Challenging Catholics: A Catholic Evangelical Dialogue

I have enjoyed this book both for its readability as well as for the content. The book is the text of a dialogue between the two authors. Both came from staunchly fundamentalist homes. Dwight Longenecker, an American, graduated from Bob Jones University, then became Anglican and finally Roman Catholic. John Martin was brought up in a fundamentalist Brethren home in Australia, and during college moved toward Anglicanism, where he has remained all his life (so far). Both ended up living in England and the book follows British spelling conventions. Each chapter deals with different theological "hot buttons" that separate the Roman Catholic church from more Evangelical positions. Note: John Martin, though an Anglican, takes a more generic stance (similar to C.S. Lewis) and speaks for the Reformers and Evangelicals in general--that position has it pros and cons. Each chapter starts with one or the other author making a statement (one to two pages long) and then the dialogue/debate continues with each author's responses and counter-responses being a page or two long. Occassionally there are more rapid fire exchanges, but usually each author has an uninterrupted chance to express a full thought or two. This is not just a collection of sound-bites, but rather is a sustained dialogue that truly tries to explore difference; sometimes with sharp disagreement, and at other times with almost complete agreement. The win-or-lose debate aspects of the dialogue are down played, but I couldn't avoid scoring the two authors on each chapter, as if it were a prize fight. Summary: This is an important debate carried out in a fun-to-read format. I wish there were more books like it.

MOST APOLOGETIC BOOKS ARE REPETITIVE AND GET RATHER DRY BUT "CHALLENGING CATHOLICS" IS CEREBRIAL AND YET WITTY.A WONDERFUL BOOK TO ADD TO ANYONES LIBRARY.