/lit/ - Literature

>>23405914
>>Prayer, meditation, bible reading
>I do this and feel nothing.
nta, but I suggest you continue to pray, in a gentle fashion. *Ask* for the gift of faith (by praying, you are already making an act of faith). It is all a matter of grace. Trust in the goodness of God. Ask for God's light and guidance as you seek the gift of faith -- to open the eyes of your mind to the truth. As is written in the Epistle of James: "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you." In my experience, this is true. As today, May 20, is the feast day of Mary, Mother of the Church, ask for her help also.

I'm not sure how well any of the standard recommendations I make as an American Catholic would go over for a European, but here they are: >>/lit/thread/S23233276#p23237888

Ratzinger:
>First of all, the believer is always threatened with the uncertainty which in moments of temptation can suddenly and unexpectedly cast a piercing light on the fragility of the whole that usually seems so self-evident to him. A few examples will help make this clear....
>That lovable saint Teresa of Lisieux had grown up in an atmosphere of complete religious security... Yet this very saint, a person apparently cocooned in complete security, left behind her, from the last weeks of her passion, shattering admissions which have only now come to light. She says, for example, “I am assailed by the worst temptations of atheism”. Everything has become questionable, everything dark. She feels tempted to take only the sheer void for granted. In other words, in what is apparently a flawlessly interlocking world someone here suddenly catches a glimpse of the abyss lurking – even for her – under the firm structure of the supporting conventions.
>Paul Claudel depicted this in a most convincing way in the great opening scene of the Soulier de Satin. A Jesuit missionary is shown as the survivor of a shipwreck. [He] is drifting on a piece of wood through the raging waters of the ocean. The play opens with his last monologue:

>>Lord, it sometimes happened that I found thy commands laborious... But now I could not be bound to thee more closely than I am, and however violently my limbs move they cannot get one inch away from thee. So I really am fastened to the cross, but the cross on which I hang is not fastened to anything else. It drifts on the sea.

>Fastened to the cross – with the cross fastened to nothing, drifting over the abyss. The situation of the contemporary believer could hardly be more accurately and impressively described. Only on a loose plank bobbing over the void seems to hold him up, and it looks as if he must eventually sink. Only a loose plank connects him to God, though certainly it connects him inescapably and in the last analysis he knows that his wood is stronger than the void which seethes beneath him and which remains nevertheless the really threatening force in this day-to-day life.
https://www.jknirparchive.com/ratzmore.htm

>>23233276
>Share some books that will bring me back to God's light.

Try A Severe Mercy by Sheldon Vanauken. It's very good, a beautifully written memoir. Two American atheists, a husband and wife, go to study at Oxford, and become friends with C.S. Lewis. The unthinkable, for them, happens, and they find themselves drawn to Christian conversion. It is the story itself, the characters involved, and the quality of the writing that make this an outstanding book. I really do think it's a book that could "bring [you] back to God's light."

I would also recommend:

- Thomas Merton, The Seven-Storey Mountain. In particular, his conversion experience as recounted in Part II of the book.

- John C.H. Wu, Beyond East and West. I was pleased to see this book recently became available again, on Kindle, after being out of print for many decades. Wu was an interesting character -- from a poor Chinese family, he rose to clerk for Oliver Wendell Holmes on the Supreme Court. A winsome and charming memoir of Christian conversion.

- Spiritual Journeys, edited by Robert Baram. I have read many volumes of Catholic conversion stories, and if not the best, this is certainly one of the best. (Out of print, but used copies are available: https://www.amazon.com/Spiritual-Journeys-Robert-Baram/dp/0819868760/)).)). Highly recommended.

- Surprised by Truth series, especially the first volume. Accounts of "atheists, Evangelicals, Fundamentalists, and Pentecostals being surprised by Catholic truth." A very good collection.

The case for the Resurrection is much stronger than many realize. The evidence is set out concisely and well in these two books:

- Green, Was Jesus Who He Said He Was? (Out of print, but inexpensive used copies are
available: https://www.amazon.com/Was-Jesus-Who-He-Said/dp/0892836245))))

- McDowell, More than a Carpenter

-If you're the scholarly type, N.T. Wright's The Resurrection of the Son of God is a much longer and more detailed development of essentially the same idea.

Do not neglect to pray. *Ask* for the gift of faith (by praying, you are already making an act of faith). It is all a matter of grace. Trust in the goodness of God. Ask for God's light and guidance as you seek the gift of faith -- to open the eyes of your mind to the truth. As is written in the Epistle of James: "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you." In my experience, this is true.

The Lord works in mysterious ways. Pic related.

