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What Catholics Really Believe: Answers to Common Misconceptions About the Faith Kindle Edition

4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 191 ratings

The popular apologist and author of the bestselling Catholicism and Fundamentalism provides insightful answers to 52 of the most common misconceptions about the Catholic Faith that are held by Protestants and Catholics. He draws on Scripure and Church teaching to provide clear explanations about misunderstood Catholic beliefs.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Catholics and others who want to play with a full deck will welcome the fifty-two explanations provided by Karl Keating in What Catholics Really Believe. He deals with each question crisply and clearly. Readers can await the last trump with equanimity."
—Ralph McInerny, University of Notre Dame

"With erudition, wit, and charm, Karl Keating explains some of the most common misunderstandings of the Roman Catholic Church. I highly recommend this work to Catholics seeking better to understand our Faith."
—Cardinal John O'Connor, Archdiocese of New York

"Keating is simply one of the best Catholic apologists alive. He writes in the tradition of, and as a worthy successor to, Frank Sheed and Fulton Sheen. He is thoroughly orthodox, reasonable, clear, and interesting."
—Peter Kreeft, Author, Fundamentals of the Faith

About the Author

Karl Keating is the author of twenty books, including the Debating Apologetics series, The Francis Feud, and the best-selling Catholicism and Fundamentalism
Among his most recent books is the travel memoir
 Sun, Storm, and Solitude: Discovering Hidden Italy on the Cammino di San Benedetto.
His author website is KarlKeating.com.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0030DHP98
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Ignatius Press (September 3, 2009)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 3, 2009
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 376 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 164 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 191 ratings

About the author

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Karl Keating
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Karl Keating was born in Chicago, grew up near Los Angeles, and ever since college has lived in San Diego. After practicing law for twelve years he founded a Catholic apologetics ministry from which he is now retired.

He has written two traditionally-published bestsellers, one that sold a quarter of a million copies in paperback, another that sold half that many. (He also has written a few doorstops.)

Today he writes in multiple genres: religion, history, science, outdoors, publishing, and fiction. At the moment he is writing several books simultaneously. This is not a smart thing to do, but it's the way he works.

HIS NEWEST BOOK

"1054 and All That: A Lighthearted History of the Catholic Church" is the first book of its kind: real history, with an "attitude" that's sure to keep you smiling. (Publication date: December 1, 2022.)

A SERIES IN PREPARATION

This series should be available in early 2023.

It's a series (four titles, plus an omnibus) on how *not* to hike and backpack. Lots of books tell you what you should do before and during a trip, but it's equally important to know how to avoid blunders that could ruin what otherwise would be a fine adventure. The constituent books:

"How to Fail at Backpacking"

"How to Fail at Hiking Mt. Whitney" (already available at Amazon)

"How to Fail at Hiking Yosemite"

"How to Fail at Hiking Grand Canyon"

"How to Fail at Hiking" (omnibus volume)

OTHER BOOKS IN PREPARATION

1. A witty and profound collection of 365 witty and profound sayings of Samuel Johnson (1709-1784): a reflection and commentary for every day of the year. (Expected availability: mid-2023.)

3. A how-to-write-and-edit-your-own-book handbook, written in the voice of Mrs. Malaprop, the famed character from Richard Brinsley Sheridan's play "The Rivals." (Expected availability: mid-2023.)

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
191 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book informative and helpful for those with questions about the faith. They find it concise and engaging, providing useful cues for expressing beliefs verbally. Readers describe it as an excellent resource for those seeking the truth and a great gift for those seeking the truth.

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46 customers mention "Information quality"42 positive4 negative

Customers find the book informative and helpful for those with questions about the Catholic faith. They say it offers clear explanations of verbal ways of expressing beliefs and is a good start to many topics. The book provides accurate information about the Catholic faith and is easy to understand for those outside the Church.

