I've been waiting for decades for these two books to be written!

No joke -- I've wanted the knowledge that is in these books for so long, nicely consolidated for me and easily available on my bookshelf, and here they suddenly come on the heels of one another, written by my friends, Stacy Trasancos and Trent Horn, who are also friends of the Bubble!

You all are going to love this.

In my opinion, the toughest and most common questions (sometimes accusations) that we Catholics have to answer are questions of 1) reconciling faith and science, and 2) questions about the "hard sayings" of the Bible, including the "mean God" of the Old Testament and all the "inconsistencies and contradictions".

Dr. Stacy Trasancos' book, Particles of Faith: A Catholic Guide to Navigating Science tackles the question of faith and science. Written for for the average layman who may or may not have a background in science (I do not!), Stacy takes us first through her fascinating personal story, including her movement away from the Protestantism of her childhood and into a kind of religious indifference as she moved through her doctoral studies and career as a research chemist. Not without suffering, Stacy ultimately found her way to Catholicism and now occupies space on both sides of the science vs. faith debates, which makes her voice invaluable to all of us today.

The epiphany of how she personally reconciled faith and science is not what I expected, and I could never do it justice here. Expressed so intimately and beautifully, her perspective shuts down the erroneous idea that faith and science must constantly be fighting, and she describes this mystery in a way that only a brilliant scientist and a servant of God can. 

Some of the questions she breaks down and explains:

Can a Christian accept evolution? Does quantum mechanics explain free will? Does the Big Bang prove God? Are Creationism and Intelligent Design correct? When does human life begin? 

There are passages that describe the basics of the atomic world and points of chemistry that I found fascinating but didn't fully absorb (my brain really does not work spatially and scientifically), and that's okay. Skim or skip the technical explanations if you must, and you won't miss a beat. 

Aside from her personal journey ("A Story About the Chasm"), the most compelling part of the book for me was her explanation of the origins of man, specifically, how to reconcile what we know through scientific discovery with our belief in Adam and Eve, our first parents. I feel like I finally have a language for discussing the subject, and much more deeply and thoroughly than I had before.

If you have ever been confused or tongue-tied about how science and faith fit together, read Particles of Faith (available for pre-order now). If you are like me, you'll read it straight through and then keep coming back to it when you need it. I am so grateful to have it. 

I am also incredibly grateful for Trent Horn's Hard Sayings: A Catholic Approach to Answering Bible Difficulties. Trent is a writer, speaker, and radio host for Catholic Answers, and I'm not the only one who believes that he is the best Catholic apologist of our day. The man has a gift, people! 

Trent's book covers just about every biblical "hard saying" and misunderstanding you can imagine (and have likely been confronted with) and explains each one with incredible clarity. You will feel blissfully knowledgeable when you walk away from each chapter.

And it's all there:

Is the Old Testament just Bronze Age ignorance? What of legendary biblical creatures, mythical patriarchs, and bungled history? Aren't there 1001 internal contradictions in the Bible? Gospels that can't agree, conflicting advice, and contradictory names and numbers?

And what about all the evil? Isn't the Bible just evil? What of the bad role models, misogyny, bizarre laws, and cruel punishments? Doesn't the Bible (thus God) endorse slavery and genocide? And so much more, including the Catholic view of Scripture and whether or not the Bible has been corrupted.

Hard Sayings is that reference book that you'll return to time and again, sometimes for your own edification and knowledge, and sometimes when a particular question or accusation has been thrown your way.


We are so blessed to have these great minds using their gifts and talents to help the rest of us better understand and defend our Catholic Faith.

Thank you, Stacy and Trent!



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On a personal note, I apologize for the dearth of blog posts lately! Believe it or not, I have just today (finally!!) finished writing my book, Raising Chaste Catholic Men, and after I attend to the details of the publishing part of it, it should be ready by (please God) the end of this month. Meantime, I will be taking one of my sons off to his freshman year of college soon, at which point exactly half my children will have flown the coop. Sob! 

Thanks for bearing with me, thanks for any prayers you can spare, and I will be back in the saddle just as soon as I can!

Navigating the Tiber, by Devin Rose

We all have friends, co-workers, and family members whom we would love to welcome into the Catholic Church. And we all have those awkward and sometimes painful discussions with them, when contentious or controverted issues come up in conversation and we don't quite know what to say or how to say it.

Well, our good friend here in the Bubble, Devin Rose, has written a book that eases the way for us. Many of you already know and love him, and I've referenced and written about him many times in the past. He is, quite literally, one of the reasons I have a blog today.

Two years ago, I told you about his book, The Protestant's Dilemma (if you are a non-Catholic Christian, I cannot recommend this book highly enough!) and also linked his compelling appearance on the Journey Home, where he recounts his conversion story from atheist, to Protestant, to Catholic. He also has an important and effective program to help Catholic men fight the beast of porn addiction.

Now we can add his much-awaited Navigating the Tiber: How to Help Your Friends and Family Journey Toward the Catholic Faith, published by Catholic Answers.

I read the entire book, easily, in two nights. As I read, I became excited about how valuable it will be for the many readers who email to ask me the best way to reach their non-Catholic or anti-Catholic family members -- people who love Jesus Christ but do not understand, and in some cases despise, the Catholic Church.

I love this book because it is practical, clear, and systematic. With a clever mariner theme (we are navigating the Tiber River, after all, on our way to Rome!), Devin sets us on our journey by "surveying the depths" -- a short but excellent primer of the different Protestant branches and beliefs (so that we don't talk to a Baptist or a Pentecostal as if he were a Calvinist or a Lutheran, for example).

