Tan Books - Is it a trustworthy and orthodox publisher?

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Hey everyone. I have been looking at books on the TAN Books website and I am wondering: are they an orthodox Catholic publisher? This is there site:

tanbooks.benedictpress.com/index.php

I ask because some of the books are about errors in Vatican II and stuff. I am not wanting to get into a discussion about Vatican II in here. I am just concerned that this site might be an SSPX or Sedevacantist site. Here is the section with the books about Vatican II:

tanbooks.benedictpress.com/index.php/Modern-Errors
 
Holly, I was under the assumption that Tan books are extremely Orthodox. Many have the Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur. However, Catholics have always encouraged debate and discussion, and I would imagine you can’t really judge a book by its title?

I have read many Tan published books, especially during my conversion journey. I can’t think of one without the imprmatur, but I imagine there are some like that.

Best to google each individual title you are interested in for a brief synopsis before purchasing. Besides, if you are correctly catechized (and from your posts, I can see you are and very devout and prayerful, as well), you have nothing to fear from reading something that is just plain wrong regarding the faith. You will simply say, “oh, this person is wrong, this is not our faith,” and put the book down and away. But if you are like me, you’d hate to waste the money!
 
I have bought some very good books from Tan. Any publisher may have some books that you might find questionable - perfection is not of this world.
 
Holly3278 said:
Hey everyone. I have been looking at books on the TAN Books website and I am wondering: are they an orthodox Catholic publisher? This is there site:

tanbooks.benedictpress.com/index.php

I ask because some of the books are about errors in Vatican II and stuff. I am not wanting to get into a discussion about Vatican II in here. I am just concerned that this site might be an SSPX or Sedevacantist site. Here is the section with the books about Vatican II:

tanbooks.benedictpress.com/index.php/Modern-Errors
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TAN (named after Thomas A. Nelson) is a publishing house that mainly specializes in Traditional Catholic literature.

On the upside, that means you’re going to find good Bible translations (the Douay; I have a leather-bound Douay published by TAN) and orthodox books on Catholic prayer, spirituality and dogma.

On the downside, some of the books are rather critical of Vatican II and the Mass of Pope Paul VI (the Ordinary Form). I very much doubt that they’re sedevacantist or officially “affiliated” with the SSPX, SSPV, etc…; they just cater to a “Traditional” (in the broadest possible sense of the word, no derogatory meaning intended) audience. As with all publishers, picking and choosing is important. 🙂
 
In the Catholic Book Store I used to manage, we stocked TAN books regularly. They are a very traditional Catholic publisher, and often even have the Nihil Obstat indicated on the first page. They are not affiliated with SSPX in any way.
 
I met Mr Nelson back in the late 90’s and have bought a large number of books from his business in Rockford. Catholic Churches around the world sell his books, and I’ve never heard anything about them being Sedevacantist. In fact if I remember correctly, most of the people working for him attend St Mary’s Oratory in Rockford which is part of the Rockford Diocese. You may not find books there written by John Paul II or Cardinal Bernardin, but they’re a great place to find traditional writings.
 
Very trustworthy, awesome for the Faith. No sedavacntism or sspx in them though, which is good.
 
I can recall having only one Tan book. It is ‘My Confession Book’ by Sister M. Andrine Welters, OSB. It is well written for children of First Communion age. I am careful to check out the author but that is not a sure way to check out the content of a book. I do want the book to be in agreement with Catholic teachings whomever the publisher.
 
They’re not sedevacantist. They’re very traditional. They do a great job of keeping in print many classic writings of the saints.

That said, I would avoid anything they publish regarding Vatican II.

In other words (and ironically enough) anything they publish that was written before 1962 is going to be good; anything written after is a mixed bag.

That’s just my personal opinion, though. I haven’t seen every book they publish.
 
RPRPsych said:
TAN (named after Thomas A. Nelson) is a publishing house that mainly specializes in Traditional Catholic literature.

On the upside, that means you’re going to find good Bible translations (the Douay; I have a leather-bound Douay published by TAN) and orthodox books on Catholic prayer, spirituality and dogma.