>>22990387

Two by Louis Bouyer:
- The Meaning of Sacred Scripture: Far and away the best short introduction to the Bible that I have ever read. Sets forth an illuminating exposition of the gradual revelation of God to Israel, and shows how all the separate and various strands of that revelation reached their full flowering in the coming of Christ.

- The Spirit and Forms of Protestantism: Bouyer was a Lutheran minister who converted to Catholicism. This is his analysis of the early years of the Reformation. Has a very interesting discussion of how the highest levels of Protestant spirituality (i.e., the lives of certain very holy and devout Protestants) track very closely with the highest such levels in Catholicism, e.g., Catholic saints like John of the Cross.

Karl Adam, The Roots of the Reformation: This is a good companion piece to "Spirit and Forms." Posits the - very plausible to my mind - theory that had Luther but remained faithful to the Catholic Church, rather than succumbing to the temptation of schism, he would have become one of its great saints.

Sr. Faustina, Divine Mercy in My Soul: A life-changing book for me. Very inspiring and revelatory.

Cassaude, Abandonment to Divine Providence. This is one of the two or three most profound works of theology I've ever read, and probably the book I've most frequently re-read over the years. Its message is simple - holiness depends on one thing only: complete loyalty to God's will. In addition to being a great work of theology, it is also a fine work of literature.

The Catholic Catechism is very well written -- a concise but surprisingly in-depth introduction to Christianity and the Church.

>>22990629
The Life You Save May Be Your Own / The River / Good Country People by Flannery O'Connor. When I first read these in high school, I assumed that O'Connor was a skeptic and a rather cynical one at that. Of course, with further study I learned otherwise. These are my favorite of her short stories. I would also highly recommend The Habit of Being, a collection of her letters, and Mystery and Manners, her collected essays on the subject of fiction and fiction writing.

Viper's Tangle is a fine novel by the French Catholic author Francois Mauriac. Relatively short but potent, illustrative of the Catholic eye of faith seeing the action of grace among fallen and very sinful, even wicked people. Has a very good feel for the land and culture in the particular little corner of France in which the story is set.

Georges Bernanos, The Diary of a Country Priest. An excellent novel. I am of the opinion that this and Viper's Tangle are the two great Catholic novels. Graham Greene was immensely gifted, but I don't think even his best work is at the level of these two books. With that said, I think The Tenth Man may be my favorite, and the best of Greene's Catholic novels (actually, it was written as a long-form film treatment, although it reads like a novel).

>>21283299

John M. Oesterreicher, Walls are crumbling: Seven Jewish Philosophers Discover Christ

John Friedman, The Redemption of Israel

Adrian van Kaam, A Light to the Gentiles: The Life Story of the Venerable Francis Libermann

Elias Friedman, Jewish Identity

Eugene Kevane, The Lord of History

Fr. Arthur B. Klyber, Once a Jew

Raphael Simon, The Glory of Thy People: The Story of a Conversion

Raphael Simon, Hammer and Fire: Way to Contemplative Happiness and Mental Health in Accordance with the Judeo-Christian Tradition

Roy Schoeman, Salvation is from the Jews

Roy Schoeman, Honey from the Rock

Overview of key issues: http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/prologue.htm#I

Of interest:
Sholem Asch, The Nazarene

Pic related.

>>20767075
The spiritual life is such that you're either moving forwards or backwards. It's almost impossible to remain still (to remain still invariably leads to moving backwards).

I don't know what your reading tastes are, but a couple of books you might find helpful are:

-Thomas Merton, The Seven-Storey Mountain (especially Part II, which describes his conversion, baptism, and a period of backsliding)
-Sheldon Vanauken, A Severe Mercy
-John C.H. Wu, Beyond East and West
-Scott Hahn, Rome Sweet Home
-Spiritual Journeys, edited by Robert Baram
-Surprised by Truth series, especially the first volume.

The above are all conversion stories, as is pic related. I think such stories can be helpful for people struggling with faith - feeling adrift, as it were. These stories show the many different and varied ways people come to faith.

The below two books, otoh, set out the case for the Resurrection in a concise fashion:
-McDowell, More than a Carpenter
-Green, Was Jesus Who He Said He Was?

Also, the Catechism of the Catholic Church is well-written and can be very helpful.

Do not neglect to pray. *Ask* for the gift of faith (by praying, you are already making an act of faith). It is all a matter of grace. Trust in the goodness of God. Ask for God's light and guidance as you seek the gift of faith. As is written in the Epistle of James: "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you." In my experience, this is true.

