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How Firm a Foundation
For him, the Bible was the only sufficient, firm foundation for his life. He wanted to obey God in all things, and had given up a career to become an ordained minister. He loved to preach the Word and knew that one day he would stand before God, accountable for everything he preached. But there was one How could he be certain that what he was preaching was true? Sara LaPointe never wanted this role, but she loved Stephen. So, through his encouragement and tutelage, she had become both an enthusiastic Evangelical and an effective pastor's wife at least in the eyes of the congregation. But would the gnawing guilt of a past mistake a mistake she would never reveal to her husband ever let her go? And then there was Walter. He, too, believed in Jesus. He, too, loved the Bible and vowed to do whatever God called him to do. But what if this was the unthinkable?
469 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2002
5 people are currently reading
63 people want to read
About the author
Marcus Grodi
22 books18 followersMarcus Grodi (b. 1958) is a former Protestant pastor who, after converting to the Catholic Church founded The Coming Home Network International. Marcus is the host of the weekly EWTN programs the Journey Home (television) and Deep in Scripture (radio).
Marcus and his wife Marilyn were both “cradle Protestants.” Marcus received his BS degree from Case Institute of Technology in Polymer Engineering and worked for six years as an engineer. During this time he was involved in a variety of Protestant youth and music ministries. He then received his Master of Divinity Degree from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and was ordained to the Protestant pastoral ministry. During more than fifteen years of youth, young adult and pastoral ministry, his main emphasis was church and lay spiritual renewal.
Marcus, his wife Marilyn, and their sons, Jon Marc (20) and Peter (16) were received into the Catholic Church on December 20, 1992. Their third son, Richard (12) entered through baptism.
Marcus now serves as the President/Executive Director of The Coming Home Network International, a non-profit Catholic lay apostolate aimed at helping our separated brethren, both clergy and laity, come home to the Catholic Church. He also hosts a weekly live television program on EWTN called The Journey Home, and is the author / editor of the book Journeys Home . Marilyn focuses much of her time on home schooling their three sons. The whole family works together in developing their ten acre homestead.
Marcus and his wife Marilyn were both “cradle Protestants.” Marcus received his BS degree from Case Institute of Technology in Polymer Engineering and worked for six years as an engineer. During this time he was involved in a variety of Protestant youth and music ministries. He then received his Master of Divinity Degree from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and was ordained to the Protestant pastoral ministry. During more than fifteen years of youth, young adult and pastoral ministry, his main emphasis was church and lay spiritual renewal.
Marcus, his wife Marilyn, and their sons, Jon Marc (20) and Peter (16) were received into the Catholic Church on December 20, 1992. Their third son, Richard (12) entered through baptism.
Marcus now serves as the President/Executive Director of The Coming Home Network International, a non-profit Catholic lay apostolate aimed at helping our separated brethren, both clergy and laity, come home to the Catholic Church. He also hosts a weekly live television program on EWTN called The Journey Home, and is the author / editor of the book Journeys Home . Marilyn focuses much of her time on home schooling their three sons. The whole family works together in developing their ten acre homestead.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
September 13, 2020
I really enjoyed this novel. I thought the characters were well developed and the story was very engaging.
December 21, 2012
"How Firm a Foundation" is an excellent effort from this first time novelist. It accomplishes a very important goal: it presents solid arguments for the Catholic faith targeted specifically at Protestant ministers who are struggling with the issue of authority (i.e., How is one to know that his interpretation of divine revelation is the correct one?). And it does this not in a perfunctory way (after all, the book has over 500 pages), but provides solid, in-depth expositions, explanations and answers to the questions and criticisms of the Catholic faith that Protestants often have.
All of this is done in an engaging way (it is quite well written -a real page turner) as we follow the life of a Protestant pastor through the joys and sorrows of ministry, family life, and searching for the truth. In this, both Catholics, and non-clergy Protestants gain some appreciation for what ministers have to deal with, both in their regular ministerial/family duties and in struggling with matters of doctrine. Thus, this book has something to offer any interested reader. And, for anyone who is interested in apologetics and conversion stories, approaches to defending the Faith and arguments for Protestantism and Catholicism are learned that one may never have heard before.
As for a weakness in the book, the only significant one has to do with the main character's primary antagonist. This storyline allows for suspense to build and highlights virulent anti-Catholicism, but it all feels a bit too contrived and the book ends by resolving matters a little too neatly. I have not yet read the sequel just recently published ("Pillar and Bulwark"), but the book description indicates that the main character's problems were not wrapped up as tidily as one is led to believe in the first book.
As a Protestant pastor convert to Catholicism who has a long-running ministry helping Protestant ministers on their journeys, author Marcus Grodi is in a unique position to provide the insights this book offers. He has done a great service in writing this volume. Here, a much more palatable and interesting presentation is offered for those not interested in standard apologetic texts or expositions of doctrine. Highly recommended for your reading and as a gift to someone you think might benefit from its approach and content.
All of this is done in an engaging way (it is quite well written -a real page turner) as we follow the life of a Protestant pastor through the joys and sorrows of ministry, family life, and searching for the truth. In this, both Catholics, and non-clergy Protestants gain some appreciation for what ministers have to deal with, both in their regular ministerial/family duties and in struggling with matters of doctrine. Thus, this book has something to offer any interested reader. And, for anyone who is interested in apologetics and conversion stories, approaches to defending the Faith and arguments for Protestantism and Catholicism are learned that one may never have heard before.
As for a weakness in the book, the only significant one has to do with the main character's primary antagonist. This storyline allows for suspense to build and highlights virulent anti-Catholicism, but it all feels a bit too contrived and the book ends by resolving matters a little too neatly. I have not yet read the sequel just recently published ("Pillar and Bulwark"), but the book description indicates that the main character's problems were not wrapped up as tidily as one is led to believe in the first book.