"...about the Catholic Church I found this book to be an excellent representation of the Catechisms...." Read more

"...` The author is a well-known apologist, very knowledgeable. This book has a lot of bang for the buck, really quite an eye-opener text" Read more

"I found this to be a good discussion of topics not necessarily limited to Catholicism...." Read more

"A concise and handy guide for clearing up misconceptions about the Catholic Church held by so-called "Bible Christians" and even many misguided..." Read more

37 customers mention "Readability"37 positive0 negative

Customers find the book well-written and easy to understand. They say it's concise and informative, a must-have for Catholics. The book is described as clear and simple, making it a great guide for those who are lost or need direction back to the Catholic church.

"...of reconciling my Faith with the Catholic Church I found it an enjoyable read which answered some of the "uhs?" I've had for years...." Read more

"...and answer style of the Baltimore Catechism, only this book really grabs the reader, and holds their interest...." Read more

"...I found it very readable and consistent with the Catholic teachings." Read more

"A concise and handy guide for clearing up misconceptions about the Catholic Church held by so-called "Bible Christians" and even many misguided..." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on March 30, 2007
    I someone wishing to learn more about the Catholic Church I found this book to be an excellent representation of the Catechisms. I think this book would be a must for any "Cradle Catholics" who has forgotten what the Church teaches.

    As a Protestant on the verge of reconciling my Faith with the Catholic Church I found it an enjoyable read which answered some of the "uhs?" I've had for years.

    What this book doesn't try to do is to prove those statements. For me that was just fine as I have many other books now which contain that information. This book will definitely help set the record straight, you will just still have questions as too why, especially if you aren't Catholic. But hey, to me that search of why is a wonderful thing that can help all of us learn more about our Brothers and Sisters in Christ.
    11 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on January 14, 2007
    52 questions are posed along with their answers. Written in the question and answer style of the Baltimore Catechism, only this book really grabs the reader, and holds their interest. I think this book will be of great interest to any Catholic that invests any amount of time into religion. This reader has seen many quick perusals of this book turn into a regular reading session. The questions are posed, many that are commonly heard and the book's answer becomes irresistible.

    The Church's views on Extraterrestrials, Angels, civil divorce, etc, are all discussed within this book. `

    The author is a well-known apologist, very knowledgeable. This book has a lot of bang for the buck, really quite an eye-opener text
    8 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on October 5, 2019
    I found this to be a good discussion of topics not necessarily limited to Catholicism. I found it very readable and consistent with the Catholic teachings.
  • Reviewed in the United States on April 8, 2018
    A concise and handy guide for clearing up misconceptions about the Catholic Church held by so-called "Bible Christians" and even many misguided Catholics. Not that most Catholic-bashers (there are a few open-minded exceptions out there, of course) will care to be confused with the facts anyway.

    NOTEWORTHY PASSAGES:

    --p. 15: "Papal infallibility extends only to matters of faith or morals—not to Church customs, not to sports, not to literature, not to most things of everyday life. And infallibility comes into play only when the pope 'proclaims by a definitive act.' This means a formal, public statement. An offhand comment over lunch doesn’t count."

    --p. 21: "It isn’t enough to believe the Catholic faith—you also have to live it. In fact, how you live demonstrates what you believe. If you have what is termed 'saving faith,' it will manifest itself in a holy, obedient life. If your faith is nothing more than a list of propositions to which you give mental assent, you have only intellectual faith, the kind James says is insufficient for salvation (Jas 2: 24). Notice that Paul calls real Christian faith 'the obedience of faith' (Rom 1: 5, 16: 26). It’s a faith which manifests itself in proper acts."

    pp. 21-22: "If you don’t confess serious (mortal) sins, you are not really sorry for them. After all, if you really are sorry for your sins, you will humble yourself by confessing them in the way God has ordained, through sacramental confession (Jn 20: 22-23). If you refuse to confess your serious sins, you have only a pretended sorrow and remain grace-less. Without grace, you can’t go to heaven."