>>20699384
Conversion stories, e.g.:

-Thomas Merton, The Seven-Storey Mountain
-Sheldon Vanauken, A Severe Mercy
-Spiritual Journeys, edited by Robert Baram
-Roy Schoeman, Honey from the Rock
-John Wu, Beyond East and West

>>20657854
I think conversion stories (such as pic related) can be very helpful. They show the many different and varied ways people come to faith.

I recommend:

Sheldon Vanauken, A Severe Mercy

Spiritual Journeys, edited by Robert Baram (https://www.amazon.com/Spiritual-Journeys-Robert-Baram/dp/0819868760/))

John C.H. Wu, Beyond East and West.

Anon, do not neglect to pray. *Ask* for the gift of faith (by praying, you are already making an act of faith). It is all a matter of grace. Trust in the goodness of God. Ask for God's light and guidance as you seek the gift of faith. As is written in the Epistle of James: "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you." In my experience, this is true.

>>20637816
>I just need the final red pill on actually believing in the "mythological"/story aspects of it. Any book recommendations?

Pray. Ask for the gift of faith (by praying, you are already making an act of faith). It is all a matter of grace. Trust in the goodness of God.

The case for the Resurrection is much stronger than many realize. The evidence is set out concisely and well in these two books:

Green, Was Jesus Who He Said He Was? (Out of print, but inexpensive used copies are available: https://www.amazon.com/Was-Jesus-Who-He-Said/dp/0892836245))

McDowell, More than a Carpenter

If you're the scholarly type, N.T. Wright's The Resurrection of the Son of God is a much longer and more detailed development of essentially the same idea.

I think conversion stories (such as pic related) can be very helpful. They show the many different and varied ways people come to faith.

I recommend:

Spiritual Journeys, edited by Robert Baram (Out of print, but used copies are available: https://www.amazon.com/Spiritual-Journeys-Robert-Baram/dp/0819868760/).). I have read many volumes of Catholic conversion stories, and if not the best, this is certainly one of the best.

Surprised by Truth series, especially the first volume. The selection of stories and quality of the writing is right up there with Spiritual Journeys.

Sheldon Vanauken, A Severe Mercy

Thomas Merton, The Seven-Storey Mountain

John C.H. Wu, Beyond East and West. I was pleased to see this book recently became available again, on Kindle, after being out of print for many decades. Wu was an interesting character -- from a poor Chinese family, he rose by dint of his brilliance to clerk for Oliver Wendell Holmes on the Supreme Court. A winsome and charming memoir.

Roy Schoeman, a Harvard Business School professor, describes his conversion experience here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeDzSfquYcs

Again, remember to pray, and to ask for God's light and guidance as you seek the gift of faith. As is written in the Epistle of James: "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you." In my experience, this is true. Blessings, anon.

>>20468666
Oops, I attached the wrong version of the Kars story.

>>19274287

You might try a book called Spiritual Journeys (Robert Baram, ed.). It's currently out of print, but here is a link to reasonably priced used copies:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B003YIZDR0/

Do not neglect to pray, anon, for it's all a matter of grace.

Ask God to enlighten your mind, and *keep* asking. Cf: "Knock and it shall be opened unto you." Mt. 7:7. Note that the verb tense of "knock" is the present imperative; it could be fairly translated as *Keep knocking*. So, keep knocking.

Here are a few other good books:
- Sheldon Vanauken, A Severe Mercy

- C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

- Thomas Merton, The Seven Storey Mountain

Pic related: An interesting conversion story. Although he does not use the word, I think it can be fairly inferred that Fr. Kars, at one time, and not unlike yourself, considered all Christian claims as nonsense.

But you must pray! Ask God to enlighten your mind, to see the truth. Trust God, put your trust in God, when you make this prayer - even if it is only a kind of provisional trust.

That "desperate spiritual yearning" may indeed be his prevenient grace already at work in you.

>>19262861

I see where he's coming from, and there's some truth to his remarks. But his analysis goes awry in the basic thrust of his argument, in his basic analytical perspective. To wit:
>The true purpose of religion is to strike fear into your heart.

No.

