Catholics and Protestants: What Can We Learn from Each Other?

by Peter Kreeft

The widely read author and philosopher Peter Kreeft presents a unique book about the important beliefs that Catholics and Protestants share in common. Inspired by Christ's prayer for unity in the Gospel of John and Saint John Paul II's encyclical Ut Unum Sint, Kreeft demonstrates that Christian reunification is possible. While he acknowledges that there are still significant differences between Catholics and Protestants, he emphasizes that they agree on the single most important justification.

The style of this book is modeled on Pascal, Solomon, and short answers and single points to ponder rather than long strings of argument. The writing is direct, simple, and confrontational, but vertically rather than horizontally by ""directing arrows not against each other (Protestant or Catholic) but against our own hearts and minds and wills.""

The purpose of this book, writes Kreeft, is to be ""like an Australian sheepdog, herding and hectoring Christ's separated sheep back to His face. For that is the only way they can ever return back to each other.""

Genres: Catholic, Theology, Church, Christian, Faith

206 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 10, 2017

About the author

Peter Kreeft is an American philosopher and prolific author of over eighty books on Christian theology, philosophy, and apologetics. A convert from Protestantism to Catholicism, his journey was shaped by his study of Church history, Gothic architecture, and Thomistic thought. He earned his BA from Calvin College, an MA and PhD from Fordham University, and pursued further studies at Yale. Since 1965, he has taught philosophy at Boston College and also at The King’s College. Kreeft is known for formulating “Twenty Arguments for the Existence of God” with Ronald K. Tacelli, featured in their Handbook of Christian Apologetics. A strong advocate for unity among Christians, he emphasizes shared belief in Christ over denominational differences.

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I admit I am a biased reader, a life-long Protestant who slowly and painfully came to believe in the authority of the Catholic Church and left the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod to do the (to that ecclesial body) unthinkable--join the Church. My husband is still a Lutheran with no interest in conversion. I had hoped that this book by the estimable Dr. Kreeft, a scholar respected by both Catholics and Protestants, would provide a starting point for fruitful discussion with my husband and the rest of my still-Protestant family. I no longer have that hope. It seems to me that Dr. Kreeft's primary emphasis was on the deficiency of Catholics and what Catholics should learn from Protestants, and only secondarily (and weakly) what Protestants should learn from Catholics. The only exception to this was the lovely chapter on Marian devotion. It's not that Dr. Kreeft didn't explore the crucial issues of authority or unity. He did. The problem is that he did it in a way that would create little to no doubt or urgency in the mind of most Protestants. If my husband read this book, he'd think "hey, I'm fine where I am" and not give the issues raised a second thought. I gave this 3 stars because I'm a Kreeft fan, and because I'm sure my bias influenced my view of the book. But I finished it feeling very frustrated.

[Dale · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. I grew up a Protestant (Christian Reformed) in a Catholic neighborhood. I can remember the strong statements made by the Protestant adults in my life relating to the significant deficiencies in Catholic doctrine. It wasn't said, but the condemnation was so strong it left me with the belief as a young person that it was us versus them as opposed to one body of believers.

As I've grown I've become more aware of Catholic teaching and even more importantly fellow brothers and sisters in Christ who happen to be Catholic. I have come to love these brothers in Christ and have naturally seen our communities increasingly as one as a result of both an increasing securitization of America and my own understanding of their faith.

This book brought me further along in this journey. Especially powerful is that the author grew up in a similar Christian tradition that I grew up in and still belong to. The book makes a powerful and convincing argument that we are one body. For example, Kreeft says Christ is not a polygamist and he will marry one church. The church will include both Protestants and Catholics.

I can go on, my copy of the book is full of underlines, circles, and stars. The bottom line is I loved this book because it gave me a love for Christ's Universal Catholic Church yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

[Cliff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Peter Kreeft, a Catholic Professor of Philosophy at Boston College, is quite clearly someone I need to read more of. This book isn't just good, it's the best book of it's kind I've ever read.

Kreeft comes at the issue from a Catholic point of view, and is unapologetic about saying why he thinks Protestants should accept the claims of the Catholic Church. Yet he is the furthest thing possible from uncharitable. He explains, very thoughtfully and emotionally, Protestant claims, including about the Catholic Church, that that he thinks have merit, and repeatedly points out that fair minded Protestants and Catholics ought to think of each other as brothers.

He also makes an impassioned plea for unity within the Church in the largest sense, which I think is, by far, the most attractive claim of Catholicism in my view. He has no illusions that it will happen quickly or easily, or even that it is necessarily possible in the absolute sense (there will almost certainly always be dissenters). But he makes a great case for why it is important and necessary. On that, he sold me. How to get there is another topic. On that, lets just say he's given me a lot to think about.

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was really looking forward to reading this book but was actually a little disappointed...

[TH Koh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kreeft puts forth a compelling, Christocentric case for ecumenism in this book.

[Dylan Schweitzer · Rating 4 out of 5]

As always, I love Peter's writing style. He beautifully balances the line between his wit, charm and this reverence and wisdom. Perhaps this quote from the 2nd to last page sums up this book well.

"But his Church will become wholly whole, when it becomes wholly holy".

Often times disputes in Christendom amongst Catholics, Protestants and denominations get down to silly details. At the end of the day, we should be centering everything apon Christ, spreading the wonderful good news, and trying to help usher in the beauty of that kingdom "...On earth as it is in heaven".

Though issues of which doctrine of the atonement is more accurate, or views on interpretation of a specific passage of scripture are important, they certainly aren't the issue. There are 'bad apples' in all of Christendom, and the problem is we argue over these tertiary details and forget the primary detail. Christ.

