What's New

The New Catholic Answer Bible

Book cover: 'The New Catholic Answer Bible'
Author(s): 
Paul Thigpen
Dave Armstrong
Illustrator(s): 
Kevin Davidson
The New Catholic Answer Bible is a pretty standard revised New American Bible (RNAB) plus inserts about various aspects of Catholic teaching. It is not (as I had at first thought) a "study Bible" with lots of notes about the Scriptural content, relating it to doctrine, liturgy, history, etc. The inserts are basically short apologetic tracts written by a pair of well-known Catholic apologists. A reference to the book of the Bible into which they are inserted often, though not always, provides a connection. The inserts take the form of a question about the Faith and its corresponding answer.

New American Bible with Revised New Testament and Revised Psalms

The New American Bible with Revised New Testament and Revised Psalms (RNAB) has several problems that prevent my recommending it for Bible study or devotional reading. These can be classed into three major groups: (1) failure with regard to dignity, beauty, and doctrinal precision, (2) bowing to the externally-imposed linguistic norm of so-called “inclusive language,” and (3) a skeptical attitude toward the Sacred Scriptures. Not incidentally, the second problem contributes significantly to the first, and shares roots with the third.

Philomena

Author(s): 
Kate Seredy
Illustrator(s): 
Kate Seredy
We discovered this little gem years ago, after falling in love with two of the authors' other books: The Good Master and The Singing Tree. I was thrilled to recently discover that Bethlehem Books is bringing it back into print. The story begins in a small village near Prague.

Leap of Faith

Book cover: ‘<Leap of Faith>’
Author(s): 
Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
I love conversion stories, they are the best kind of romance. When I find a good one online (and aren't they all good?) I devour the whole thing. Even if it's pages and pages long. Leap of Faith is a great conversion story. There aren't many novels that explore the faith of young people. Especially not faith in its nascent stages as doubt gives way to yearning. And then yearning leads to the moment when the leap is made:
Why couldn't I believe that Jesus was the Son of God? All of a sudden I wanted to, more than anything. I wanted to be baptized and forgiven and blessed.

The Good Land

Author(s): 
Loula Grace Erdman
Years ago the telephone company ran an ad that sang, “Reach out, reach out and touch someone.” But what if you were too afraid to reach out? What if you were too ashamed of your new circumstances to ask for help? That is the situation for the Warren family, a family that moves to the Texas Panhandle in The Good Land. Carolyn is the youngest member of the Pierce family. At fifteen, she feels on the verge of adulthood. In her mind, however, everyone seems to treat her as the “baby” of the family and she resents it. Can’t they see how mature she is?

Reading the Saints

Author(s): 
Janet McKenzie
This is an interesting and helpful book of lists designed for parents and teachers interested in collecting Catholic stories (particularly saint stories) for their children and incorporating them into their school studies. The first part of the book consists of listings of Catholic book series (both in and out of print), including titles with Catholic content that have been awarded the Caldecott Award and the Newbery Award, Catholic Readers, the Clarion Series, the Vision Series, American Background Books, Catholic Treasury Books and much more. The main portion of the book (over 100 pages) i

Common Ground

This DVD presents an engaging dialogue (Question and Answer format) between a Catholic priest and a Protestant minister. Produced by a Protestant Church, it primarily consists of common Protestant Questions/Objections about the Catholic Faith that are answered by the priest. The priest's responses are succinct, respectful and quite insightful. Not only are they theologically solid, but they present creative and helpful ways of explaining authentic doctrine to others.

The Book of Saints and Heroes

Author(s): 
Andrew Lang, Lenora Lang
This a reprint of a book that was written about 100 years ago, and yet, when do stories of saints, heroes, chivalry and adventure become old? In the preface, husband and wife Andrew and Lenora Lang explain how legends full of wonderful and sometimes imaginary creatures and events entered the stories of the saints of the Church. The language is very suitable for reading aloud, and the saints come alive from different countries, cultures and centuries.

The One-Minute Apologist

Author(s): 
Dave Armstrong
The clever, user-friendly layout of this book makes it very practical! In the introduction, author Dave Armstrong explains that he hopes to empower Catholics to be able to defend their faith with the aid of this book: I believe the book is capable of doing just that! Starting a with a Protestant objection to a Catholic teaching, each double page provides a solid explanation of the problems with each objection, supported amply with bible verses.

Behind Enemy Lines

Author(s): 
H. R. DeMallie
This is a fascinating personal account of a U.S. Air Force pilot who was shot down over Holland and spent the rest of World War II in a POW camp in Germany. He wrote it specifically to honor the Dutch who took care of him at great peril to their own lives. It was a particularly interesting read after being acquainted with Hilda Van Stockum's The Winged Watchman as locations and situations are very similar. The narrative is simple and understated (and very REAL), but you can imagine the voice of a grandfather sharing his adventures and impressions with the young people of today.