Timothy Drake

I read this because a Lutheran friend is considering converting to Catholicism, and this is one of the many books he’s read that has had an affect on him. I’ll start this review by saying that I don’t have anything against Catholics. I know lots of swell people who are Catholic, and I’ve read other books written by Catholics that I really liked, like The Jesuit Guide to Almost Everything, by Father James Martin. That was a 5-Star read and a source of much food for thought.
This one made me testy.
Most of the testimonials in this book were written by people who thought the Lutheran Church isn’t conservative enough or that it has too many interpretations of scripture flying around. That’s an oversimplification, because they listed many things that led to their conversions, but I think it’s fair to say it was a common thread. I thought the tone was divisive, exclusive, and sometimes a little bonkers.
The one I thought was the most reasonable was a well-written piece by Todd von Kampen, who wrote more about discovering what Lutherans and Catholics have in common, although ultimately he still chose to convert to Catholicism.
Most of the testimonials spoke of the Catholic Church as the only true church. Some of them had been Lutheran pastors who pretty much negated their original call by converting, especially the female pastors who now aren’t allowed to be ordained. I felt like they were treating their time as Lutherans as if it meant nothing, or nothing beyond being a stepping stone to Catholicism. One of them referenced Louis Bouyer’s suggestion in Spirit and Forms of the Protestantism, that “Lutheran worship is a shadow or imitation of Roman Catholic worship—beautiful perhaps, but without substance.”
Wow.
With all the divisiveness in the testimonials, it surprised me that the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, written by the Lutheran World Federation and the Catholic Church, was included in the appendices, since that was written in the spirit of finding common ground. This document was something I’d never heard of, and as I read through it, I really couldn’t see vitally important differences in interpretation of justification. One of the reasons I rated this 2 stars instead of 1 was that I learned some things I didn’t know before, like the existence of this effort toward agreement and unity.
People change their minds about stuff, and that’s fine. That’s life. I certainly don’t think the same way I did as a teenager or young adult. So the path each of these people took is their story and their choice, and I don’t disrespect that. But I do resent their adamant assertion that everyone else is wrong. That just makes me want to run as far away as I can get.… (mehr)