Author and Catholic apologist Karl Keating has written numerous books. Two of his books I found to be good starting points for anyone interested in learning about the Catholic faith.
One of the first books I read cover to cover was Keating's "Catholicism and Fundamentalism-The Attack on 'Romanism' by 'Bible Christians'". I knew of many people who left the Catholic Church for fundamentalism and some of what they said seemed to make sense. But I realized how much I didn't know about the faith I was brought up in. I had gone to Catholic school for 12 years, yet really didn't understand much about the Church.
I decided I better find out what the Church really teaches-to find out what these people were rejecting. I started praying and reading the Bible every night. This was the beginning of a beautiful journey. I learned so much about the Church that I was sorry I never took the time to learn when I was younger. Through the grace of God (and much reading and praying) I have totally embraced the faith and each day that faith grows stronger.
I eventually found out that fundamentalist converts were rejecting what they thought Catholics believed and not what Catholics really believe.
In his book, Keating points out that many fundamentalists expend more effort on abusing the Catholic religion than on justifying their own. Many Catholics who convert to fundamentalism are influenced by arguments attacking "Romanism," Keating says.
Much of the arguments are drawn from what Keating calls the "Anti-Catholic Bible" which is Loraine Boettner's "Roman Catholicism", an anti-Catholic work first published in 1962 and reprinted numerous times. Readers soon find that Boettner's attack is unbalanced-mainly relying on hearsay from disgruntled ex-Catholics. The few lines he does refer to from Catholic writings are usually irrelevant or taken out of context. Keating points out that most fundamentalist writings can be traced to Boettner's book which is full of inaccuracies and misinterpretations.
From there Keating goes on to explain and defend, through scripture and Church teaching, the Catholic position on the Bible, Tradition, Church history, salvation, baptism, forgiveness of sins, purgatory, Peter and the papacy, papal infallibility, the Eucharist, the Mass, honoring the saints, Marian beliefs and the Inquisition. He also provides suggestions for anyone considering engaging in Catholic apologetics.
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