The Curious Protestant

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I am new to the forums. I hope that this is the best place to ask some questions. First, a bit of background is warranted. I have been a Protestant for over twenty years. In the past three years, I have been through a great deal of searching for more clarity. I have been taught that Catholics are, by and large, worshippers of many things-from relics to The Virgin Mary, and are deceived and Hell-bound. I decided to do some research for myself, and thankfully discovered Patrick Coffin’s radio show. It didn’t take long to dispel much of the preconceptions I had accepted at face value. I would love to dive into some foundational reading that would shed further insight into the Catholic Church. What books would you recommend?
 
God bless you for you willingness to research and find out the truth behind all too oft made accusations! Scott Hahn is a great place to start. and not to mention catholic.com. i would advise caution with jumping in really deep right away with things like Confessions of St. Augustine and things like this.
 
Are there some specific issues you would like to read more about? Of course, I would recommend browsing through the Catechism, or using it as a reference for when you are curious about a certain doctrine (it’s certainly a bit dry as far as reading goes, so that’s why I recommend it as more of a reference).

Upon This Rock by Stephen Ray is a good one on the papacy. He goes through biblical and historical references for the background on the primacy of the pope.
 
I got started on the road to conversion by reading Karl Keating’s Catholicism and Fundamentalism, even though I did not come from a fundamentalist background (I was actually Anglican - almost Catholic, but with a lot of Catholic misconceptions). Keating, BTW, is the head of Catholic Answers, our host on this Forum.

I have also sent you a private message in this regard.

Cheers!
 
Guyparker said:
I would love to dive into some foundational reading that would shed further insight into the Catholic Church. What books would you recommend?
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Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, … well, you get the gist.

Not kidding. Even a little.
 
Guyparker said:
I am new to the forums. I hope that this is the best place to ask some questions. First, a bit of background is warranted. I have been a Protestant for over twenty years. In the past three years, I have been through a great deal of searching for more clarity. I have been taught that Catholics are, by and large, worshippers of many things-from relics to The Virgin Mary, and are deceived and Hell-bound. I decided to do some research for myself, and thankfully discovered Patrick Coffin’s radio show. It didn’t take long to dispel much of the preconceptions I had accepted at face value. I would love to dive into some foundational reading that would shed further insight into the Catholic Church. What books would you recommend?
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An excellent resource for those inquiring into the faith: Catholicism for Dummies. You will be able to refer to it for years to come.
 
Get the essential Catholic answers survival guide. It will answer anti Catholi c claims, explain dogma, doctrine, etc. And well its amazing!!!
 
Hi Church Militant,

I second Rome Sweet Home.👍
by Scott & Kimberly Hahn
ISBN 978-0-89870-478-5

Another favorite of mine is

In the Presence of Our Lord - the History, Theology,
  • and Psychology of Eucharistic Devotion*
    by Father Benedict J. Groeschel, C.F.R., and James Monti
    ISBN: 0-87973-920-7
Blessings,
granny

The quest for truth is worthy of the adventures of the journey.
 
Guyparker said:
I am new to the forums. I hope that this is the best place to ask some questions. First, a bit of background is warranted. I have been a Protestant for over twenty years. In the past three years, I have been through a great deal of searching for more clarity. I have been taught that Catholics are, by and large, worshippers of many things-from relics to The Virgin Mary, and are deceived and Hell-bound. I decided to do some research for myself, and thankfully discovered Patrick Coffin’s radio show. It didn’t take long to dispel much of the preconceptions I had accepted at face value. I would love to dive into some foundational reading that would shed further insight into the Catholic Church. What books would you recommend?
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You can start here for an initial reading…then go deeper…as you discover more…there are four modules…so start with Module 1…zuserver2.star.ucl.ac.uk/~vgg/rc/aplgtc/hahn/m1/Mod1.html

And depends on what subject you want to tackle…we could recommend more later…like on confession…there is Hahn’s Lord Have Mercy, on the Mass…there is Hahn’s The Lamb’s Supper or Pitre’s Jesus and the Jewish roots of the Eucharist.
 
“Letters to a young Catholic” By George Wiegel gives a general point of view. As was already stated, anything by Scott Hahn, especially Rome Sweet Home.

Trying to read the Catechism straight through is very difficult, but it is a wealth of wisdom as a reference book.

The forums here are a great source for information, just remember that most of us are not clergy, double check us before making any life altering changes.:eek:
 
Welcome! In addition to the others mentioned here are a few of the resources that have been of great help to me:

-If Protestantism is True by Devon Rose
-Confessions of a Mega Church Pastor by Allen Hunt

Both were written by converts, Allen’s book is probably a little more accessible if you are just getting started although I feel Devon’s does a really good job of following certain protestant ideas to their logical conclusion.

