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Far From Rome, Closer To God


hopeful1

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hey all you church militants! Are any of you guys familiar with this book? This happened awhile ago in the summer when i used to volunteer at a hospital, but i had to deal with some very BITTER former Catholics turned "Born Again" Christians and a presbytarian and i used to get questioned by these guys like it was the Spanish Inquistion from Protestants. That's just the short story of it, but anyway one of them was really adament about it and was trying to get me to read this book called "Far From Rome, Closer to God", which is basically about a bunch of ex priests that left the church and go on to say everything is a lie. Naturally i was ticked off by the time i got past the foreword, and threw the book on the floor ( Although no one was in the room at the time). I'm not working there anymore, but is anyone on Phatmass familiar with it?

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Are you talking about "Far from Rome, Near to God" Edited by Richard Bennett, John Brown and some dude Buckingham?

It's pretty much a silly book. I mean I'll give them credit for the fact that it's better than some other anti-Catholic books out there but still it's sad really.

Testimony of some 50 odd ex-"priests" from orders spanning across Jesuit, Franciscan etc. but a lot of what is said is till misconceptions.

Re: Veneration of Mary, Transubstantiation, ideas that self-humiliation are means of earning salvation etc...

But, it's a pretty misguided book. I didn't like it either.

BUT on a happier note I went to the store and bought goody pops - they're the ones with vitamin C and stuff in it. Mmm MMm good for the cough.

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since we're on the topic of silly anti-catholic books, i was looking thru the "Catholic Section" of my college library today, and guess what gem i found?

Lorraine Boettner's Roman Catholicism

shew! i wanted to take in and hide it on another shelf so that people who really wanted to learn about Catholicism would not be swayed by this......well.......you fill in the blank. i told my librarian about it and asked him if he would remove it from the shelf, since it's not TRULY about Catholicism, but he would not. He said something about, "well, we have anti-Muslim books in the Muslim section. We can't very well move them all." who knows......

i'm thinking about putting a little index card inside the book w/ addresses to orthodox Catholic websites on it, so the reader will go there instead and actually get the facts. what do u guys think?

pax christi,

nick

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i'm thinking about putting a little index card inside the book w/ addresses to orthodox Catholic websites on it, so the reader will go there instead and actually get the facts. what do u guys think?

I think that's a good idea. If non-Catholics are gonna read that book, then they need to know where to go to get the other side of the story.

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I did a search and found my own name and e-dress on Google associated with this book. It was a question I asked of a cinapol website (Catholic information Network Apologetics), and here's the answer I received. Carl Olson is the editor of Envoy Magazine.

My question was, does anyone know anything about this book?

Date: Tue, 05 Nov 2002 13:20:54 -0800

Subject: Re: [Cinapol] Far from Rome, Near to God

From: Carl Olson <carl@envoymagazine.com>

Hi Jay,

Yes, I do. I own it. My mother gave it to me. It's both sad and funny, full

of some very idiotic remarks by former priests and nuns. For example, one

former priest states that he finally left the Church because when he looked

at the Eucharist, all he saw was bread.

If all of the stories/testimonies are true, it is very revealing of

catechesis and seminary training back in the 1800s and early 1900s. I

suspect, however, that some of the stories might be less than true. Just a

hunch.

Carl Olson

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since we're on the topic of silly anti-catholic books, i was looking thru the "Catholic Section" of my college library today, and guess what gem i found?

Lorraine Boettner's Roman Catholicism

shew! i wanted to take in and hide it on another shelf so that people who really wanted to learn about Catholicism would not be swayed by this......well.......you fill in the blank. i told my librarian about it and asked him if he would remove it from the shelf, since it's not TRULY about Catholicism, but he would not. He said something about, "well, we have anti-Muslim books in the Muslim section. We can't very well move them all." who knows......

i'm thinking about putting a little index card inside the book w/ addresses to orthodox Catholic websites on it, so the reader will go there instead and actually get the facts. what do u guys think?

pax christi,

nick

I recommend you throw it in the trash. Librarians don't check the trash for books. And you techincally wouldn't be stealing it, just putting it down in the wrong place. Besides, it doesn't deserve note cards. It deserves fire.

