An Intelligent Person's Guide to Catholicism

This is an outstanding explanation from an adult and common sense perspective of a number of aspects of Catholic Christian teaching. Alban McCoy was the Catholic chaplain at Cambridge University, and this book records a number of the lunch hour debates he engendered in that role with intelligent and questioning young adults. It is a must read for anyone puzzled by Catholic doctrine, whether Catholic or not, and anyone interested in the "whys" of Catholic teaching.

I was excited to discover this book and hoped to find an in-depth look at Catholic teachings and history. The topics Father McCoy covers are well chosen, including God and proof, our Lady, sins, and virtues, but I felt the author could have done more. I appreciated the more or less neutral tone and researched answers, but at times the author, I felt, deviated, from explaining Catholicism to explaining Christianity. I had hoped for more on the Catholic Church. As an introduction to Catholicism and Christianity with outstanding description and discussion of the seven deadly sins, highly recommended, but if you are looking for more, as I was, this book is not worth it.

Father McCoy sets forth authentic Catholic teaching with precision and insight. He correctly states the basis of the Church's inability to ordain women and is quite persuasive in pointing out that the modern Western view that an individual has a right to ordination is utterly off-base (p. 55). He also cogently explains the basis of the Church ban on contraception by lucidly noting how those in favor of contraception labor under the assumption that there is an "inalienable right" to sexual activity (p. 113). These are only two of the many issues discussed in the book, but these two show that Fr. McCoy is intent on explaining Catholic teaching and not on revising it as so many books penned by theological liberals do.The best part of the book, in my view, is McCoy's discussion of the "Seven Deadly Sins" (pride, sloth, envy, avarice, gluttony, wrath, and lust). He discusses them through a masterful presentation of Christian anthropology--the Christian view of the flourishing human person. He shows how the seven deadly sins are related and how they impoverish our existence. He shows how these sins are very much alive today and do not just form an archaic list from another age.Here is Catholicism truly presented in an intelligent manner. This book would truly be a valuable addition to anyone's library.