The Great Adventure

[Thal59]

Greetings all,

For those of you who are visiting this thread for the first time, let me clue you in on what we are trying to do. On the apologetics forum, a few of us decided it would be a good idea to write a book, or a series of volumes, that can bu used as a handy referrence for any Catholic to defend the faith with. If you are interested in participating, please feel free to join in.

I have been giving the project some thought, so let me give you some ideas right off the bat. First of all, allow me to point out that this project will take quite a bit of time and effort; there is no rush. Don’t get discouraged or complacent if this takes even a year or two to bring to fruition. If we do a good job of it, our work may be of aid to Catholics and potential converts long after we have returned to the Lord. That being said, onto some ideas:

1. It may be beneficial to have each participating member “specialize” in a certain aspect or subject of the work, such as the Sacraments, Crusades, Inquisition, ECFs, etc.
2. Everyone who contributes will receive a printed acknowledgment somewhere in the book.
3. Each person who wishes to provide material will need to also supply a referrence to that material such as book, page, and/or author. Personal opinion, as a result of personal study, can be included but we must take care through footnotes for instance, to ensure that the reader is aware of this.
4. Anyone with a degree in a certain field of study, or who has access to an associate who is degreed, should be given first consideration towards supplying material regarding that subject.
5. While we can have several principle authors, we will need to limit the number to something agreeable. All principle authors will receive an equal share of whatever royalties are realised. However, it would be best to make this a labor of love rather than profit, so it may be advisable to divide the royalties in such a manner:

10% to Catholic Answers. 40% to each principle author’s designated charity. %50 percent shared by the principle authors.

1. Perhaps Mr. Keating will be kind enough to help, or at least read the finished manuscript before publication and offer his advice or possibly even write a foreward for it.
2. We can PM each other, or we can dissect potential material on this board; each person giving their perspective on each different topic offered. Since this mat take up quite a lot of space as we go, it might be beneficial to start each subsequent thread with the letters TGA to indicate to participants that the thread is a part of “The Great Adventure” project. (i.e. TGA: The Crusades.)
3. You may want to create a new file in your computers that you can copy and paste all the material offered to so you can keep up with what is being discussed or studied.

Any more ideas that can be offered as we go along are, of course, more than welcome. Since I started this mess, I will offer my services first. (Please remember that there is nothing set in stone here. Someone may find that due to changing circumstances in their life, they may no longer be able to continue contributing in the same way that they started, so someone else may need to take over someone’s work.)

1.) I am Thal59. My name is David A. Caldarola and I would like to contribute to this project as a principle author. I have written two books before: “Gameology, and the World of the Computer,” which I wrote for fun regarding computer based games, and “Brother Cephas” which is a fictional story of a Franciscan brother. (I wrote this under the pseudonym of Thalelaeus, who is my patron saint.) Though I do not claim to be an accomplished writer, I feel I can contribute to the writing of this work based on my usage of simpler, easy to understand language. I do not feel this work should be so complex in its language and sentence structure that casual readers may become discouraged with it. I see no need to try and impress anyone with excessive style; it is the subject matter that is most relevant. I also tend to avoid the use of foreign words and phrases. If such expressions need to be used, then it must be mandatory that a footnote be made that explains the translation of that expression.​

If anyone else cares to nominate themselves, then please do so. Thanks.

Thal59

 

[rstegeman]

My name is Rick Stegeman. I am a lifelong Catholic, however, most of that time was Catholic in name only. Over the past year, I have become quite devoted to the faith again and an active parishoner. I don’t bring much expertise to the table, but if there is any way that I can provide any assistance, I would be more than glad to help.

I think this project is a wonderful idea.

 

[Thal59]

rstegeman:

My name is Rick Stegeman. I am a lifelong Catholic, however, most of that time was Catholic in name only. Over the past year, I have become quite devoted to the faith again and an active parishoner. I don’t bring much expertise to the table, but if there is any way that I can provide any assistance, I would be more than glad to help.