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yeah, both my school and the public library have several copies of boettner's booj in the catholic section....and yet i couldn't find a single catechism or the other book...."triumph", about church history. :angry::angry::angry::angry::angry: :angry:

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yeah, both my school and the public library have several copies of boettner's booj in the catholic section....and yet i couldn't find a single catechism or the other book...."triumph", about church history. :angry:  :angry:  :angry:  :angry:  :angry:  :angry:

Yeah it's annoying....although I rather they not have it...I rather they have it in the Catholic section than make an "anti-Catholic" section.....maybe someone who thinks they're "anti-Catholic" will actually pick up something REAL and TRUE in that secition.

<_<

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Goodness... why don't anti-Catholics just smell of elderberries it up and get a life? I mean really, it seems like they're wasting so much energy.

-Mark

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cmotherofpirl

yeah, both my school and the public library have several copies of boettner's booj in the catholic section....and yet i couldn't find a single catechism or the other book...."triumph", about church history. :angry:  :angry:  :angry:  :angry:  :angry:  :angry:

I would complain to your school librarian or principal Ask them if they know the definition of hate literature or would they like to hear from the St Thomas Moore Legal eagles.

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ryanmeyersmusic

most of them feel responsible for the salvation of the "lost" catholics. it's not an issue of them having nothing better to do, it's an issue of thinking that there's nothing better to do.

this isn't true for all of them, naturally, as some people downright hate the Church (and I know how I feel about someone who could possibly hate my bride) but i do believe that many of these anti-Catholics are doing what they do out of a genuine love and concern...

that's my two cents, at least...

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ok, i've been toying with this idea for awhile, but i almost don't think it would be a good idea b/c 1) it would be done out of spite, 2) I don't work there anymore so there wouldn't be much point and 3) if i DO decide to go into nursing i don't want to burn any bridges if i ever end up working there or need any references ect., but hey this is phatmass so i'll lay my idea out on the table....

k, the last time i was in that department, the former catholic turned gung ho anticatholic was trying to persuade me to read this for the last time and going into her little tyrade of trash " the church only wants you to do whats good for them....blah blah...i saw the pope and he was all rich and waving to all the people and did nothing to help the poor ...blah blah.. they rewrote the bible.. you need to be born again blah blah.. and I know you're angry but one day you are going to be down on your knees and praying for your salvation cause you have to be born again cuz thats what the bible says and dats the truth". that wasn't even half of what she said, but yeah basically she was saying i wasn't a christian and i'm going ot hell ( yeah, but she's bringing the bar-b-q). by this point i wanted to scream like a million things at her but i just excused myself and left, and even after that she has the audacity to call out in the hallway "Someday you'll thank me", to which i replied "Bull s...!" as i walked out of the pediatric ward and didn't look back ( ok except for the last day i volunteered at the hospital cuz of school, i wasn't going to say goodbye to them at first but then i decided to be the better woman)

ok, this is my idea ...since christmas is coming up, i was thinking about paying her a visit and giving her a little present, particularly scott hahn's " Rome Sweet Home" ( that's his conversion story right?) and a note saying something like " you said that someday i would thank you, those are words that have haunted me since the last day we talked about salvation and i stormed out of the room. Well I never thought i'd see the day, but you were right, i would thank you. Thank you Pat for making me become stronger in my faith. every persecution, every question, and every attack you have made about my church has forced me to research my own faith, and the more i studied the more i realized that this is the true faith, the church christ has founded and i have never been more proud to call myself catholic. Thank you pat for making me even more of a catholic than the day i first volunteered. I suggest that you do the same, and begin to do some research of your own, learn what it really does teach, from those who love the church, not from a bunch of twisted lies or misunderstandings from hate mongers. I will even give you a head start ( the book).Learn the TRUTH. You say that the people from your old church were cold, come to my church and i promise you will meet some the most warm and loving people you will ever meet. You say that mass was boring , come to my the mass i sing in and you will love it. You say the church doesn't want you to read the bible, come to the bible study afterwards and be fascinated by what was really taught. the man who teaches it was once in your shoes. Come back home pat, you really don't know what you're missing. Who knows, maybe someday you will thank me..." ok, this is all coming off the top of my head and needs some work. but anyways, what do you guys think of my idea, is it too spiteful?

Edited by hopeful1
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BUT on a happier note I went to the store and bought goody pops - they're the ones with vitamin C and stuff in it. Mmm MMm good for the cough.

hope you feel better KidKapps!

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I recommend you throw it in the trash.  Librarians don't check the trash for books.  And you techincally wouldn't be stealing it, just putting it down in the wrong place.  Besides, it doesn't deserve note cards.  It deserves fire.

actually, you technically wouldn't be stealing it, just takin out the trash! B) :lol:

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