{UAH} The Protestant's DILEMMA: Former Evangelical Investigates the Logical Outcome of Protestant Beliefs - A Must Read Book:

What if Protestantism were true?

What if the Reformers really were heroes, the Bible the sole rule of faith, and Christ's Church just an invisible collection of loosely united believers?

Many evangelicals believe exactly that. Devin Rose knows, because he was one of them.

Then one day the questions and doubts began. He noticed things about Protestant belief and practice that didn't add up. He began following the logic of Protestant claims to places he never expected to go—leading to conclusions no Christian would ever admit to holding.

Catholic Answers recently sat down with Devin to discuss his new book, The Protestant's Dilemma, a whole new approach to looking at the differences between Catholic and Protestant belief.

Q: There are dozens of books by Protestant converts to the Catholic Faith. What makes yours different?

A: The Protestant's Dilemma presents arguments for Catholicism in a simple, consistent format that make following the logic easy and interesting. Each one is presented clearly and succinctly, without rancor or polemics, letting the reader decide if the conclusions I reach are warranted.

Q: You list thirty-four different Protestant beliefs and follow them to their logical (or perhaps illogical) conclusions. If a Protestant asked you for your top two false beliefs, what would they be?

A: The first would be the Protestant belief that corruption tainted the Church's doctrines at some point in the first few hundred years of Christianity. If true, it means that God did not protect his Church from error. This belief has no support in the Bible and yet forms the foundational assumption undergirding Protestantism.

The second belief would be the popular Protestant notion that the books of the Bible authenticate themselves. This handy idea allows each individual Christian to claim that he knows by inward testimony of the Spirit which books are inspired and which are not. No Church needed! Yet the history of the canon's discernment by great saints in the early Church and the centuries of debates over it are enough by themselves to undermine this Protestant tenet.

Q: The topics you address deal with Protestant churches, those that emerged from the Reformation with a common set of beliefs. Would you say that a good number of your assertions could also be applied to the Evangelical movement?

A: Most certainly. Evangelicals, Bible churches, and non-denominational churches are all firmly Protestant and have inherited the Reformers' beliefs about the Bible alone being the sole infallible rule of faith, justification through faith alone, a rejection of most sacraments, rejection of the ministerial priesthood, and so on. Sometimes in the book I call out a particular Protestant denomination or Reformer, but typically the arguments used apply to all Protestants.

Q: How would you recommend opening a dialogue with a Protestant and getting him to the point that he would be willing to read your book?

A: Dialogue must always begin with friendship. If a Protestant thinks you see him only as a problem to be solved or a convert to be won, he is going to (rightly) feel uncomfortable. So first, be a good friend, and then I find that the opportunities for dialogue inevitably arise. I find that Protestants are typically quite interested in a Catholic who actually knows his faith and is living it. If however, even after months of friendship these topics are not coming up in conversation, honestly ask him what he has been learning in church, if he is doing any Bible studies, what his church is like, etc.

The good thing about my book is that you can give it to a Protestant friend without apologizing or inwardly wincing, because the book keeps a respectful tone. Protestantism's fatal flaws are exposed, but that is a necessity if we are to come to visible unity in the fullness of the truth that Christ desires.

The Protestant's Dilemma is the perfect book to give non-Catholics trying to work through their own nagging doubts, or for Catholics looking for a fresh way to deepen their understanding of the Faith.



Paul Mugerwa