Catholics and Fundamentalists: Understanding the Difference

by Martin Pable and Martin W Pable Rev

For over fifteen years, Fr. Martin Pable's book Catholics & Fundamentalists has helped Catholics understand and respond to the Protestant fundamentalist phenomenon. This newly revised edition... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0879461675
• ISBN13: 9780879461676
• Release Date: January 2008
• Publisher: ACTA Publications
• Length: 95 Pages
• Weight: 0.26 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 4.5" x 7.5"

Customer Reviews

Examining the rising dilemmas of both Christian and Islamic fundamentalism

Fundamentalism - taking one's devotion to religion well beyond the point of sense and logic and refusing to listen to any dissenting opinion - is a dangerous standpoint. "Catholics & Fundamentalists: Understanding and Response" is a newly revised edition on the subject, examining the rising dilemmas of both Christian and Islamic fundamentalism and how they challenge those with a more sane devotion to their faith. A complete examination with tips on what to do if one close to a reader falls into the dark world of fundamentalism, "Catholics & Fundamentalists: Understanding and Response" is highly recommended.

Extremely Well Done

This review refers to Catholics and Fundamentalists: Understanding and Response, a revised edition of the 1991 work, which focused on Protestant fundamentalists. The revision updates the earlier information on Protestant groups and also addresses Muslim and Catholic fundamentalists. Pable's primary audience is practicing Catholics. His hope is that Catholics who read the book "will discover a deeper appreciation of their own faith and develop greater confidence in their ability to explain their beliefs." Pable defines fundamentalism as a religious belief system that rejects all contrary beliefs and attempts to convert others to the system. In addition, Pable writes, fundamentalism implies "a certain intolerance" and "a militancy that goes beyond normal and acceptable limits." He provides a clear, succinct description of the roots and sacred books of Protestant, Muslim, and Catholic fundamentalism. Fundamentalism, he explains, begins as a reaction, and in the case of Catholics the trigger was the changes resulting from the Second Vatican Council. "Catholic fundamentalists speak as if the church existed from the very beginning in the form they experienced it in the 1950s." Like their Protestant and Muslim counterparts, Catholic fundamentalists claim to have all the answers and seek to impose them on everyone else. Pable expresses his view of what it means to be Catholic as "trying to hold together what should not be separated: Scripture and tradition; faith and works; bible and sacraments; authority and freedom; unity and diversity; personal salvation and concern for social justice." Pable also examines attributes of Protestant fundamentalism that appeal to former Catholics, such as a welcoming attitude, bible study, biblical preaching, and emphasis on a personal relationship with Jesus. He points out that none of these is counter to mainline Catholicism, and all can be incorporated into Catholic parishes.

Very good and informative quick reading

Good book for anyone who is inquiring about some of the basic differences between a Catholic and a Fundamentalist (sometimes commonly known as Born-again) Christian. The book may seem to be leaning towards Catholicism at times but in the beginning of the book the author mentions that he does not want to be bias toward either belief. The author goes on to mention that there are many things that a Catholic can learn from a Fundamentalist and a Fundamentalist from a Catholic. It is a good introductory book for Catholics that want to learn about Fundamentalist Christian beliefs and visa-versa.