On the downside, some of the books are rather critical of Vatican II and the Mass of Pope Paul VI (the Ordinary Form). I very much doubt that they’re sedevacantist or officially “affiliated” with the SSPX, SSPV, etc…; they just cater to a “Traditional” (in the broadest possible sense of the word, no derogatory meaning intended) audience. As with all publishers, picking and choosing is important. 🙂
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Very true. I found good books from TAN, including the lives of the saints (when I was still Catholic, of course). They are quite conservative though, as it said, because they are also critical of Vatican II, and publish works critical of it.
 
Joe_5859 said:
They’re not sedevacantist. They’re very traditional. They do a great job of keeping in print many classic writings of the saints.

That said, I would avoid anything they publish regarding Vatican II.

In other words (and ironically enough) anything they publish that was written before 1962 is going to be good; anything written after is a mixed bag.

That’s just my personal opinion, though. I haven’t seen every book they publish.
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Having checked their website in more detail now, I can clarify this further:

Even their modern books are generally orthodox works against modern evils, such as abortion, or dangerous teachings, such as atheistic evolution, Freemasonry, or indifferentism. The tone of the latter works is often polemical (“The Evolution Hoax: Exposed!”), bringing to mind a certain J. T. Chick, but I doubt there’s anything unorthodox about them.

The major stumbling block is that they publish several works by the late Michael Davies, who was very much an SSPX supporter, and even wrote a book entitled Apologia Pro Marcel Lefebvre in three volumes.

However, one swallow doesn’t make a summer. For example, Ignatius Press has printed some speculative works by Hans Urs von Balthasar, but that doesn’t mean they are “liberals” or “dissenters”. And in full fairness to TAN, they also publish the New American Bible, Revised Edition (!!), which is as “liberal” as you can get with respect to Catholic Bibles.

My suggestion? Stick to the Bibles, the writings of the Saints and other spiritual classics, the collections of papal encyclicals, and those modern books which deal with important issues (such as abortion or dissent in the Church). If you’re wary of anything with SSPX leanings, avoid the good Mr. Davies, and you should be safe. 👍
 
Holly3278 said:
Hey everyone. I have been looking at books on the TAN Books website and I am wondering: are they an orthodox Catholic publisher? This is there site:

tanbooks.benedictpress.com/index.php

I ask because some of the books are about errors in Vatican II and stuff. I am not wanting to get into a discussion about Vatican II in here. I am just concerned that this site might be an SSPX or Sedevacantist site. Here is the section with the books about Vatican II:

tanbooks.benedictpress.com/index.php/Modern-Errors
Click to expand...
The SSPX have their own publishing house called Angelus Press. TAN is an orthodox Catholic publisher.
 
RPRPsych said:
Having checked their website in more detail now, I can clarify this further:

Even their modern books are generally orthodox works against modern evils, such as abortion, or dangerous teachings, such as atheistic evolution, Freemasonry, or indifferentism. The tone of the latter works is often polemical (“The Evolution Hoax: Exposed!”), bringing to mind a certain J. T. Chick, but I doubt there’s anything unorthodox about them.

The major stumbling block is that they publish several works by the late Michael Davies, who was very much an SSPX supporter, and even wrote a book entitled Apologia Pro Marcel Lefebvre in three volumes.

However, one swallow doesn’t make a summer. For example, Ignatius Press has printed some speculative works by Hans Urs von Balthasar, but that doesn’t mean they are “liberals” or “dissenters”. And in full fairness to TAN, they also publish the New American Bible, Revised Edition (!!), which is as “liberal” as you can get with respect to Catholic Bibles.

My suggestion? Stick to the Bibles, the writings of the Saints and other spiritual classics, the collections of papal encyclicals, and those modern books which deal with important issues (such as abortion or dissent in the Church). If you’re wary of anything with SSPX leanings, avoid the good Mr. Davies, and you should be safe. 👍
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That’s a good clariification. I probably worded my previous post a bit too strongly.
 
One book I got from TAN Books that I heartily recommend is The Happiness of Heaven.

They also publish a biography of one of my favorite holy people, Blessed Margaret of Castello.
 
MrZoom said:
One book I got from TAN Books that I heartily recommend is The Happiness of Heaven.

They also publish a biography of one of my favorite holy people, Blessed Margaret of Castello.
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They also have good theology books: I found three excellent books by Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange from them: Predestination, Our Saviour and His Love for Us. and Mother of the Saviour.

👍
 
Any time I see a book that has been published by TAN, I know I’m in for a good read. Never had any problem with a book from them.
 
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