No politics or triumphalism here, not even much that ‘cradle Catholics’ won’t recognize, just essentials of our relationship with God, expressed with simplicity and great beauty. The author says right off that this will not be a rehash of technical catechism, and keeps his word. This is not a sterile legalistic text, and doesn’t deal in negatives. This is a 100% positive living account, drawn from the lives of real people, from 1st-century martyrs to Eugene O’Neill and Dorothy Day. A work of love, of beauty and calm spirituality, it brought me peace. Highly recommended.

David Scott is interested in Catholicism as made vividly manifest by artists, poets, and saints. In “The Catholic Passion,” he seeks to get to the romantic, dramatic, visionary, vibrant core of Catholicism, in all its cultural manifestations. It’s a rewarding and rewarded effort.

This book takes as its starting point Chesterton’s assertion that the most perilous and exciting path is not heresy but Christian orthodoxy. Scott is not interested in detailing doctrine and dogma, but in dramatizing and fleshing out the faith as it is embodied and lived out in the Church. Scott tells stories of people such as Blessed Charles de Foucauld, Dorothy Day, Francis Thompson, Eugene O’Neill, and St. Catherine of Genoa. Certainly not all are saints — some are not even believers. But all stories lead the reader to an intimation of what it is that draws so many of us to the Church.

The “passion” of the title is a word that evokes romance, suffering, and engagement. Scott shows us how this passion is a part of life as lived, with a voice that is committed and honest. His words give us not a set of catechetical propositions, but a body, a corpus of Catholicism that is set before the eye of the reader. If you get a chance, pick it up — it’s an excellent, enjoyable, nourishing read.

I’ve read many recently published books on the substance and meaning of the Catholic faith–Weigel, Groome, Greeley, etc. I’ve also read recent books by and about John Paul II, and Cardinal Ratzinger (Benedict XVI). And, lots of historical, even famous, books of Catholic theology and apologetics: Newman, Chesterton, Merton, etc. Lots of those books were very good, and each in their own way added a dimension to my own understanding of a faith I love. But, David Scott’s Catholic Passion is the single best book I’ve ever read on Catholicism.

I cannot say I actually learned anything new (other than a few interesting facts about some saints I had not met before). Rather, Scott captures the richness and joy Catholic life and belief, and with an easy prose encourages in the reader the attitude that a right understanding of Catholicism should inspire in all of us.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to discover or rediscover what it means and how it feels to be a Catholic. It should be required reading for everyone involved in an RCIA program. Catholics should buy a copy for their Protestant friends who may think (or are even sure) they know what Catholicism is about. Mail a copy to that relative who has left the church.

To be sure, this is not academic theology, nor a catechism lesson. It is the inspired work of an author who loves his church, and who has found a way to communicate the best elements of that church, and his faith, to his readers. Scott’s book is the most honest and joyful expression of the faith in print today!

“Once again my purpose is to accumulate biblical arguments in support of distinctively Catholic doctrinal positions, with Protestant readers particularly in mind (as well as Catholics not overly familiar with the Bible).”
________________________________________________________________

Dave Armstrong’s books are simply the best for explaining the Biblical foundations of Catholicism, especially to Protestants considering conversion or simply wanting to understand how Catholics read scripture and for preparing Catholics to deal with Protestant objections to their faith.

I would recommend first “A Biblical Defense of Catholicism” then follow up with this book. Dave’s website is a great resource as well: …

The only thing this book lacks is more arguments that admit that not everything in the Catholic faith can explicitly be “proven” by the Bible. But, Armstrong has certainly met the goal that he set out to accomplish. That is to show that the Bible and Catholicism are not contradictory, but rather complimentary.

I recommend this book along with his first book, especially the debates that Armstrong has provided us with.

Chapter One defines the Gospel, defends sacramentalism from a Biblical perspective, and argues that the Catholic view of justification (infused, actual, internal, and transformational) is correct, as opposed to the Protestant view (extrinsic, imputed, forensic, and external).
Chapter Two contains three short dialogues concerning Sola Scriptura, the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, and penance.
Chapter Three denies the claim that Catholicism is half-pagan, borrowing rituals and practices from pre-Christian Romans, Babylonians, and Persians, with attention paid specifically to holidays like Christmas and Easter, and devotional practices such as praying the Rosary.
Chapter Four refutes the notion that sin and sinners in the Catholic Church disprove its ecclesiological authority.
Chapter Five points out that, unlike early Protestantism, Protestant Christians today often take a “quasi-relativistic” and “unbiblical” view that key doctrinal differences are “not only permissible but healthy and to be expected.”
Chapter Six explains why Catholicism is neither Pelagian (believing that humans have no original sin and can be righteous merely using free will) nor Semi-Palagian (”the first steps towards the Christian life were ordinarily taken by the human will and that Grace supervened only later”).
Chapter Seven defends the thesis that the Eucharist is indeed Biblical and correct exegesis leads to transubstantiation.
Chapter Eight explains why the Catholic Mass is not idolatry, and why Mass is radically different from the Israeli worship of the golden calf in Exodus.
Chapter Nine shows why the Protestant doctrine of Sola Scriptura (Scripture alone) is unbiblical and unhistorical.
Chjapter Ten debunks the claim that the Catholic Church historically has suppressed Bible reading and opposed translations like an “avowed enemy of Holy Scripture.”
Chapter Eleven demonstrates why Sola Scriptura is illogical, inconsistent, impractical, and improbable.
In Chapter Twelve Armstrong argues against the Protestant notion of a “perspicuous Apostolic message,” pointing out that Protestants can’t agree on TULIP, baptism the Eucharist, church government, regeneration, sanctification, whether Catholics are Christians, women clergy, divorce, the utility of reason, etc.
Chapter Thirteen argues that Catholic Church infallible authority is ultimately necessary and unavoidable. It argues against the Protestant dichotomy between Church authority and Biblical authority.
In Chapter Fourteen, Armstrong argues that Purgatory has a Biblical basis and that it does not deny the sufficiency of Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross. He examines the nature and duration of Purgatory.
In Chapter Fifteen Armstrong argues that it is not at all farfetched to say that Mary was without original sin (the Immaculate Conception) and was sinless for the rest of her life, is the Queen of Heaven, and is the Co-Redemptrix and Mediatrix. Armstrong dissects Protestants’ alleged Biblical disproofs of Mary’s sinlessness, etc.
Chapter Sixteen defends the thesis that Catholic Mariology is in fact Christo-centric, and points out that the “Co” in Co-Redemptrix means cooperative and not having equal function, a common misinterpretation. The chapter quotes from the Lumen Gentium, stating, that Mary’s role “neither takes away from nor adds anything to the dignity and efficacy of Christ the One Mediator.” The chapter refers to Mary as a Blessed Virgin, but does not go into detail about why the Bible says she is a perpetual virgin.

