CatholicFatherOf2

By What Authority

In my last post, I was originally going to talk about Mark Shea’s book, “By What Authority: An Evangelical Discovers Catholic Tradition” However, when I was thinking about what to write, I realized that if I hadn’t recently read 2 other books, this book would not have meant as much to me. The first book “The Fathers of the Church” really helped tie together what Shea was talking about in Chapter 8 - Circles and Lines. The second book is not actually a single work, but a collections of works by C.S. Lewis titled “The Complete C.S. Lewis Signature Classics”. The books contained in this collection are referenced a couple of times in Shea’s book. Without the background, that these two books provided, I think I would have missed out on some of the ideas that Shea was talking about in his book.

Shea’s book describes his journey from “Scripture Alone” to accepting “Sacred Tradition”. You get to follow along with him as he researches and discovers his answers. The book is very logical in its approach and well footnoted and researched. He uses many original sources as reference for what he uses in his arguments. Whether you agree with his conclusions or not, it is easy to follow and understand the steps that he takes. While covering many difficult and emotional topics, the book is not judgmental and his opinions are not forced on you. The book is humorous at some points and very light hearted. The book is about 192 pages including the index. It is probably in the top 5 religious/spiritual books that I have read. I highly recommend this book to anyone that wants to understand why Catholics believe that “Sacred Tradition occupies a central role in Divine Revelation”.

posted by CatholicFatherOf2 @ 4:23 PM