Suggestions please!

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ATeNumquam

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Today I visited in my lunch break a large local Christian bookshop which stocks pretty much 100% non-Catholic stock, but I have often had pleasant conversations with the owner who is definitely not anti-Catholic. I commended him on having just introduced a series of books (called, if I remember, Christian Classics) which included some that I personally would consider Catholic, like the Imitation of Christ and Brother Lawrence’s Practice of the Presence of God. We talked about the “treasures” of spiritual writing that have come from the Catholic tradition and “should be shared among all Christians” said the bookshop owner. He was going to buy some Henri Nouwen books, he said. I of course told him I was a Catholic, and a convert from a pretty anti-Catholic background, and he was really interested (probably had never met a convert ), and expressed his abhorrence of anti-Catholicism, and how ashamed he was about it.
Just now he rang me at work and said he had enjoyed our conversation and hoped we would talk more in future. He said he’d been asked to stock Jack Chick comics and wanted me to know he had flatly refused, and found him “downright evil”.
Now folks, what I want from you are some suggestions for other books he might stock in his shop that I could pass on to him, because it’s a chance to broaden the outlook and enrich his customers - and who knows where that could lead?!
I want suggestions of books/authors who are not TOO obviously Catholic, but would be acceptable to his Protestant clientele. So - he wouldn’t be likely to buy Scott Hahn, I don’t think, or books of convert stories, or anything too heavy in the apologist/polemical line.
I’d be grateful for your help, and meanwhile I will put my own thinking cap on. I feel I’ve got my foot in the door, here, and want excuses to keep in touch with this really nice Christian bookshop owner, for the good of the One true Church:D
A Te numquam separari permittas - never let me be separated from You!
 
If he doesn’t already have any C.S. Lewis he should get some. I’d also suggest G.K.Chesterton; he converted to Catholicism but much of his best christian apologetics writing was done before he became Catholic.
 
That’s a pretty fine line to draw and will take some thought. Right off the bat, I’d say you couldn’t go wrong by recommending anything by Peter Kreeft. His books are geared to both Catholics and Protestants. Also, I think there couldn’t be too much objection to stocking the Catechism of the Catholic Church or writings by the Pope such as Beyond the Threshold of Truth. These books are non-polemic and simply present Church teaching on a range of issues. Finally, in addition to Augustine, you could recommend other works about the Church Fathers, as well as classic devotionals and biographies like* Imitation of Christ*, Story Of A Soul, and Mark Twains Joan of Arc,.
 
I’ve seen some pretty good Question and Answer books and Picture books about The Passion of the Christ. I forget the title exactly (yeah I know, I’m a real big help) but I liked the book because it went through and talked about Catholic beliefs subtly expressed in the movie and it was a really good bridge I thought. I think books like that are good because they bridge a movie made by a [traditionalist] Catholic and mainline non-Catholic Christianity which so heartily embraced the movie.
 
Thanks for those suggestions.

I might get a book or two by Peter Kreeft for myself and lend them to him to see if he would stock them.

Definitely the Church Fathers, Fidelis! I’ve typed up a list of the names of about 18 of them, showing their dates of birth/death to give him, just so he’ll see how early they are, and how many of 'em were writing before and around the time of Augustine, and I’ll look up some books containing extracts from them. He did say St Augustine’s Confessions had gone down well.

Zski01, I have that question and answer book about the Passion film myself. I wondered about that. Again, I might just show him first, because it’s pretty definitely from a Catholic view point and if I remember at the end sort of suggests how one might go about becoming a Catholic, which may be a bit much! I’ll show him my copy.

I’m thinking if I can get into a good on-going dialogue with this man, I can always lend him books I own myself.

Certainly I am going to give him the address of this website so he can get some answers, as he does seem interested and open.
Thanks again!🙂
A Te numquam separari permittas - never let me be separated from You
 
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ATeNumquam:
Thanks for those suggestions.

I might get a book or two by Peter Kreeft for myself and lend them to him to see if he would stock them.

Definitely the Church Fathers, Fidelis! I’ve typed up a list of the names of about 18 of them, showing their dates of birth/death to give him, just so he’ll see how early they are, and how many of 'em were writing before and around the time of Augustine, and I’ll look up some books containing extracts from them. He did say St Augustine’s Confessions had gone down well.

Zski01, I have that question and answer book about the Passion film myself. I wondered about that. Again, I might just show him first, because it’s pretty definitely from a Catholic view point and if I remember at the end sort of suggests how one might go about becoming a Catholic, which may be a bit much! I’ll show him my copy.

I’m thinking if I can get into a good on-going dialogue with this man, I can always lend him books I own myself.

Certainly I am going to give him the address of this website so he can get some answers, as he does seem interested and open.
Thanks again!🙂
A Te numquam separari permittas - never let me be separated from You
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Try this. I sometimes think much too little is said of “monastic spirituality”, especially that from before the Reformation - I don’t think that this book should be found too obviously Catholic. More to the point, it should do a very great deal of good. Details about the author are here, apart from the fact that he is a Venerable. 🙂​

You might also recommend Mother Julian of Norwich, and Walter Hilton, and Richard Rolle - all from 14th/15th century England. And all, AFAIK, still in print.