Prayers for you on your journey!
 
Rand_Al_Thor said:
Are there some specific issues you would like to read more about? Of course, I would recommend browsing through the Catechism, or using it as a reference for when you are curious about a certain doctrine (it’s certainly a bit dry as far as reading goes, so that’s why I recommend it as more of a reference).

Upon This Rock by Stephen Ray is a good one on the papacy. He goes through biblical and historical references for the background on the primacy of the pope.
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Wonderful suggestions so far…The great thing about Steven Ray and Scott Hahn is that these are also converts so their works have an “understanding” of that background and speak well to it.

I second the question above about specific things you might be interested in. The Church is so rich and deep that it can become overwhelming.

Likewise - I second the idea of having access to the Catechism.
I use THIS ONE regularly because it has a nice search engine at the bottom of the page. 👍

Peace
James
 
Church_Militant said:
Welcome aboard. Enjoy!
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I have and have read most of the books on this list. As I was in the process of converting to Catholicism from a lifetime of evangelicalism, the book that really resonated with me was Born Fundamentalist, Born Again Catholic. It laid out and produced satisfactory answers to all my concerns.
 
All these suggestions are great. One other book is The Fathers Know Best by Jimmy Akin. He’s a staff apologist for Catholic Answers and a convert. The book goes into the beliefs of Catholics and gives the writtings from the early Church Fathers from the end or near end of the Apostolic age (90 AD?) to the end of the patristic age (600AD I think). Saint and convert John Henry Neuman said to be steeped in history is to cease to be Protestant.
Good luck and God Bless.
 
govav8er said:
All these suggestions are great. One other book is The Fathers Know Best by Jimmy Akin. He’s a staff apologist for Catholic Answers and a convert. The book goes into the beliefs of Catholics and gives the writtings from the early Church Fathers from the end or near end of the Apostolic age (90 AD?) to the end of the patristic age (600AD I think). Saint and convert John Henry Neuman said to be steeped in history is to cease to be Protestant.
Good luck and God Bless.
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I second this post I just got the Fathers know best and it really helps cause if you want to see what early Christianity though in regards to priests, confession, Eucharist, purgatory , Mary - this book has all the writings pertaining to each subject in a nice categorized fashion

also earlier post “where we got the bible” is a good one I am reading it now!

my prayers go out to you :gopray:
 
Guyparker said:
I am new to the forums. I hope that this is the best place to ask some questions. First, a bit of background is warranted. I have been a Protestant for over twenty years. In the past three years, I have been through a great deal of searching for more clarity. I have been taught that Catholics are, by and large, worshippers of many things-from relics to The Virgin Mary, and are deceived and Hell-bound. I decided to do some research for myself, and thankfully discovered Patrick Coffin’s radio show. It didn’t take long to dispel much of the preconceptions I had accepted at face value. I would love to dive into some foundational reading that would shed further insight into the Catholic Church. What books would you recommend?
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Great to see you have an open mind and heart 🙂

To best help in your journey it helps to know your Christian community : ie: baptist, lutheran, methodist, Pentecostal, evangelical…etc…etc…

Some books are written from the perspective of the converts past particular Christian community.

Hope that helps

Peace and Love in Christ!
 
I was raised by parents that frequented the Church of Christ and the Southern Baptost churches on Easter and Christmas. When I met my future wife, I was exposed, for the first time, to Pentecostals that acted like Disciples of Christ when they weren’t at church! They helped me to a realize a brilliant epiphonal experience during my potential deployment to a war zone in the early 90’s.

The line of demarcation surrounding the Pentecostal way, ie, tongues and condescension, led eventually to my exploration of other paths to God. Next I wrestled with a disconnect between the small church pastoral leader and his destructive tendency to seperate the body (church) from the disparate needs of our local community.

I have a hard time understanding those who prop up their revelation, tongues or otherwise, when a unified collective of individuals can do so much in a dying world. The church had cyclical patterns of growth and shrinkage, but at the end of the day, the leader was ever ready to lead us around the same old introverted mountain.

I hope this is is helpful for you. I am so tired of the church “as usual”. I recognize, for the first time, the logical relevance for an organizational hierarchy that holds to accountability and accountability. The Catholic church seems to me, so far, a brilliant jewel deep in a mountain…worthy of a diligent and hearty effort to expose in my life, and hopefully in the lives of my awesome wife and sons.
 
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