The world’s foremost scholar of John Henry Newman has now written a beautiful introduction to doctrine and practice of the Catholic faith. It’s Mere Catholicism, by Ian Ker. As the title suggests, it is written very much in the spirit of C.S. Lewis, with comparable grace, clarity, and wit. Both a pastor and an Oxford don, Father Ker is a virtuoso in the use of analogy. He speaks of the sacraments as “the Church’s body language.” He discusses sin in terms of addiction. Unlike Lewis, perhaps, he is willing to tackle the vexed and divisive issues, such as sexual morality, which he treats in a masterly way in a chapter titled “Does My Body Belong to Me?” This is an excellent book for serious inquirers as well as those non-Catholics who simply want to understand their Catholic friends or family members.
2 thoughts on “Mere Cat”
Comments are closed.
Thanks for the recommendation. The title alone reeled me in.
Yes, a great title, and very exciting when linked with that author’s name. I’m excited to get hold of it. Ian Ker has produced lots of amazing work in the past, but much of it pretty scholarly. I hope this will make him much better known to the larger audiences of Catholic readers. And I hope more like this will follow from him. It’s bound to bear great fruit.