Book for to share with my Protestant parents

[katherineH]

Hello friends,

I joined the Catholic Church a couple of years ago and my parents have a fairly strong anti-Catholic sentiment.  I want to share a book with them on the topic because I think they would be more open to reading something by a scholar than myself.  I have found that a lot of apologetic books tend to have a defensive and combative tone towards Protestants.  I am looking for a book that presents the Catholic faith in depth but that doesn't fall into anti-Protestant rhetoric.  My dad is a pastor so it's going to have to be something a little denser and complex than your typical Scott Hahn and Catholic Answers stuff (nothing against them, they're just fairly general).  Thanks!!

[Egeria]

I'm Orthodox not Catholic, so wasn't going to comment, but from what you've said I would highly recommend Robert Louis Wilken's The Spirit of Early Christian Thought. It's beautifully, even lyrically written and is certainly not your typical apologetical stuff. If I remember correctly, Wilken was a Lutheran Church historian who converted to Catholicism - he was one of those Protestants who discovered historic Christianity, like his friend Jaroslav Pelikan who became Orthodox shortly before his death. Anyway, the book isn't a defense of modern Catholicism, but an intellectually rigorous but accessible - and beautifully written - introduction to historic Christian faith. FWIW...

[tinytherese]

You'll get more responses on the Open Mic board. For some reason, people don't visit Transmundane Lane much. I'll do it for you.