 
The book mentioned above is called “Triumph : The Power and the Glory of the Catholic Church” by H.W. Crocker III. It is highly readable and often recommended in these forums.

amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0761516042/qid=1107461406/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/102-6309358-7011368?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

I would also recommend a high school textbook published by TAN called “Christ The King - Lord Of History: A Catholic World History from Ancient to Modern Times” by Dr. Anne Carroll

tanbooks.com/index.php/page/shop:flypage/product_id/396/
 
ooooo…thanks everyone. CM…i don’t know why it didn’t occur to me look this stuff up on Catholic Answers. whap self Thanks to all. So here’s my next booklist to be read in this order.

1. Catholicism and Fundamentalism (couldn’t help it 😉 )
2. A Short History of the Catholic Church
3. Early Christian Writings
4. How the Reformation Happened

and possibly Triumph: The Power and the Glory of the Catholic Church at some point…

I’m also going to get pretty copy of the catechism of my very own. With a pretty cover and all bound up in a book. I had it printed off from online once and it was a mess.

I guess this should keep me occupied for awhile. but you know what? I have a question…and be honest with me. To be a very honest researcher, should I not also read books with a…well…i don’t know how else to put this…with an anti - Catholic slant? Set out to prove the Catholic Church wrong? I mean…I’m not anti Catholic by any means…but I just want to do this right…examine this from every angle. Opinions?
 
I’m just beginning too, and I’m working my way through the CCC front to back, and then I’m going to read through the new NAB I bought. I haven’t even read the deuterocanonicals yet anywhere.

I started reading the CCC to see if I agree with it, kind of a “try it out” approach. Didn’t take long before I read it not as an outsider, but as a believer.
 
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Curious:
To be a very honest researcher, should I not also read books with a…well…i don’t know how else to put this…with an anti - Catholic slant? Set out to prove the Catholic Church wrong? I mean…I’m not anti Catholic by any means…but I just want to do this right…examine this from every angle. Opinions?
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If you are a Catholic, and especially just starting out as you say, I suggest you first exhaust all the resources suggested above before you tackle anything specifically “anti-Catholic.” That way you will be somewhat innoculated and not be blindsided by the errors you will run into in these books.
 
Curious,

I agree with the comment posted by Fidelis. A few years ago, when I began my journey into deepening my faith, I came across anti-catholic material and I found it confusing because I wasn’t sure what the Church REALLY taught.

So first, learn what the Church teaches then feel free to read some anti-Catholic stuff. But why bother to pay for the anti-Catholic stuff when you can find plenty of it on the web! 😃
 
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Curious:
I guess this should keep me occupied for awhile. but you know what? I have a question…and be honest with me. To be a very honest researcher, should I not also read books with a…well…i don’t know how else to put this…with an anti - Catholic slant? Set out to prove the Catholic Church wrong? I mean…I’m not anti Catholic by any means…but I just want to do this right…examine this from every angle. Opinions?
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Ordinarily I would stay away from that stuff. But if you read some of the other stuff on your list already, you should be inoculated against some of the charges. For honesty, go ahead. Just be aware that they have been known to confuse and play a little fast and loose with some of the historical facts. After you’ve read some of it, direct responses can be found at the following two websites:
catholic-convert.com/DesktopDefault.aspx
(Steve Ray’s site, click on the resources tab)
bringyou.to/apologetics
Tons of detailed articles.

What I’ve found perusing the Anti-Catholic websites usually falls in the following format:
  1. Catholic position is stated (sometimes completely erroneously to set up the “straw man”)
  2. “But the bible says…”
  3. Bible verses are pulled out of context and read in an overtly ________(insert Reformed Calvinist, Baptist, or Fundamentalist) interpretation of said verse.
  4. No mention is made of other verses that seem to contradict ________(insert Reformed Calvinist, Baptist, or Fundamentalist) interpretation of scripture. No hint is given that there might be another way to read that verse. Often context from nearby verses that implies a different meaning is omitted. Ex: “All scripture in inspired by God and is suitable…” yadda, yadda, yadda. Ignores the fact that the NT wasn’t written at that time and that St. Paul was referring to what we now call the OT.
  5. Church Fathers are ignored or quoted selectively so as to ignore their other, more overtly Catholic writings. Example: Writings of St. Augustine and St. Cyprian criticizing the Pope are repeated endlessly, and made to imply that they didn’t respect the papal authority. The writings praising the “Seat of Peter” and its occupant are ignored. And St. Augustine and St. Cyprian were bishops in which church again?
  6. 15 years of back issues of This Rock are available on the CA website. They are a treasure trove of information.
  7. Jimmy Akin is a great apologist. He is humble, mild mannered, and is honest enough to admit when a certain interpretation goes too far, even if it supports the Catholic position.
  8. Despite what some of the anti-Catholics say, there were no proto-Protestants hiding out in the mountains for 15 centuries waiting for Martin Luther to show up.
Good Luck!👍
 
the 8th grade text in most religion series deals with Church History, and contains lots of reference material. Ignatius press series Faith and Life or the Loyola Press Series, Christ Our Life, are both very good.
 