In Appendix One Armstrong affirms his deep respect for Protestants.
Appendix Two is a transcript of a radio interview in which Armstrong talks about his conversion from evangelical Protestantism to Roman Catholicism.
Appendix Three lists 150 reasons to be Catholic as opposed to Protestant, backed up with over 300 Biblical citations. He undermines Protestantism, mentioning its “absurdly late appearance,” lack of a way to definitively settle doctrinal issues (partly due to the lack of a definitive teaching authority), lack of priesthood, the false dichotomies it creates (e.g. between the Bible and Christian Tradition), false doctrine of Sola Scriptura, the intercession of saints, etc. He mentions many theological, moral, and spiritual strengths of Catholicism.
Appendix Four compares and contrasts Roman Catholicism and Greek Orthodoxy regarding ecclesiology, the papacy vs. caesaropapism, ecumenical councils, doctrinal development, modernity, contraception, and divorce.

I am a non-denominational Christian. I think it will take me at least a year’s worth of thorough research to definitively decide which is true: Catholicism or Protestantism. However, this book, which should be a part of the libraries of both Catholics and Protestants, has given me a jump-start. I look forward to reading more of Dave Armstrong’s work.

This book is so very much like Shannon’s other writings and his public addresses in tone and pace that you can actually hear his voice in the words. The same mix of deep intellect, and easy understanding, putting next to each other Milton, Joyce, the Doctors of the Church, and quotes from your aunt! and they all fit and flow and create a “seamless garment” that fits so comfortably.

I was very impressed ,and very moved by many of the things that Shannon said. Let me refer to some of them.

The idea of passion as something that is endured, or suffered. Yes, that is exactly what passion is, in any of its forms, and to think of dying as a passion is something that never occurred to me, no matter how many times “The Passion of Jesus” ran through my ears (page 7).

The necessity of “the person… to forgive himself or herself and open the depths of his or her heart to God” is something that I have seen in those I have seen die (page 9).

It never occurred to me that “death is ….something that we do….an action.” (page 13) but of course it is. It is something that takes all our concentration. And that is why death is often precedes by more than a week the cessation of biological functions.

Shannon says “In death we at last cease to live the illusion of a separate, self-centered existence and realize that our life is — and always has been — lived with God in Christ and without sisters and brothers ( page 14).” And that is precisely why suicide is not an option, it seems to me, because suicide is a self-centered, self-absorbed act. What we want, what we think we need, a kind of ultimate self-centered existence.

The fact that “you cannot see your own face…. The reflection of your face is not your face…..” (page 15) is very much like that painting of a pipe by Magritte that is labeled “This is not a pipe.” It never occurred to me. And so, the “Beatific” vision is not only seeing and recognizing the face of God, it is also seeing and recognizing our own face! As the Rabbi you tell of did not at first recognize his name when it was read at the gate of Heaven.

And so on, and so on, there are just too many things I want to say about the book, too many passages I want to talk about for me to go over them all here.

Fr. Shannon’s book is a comfort and a blessing, beyond words.

Against that background, Shannon addresses the form of life after death, comparing it to resurrection (Jesus) not resuscitation (Lazarus) and posits that the “the resurrection of the body and life everlasting” expressed in the Creed are experienced at the end of each person’s mortal experience, “which, for that person, is the end of time.”

These are but a few examples of the richness Shannon brings to this imminently readable and thought-provoking work. Other topics include funeral rites and organ donation, diminishments of old age with practical advice on living wills, hospice care, and medical decisions. As one would expect, the author also looks at questions of hell, and purgatory, limbo, and reincarnation. The final section, What We Believe about Heaven, tackles questions about heaven as a family reunion, a garden of delight, the Garden of Eden, and the Glorious Royal City. The book closes with answers to frequently asked questions about heaven, nearly 100 notes, and an index.