Journeys Home (50 page)

Shaw, Russell B.
To Hunt, to Shoot, to Entertain: Clericalism and the Catholic Laity.
San Francisco: Ignatius, 1993. This important book probes the theological and historical roots of clericalism that has affected the Catholic laity, along with contemporary expressions of clericalism in today's Church.

Akin, Jimmy.
The Fathers Know Best.
San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2010. This unique resource introduces you to the teachings of the first Christians in a way no other work can. Features more than nine hundred quotations from the writings of the Church Fathers, as well as from rare and important documents dating back to the dawn of Christian history. The volume also contains mini-biographies of nearly a hundred Fathers, as well as descriptions of dozens of key early councils and writings and a concise history of the dramatic spread of Christianity after Jesus told His disciples to evangelize all nations.

Aquilina, Mike.
The Fathers of the Church,
expanded ed. Huntington, IN: Our Sunday Visitor, 2006. First published a decade ago, this work has become the standard popular introduction to the great teachers of early Christianity. Now, this new edition presents more material from more of the Fathers, including authors from lesser-known traditions of Egypt, East Syria, North Africa, and the lands that make up modern Iran and Iraq. Also new here is a section on selected "Mothers of the Church," holy women from Christian antiquity. This expanded edition features full references and citations, a topical index, detailed bibliography, and ancient texts available in English for the first time in more than a century.

Bennett, Rod.
Four Witnesses: The Early Church in Her Own Words.
San Francisco: Ignatius, 2002. What was the early Church like? Rod Bennett shows that, contrary to popular belief, there is a reliable way to know. Four ancient Christian writers -- four witnesses to early Christianity -- left us an extensive body of documentation for this vital subject, and this book brings their fascinating testimony to life for modern believers. With all the power and drama of a gripping novel, this book is a journey of discovery of ancient and beautiful truths through the lives of four great saints of the early Church: Clement of Rome, Ignatius of Antioch, Justin Martyr, and Irenaeus of Lyons.

Bettenson, Henry, ed.
The Early Christian Fathers.
New York: Oxford University Press, 1986. The writings of Fathers of the early Church are of particular importance to anyone who wishes to understand Christian doctrine. This book illustrates the process of development in Christian thought, life, and worship during the period that culminated in the acceptance of the Christian faith by the Emperor Constantine, and the meeting of the Council of Nicaea in a.d. 325.

-- -- -- .
The Later Christian Fathers.
New York: Oxford University Press, 1970. This and the preceding volume are chronologically arranged with a topical index in each volume.

Howell, Kenneth.
Ignatius of Antioch and Polycarp of Smyrna: A New Translation and Theological Commentary.
Zanesville, OH: CHResources, 2009. Ignatius of Antioch and Polycarp of Smyrna were two of the greatest leaders of the Church in the first half of the second century. Their combined writings provide a unique window on the faith, life, and practice of the early Christians. Careful reading of these writings demonstrates the unique place that the early Fathers of the Church hold in establishing the foundations of historic Christianity. Their relevance for contemporary ecumenical discussions is beyond dispute.

Jurgens, William.
The Faith of the Early Fathers.
3 vols. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1970. A rich source of quotations from the Fathers, enhanced by a systematic doctrinal index at the end of each volume.

Russell, Claire.
Glimpses of the Church Fathers.
London: Scepter, 1994. A thorough and handy one-volume selection of the writings of the Fathers of the Church arranged chronologically and topically.

Belloc, Hilaire. Belloc is a largely forgotten gem of English
literature. A personal friend of G. K. Chesterton, he was at one time considered the rising star of English writers. But as his writings became more candid defenses of the Catholic Church, he became less and less popular until today he is almost forgotten. Every one of his books is a powerful correction for the revisionist histories so many of us received not only in our Protestant seminaries but in American public schools. The following books, reprinted by TAN Books (now part of Saint Benedict Press, Charlotte, NC), are all excellent reads, providing the Catholic perspective, particularly on the English Reformation:

• Europe and the Faith
  
• The Crusades
  
• How the Reformation Happened
  
• Characters of the Reformation
  
• The Great Heresies
  
• Survivals and New Arrivals
  

Bokenkotter, Thomas.
A Concise History of the Catholic Church.
New York: Doubleday, 1990. This popular history of the Church, originally published in 1979, offers a short but insightful survey from the earliest times to the twentieth century. Long a mainstay for scholars, students, and others looking for a definitive, accessible Catholic history, it has now been meticulously expanded and updated for the new millennium.

