Books for conversion to the Catholic Church: 10 books that shaped my conversion
I shared my conversion to the Catholic Church with you in the past weeks.
And while my conversion was truly a work of God’s Holy Spirit, books were a huge part of the process. I like to say that, animated by God’s grace, I prayed and read my way into the fullness of faith.
I’m often asked what books touched me the most during this time period. Today I’m sharing with you the 10 books that shaped my conversion to the Catholic Church.
If you missed the story of my conversion to the Catholic Church, you may want to check it out here.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
A word of caution…
Before I start listing my favorite books, let me just put a word of warning in here.
WARNING: DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT, run out and purchase these books and hand them to the loved ones you want to bring into the faith.
Books can be a fabulous evangelizing tool, but only when the person’s heart is prepared by the work of the Holy Spirit. This is why the critical first step in evangelizing is not well-laid arguments, sound apologetics, or the perfect book, but rather, prayer.
I was given Rome Sweet Home by Scott and Kimberly Hahn about 4 years before God had prepared my heart to receive it.
I was so hurt. I felt like the giftee was telling me my faith was inadequate. Worst of all, it was wrapped up with a bow. It would have been much better if it had been offered to me as interesting reading material, but to give it as a gift was adding insult to injury.
That is not to say that there is never a time to give someone a book on Catholicism. Our job as evangelizers (yes, we are all called to evangelize!) is to gauge the soil of our family and friends’ hearts and to only give the food they are ready to receive.
When we are engaged in conversation about our faith differences, a book is a great resource to give a friend. Be willing to read/watch/listen to the materials they give you too!
A book given at the right time…
Husband and I teach an in-home baptism class for our parish cluster. I chatted over supper with one young mother attending our class – a Protestant married to a Catholic.
I shared my conversion story with her and offered Rome Sweet Home to her if she was interested.
I wasn’t pushy but simply shared my life’s story, and the book was not thrust upon her but offered.
We stayed in touch and 6 months later she emailed and said, “We need to talk.”
At a mother’s night out together and she shared how she had finally read Rome Sweet Home. She had no more reservations about the Catholic faith. She is now in the process of joining the Church – all praise and glory to God!
10 Books that Shaped my Conversion to the Catholic Church
1.Rome Sweet Home
This book was like Catholicism 101 from a Protestant’s perspective. Unlike many other apologetic-type books, it is told in story form which keeps it an interesting read.
This is the # 1 book I like to give to Protestants in the process of crossing the Tiber.
2. Crossing the Tiber
This book is a very in-depth story of one Protestant’s conversion to the Catholic Church.
In Part One, Steve Ray gives an overview of his conversion while providing lengthy and detailed footnotes filled with strong apologetic arguments for Catholicism.
Part Two is entitled “Baptism in the Scriptures and Ancient Church” and Part Three is “The Eucharist in the Scriptures and the Catholic Church.”
It is a little more difficult of a read the Rome Sweet Home, but goes deeper into apologetics.
3.Catholic and Christian
I picked this book up from my in-laws’ bookshelves and poured over it quickly. For someone who thought Catholicism was only borderline Christian, this was a beneficial read.
Understanding how Catholicism is the fullness of Christianity is a crucial turning point for a Protestant’s conversion to the Catholic Church.
4.The Lamb’s Supper
I know many converts who were drawn to the Mass and the Eucharist, but that was not what initially drew me to the Catholic faith. As I got closer to Confirmation, I picked up The Lamb’s Supper.
After reading The Lamb’s Supper, I began to appreciate the beauty of the Catholic Mass.
This text created a real hunger within me to receive the Body and Blood of Our Lord. As a Protestant, I loved how Hahn draws so much from scripture.
5.Why do Catholics Do That?
This was one of those 30 books I picked up at the library.
I was a little skeptical about this book, but it is a great primer for those who know very little about the practices of the Catholic Church.
I learned about relics, Canon Law, religious life, Marian apparitions, the Sign of the Cross, and the Stations of the Cross, among other things.
6.The Faith of the Early Fathers
This book is actually a 3 volume set which houses selected writings of the early church Fathers.
To be honest, I did NOT read through the entirety of the 3 book set. However, I found it tremendously helpful to use the index and look up writings on whatever topic I was studying at the time.
As a Protestant, I always thought my faith and worship was more akin to the early church than Catholicism.
I was totally amazed as I read these writings from the first few centuries that, as it turns out, the early church looks a lot like Catholicism!
This is yet another important step for a Protestant in their conversion to the Catholic Church.
7.Catechism of the Catholic Church
The Catechism is another great resource for converts and Catholics alike!
Unfortunately, there is a lot of false information out there about what the Catholic Church actually believes. As I went through my conversion to the Catholic Church, I liked to look things up in the Catechism, as a way of getting things straight from the horse’s mouth!
I’ve never been faithful about reading a paragraph from the Catechism everyday, but I know many priests who suggest this practice.
8.The Bible
During my conversion to the Catholic Church, I was at times frustrated by how I had been misled in believing I could self interpret the Bible.
I was tempted to just give up reading it all together. At times, I would put it down for a season. However, as I learned more, I enjoyed reading the Bible through the lens of Catholicism.
Verses that were obscure or hard to swallow made perfect sense under the light of the Catholic faith. Scales had fallen from my eyes and allowed me to see that the Bible is Catholic.
The RSV New Testament Study Bible by Ignatius Press helped me understand things from a Catholic perspective. It continues to sit on my shelf, and remains a well-used resource in our home.
READ MORE: Now that I’m Catholic…How do I read the Bible?