    --p. 30: "One charge leveled against the Church for years has been that the Church chained the Bible, ostensibly to keep it away from the people. Both Catholics and Protestants are surprised to learn that the Church indeed chained the Bible—but for exactly the opposite reason. In the Middle Ages and into the early years of the printing press, Bibles were scarce and expensive. Each was copied by hand, and many sported illuminated pages. A single Bible could be worth ten thousand dollars in today’s currency. Often a town had a single book, and that book was the Bible. Kept in the parish church, that Bible was made available to lay Catholics by chaining it to the table on which it was placed, just as telephone books today are kept available for the public by chaining them to telephone booths. Does the phone company chain the Yellow Pages so no one can use them? Quite the opposite—so the maximum number of people can have access to them. It was the same with the Bible. In fact, after the English Reformation, the Bible was chained in churches which had not previously displayed copies. So, if Catholic authorities are to be blamed for chaining the Bible, Protestant authorities should be blamed as well. In fact, both should be praised, not blamed."

    --p. 63: "If we neglect these, we will end up either with an empty conscience, which won’t be able to guide us rightly at all, or a cramped conscience, which sees sin where there is no sin. The former condition is licentiousness, the latter is scrupulosity. The one never seems to see any sin except the grossest; and the other seems to see sin, even in innocent things. Someone who is burdened either by no guilt at all or by much guilt should see a solid priest-confessor. These conditions are signs of spiritual malformation, and they can be corrected."

    --p. 64: "Christ never engaged in unnecessary acts. He instituted the sacrament of penance or reconciliation, or what we commonly call confession (the terms emphasize different aspects, but refer to the same sacrament). He instituted confession as the ordinary or normative way of having one’s sins forgiven. **This means that it is the standard way**." [emphasis added]

    --p. 101: "What makes us justified in God’s sight is faith. If we have true faith, good works follow naturally and protect that faith. So, far from teaching a doctrine of 'works righteousness'—that would be Pelagianism, which was condemned at the Council of Carthage in A.D. 418—the Catholic Church teaches the true biblical doctrine of justification. It avoids the two erroneous extremes. **Works alone aren’t enough, and neither is a bare faith in a list of propositions.**" [emphasis added]
    17 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on July 7, 2023
    Excellent product. Excellent service. I would absolutely buy again from this seller.
  • Reviewed in the United States on May 13, 2014
    Easy to read and understand which is why I would recommend this book. When looking for answers and easy to share explanations for the Catholic faith I need to be able to 'get it' myself before sharing with others with a sense of credibility. This book is a helpful tool.

Top reviews from other countries

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  • M. Conlin
    5.0 out of 5 stars Tell me no lies and keep your hands to yourself
    Reviewed in Canada on August 19, 2021
    Truth. its not always what you want to hear but its what you need to hear. Get with the program.
  • James
    5.0 out of 5 stars Ótimo
    Reviewed in Brazil on March 5, 2015
    Grande livro. Claro e bem escrito. Boa didática.
    A maior parte das informações serão úteis principalmente para jovens católicos ou pessoas com pouco conhecimento sobre a fé católica.
    O livro é da década de 1990, portanto quando aborda o Rosário não cita os mistérios luminosos que são mais recentes. Nada que desabone a obra.
    Considerando que vivemos num tempo onde reina a desinformação sobre a fé católica, este livro é útil e também uma fonte segura.
  • Brian ONeill
    5.0 out of 5 stars This is a must for any Catholic who is unsure ...
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 26, 2015
    This is a must for any Catholic who is unsure about their faith with superb answers to key issues by Karl Keating. He also covers the disputed differences between Catholicism and other more fundamentalist Protestant beliefs. Highly recommend
  • Patty Lynn
    5.0 out of 5 stars Concise, easy to understand, informative
    Reviewed in Canada on January 14, 2012
    This book is a fantastic resource for those interested in joining the Catholic church. Karl Keating hits on all the BIG misconceptions about the faith and addresses them using easy to understand vocabulary. He sets the record straight about doctrines of the Catholic church and leaves no room for speculations. I have used this book as a teaching resource for adult catechism and have recommended it to the 'students' in my class. A great addition to my ever growing shelf of Catholic books and resources.

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