TAN Books is a Traditionalist (non-Catholic) publisher that should be avoided by regular Catholics, for the sake of their sanity. One of my favorite TAN titles is “HELL, AND HOW TO AVOID HELL.” This book almost destroyed my faith life. It almost drove me out of the Catholic Church. I could not believe that our gentle religion could be so strict and harsh and demanding. I just could not believe that almost everyone goes to Hell. I keep that book around even now, if only to remind me of how twisted the philosophy put forward by TAN books actually is.
Traditionalists, who identify as Catholic, but who do not follow the Pope or the Vatican, often leave TAN books and magazines (such as The Fatima Crusader) lying around regular Catholic Churches, in the hope of scaring ordinary Catholics into accepting the TAN book belief system. And it’s a fairly effective ploy. TAN books are the most terrifying books I have ever encountered. Fear is catching. And when regular Catholics are not aware of what the Vatican actually teaches, it’s very easy to become afraid that one’s salvation is in jeopardy. Most people worried about their salvation automatically adopt the strictest, harshest teaching on how to save their souls. If it sounds strict, then it must be right - or so the thinking goes. And there is nothing stricter, or scarier, than the beliefs put forward in TAN books. When the problem feels threatening, the only solution that feels right is often equally threatening. It’s sad that this is how we as human beings wired up to think.
I have read the “Introduction to the Devout Life By (supposedly) St. Francis de Sales,” another TAN title. This book is terrifying beyond all belief. I suspect the text has been mucked about with by the TAN editors to make it far scarier. You are not allowed to enjoy sports. Sports are mortal sins and will send you straight to Hell. You cannot have any rest or relaxation. Such things are lazy and thus sinful, and will send you straight to Hell. If you’re not putting your nose to the grindstone, by absolutely SLAVING your way into Heaven with colossal charities and enormous, terrifying penances, you’re going straight to Hell. The entire book is filled with garbage like this. It is absurd.
What makes it even most bizarre is that the book DOES recommend some rest and relaxation – while contradicting itself by saying that such things are lazy and sinful. I cannot imagine a more potent weapon for creating scrupulosity (a bad conscience) within a person than this. Absolutely disgusting.
Most (try ALL) TAN books have Imprimaturs and Nihil Obstats at their beginnings. But this means nothing. Imprimaturs and Nihil Obstats are only as valid as the theology of the bishops signing them. Regular Catholics would do well not to put any trust or faith in TAN Imprimaturs and Nihil Obstats.
I think TAN books gain their following among regular Catholics because most TAN titles are careful not to say how much their publisher disagrees with Vatican teaching and belief. Some TAN titles actually DO state this disagreement outright. But most of them don’t. As long as regular Catholics believe that what they are reading is something orthodox and authoritatively Catholic, nobody questions TAN books at all. But once the publisher’s disapproval of Vatican teaching becomes known, it becomes harder to maintain the illusion.
I’m not one for book burnings. But I would burn every last TAN book if I could. They are the most evil books I have ever, ever seen. They will destroy your conscience and erase your moral life. Their aim is to remove a genuine love of God from you, and replace it with a morbid fear of Hell that will dominate everything you think and do. And once a particularly terrifying belief - such as the belief that very few Catholics are saved, a favorite TAN position - is in place, it is extraordinarily hard to dislodge such a belief, even with counseling.
Watch out for TAN books. Read them at your peril
