Which "Catholic authors" do you think we need to steer clear of?

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Karen1996

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I was in my favorite Catholic bookstore the other day, and I saw a copy of the book, The Lovely Bones, by Alice Seabold. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I had unfortunately read this ridiculous book a couple of years ago, so I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why it would be for sale in a Catholic bookstore.

Also, I fell into the trap of reading Joshua (big mistake).

And, I saw somewhere else on this forum to stay away from Joyce Rupp because she believes in a goddess and is a feminist. I realized that I’ve seen her books for sale in the same store that had The Lovely Bones. Maybe the owners aren’t researching or reading what they purchase to sell to the public. I hope there not putting this stuff out there knowingly.

I know not to read Andrew Greeley.

Just wondering what other Catholic writers should we stay away from?

Thanks for helping.

Karen
 
The Lovely Bones is one of my favorite books, but I do not know why it would be in a Catholic bookstore as it has nothing to do with Catholicism.
 
I don’t think a person should avoid any books. But you can’t just accept that anything that is published is fact or truth.
 
He’s not a “catholic” author by any stretch, but Gary Ezzo is pretty close to my vision of the devil incarnate…and I know I’m not alone…he touts himself as Christian tho…and one of my favorites is to smack your 7mo old’s hand when they play with their food…oy
 
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Karen1996:
Just wondering what other Catholic writers should we stay away from?
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Rather than casting stones at some, I’d prefer to recommend orthodox writers. Let’s see:

GK Chesterton (brilliant)
Scott Hahn (with some minor reservations)
Rosalind Moss (of course!)
Jimmy Akin
Karl Keating

That’ll keep you busy for awhile. 👍

And for that matter, anything on shop.catholic.com is fabulous.
(Hey, they oughta give me a commission or something. 😃
Except I’d probably feel obligated to donate it back to CA. 😛
Can I get a tax deduction for making a virtual donation? :cool: )
 
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cheese_sdc:
I don’t think a person should avoid any books.
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Why waste your time looking at trash when there is so much gold out there?
 
Andrew Greely
Joan Chichester
Richard McBrien
Richard Rohr
 
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Karen1996:
Also, I fell into the trap of reading Joshua (big mistake).

Karen
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I read that book a long time ago… although rather fanciful, why do you feel it was a “big mistake”? I like to think that I’m educated enough to know not to believe everything I read or see. However, if there was something in that piece of fiction that really (place verb here eg., bothered? upset? found damaging to your faith?) you, please explain
 
Fr. Raymond E. Brown and The New Jerome Biblical Commentary.

I am no expert here on authors, but Brown is outside the ball park on biblical opinions, as far as I’m concerned. He searched for words simply to circumvent “Church pronouncements.” He rejects the nativity accounts of the gospels and his hero is Dr. Rudolf Bultmann who rejected the Resurrection.

If you favor that sort of stuff, get the Commentary.

For some reasons, opinions like his have wide acceptance in the Church. You don’t see any protests over his writings. Another example, he doesn’t like “original sin” either and said that the Church should throw it out.

In the category of what we should read, I’d put the Bible and the Catechism high on the all-time list.
 
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BayCityRickL:
For some reasons, opinions like his have wide acceptance in the Church. You don’t see any protests over his writings.
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probably because he was a genius. I’d put him on high on any list of Catholic Authors people should read.
 
BayCityRickL…Just curious…is that Bay City, MI, by any chance? Sorry. I know I’m off subject. I do read a LOT of different author’s and most are not Catholic (I don’t think ?), but I read them for enjoyment. Some of my favorite’s are:

Janet Evanovich
Dean Koontz
Sandra Brown
Lawrence Sanders
John Grisham (just finished “The Broker”)

I don’t take any of it seriously. If I want serious, I read passages from Saint Faustina and St. Therese, etc.

JMO 🙂
 
Definitely stay away from anything written by Hans Kung. It’s just not worth the time.

On a lighter note, I love most anything written by Peter Kreeft!!
 
A few years ago, based on my father’s recommendation, I picked up The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco. I don’t rightly know whether he’s a Catholic, but the book is all about Catholics in a monastery. Though the story is very well written, I was greatly distressed to come across a rather pornographic scene in which a young priest has sex with a village waif.

Talk about a let-down! This has made me stay away from Eco ever since. It’s a shame, too. He could be so great if he didn’t pander to the sinful nature of man. Too often I see this in writers I would otherwise very much enjoy, such as Diana Gabaldon and, at times, Dean Koontz.

Leave out the sex. Give us a great story!
 
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stumbler:
Why waste your time looking at trash when there is so much gold out there?
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Code:
This is exactly what Catholic Answers Live once said when they were explaining the garbage of Michael Brown. We read garbag…well…you know…our mind becomes garbage. I concur.

But if a book needs to be discerned, then that is a different story…

Christ is rsen…truly He is risen!
Shoshana
 
Daniel/David:
I read that book a long time ago… although rather fanciful, why do you feel it was a “big mistake”? I like to think that I’m educated enough to know not to believe everything I read or see. However, if there was something in that piece of fiction that really (place verb here eg., bothered? upset? found damaging to your faith?) you, please explain
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Hi Daniel/David!
Maybe “big mistake” was too strong a way of me to describe simply not liking it. I just described reading Joshua as a “big mistake”, because I didn’t think it was worth my time and money. It was not “damaging to my faith”. I recognize, appreciate, and understand this book for what it is: fiction. However, when I pick up a book by a priest, I hope that it will be faith-affirming, loyal to the Gospels, and the Magesterium. This book was none of those things. It was simply the author’s opinion on every page, that Jesus was not happy with the rules of the Catholic Church and Her authority was not what He had intended when He established the Church on Earth. I know the author is only a human, and I respect his right to his opinion, but it was insulting to Catholics.

I hope that explains well enough.
God Bless!
Karen
 
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BayCityRickL:
Fr. Raymond E. Brown and The New Jerome Biblical Commentary.

I am no expert here on authors, but Brown is outside the ball park on biblical opinions, as far as I’m concerned. He searched for words simply to circumvent “Church pronouncements.” He rejects the nativity accounts of the gospels and his hero is Dr. Rudolf Bultmann who rejected the Resurrection.

If you favor that sort of stuff, get the Commentary.

For some reasons, opinions like his have wide acceptance in the Church. You don’t see any protests over his writings. Another example, he doesn’t like “original sin” either and said that the Church should throw it out.
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:eek: Sounds like maybe the Church should throw him out.

I use the old, and safe, A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture (NY: Nelson, 1953).
 
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cheese_sdc:
I don’t think a person should avoid any books.
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:eek:

If you had any idea of the staggering number of books out there, books produced by polished casuists on every conceivable subject that are quite deliberately designed to poison your mind, you wouldn’t say things like that.
 
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Karen1996:
I was in my favorite Catholic bookstore the other day, and I saw a copy of the book, The Lovely Bones, by Alice Seabold. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I had unfortunately read this ridiculous book a couple of years ago, so I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why it would be for sale in a Catholic bookstore.

What’s wrong with The Lovely Bones? I haven’t read it but my daughter is an English teacher and she recommended it to me.

Also, I fell into the trap of reading Joshua (big mistake).

I agree. There is a whole series of Joshua** books. I also fell into that trap. WOW - the author bashes Catholics a lot. At first glance they seem like such nice, Christian books but watch out.

I know not to read Andrew Greeley.

Yes, I agree, stay away from his books. His books are shameful.
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