Bible in 360 Challenge: Read the Catholic Bible in a Year (with printable)
Bible Study Resources for the Everyday {Catholic} Mom
9.Imitation of Christ
I know the Imitation of Christ is not an apologetic work nor a treatise on Catholic beliefs, but the spiritual food I gleaned from this book attracted me even more to the Catholic faith.
This book helped me see the depth and richness of Catholic spirituality versus the shallow, childish, near-prosperity gospel I possessed.
I keep this book on my nightstand and when I get a chance, I read one of the short chapters.
10.The Devout Life
(See #9 for more on why I chose these Catholic spirituality books.)
This book remains one of my favorite books of all time and I reread it every other year. I think that St. Francis de Sales wrote this book just for me!
He so clearly lays out a path with tangible and practical steps for growing in devotion to Our Lord.
Besides, St. Francis helped convert tens of thousands of Protestants, so he is especially close to my heart!
Are you a convert? If so, what books were important in your conversion?
You may like:
My Conversion to the Catholic Church
Busy Mama’s Guide to Learning about Catholicism
Now that I’m Catholic…How do I read the Bible?
Let’s not forget that we can also nurture our children in the faith!
I used seven of your ten books, myself, and after 40 years as a staunch Protestant, I was won over. Three others that were very helpful to me, and enjoyable to read, were the “Surprised by Truth” books. At that time there were three of them, there may be more by now. These are collections of 1 chapter stories of how others came to the Catholic Church. Patrick Madrid is the editor.
These have been on my To be Read List for quite some time! I’ll have to see if I can get a hold of them soon!
Pinning this. Okay, so the final straw for me was a YouTube video but I’m seeing it is also in book form. I’m definitely buying it for the home library! “Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist” by Brant Pitre.
An absolute favorite that I would add would be The Ordinary Path to Holiness by R. Thomas Richard. It’s a spirituality work, a sort of run-through summary of the ideas in St. Theresa’s Interior Castle and the works of St. John of the Cross. I was (and still am) blown away by the depth and wisdom in Catholic spirituality!
I love the Surprised by Truth books, too! I need to read The Devout Life. St Francis de Sales’s Catholic Controversy was important in our conversion, too.
We really like Catholic Controversy as well, though it is a harder read than Devout Life. I’ve always wanted to read the Suprised by Truth books, but haven’t gotten around to it. I’ll put Ordinary Path on my list! Thanks!
I have read the word “apologetic” in several places in several of your posts. What do you mean exactly?
That is a great question! “Apologetics” comes from a word in Greek that means a verbal defense. Because I am terrible at putting a definition into words, I checked Wikipedia and they gave the definition as “Christian theology that presents historical, reasoned, and evidential bases for Christianity, defending it against objections.” When I think of Catholic apologetics, I think of many of the books on the above list or about Catholic Answers, a radio show centered around apologetics. I hope that helps!
The Lamb’s Supper was instrumental for me, and so were the books Born Protestant, Born Again Catholic and Rediscover Catholicism. Before I even considered joining the Catholic Church, I read St. Augustine’s Confessions, St. Thérèse of Lisieux’s Story of a Soul, and The Imitation of Christ.
Wow! I’m amazed that you read and enjoyed the later three before coming home to the Catholic Church. I too just loved the Lamb’s Supper! I don’t have the same reaction anymore when I reread it, but my first reading was profound!
Thank you for sharing these books! I love that you pointed out how they can be a tool in the journey but not the journey itself. This is so true. The first step is always, always prayer. Whenever someone asks me how I became Catholic, the short answer is always “I prayed”. Only later, in the light of prayer, did those books begin to work on my heart.
I also like that you included “spiritual living” type books. One of my most touching books pre-conversion was reading St. Therese de Lisieux’s autobiography. I also read through a collection of the Lives of the Saints. Reading these touched me more than any specific apologetic book I think (even though those did help and play a role!). After reading those, I felt like as a Protestant, I was constantly struggling with the basics, never progressing beyond spiritual “milk” so to speak. But even the most simple of these Catholic Saints were serving up four-course spiritual meals!
This is such a fabulous comment! Prayer is so pivotal isn’t it? All is grace! I’ve read through Story of Soul a couple times and I feel like I’m missing some of the key points most of the time, but it is such a lovely book. I have to say I’m amazed that you read about the saints before your conversion. I’m sorry to say that I probably would have laughed my way through it before the Lord worked on my heart!
I was born/raised catholic in the sense baptized….didn’t received the other rites until about 8 years ago (approx.) the first catholic book I read (that was given to me was the Rome sweet Rome book too! I moved to the south (Florida Panhandle, very southern) in 1998 and was bombarded by protestants about my Catholicism and I didn’t have answers….so I started reading. One book that I loved and explained protestant lingo and catholic lingo was Born Fundamentalist, Born Again Catholic by David Curry…read the Surprised by the truth series and also there is a free online catholic books/workbooks that I did!
Isn’t it funny how God orchestrated your life circumstances to strengthen your faith? I haven’t read the book by David Curry or the Surprised by Truth although they have both been on my “to read list” for some time. Thanks for sharing!
I’m in the process of converting, and many of those you listed I have read! Evangelical Is Not Enough by Thomas Howard was another one that helped me, coming from an evangelical background.Something Other Than God by Jennifer Fulwiler was a wonderful memoir and it was VERY interesting to read about why she converted from atheism to Catholicism – it was the only form of Christianity that made sense to her. Catholicism by Bishop Barron was also helpful for learning some basics.
Congratulations on your journey, Kathleen! I just read Something Other Than God this summer and Jennifer did SUCH an amazing job making her conversion into a novel like read. I was glued to the pages!