Then, Devin sails us through the common issues that are bound to surface when we talk to our Protestant friends, co-workers, and family members about the Faith: The question of the Canon of the Bible (which we recently touched upon here in the Bubble); the Protestant pillars of sola scriptura (the Bible alone) and sola fide (faith alone); the Protestant belief in perspicuity (the idea that the "plain meaning" of the Bible is "clear" to any Christian); whether salvation can be lost; the truths about baptism; the objections to the papacy, Mary, and the "pagan superstitions" of the mass.

Devin also sets straight the course regarding the Inquisition and the Crusades; guides us on when to introduce the Church Fathers (and also the actual beliefs of the Reformers!) to our friends; navigates the moral issues of divorce and contraception; shows us how to speak frankly about the priest scandals -- and much more.

He does all of this while giving real life examples of his own interactions with friends and co-workers over the years. There's nothing better than being able to "see" how all this goes down in real life. You'll be equipped on the most practical levels, including advice on timing, suggested reading, and end-of-chapter tips and summaries.

What I love the most, aside from the clarity and accessibility, is Devin's insistence and focus on the preservation and deepening of the relationship with the person we're engaging, even suggesting prayers that can be prayed together. Friendships should never be put in jeopardy just to score points in a debate, or to "win" a theological argument. If we approach our friends and family as if they were projects and not human beings with free will and inherent dignity, we push them further from the Church and harm the Body of Christ. And that makes us a jerk. No one likes a jerk, and jerks make terrible evangelists. :)

Thank you, Devin Rose, my friend, for pouring your heart and soul into another incredible book that every Catholic should have on his or her shelf!


And I don't think Devin would mind that I also ask for your prayers for his little daughter Josephine, who is undergoing cancer treatments. Thank you, dear readers, for your generous hearts!

Devin Rose and The Protestant's Dilemma

You all know I love a good debate.

My first foray into internet debates (the best kind!) was in '98 or '99, when I first got internet access and found a Catholic apologetics forum. I spent large chunks of my day in dialogue with Protestants, defending Catholicism alongside other amazing Catholics.

For many years, I imagined that I would stay with the Protestant/Catholic debates, as that is how I thought my way into the Church. It was such a passion of mine! But as time went on, it started to bum me out to realize how divided Christians are today, even more than when the Protestant Reformation (really a rebellion) tore Christendom asunder. And since I had neither the time nor the energy to become an expert on each of the 30,000+ Protestant denominations and their contradictory beliefs on a bazillion different topics -- even on essential issues that touch on salvation itself -- I engaged in fewer and fewer of those discussions.

When I started this blog in 2010, I did expect to do a lot more Protestant/Catholic apologetics than I actually have done (though I have done some), but I eventually ended up taking on more of the secular and atheist arguments, which became increasingly fascinating to me.

The shift in my interest and emphasis has not, however, lessened my admiration for those who do charitably engage our separated brethren. Long before he and I became friends, I was an ardent fan of former atheist and former Protestant Devin Rose, blown away by the skill and knowledge he brought to the debate. His was one of the first blogs I ever read regularly -- perhaps the first -- and there are two characteristics of his work that I deeply appreciate: His clarity and and his charity.

Years ago, when Devin told his readers that he was writing a book, I was giddy. The finished product, If Protestantism is True, was so good that I hoped it would be picked up by a big publisher. Sure enough, Catholic Answers saw its potential, revamped it, and gave it a new name. The fine result is The Protestant's Dilemma: How the Reformation's Shocking Consequences Point to the Truth of Catholicism.

Isn't that a cool cover??

If you like how we talk here in the Bubble, you will love the format of The Protestant's Dilemma. The book is divided into four parts: The Church of Christ, The Bible and Tradition, The Sacraments and Salvation, and Christian History and Practice.

The parts are further divided into chapters. Each chapter names a topic, then follows first with the Protestant beliefs and implications, then with the Catholic beliefs and implications regarding that topic.

For example, Chapter 12 is entitled:

 "The Principle of Individual Judgment"

It begins:

"If Protestantism is true, we all decide for ourselves what God's revelation means."  

For a couple of pages, Devin expands upon this proposition with Scripture, Christian history, and logic, and then presents the other side:

"Because Catholicism is true, the Bible was not intended to be studied in isolation from the Apostolic Tradition and apart from the teaching authority of Christ's Church."

Devin follows with more expansion of Scripture, Christian history, and logic.

Finally, each short and readable chapter is capped with an airtight summary of "the Protestant's dilemma" on that particular topic. Chapter 12 sums up:

If Protestantism is true, then difficult parts of Scripture should be understandable through careful study, prayerful consideration, and application of other parts of Scripture that are ostensibly clearer. Yet when faithful members of Protestant communities study hard, prayerfully seek God's illumination, and diligently apply other parts of Scripture, they still arrive at different interpretations -- often leading to the founding of a new community or denomination. For a Protestant, sola scriptura makes him, and not the Bible, the final authority. 

See what I mean? Systematic, reasoned, clear. That's the way I like my own blog, and that's the way I like my books of apologetics. Devin's contribution to the Protestant/Catholic dialogue is invaluable, and I wouldn't be caught in an online debate without The Protestant's Dilemma on my shelf and at the ready!

+++++++

PS: If you really want to know the kind of man we are dealing with here, please watch Devin's recent interview with Marcus Grodi on EWTN's The Journey Home. His story is quite painful at first (as an atheist, and dealing with crippling anxiety, he came close to suicide), but powerfully redemptive: