Product Description

Ten former Protestants tell why they chose the Catholic Church!

In these dramatic and thought-provoking conversion stories, ten men and women reveal why they changed their minds about Protestantism and entered the Catholic Church.

These tales will do for you what these converts had to do for themselves: answer the most common objections to the Catholic Faith — and answer them in terms that non-Catholics find familiar and easy to understand.

These stories will remind you of the critical truth that all converts know but most others forget: churches must not be judged by the weakness of their members, but by the truth of what they teach.

The closer these former Protestants looked at Catholicism, the more they found that Christ's truth is taught in its fullness only in the Catholic Church. No wonder this book is a convert maker.

But these stories do more than make converts. If you're already Catholic, they help you explain your Faith to non-Catholics and leave you prouder and more grateful than ever to be in Christ's Church.

So whether you're Catholic or just inquiring, Surprised by Truth 3 is the book for you!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #106158 in Books
• Published on: 2002-10
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

Review
"A superb collection of personal conversion stories, —interesting, informative, and inspiring!" -- Bert Ghezzi, author of Mystics and Miracles & Voices of the Saints.

Pat has done it again! Ten more equally compelling, inspiring and intellectually sound stories of conversion. -- Marcus C. Grodi, President of the Coming Home Network

The Catholic Church continues to call men and women home! You'll find the reasons why in Surprised by Truth 3. -- Paul Thigpen, Ph.D., editor, Shaken by Scandals: Catholics Speak Out About Priests' Sexual Abuse.

You need to read this book! -- Curtis Martin— Founder & President
FOCUS — Fellowship of Catholic University Students

From the Publisher
"Working closely with each and every one of the contributors to this project was one of the most enjoyable and rewarding experiences I've had as an editor." T.A. Editor, Sophia Institute Press

About the Author
Patrick Madrid is the founder and publisher of the award-winning Envoy Magazine, a Catholic journal of apologetics and evangelization.

His books include Surprised by Truth, Surprised by Truth 2 (Sophia Institute Press), Pope Fiction, Any Friend of God’s Is a Friend of Mine, Where Is That In the Bible?, Search and Rescue (Sophia Institute Press), and the forthcoming Surprised by Scripture (Sophia Institute Press). He’s a contributor to the forthcoming Encyclopedia of Apologetics and is a co-author of Not by Scripture Alone.

In addition to his books, Patrick hosts the popular EWTN television and radio series "Pope Fiction" and co-hosts the new EWTN television apologetics series "The Truth About Scripture and Tradition," (coming in the fall of 2001).

Patrick has published articles and essays on apologetics in Catholic and Protestant journals such as Catholic Dossier, New Covenant, This Rock, New Oxford Review, Regeneration Quarterly, Sacerdos, Catholic Extension, Credenda/Agenda, and Lay Witness. In addition to his writing projects, he has conducted hundreds of apologetics and evangelization conferences in English and Spanish across the U.S., as well as throughout Europe, Asia, and Latin America.

He is a veteran of numerous formal public debates with Protestant ministers, Mormon leaders, and other non-Catholic spokesmen.

Patrick and his wife Nancy live with their eleven children in the countryside of central Ohio.

Customer Reviews

Wonderful Series
All three books in the Surprised by Truth series highly recommended. These are personal stories of conversion, and these converts describe the struggles they had with the claims of the Catholic Church. Various backgrounds here: Anglican, former Catholic "reverts", Baptist, Reformed, etc. The apologetics was a little stronger in the first book of the series, but all three are great books. For books with stronger apologetics content get A Biblical Defense of Catholicism by Dave Armstrong, or Steve Ray's book of conversion Crossing the Tiber.

To see and hear many of these converts in person, you can check them out on the Journey Home program from EWTN. Wonderful and impressive given all they had to go through to find the truth.

Phil Porvaznik

It Converted Me All Over Again
I received this book about 6 days ago in the mail. I would have finished it in less time (I read half of it on the first day), but I didn't pick it up for a few days. What an awesome and moving book!

This is a compilation of conversion stories of folks who converted to Catholicism. They tell their personal stories, in detail, through the doubts and inconsistencies they faced in their former traditions, and sometimes, providential introduction to Catholicism. They describe their journey in search for truth, and finally the joyous steps through the doors of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.

The individuals include:

1. A former soldier of a nation and present soldier of Christ and priest of God
2. A former Anglican
3. A former "a la carte" contracepting Catholic couple and present defenders of Life
4. A former "Left Behind"-ing Rapturist and present Catholic apologist
5. A former Commune-er and present Communion receiver
6. A seeker of Truth
7. A former Anglican priest
8. A former radical traditionalist (SSPX) adherent, present Canon lawyer
9. A former Baptist lawyer, present Catholic defender
10. A former Anti-Catholic and sister to Catholicism's most formidable anti-Catholic apologist, Dr. James White- now in the most ironic of twists, she and the grace of God are our best hope for Mr. White's conversion.

This book has changed my views of many things. Indeed, it has opened my eyes to the difficulties most Protestants have in accepting the Catholic faith, especially considering the traditions from which they came.

It has also humbled my approach to this process. It can never be a black and white process of truth and heresy, submission or rejection- in matters of the heart and faith, these things take times; for some, years.

There was numerous times when negative approaches were demonstrated which reflected my past as well as some lingering habits I still have. This book was a "mirror" to my conscience at times. Although it is right to strive for Christian perfection, as the Catechism and the Bible inspire us towards, we cannot give way to Pride, EVER!

A chilling quote which still haunts my conscience, even though I have evolved and improved, it is not totally gone, was said by a Saint to the Jansenists: "Your piety is that of the angels, but your pride is that of the devils!"

Wow! What a saying. There's just to many good things about this book to mention just a few; to choose one over the other is injustice to the consistent priceless value each of these stories hold. It converted me all over again!!!!

Highly recommended!

Dominus Vobiscum,
Laurence A. Gonzaga

Wonderful and insightful
Of the ten wonderful and insightful testimonies of Catholic converts, I discovered two to be particularyly moving. (coincidently, the only two written by women)"Lookin for Truth in all the Wrong Places" above all and Patty Bond's "Freed from Anti-Catholic Bonds"It is stories like these that remind me of the incredible gift I've been blessed with--The Catholic Faith!These women went from zealous Protestants to zealous Catholics! Fantastic and uplifting!