Christian Spirituality did not begin with the “Imitation”, and then die out 🙂 ##
 
Theology for beginners and Theolopgy and Sanity by Frank Sheed.

He’s Very readable and inoffensive, although he spent a lot of time in Hyde Park in London, arguing religion with the people who stoped by.
 
I would definitely suggest Where We Got the Bible: Our Debt to the Catholic Church, by Henry G. Graham.

Judy
 
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Monarchy:
Wasn’t he anglican?
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Yup.

Also, a good suggestion I think might just be works by non-Catholics that tend to have more “Catholicish” leanings. For example, William Lane Craig is an excellent non-Catholic theologian who very much advocates reading the Fathers and this sort of theology, though not Catholic, is much like C.S. Lewis in that it certainly would lead non-Catholic Christians to a more Catholic understanding of the truth.

Another thought might be to recommend books that are written by both Catholic and Protestant authors that try to honestly discuss differences in theology (I can’t think of any titles off the top of my head). Perhaps books like those would get non-Catholic readers more interested in knowing the subtleties of Catholic theology.
 
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quintessential5:
Also, a good suggestion I think might just be works by non-Catholics that tend to have more “Catholicish” leanings. For example, William Lane Craig is an excellent non-Catholic theologian who very much advocates reading the Fathers and this sort of theology, though not Catholic, is much like C.S. Lewis in that it certainly would lead non-Catholic Christians to a more Catholic understanding of the truth.

Another thought might be to recommend books that are written by both Catholic and Protestant authors that try to honestly discuss differences in theology (I can’t think of any titles off the top of my head). Perhaps books like those would get non-Catholic readers more interested in knowing the subtleties of Catholic theology.
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Yes, good ideas!
I think there has to be a sort of “bridge” like this to lead to a gradual change in thinking. This bookshop does seem to cater for the evangelicals and fundamentalists only, and if the owner gets people asking for Jack Chick’s stuff …😦

I’m probably the only Catholic who has ever darkened its doors.
(Thankfully, there’s a small Catholic bookshop in my city and a larger Anglican bookshop with a lot of Catholic stock)

However, this bookshop is far more handy to my workplace, so I could try ordering one or two “Catholic” books for myself, which might also open up new sources of supply to the owner - new booklists, etc. etc. which could also be beneficial in the long run.
I feel like some sort of enemy infiltrator! That’s my aim!😃

I’m going to give the bookshop owner a printout of Catholic Answers refutation of Jack Chick, and also the website of new Zealand’s Catholic Enquiry Centre, so that if any customers say they want to read Jack Chick “to learn about the Catholic Church” (yeah right) he might refer them to a rather better source of information, since he’s said how offensive he finds Jack Chick.
A Te numquam separari permittas - never let me be separated from You
 
Maybe you could find some authors before they became Catholic. I think Howard wrote a book when he was Anglican. Wieble also wrote a book when he was Lutheran.
 
There’s a evangelical bookshop in Glasgow (Scotland) I perused recently and it had several Henri Nouwen books, right next to a Spurgeon book!:whacky:
 
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Monarchy:
Wasn’t he anglican?
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Yes C.S. Lewis was Anglican, but his views were very Catholic. People who associated with him used to ask him why he didn’t just convert to Catholicism since his views were so Catholic.
 
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JGC:
There’s a evangelical bookshop in Glasgow (Scotland) I perused recently and it had several Henri Nouwen books, right next to a Spurgeon book!:whacky:
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Oh, its packed with Lewis books by the way!👍
 
Perhaps you could suggest some parenting titles by Catholic authors. Two that come to mind are A Mother’s Rule of Life by Holly Pierlot and A Landscape with Dragons by Michael O’Brien. These don’t teach Cotholicism, per se, but approach life from a Catholic perspective.
 
You should ask him to stock the NRSV-Catholic edition. Or one of the NRSV Catholic Study Bibles.
 
ccav said:
Yes C.S. Lewis was Anglican, but his views were very Catholic. People who associated with him used to ask him why he didn’t just convert to Catholicism since his views were so Catholic.
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Lewis is my most favorite. When I read what he says I hear every sermon in a clearer way.

Just as a suggestion ATeNumquam (speaking from a non catholic view) as your friend in the store is, when you do this why dont you put in your heart to better understand rather than for the one true church. That way you have no agendas 🙂 and you wont norish any in him.

Alot of what you say for books is in my christian bookstore and there is a catholic section too. Maybe if we quit talking as us and them so much, it will become we. 🙂
 
Besides Thomas a Kempis, you could have him stock “The Dark Night of the Soul” by St. John of the Cross, or the “Introduction to a Devout Life” by St. Francis de Sales.

You know you could ask him to stock Hilaire Belloc’s histories. By doing this, his patrons might spend some time reading the history of the Crusades, or Chistrianity in Europe, or How the Reformation Happened, or about the Characters of the Reformation. As John Henry Cardinal Newman said, “To be deep in history is to cease to be Protestant.”

If you wanted to be sneaky, you could convince him to stock “The Catholic Controversy” by St. Francis de Sales. the title alone might catch a few off-guard.

Dominus vobsicum
 
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