Bouyer, Louis.
The Spirit and Forms of Protestantism.
Princeton: Scepter, 2001. A Lutheran convert to the Catholic faith and leading authority on liturgical and devotional theology, Bouyer makes a powerful case for the chief principles of the Reformation --
sola gratia, sola fide,
and
sola scriptura
-- and then argues why the Reformation "spirit" cannot be sustained. This book remains among the most incisive looks into the main differences between Catholic and Protestant faith.

Carlin, David.
The Decline and Fall of the Catholic Church in America.
Manchester, NH: Sophia Institute, 2003. David Carlin, a professor of sociology at the College of Rhode Island, has written an incisive version of "decline and fall," this time analyzing the present condition of the Catholic Church in the United States. Though this book is blunt and honest, and sees few bright spots in the contemporary scene, it represents a frank analysis of the current condition of the Church. But the book is more than an analysis of the Church in America. Carlin understands that to see the problems of the Church in the U.S., we must go back to take a look at the condition of the Protestant denominations, the effects of Vatican II, and the rising, dominant secularism that pervades the country.

Crocker, Harry W.
Triumph: The Power and the Glory of the Catholic Church.
New York: Three Rivers, 2001. Readers who need to know the story of the Catholic Church often balk at opening those multi-volume Church histories. Crocker has written a book that solves the problem. In
Triumph
he has told 2,000 years of Catholic history in fewer than 500 highly readable pages. The book has all the virtues of a good novel while packing in an enormous amount of information.

Eusebius of Caesarea.
The History of the Church.
Trans. G. A. Williamson. London: Penguin, 1989. Bishop Eusebius (c. a.d. 260 - 339), a learned scholar who lived most of his life in Caesarea in Palestine, broke new ground in writing his history of the Church and provided a model for all later ecclesiastical historians. In tracing the history of the Church from the time of Christ to the Great Persecution at the beginning of the fourth century, and ending with the conversion of the Emperor Constantine, he tried to show the purity and continuity of the Christian doctrinal tradition in its struggle against persecutors and heretics. His account is supported by extensive quotations from original sources to a degree previously unknown.

Laux, Father John.
Church History: A Complete History of the Catholic Church to the Present Day.
Rockford, IL: TAN, 1989. A thorough and thick one-volume classic presentation of the history of the Catholic Church written expressly for students and adults.

Marty, Martin E.
A Short History of American Catholicism.
Tyler, TX: Thomas More Publishing, 1995. A useful and sympathetic overview by one of the leading Protestant observers of the religious scene. Marty's usual light touch does not fail him as he limns the possible and the promising at the beginning of the Catholic Church's next millennium in North America.

Maynard, Theodore.
The Story of American Catholicism.
New York: Macmillan, 1942. An out-of-print gem, but well worth searching for. Essentially a retelling of American history filling in the many Catholic gaps left out by historical revisionists.

Schreck, Alan.
The Compact History of the Catholic Church.
Ann Arbor, MI: Servant, 1987. A lively and readable introduction to the life of the Church throughout the ages.

Weigel, George.
The Courage to Be Catholic: Crisis, Reform, and the Future of the Church.
New York: Basic, 2002. Here is a masterful short history of the priestly sexual abuse scandal that erupted in recent years. However, the book is more than that. It is also an acute analysis of the history of various aspects of the Church in the United States since the close of the Second Vatican Council.

Baram Robert, ed.
Spiritual Journeys Toward the Fullness of Faith.
Boston: Daughters of St. Paul, 1988. Twenty-seven men and women recall their faith journeys home to the Catholic
Church.