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Curious:
…should I not also read books with a…well…i don’t know how else to put this…with an anti - Catholic slant? Set out to prove the Catholic Church wrong? I mean…I’m not anti Catholic by any means…but I just want to do this right…examine this from every angle. Opinions?
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The only problem with anti-Catholic literature is that it often misrepresents the Catholic Faith…

They’ll say that Catholics worship Mary and then explain why that is wrong… (The only problem with that is that we DON’T worship mary)

They’ll say that Catholics worship statues and then explain why that is wrong… (The only problem with that is that we DON’T worship statues)

A similar situation would be me distributing anti-Jewish literature that explains that Judaism is wrong because they worship the Canadian Prime Minister. Since Jews don’t worship the Canadian Prime Minister, my literature would be mis-representing their faith.
 
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Curious:
I guess this should keep me occupied for awhile. but you know what? I have a question…and be honest with me. To be a very honest researcher, should I not also read books with a…well…i don’t know how else to put this…with an anti - Catholic slant? Set out to prove the Catholic Church wrong? I mean…I’m not anti Catholic by any means…but I just want to do this right…examine this from every angle. Opinions?
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I don’t think you will learn a lot by reading Jack Chick tracts. But if you want to go down this path, I would recommend Hans Kung’s The Catholic Church: A Short History. From the introduction:
So, while some Catholic theologians are busy writing church history in a triumphalistic vein, anti-Catholic criminologists eager for scandal are exploiting it in order to put down the Catholic Church by any means possible. But by similarly summarizing and amassing all the errors, wrong turns, and crimes that can be discovered anywhere, would it not also be possible to write a criminal history of Germany, France, England, or the United States – not to mention the monstrous crimes of modern atheists in the name of the goddess reason or nation, race, or party? And does such a fixation on the negative side do justice to the history of Germany, France, England, or America – or the Catholic Church? I am presumably not the only one who finds that over time such a multivolume “Criminal History of Christianity” becomes insipid, unexciting, boring. Those who deliberately step in all the puddles should not complain too loudly about how bad the road is.
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Neither an idealizing and romanticized history of the church nor one filled with hatred and denunciation can be taken seriously. Something else is called for.
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Thanks all for your responses. Lol…I only read Jack Chick for a good laugh, btw.

To Fidelis, I’m not Catholic. But I’m all decked out with my monocle, pipe, and long tan coat, ‘investigating’ some things. :cool: That’s all.

And INRI is correct…I’m already pretty ‘inoculated’ against the sillier claims made against the Catholic Church…Mary worship and etc. But if they make up things like that, how could I trust anything they say?:banghead: I just want to do this right and look at all sides, I guess.

Thanks for your suggestions, comments, etc. You guys have been great. Thanks so much for letting me bother you. You’ve been very sweet and patient. :love:
 
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Curious:
Thanks all for your responses. Lol…I only read Jack Chick for a good laugh, btw.

To Fidelis, I’m not Catholic. But I’m all decked out with my monocle, pipe, and long tan coat, ‘investigating’ some things. :cool: That’s all.

And INRI is correct…I’m already pretty ‘inoculated’ against the sillier claims made against the Catholic Church…Mary worship and etc. But if they make up things like that, how could I trust anything they say?:banghead: I just want to do this right and look at all sides, I guess.

Thanks for your suggestions, comments, etc. You guys have been great. Thanks so much for letting me bother you. You’ve been very sweet and patient. :love:
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May God be with you in your search for the Truth, wherever it leads. I would caution you against picking up just any author who claims to be Catholic. Some are wolves in sheep’s clothing. Two of them are Hans Kung (mentioned by another poster) and Richard McBrien.
 
I would caution you against picking up just any author who claims to be Catholic
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Yes. i AM searching for the truth and I don’t care if the author is catholic protestant or anything as long as I get the truth.
 
The Catholic Church through the Ages by Martin P. Harney, S.J. is an older book but pretty good. You’d probably have to search on something like Amazon.com because it’s been out of print for a while.

In addition to the many good recommendations listed above, I would recommend “The Faith of the Early Fathers” by William(?) Jergens. This is a collection of writings from the first few centuries of the Church.

How the Reformation Happened by Hilaire Belloc
The Crusades by Hilaire Belloc

For other areas of study, I highly recommend anything by Dr. Scott Hahn, G. K. Chesterton, and Bishop Fulton J. Sheen.

I also recommend the following because they were very helpful to me.

The Art of Living by Dietrich and Alice von Hildebrand
The Spirit of Catholicism by Fr. Karl Adam
The Angels by Fr. Pascal P. Parente
Theology and Sanity by Frank Sheed
Salvation is from the Jews by Roy H. Schoeman
Faith and Certitude by Thomas Dubay
 
To be Catholic is to use every trick, and turn all of His gifts, to the praise and glory of God.

So, after reading…We sing, we pray, we create art, we organize, we call for leaders, we call for followers, we call on saints, we call on Jesus’ mom, we light candles, we baptize babies, we attend Mass at least once a week, we eat His body and drink His blood, all within His one universal family, through none other than our Savior Jesus, to worship and glorify God.

It’s all fair-game baby, to apply all His gifts, and our entire toolkit, (and yes even turn all our flaws) into the worship of Him. Go ahead and read all you wish from Protestants telling you otherwise, and then proceed to ignore them.

I’d pick Luke ch 10:27-28 for basic Scriptural evidence.
 
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