I think this project is a wonderful idea.

Your enthusiasm is welcome, Rick. First of all, try considering your past. If you went to college, there may be a major or minor you studied in that can help. If you know anyone who is an authority on a particular subject, that would help too. Even your parish priest may have a love for History or Social studies for instance.

Even if the answer to these is no, you can still help. As we go, I might ask you to read a particular book with a certain perspective in mind from which you can offer pertinent information. Also, there will more than likely be discussion of different topics going on between members, so you can always put your two-cents worth in there.

Thal59

 

[Della]

As a writer your project interests me. I have a B. A. in Bible and religious education from an Assemblies of God Bible college, which gives me a unique perspective on Evangelicalism.

I was received into the Catholic Church Easter Vigil, 1989, and have published two books, The Beautiful Gate Rosary, Our Sunday Visitor Publications (the rights have reverted to me, however, so I put it out myself these days) and Eagle Mountain, a fantasy story ala The Chronicles of Narnia published by Publish America. Plus I have written articles for publication, such as critiques of a few of the books by G. K. Chesterton for Southern Renaissance Magazine and my conversion story for This Rock Magazine.

I don’t know exactly what area of expertise I have, I’m no Scott Hahn, but I do know my way around the Bible. And I have some writing skills. So, let me know if I can help you out, as a editor if nothing else–I excelled in English in college and was recently a member of a writers’ group.

 

[Thal59]

You are more than welcome Della, as you are certainly a better writer than I am. I would only want to establish from the start that although this work does not need to be fashioned like a 5th grade reader, I also would like to avoid a more complex text. I have read some books written by people with PhDs who were so intent on impressing people with their vocabulary and writting genius that their work became, as I put it in the introduction of my last book, “verbally illiterate.”

I have read too many books that failed me because it simply was too great a chore to read and comprehend them. While proper English is desirable, so too is readability. If the average American high school education is insufficient to read and understand our work, then we will have failed to make the work accessible to the people who could benefit from it most; the young.

Sometime later today, I will try to post my initial idea as to what the structure of the work should be like. But remember everybody, this is not my personal work that I dominate over. Everyone with an opinion, suggestion, or material contribution is welcome.

Thal59

 

[montanaman]

I’d definitely like to see the “lighter side of apologetics.” Funny stories from the field and what-not.

 

[Della]

Thal59:

You are more than welcome Della, as you are certainly a better writer than I am. I would only want to establish from the start that although this work does not need to be fashioned like a 5th grade reader, I also would like to avoid a more complex text. I have read some books written by people with PhDs who were so intent on impressing people with their vocabulary and writting genius that their work became, as I put it in the introduction of my last book, “verbally illiterate.”

I have read too many books that failed me because it simply was too great a chore to read and comprehend them. While proper English is desirable, so too is readability. If the average American high school education is insufficient to read and understand our work, then we will have failed to make the work accessible to the people who could benefit from it most; the young.

Sometime later today, I will try to post my initial idea as to what the structure of the work should be like. But remember everybody, this is not my personal work that I dominate over. Everyone with an opinion, suggestion, or material contribution is welcome.

Thal59

I see I definitely gave you the wrong impression about my writing skills–so much for my being a good writer!

Proper English doesn’t mean unintelligible English. I too hate it when people deliberately write above the heads of their readers. No, anything I write I write for my readers, not to impress anyone with my vocabulary–not that my vocabulary is all that hot! I’m wading my way through a Dietrich von Hildebrand book at the moment that many times gets away from me, so I’m no deep philosopher nor do I have a vast vocabulary of multi-syllabic words understandable only to English teachers and professors with Phds.

So, when you have something solid on paper, I’d be happy to go over it just to smooth out the edges, but definitely not to change what you write or the tone of your writing, unless it really, really needs changing (ie, too familiar a tone or just the opposite–too formal).