Barres, Oliver.
One Shepherd, One Flock.
San Diego: Catholic Answers,
2000. The first part of this conversion account is taken from the diary the author kept before becoming Catholic. The reader then travels with him from disagreement to assent. The second part of the book defends the Catholic beliefs that the author once found indefensible.

Cavins, Jeff.
My Life on the Rock: A Rebel Returns to the Catholic Faith.
West Chester: Ascension, 2000. This dramatic conversion account is the true and bittersweet story of an emotional and spiritual search for peace in a chaotic world. The author recounts his early Catholic upbringing, rejection of the Faith, ordination as a Protestant minister, and ultimate return home to the Catholic Church.

Chervin, Ronda, ed.
The Ingrafting.
New Hope, KY: Remnant of Israel, 1993. The accounts contained here have been chosen from among many stories of Jews who each year recognize Jesus as the Messiah of Israel and the Catholic Church as the true Church of the true Messiah. They span a century, including the story of a Chasid from the mountains of Hungary, born in 1899, as well as that of a young man from Los Angeles, baptized in 1984.

Choy, Leona.
My Journey to the Land of MORE.
Zanesville, OH: CHResources, 2010. After a lifetime of missionary work in China and on university campuses, and writing, publishing, and broadcasting -- all within the Evangelical Protestant context -- Leona Choy never dreamed she would write a book chronicling her surprise journey into the Catholic Church, which she calls "The Land of MORE." At the age of 80 and after four years of biblical and historical research, she faced the prospect of abandoning her lifelong reputation in Evangelical leadership; the potential misunderstanding of family, friends and coworkers; and loss of the readership of her books. Nevertheless, she took the risks rather than reject the truth she knew that God had shown her.

Connor, Charles P.
Classic Catholic Converts.
San Francisco: Ignatius, 2001. The compelling stories of well-known converts to the Catholic faith from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. These are powerful testimonials to God's grace in the lives of men and women from all walks of life in Europe and America whose search for the fullness of truth led them to the Catholic Church.

Currie, David.
Born Fundamentalist, Born Again Catholic.
San Francisco: Ignatius, 1996. The author wrote this book to explain to family and friends why he became Catholic. He presents a lucid, systematic, and intelligible account of the reasons for his conversion to the ancient Church that Christ founded. He also provides a detailed discussion of the important theological and doctrinal beliefs that Catholics and Evangelical Protestants hold in common, as well as key doctrines that separate us, particularly the Eucharist, the papacy, and Mary.

Drake, Timothy.
There We Stood, Here We Stand: Eleven Lutherans Rediscover Their Catholic Roots.
Bloomington IN: AuthorHouse, 2002. These thought-provoking testimonies by eleven former Lutherans reveal how far the Lutheran Church has strayed from Luther. They include moving stories from four former female pastors, three former male pastors, and others. Their intensely personal stories address the differences between Lutheran and Catholic faith, differences so profound that they have led many into the Catholic Church.

Hahn, Scott and Kimberly Hahn.
Rome Sweet Home.
San Francisco: Ignatius, 1993. A moving testimony of the grace and the trials that led Scott Hahn in 1986, and his wife, Kimberly, in 1990, from the Presbyterian tradition into the Catholic Church. One of the best publicized conversion stories in the late twentieth century.

Howard, Thomas.
Lead, Kindly Light.
1994. Reprint, San Francisco: Ignatius, 2004. Catholic convert, author, and English professor Thomas Howard tells the story of his personal spiritual journey from Evangelical faith, through the Anglican tradition, into the Catholic Church. He cleverly weaves anecdotes with doctrines as he retraces the steps of his fascinating spiritual search and journey to Rome in the spirit of Blessed John Henry Newman.

Longenecker, Dwight.
Path to Rome.
Leominster, England: Gracewing, 2004. This is a collection of stories of English converts, related with typically English reserve.

Madrid, Patrick, ed.
Surprised by Truth.
San Diego: Basilica, 1994. This collection of modern conversion accounts is the first of a series of three volumes (see below). They are packed with biblical, theological, and historical evidence for the Catholic faith, presented in a winsome and entertaining way.