The opening section of the Catholic Catechism explains the true purpose of the Christian religion:

>THE LIFE OF MAN: TO KNOW AND LOVE GOD
>God, infinitely perfect and blessed in himself, in a plan of sheer goodness freely created man to make him share in his own blessed life. For this reason, at every time and in every place, God draws close to man. He calls man to seek him, to know him, to love him with all his strength. He calls together all men, scattered and divided by sin, into the unity of his family, the Church. To accomplish this, when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son as Redeemer and Savior. In his Son and through him, he invites men to become, in the Holy Spirit, his adopted children and thus heirs of his blessed life.
http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/prologue.htm#I

There have been many Jewish converts to Catholicism. Pic related offers one such account. Many more are given in such books as
- John M. Oesterreicher, 'Walls are Crumbling: Seven Jewish Philosophers Discover Christ'
- 'Once a Jew' by Fr. Arthur B. Klyber
- 'Honey from the Rock' by Roy Schoeman

Schoeman, a Harvard Business School professor, describes his conversion experience here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeDzSfquYcs

>>19238389
If you are sincere, you could pray earnestly to God to reveal Himself to you, and promise that you will be faithful to the truth that may be shown to you.

>>19043408
>It's a critical standpoint, I'm not taking the claims in it at face value. I don't see anything wrong with that. It's a little worrying to me when going out of your way to question things is disapproved of, it makes me suspicious.

You have the right to apply a hermeneutic of suspicion, but it's not going to get you anywhere, and you're missing the much deeper meaning and significance by doing so. But with that said, you are of course free to do so. Sometimes only God can answer, or somehow arrange a satisfactory answer, to your questions. I would suggest you pray, for an answer that makes sense to you, and satisfies your points of critical inquiry. But do pray in good faith, if you are going to pray. Sometimes interesting things happen, pic related.

>>18884593

Some of the book suggestions are good. CS Lewis is well worth a try -- Mere Christianity being the obvious starting point.

It is most important, however, that you PRAY.

Ask God to enlighten your mind to see the truth, to reveal Himself to you. And *keep* asking. Cf: "Knock and it shall be opened unto you." Mt. 7:7. Note that the verb tense of "knock" is the present imperative; it could be fairly translated as *keep knocking* and it will be opened unto you.

Make a conscious decision to trust that God is good.

There is no one path to adult conversion. Sometimes it happens very quickly, sometimes slowly. The Holy Spirit is endlessly inventive. See, e.g., the attached conversion story.

Sheldon Vanauken, A Severe Mercy, is another good book. Of course, to some extent it's a matter of taste, but you might give this one a try, see if it clicks with you.

>>18723591

You might try a book called Spiritual Journeys (Robert Baram, ed.). It's currently out of print, but here is a link to reasonably priced used copies:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B003YIZDR0/

Do not neglect to pray, anon, for it's all a matter of grace.

Ask God to enlighten your mind, and *keep* asking. Cf: "Knock and it shall be opened unto you." Mt. 7:7. Note that the verb tense of "knock" is the present imperative; it could be fairly translated as *Keep knocking*.

So keep knocking. And here are a few other good books:
- Sheldon Vanauken, A Severe Mercy

- C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

- Thomas Merton, The Seven Storey Mountain

Pic related: An interesting conversion story.

>>17509792
Look into the Catholic Church, anon. Founded by Jesus Christ 2,000 year ago, and saving souls ever since. It's a big tent, and there's room for everybody.

>>17346244
> Anyways I'm amazed with some parts of this book. Really beautiful.. Paul's letter to the corinthians for example

Believing in the truth Paul led me to believing in the truth of Christianity.

Pic related of possible interest, anon.

>>17002861
>How do people become so deeply religious?

One step at a time. *Very* few indeed become monks, but if you're interested in reading one such account, you can't do better than Thomas Merton, The Seven Storey Mountain.

Another fine well-written conversion story, of a married couple, is Sheldon Vanauken, A Severe Mercy.

>Though I am rationally convinced that theism is more rational than atheism, I can't go any further than that.

There is no one path to adult conversion. Sometimes it happens very quickly, sometimes slowly. The Holy Spirit is endlessly inventive. Although there is no one, fixed path, reading such accounts can open one's mind and spirit to the operation of grace.

In addition to the two above book-length accounts, I would also highly recommend a collection of short first-person conversion stories called Spiritual Journeys, edited by Robert Baram. I note that I am a fan of these sorts of books, of which there are many, and this is one of the very best.

It was out of print the last I checked, but here is a link to reasonably priced used copies:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B003YIZDR0/

Lastly, pic related by may be of interest, too.

>What is the purpose of it all?

It is a mystery, but God created us in His image, that is, with the capacity to enter into spiritual friendship and communion with Him, Who is love.

Do pray, anon, for it's all a matter of grace. Indeed, your initial post is quite possibly the result of what's called prevenient grace.

Ask God to enlighten your mind, and keep asking. Cf: "Knock and it shall be opened unto you." Mt. 7:7 Note that the verb tense of "knock" is the present imperative; it could be fairly translated as *Keep knocking* and it will be opened unto you.

So keep knocking. And "if today you hear His voice, harden not your heart."