As a Protestant pastor convert to Catholicism who has a long-running ministry helping Protestant ministers on their journeys, author Marcus Grodi is in a unique position to provide the insights this book offers. He has done a great service in writing this volume. Here, a much more palatable and interesting presentation is offered for those not interested in standard apologetic texts or expositions of doctrine. Highly recommended for your reading and as a gift to someone you think might benefit from its approach and content.
September 4, 2007
A very good fictional conversion story from the host of EWTN's "A Journey Home." His prose flows very well and his dialogue is believable. I hope Grodi continues to write fiction.
August 13, 2020
Gripping!
Marcus has endeavoured to present the objections to our beliefs and, at the same time, the answers to these objections, yet in an interesting style as a fictional story.
Marcus has endeavoured to present the objections to our beliefs and, at the same time, the answers to these objections, yet in an interesting style as a fictional story.
April 6, 2022
This book was VERY thorough and engaging. Answering many questions along the way. Very enlightening and entertaining. I was on the edge of my seat at times!
January 17, 2016
This is one of those books where the author is so earnest that you almost feel bad for not liking it. The main problem is that it's just a dull read. (I feel like almost any flaw in writing can be overlooked as long as you care enough about the characters to want to know how it ends.) Despite numerous passages where we are told the characters were brought to tears, I never once felt their joy or sorrow. The only emotion that felt real was my second-hand embarrassment during the main character's numerous public speaking moments gone awry. The story is just an excuse to make a theological point and the characters serve only to have dialogs about theology and quote scripture at each other. By the end of the book, some chapters have more block quotes from theological texts than lines of the novel itself. I acknowledge that some academics and Bible study groups may actually converse this way, reading quotes out of the same book over each others shoulders to communicate a point. Yet in this novel every single character is like this. It feels very stilted.
The book also has a happy ending that completely ignores what I kept expecting to be a major problem. The main character Stephen (although the point of view jumps around constantly among other characters) is opposed to divorce, despite knowing that he is his wife's second husband. Those beliefs become more entrenched as his story unfolds. At one point he even implies that he believes divorced people are committing adultery when they remarry, yet he never acknowledges what this means for his own marriage. In a scene where he and a group of pastors are discussing divorce and remarriage and Catholic versus Protestant views, no one ever even mentions the word annulment. In the midst of a crisis of faith that has him reading and discussing a number of abstract religious concepts, he never seems concerned about this issue that would severely impact him if he follows through on the religious conversion he is considering. (You'd almost think the author forgot the remarriage plotline, but then a later chapter has the wife wistfully contacting her first husband after one of their many arguments.)
If you're reading it for the theological discussions, the characters won't get in your way too much. If you're reading it as a novel, it feels a little lacking.
The book also has a happy ending that completely ignores what I kept expecting to be a major problem. The main character Stephen (although the point of view jumps around constantly among other characters) is opposed to divorce, despite knowing that he is his wife's second husband. Those beliefs become more entrenched as his story unfolds. At one point he even implies that he believes divorced people are committing adultery when they remarry, yet he never acknowledges what this means for his own marriage. In a scene where he and a group of pastors are discussing divorce and remarriage and Catholic versus Protestant views, no one ever even mentions the word annulment. In the midst of a crisis of faith that has him reading and discussing a number of abstract religious concepts, he never seems concerned about this issue that would severely impact him if he follows through on the religious conversion he is considering. (You'd almost think the author forgot the remarriage plotline, but then a later chapter has the wife wistfully contacting her first husband after one of their many arguments.)
If you're reading it for the theological discussions, the characters won't get in your way too much. If you're reading it as a novel, it feels a little lacking.
November 7, 2013
I have watched Marcus Grodi on EWTN for years and I was excited to receive this book after ordering it from Paperback Swap. I have always been a bit sceptical about Christian novelists as I have found a lot of their writing to be less than engrossing. But I have to give Mr Grodi four stars for his book that deals with a pastor who begins to wonder if he is giving out The Truth to his congregation. There is a lot of discussion of Theology in the book which I enjoyed but others may not find it their cup of tea. Among the questions of theology is a good story of the struggle of pastors and their families to live in a fish bowl, ministering to others and the stresses this brings into family life. This book really gives the reader a lot to think about and ponder on!!
May 27, 2015
A friend who's been trying to convert me to Roman Catholicism gave me this book. I have great respect for the Catholic church (am a big fan of Pope Francis), so the book's arguments against anti-Catholicism were not particularly applicable to me. I was also very familiar with its arguments about the mantle of authority being handed down from Jesus to Peter to the Popes, etc. (I'm not a universalist, but rather an ecumenicist.) That said, I enjoyed Grodi's thoughtful reasoning and surprisingly solid storytelling, and may even read his sequel.
January 2, 2012
Originally read in 2008 (I think).
Thought it was a great apologetics book.
Read again Jan 2012 in one sitting (6 hours... kind of skimmed it). Kept my attention but decided you really need to be in an apologetics mindset to appreciate it.
Thought it was a great apologetics book.
Read again Jan 2012 in one sitting (6 hours... kind of skimmed it). Kept my attention but decided you really need to be in an apologetics mindset to appreciate it.
January 4, 2014
It took a while for the story to pick up. I did end up enjoying how he wove a few stories together. I think for someone who is really interested on Protestantism vs Catholicism would like the book best.
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June 25, 2012Loved it! Fictional novel loosely sed on his own conversion story. I think of this book often. Would read again.
March 22, 2015
This book was a great read, very thought provoking in places. Definitely would recommend to any Christian, it will move you to tears in places and prayer in others!
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December 31, 2012Fiunished lon ago
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews