Essential Catholic Survival Guide

I am a former Southern Baptist who grew up anti-catholic. I used to Bible thump every catholic that I knew showing them how their faith was heretical and how all of the answers were in the Bible not in the Roman Catholic Church. I went to RCIA to understand the Catholic position better and to debate the "intellectual" teachers of the class. Long story short, I've been to RCIA three times, first time to debate, second time (due to a rude awakening of truth)to possibly join but not yet ready due to some topics I was unsure about, and a third time to 100% conversion to the Catholic faith not just because of the Holy Spirit's guidance but also to the vast supportive evidence that the Roman Catholic Church is the true church of God. This book is a tool that I use now to bring back former Catholics into the church as well as answer all of the tough questions that come to me from evangelicals. I buy this book frequently for devout Catholics to read and grow in the apologetic side of their faith. I will be honest though, this book is a starter book to apologetics, but it has a great section of references for you to read if you want to grow in your skills as an apologist. I highly recommend this Survival Guide. On another note, I would also recommend to all Catholics to read "The Gospel According to Rome." My mother gave it to me as a last ditch effort to keep me Protestant. I use it as a tool to see how my skills as an apologist grow by answering many of the statements in that book with solid Catholic responses. Don't do what I did when I was an evangelical Protestant and just read one sided books, read what both sides have to offer and grow in your faith and see the truth for yourself. This is a great site as well. catholicanswers.com

This book is an excellent reference for Protestants, Catholics, and anyone else wanting to learn more about the Catholic faith. Too often, people have incorrect ideas about the Catholic Church that are based on misunderstanding of doctrine, have information that was current as of the early 1500s, or have information from books and tracts written by disgruntled and/or uninformed anti-Catholics or "Romophobes." This book ia a compilation of tracts previously published by "Catholic Answers," and one of the primary contributors is Karl Keating. I have read two of his books, and these chapters, as well as his books, present subjects in easy-to-understand terms and concepts--something that the average layman can use. I make this recommendation as one who is not a Roman Catholic.

The Essential Catholic describes in great detail the rationale, the history, and the scriptural references underlying Catholic beliefs and practices. It is written in an easy, conversational manner and is well organized so a given subject can be easily located for future reference.

This is an excellent book. It is easy to read with the question and answer format. It covers just about everything you would want to know about Catholicism and how it compares to other religions. I recommend it to all my Catholic friends and family and anyone interested in finding out a little more about the Catholic faith.

Everything you ever wanted to know but was too lazy to research. BeHold the New standard. Every Catholic and Protestant should read this book. This might be the catalyst for quenching the cocoon and dictatorship of relativism and pluralism. Catholic Answers have done it again. Great work team