Karl Keating

The book I read is the abridged edition by Augustine Institute, having 204 pages. I wouldn't give it a 4.1 rating because the book is a little tedious to read. It's a good book to gain understanding of some of the gaps in understanding between some Evangelicals (as they are called) and Catholics. For the Catholic who is moderately involved in his or her faith, doctrine (an understanding of what is believed) is important and pragmatic. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) testifies to the importance of doctrine. Doctrine is less well formulated in many (but not all) Protestant communions. Christians literally live and die by what they believe, and by the faith (trust) in what they believe. Sure - Christ is sympathetic to ignorance. So it's possible for the conscientious aborigine to be saved - but it rather tenuous to allow oneself to continue in ignorance.… (meer)

An all-around decent and easy to understand apologetics book. Keating has a very "no nonsense" style of writing -- he tells the truth like it is and does not worry about what one may think. For this book's purposes, his voice works well to defend Catholic customs and beliefs that have been under attack by various groups.

While I personally like Keating, I wouldn't necessarily recommend him immediately to someone who knows absolutely nothing about Catholicism. There are other authors who can introduce one to the truths of Catholicism in a gentler yet, honest tone. Rather, I would recommend this to Catholics seeking to understand traditions in their faith better as well as those who take issue with Catholic beliefs and seek to understand why we believe what we do.… (meer)