No wonder atheists laugh at Christianity, (Being a former atheist I can quite relate) because we look like children arguing over who is loved and more understood by their father the most. Neglecting the fact they are both his children and thus starting petty, and silly arguements and not focused on becoming like their father.

We Christians can be spoiled brats, and this book can be a gentle, whimsical, yet firm and reverent reminder that our fixation and emphasis should be on Christ.

[Wida Cain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Christ centred.

Being raised by my Catholic father and my Protestant mother, naively I never thought about these issues. Not until I married my devout Protestant husband who never met any devout Catholic and knew nothing about Catholicism.

The first few pages pretty much what happened with my husband and I, arguing and trying to ‘defend’ our church. Urging each other to read books to see things from different point of view.
Until we came into conclusion, it was tiring reading those books and deep down we knew we would not change or convert.

This book does not the answer every question but it shifted our opinions. We love each other and most importantly we love Christ. This book helped me to see the most important part of our faith. This book addressed the issues about Catholicism and Protestantism with Jesus and union in mind (according to the bible).

For Protestant brothers and sisters, this book mentioned a lot of Catholic doctrines that seemed so hard to comprehend (even for me). Just pray and be open about it and push through. I believe we have many things to learn from each other and hopefully sometime in the near future, there will be union for all of us.

God bless.

[Audra · Rating 2 out of 5]

"For a Christian… the ultimate datum, the “Word of God,” is not merely, or even primarily, scripture, as it is for a Muslim. The Qur’an, not Muhammad, is the heart of Islam. But Christ, not the Bible, is the heart of Christianity. In fact, the primary meaning of the “Word of God” in the Bible is not the Bible but Christ. The Bible is its secondary meaning. The Bible is the Word of God on paper, but Christ is the Word of God on wood - the wood of the Cross."

Catholics and Protestants have SO MUCH to learn from one another, so I was truly so sad to discover that this book was incorrectly titled. This was not a book where the ecumenical church was bound but rather felt like a book of uncharitable digs at Protestants with countless strawman arguments. I expected more from Peter Kreeft, especially because of his upbringing as an Evangelical.

Yes, there were some good perspectives, and I was glad to see the mention of the Joint Declaration of Justification. But I think most of his powerful points were clouded by my anger about how this was written. Would not recommend this book, but ESPECIALLY not to Protestant friends :(

[Rick Stuckwisch · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting book, and I'm not sorry that I read it. But it's rather uneven, both in its approach and in its prose. The author seems rather haughty and condescending at times, at other times jovial, lighthearted, and at ease. The "chapters," such as they are, read like more or less independent blog posts; which is, I guess, what the author was going for. His thoughts are also somewhat random and all over the map, which is also what he seems to have been intending. For all of that, it was not a difficult book to read, and I did find it helpful in identifying some key issues in the relationship of Lutherans and Roman Catholics. Not the best or most helpful thing I've read on that topic, but not the worst, either. And I suppose the writing style would appeal to some readers.

[Meepspeeps · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author detracts from his many good arguments with attempts at humor or unnecessary commentary such as "Christian rock is not only theologically shallow (to prove that to yourself, just say the lyrics aloud to yourself without the music) but also musically shallow: an embarrassment and an insult to rock as well as to Christianity." Some of this music draws in new believers, and also represents unity between Catholics and Protestants. On p. 124-125 in a chapter about Mary, he draws a provocative parallel between Catholic and Protestant views of Mary, and Christian and Muslim views of Jesus. I recommend this book to people with some theological background. There interesting arguments for peeps seeking more unity among Catholics and Protestants.

[Crystal Swafford · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok but interesting

This book left a little to be desired; it fell short of my expectations in terms of depth for each topic. It was enlightening though and provided some knowledge on the Catholic ways. But I think the great debate would be much more meaningful if it had been co-authored and/or edited by a “Protestant” to ensure that both viewpoints were accurately represented. The Protestant positions were a bit shallow and generalized, which was annoying. In the end, I think a lot of issues relate to “talking past one another “ and not because there is a stark belief on what is important.

[Jon Wisnieski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid book, very easy to read. I like how Kreeft uses both Catholics’ and Protestants’ appeal to Jesus as the main solution to ecumenism. Christocentrality is essential to reunification. To be honest, a lot of the book seems to hinge on what Catholics can learn from Protestants, and not as much on what Protestants can learn from Catholics. I suppose I was looking for more theologically based explanations of the Church, but this book’s focus was much more on ecumenism than trying to prove one side right and the other wrong. That being said, it was a very interesting book to read.

[Emlda Tombe]

Catholics and Protestants is a very educational and theologically written book. Each chapter is its own topic and idea, so this doesn't need to be read from cover to cover. Because of the advanced theological concepts, this was a more difficult book to read, but nevertheless, you are able to understand and learn many things. This whole book wasn't written in a pro catholic or pro protestant way. There are man place where the author leans more to one side than the other.

[Danna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kreeft’s style is very wordy and casual. It’s a good information on how to approach divisive conversations in a unitive way - just seems to tell you in a whole book what it could have in half the amount of space.

[Theresa Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dr. Kreeft always writes clearly and truthfully. This book is no exception and is one that will be very helpful in communication between Christians.

[Deborah Halnon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing

I need to re-read the scripture references. And about the article on justification, amazing that no one has called this out in the mainstream media.

[Brian Boothe · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book for anyone interested in Christian unity

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book that gives you some perspective on each other's views... ultimately it should all be about Christ.

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book, none of the us vs them stuff, just very sound biblical based focusing on what's important, living the GOSPELS.

[Chad · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thought provoking read, with great historical & philosophical insights for readers from every spiritual - or spiritless - perspective.

[Zi Yi · Rating 3 out of 5]

author uses analogies to describe concepts and can get quite philosophical but overall gave a very unbiased perspective on the issue!