{"id":2290,"date":"2013-11-22T13:52:46","date_gmt":"2013-11-22T19:52:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/?p=2290"},"modified":"2013-11-22T13:52:46","modified_gmt":"2013-11-22T19:52:46","slug":"more-christianity-by-fr-dwight-longenecker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/happycatholicbookshelf\/2013\/11\/more-christianity-by-fr-dwight-longenecker\/","title":{"rendered":"More Christianity by Fr. Dwight Longenecker"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"front<\/a>I returned to the Church through the side door. I had slipped away into agnosticism during college; when I\u2019d reached the fullness of emptiness down that hallway, I wandered back Churchward via an initial false start at the U.U., and then a second attempt that landed me at a non-denominational, Evangelical congregation.\u00a0 I can say without doubt that half my authentically-Catholic Christian formation was delivered to me by Evangelical hands.<\/p>\n

My husband remained a Protestant for another decade, though the first few years after my reversion were the most intense.\u00a0 I had to mount a defense of my newly-reacquired Catholic faith that not only demonstrated we were not the whore of Babylon, but that what we believed was in fact true.\u00a0 Thus I owe another 45% of my Christian formation to my Evangelical friends as well, though not the way they\u2019d intended.<\/p>\n

(I leave a 5% allowance for things I\u2019ve learned since, from parts of the Church that are not intimately tied to Catholic Answers<\/a>.\u00a0 If there be such parts.)<\/p>\n

When Fr. Longenecker<\/a> sent me a review copy of his book More Christianity<\/em><\/a> earlier this year, I accepted it with trepidation.\u00a0 I had tried reading it once before, and the reason I didn\u2019t like it then is important, because it\u2019s the reason this is one of the best works of Catholic apologetics going: It is not for lazy people.<\/p>\n

What do you get:<\/strong> Nuanced, carefully articulated explanations of the Catholic faith for those who are viewing the Church through an Evangelical lens.<\/p>\n

What you don\u2019t get:<\/strong> Pat answers, bullet-point proofs, and smug superiority.<\/p>\n

What you do get: <\/strong>Immense respect for and appreciation of Fr. L\u2019s Evangelical heritage, and by extension all that is good and true that Evangelicals bring to the Church today (and that we desperately need!).<\/p>\n

What you don\u2019t get:<\/strong> Milquetoast \u201cfind your own path\u201d pseudo-Christianity.\u00a0 Objective truth is real.\u00a0 Either the Church is what she claims or she\u2019s not, no reason to be nervous about it.<\/p>\n

The text is perfectly readable for any educated layman, and the tone is conversational.\u00a0 If you are comfortable with a basic model Bible study, or reading ordinary Catholic blogs or books for lay readers, this book is not too hard for you.\u00a0 There are Christian vocabulary words, but not difficult ones.\u00a0 That said, you do have to put your thinking cap on before you read, and plan to read as many as four or five paragraphs without interruption.\u00a0 Ideas are developed in the book across the text of each chapter, not spat out in pre-chewed mushy-mush.<\/p>\n

Who should not read the book:<\/strong>\u00a0 People who will have a spasm if they read one sentence that upsets them, and aren\u2019t really interested in finding out what the author actually thinks.\u00a0 Also, people who don\u2019t really want to know what the Church teaches.<\/p>\n

Who would benefit from reading the book:<\/strong><\/p>\n