To Light a Fire on the Earth: Proclaiming the Gospel in a Secular Age

by Robert Barron, John L. Allen (Contributor), Adam Verner (Narrator)

The highly anticipated follow-up to Bishop Robert Barron's hugely successful Catholicism: A Journey to the Faith

This book, a conversation between Barron and Vatican journalist John L. Allen, Jr., will cover topics such as Jesus in the 21st century, prayer, the spiritual life, the fate of Catholicism in modern times, and many other issues. For those looking to understand the Church in the contemporary world, as well as for those seeking guidance on how to intelligently embrace their faith, To Light a Fire on the Earth will resonate with Catholics from all walks of life.

Genres: Catholic, Religion, Nonfiction, Theology, Christian, Biography, Spirituality

Audible Audio

First published October 31, 2017

About the author

Bishop Robert Emmet Barron is an acclaimed author, speaker, and theologian. He is the former Francis Cardinal George Professor of Faith and Culture at Mundelein Seminary near Chicago and also is the founder of Word On Fire (www.WordOnFire.org).

Bishop Barron is the creator and host of CATHOLICISM, a groundbreaking ten-part documentary series and study program about the Catholic faith. He is a passionate student of art, architecture, music and history, which he calls upon throughout his global travels in the making of the documentary.

Word On Fire programs are broadcast regularly on WGN America, Relevant Radio, CatholicTV, EWTN, the popular Word on Fire YouTube Channel, and the Word on Fire website, which offers daily blogs, articles, commentaries, and over ten years of weekly sermon podcasts. In 2010, Father Barron was the first priest to have a national show on a secular television network since the 1950s.

Fr. Barron received his Masters Degree in Philosophy from the Catholic University of America in Washington DC in 1982 and his doctorate in Sacred Theology from the Institut Catholique in 1992. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1986 and has been a professor of systematic theology at the nation's largest Catholic seminary, the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary since 1992. He was visiting professor at the University of Notre Dame in 2002 and at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in 2007. He was also twice scholar in residence at the Pontifical North American College at the Vatican.

In addition, Fr. Barron lectures extensively in the United States and abroad. Cardinal Francis George calls Fr. Barron “one of the Church’s best messengers.

Fr. Barron was baptized at Queen of All Saints Basilica in Chicago and grew up at St. John of the Cross parish in Western Springs, Illinois.
WordOnFire.org - Fr. Barron's website launched in 1999 and currently draws over 1 million visitors a year from every continent. Fr. Barron posts weekly video clips, commentaries and radio sermons and offers an audio archive of over 500 homilies. Podcasts of his sermons are widely used by tens of thousands of visitors each month.
TV - EWTN (The Eternal Word Television Network) and CatholicTV broadcasts Fr. Barron's DVDs to a worldwide audience of over 150 million people.

Radio - Since 1999, Fr. Barron's weekly Word on Fire program has been broadcast in Chicago (WGN) and throughout the country (Relevant Radio - 950 AM Chicago) to 28 million listeners in 17 states. Fr. Barron also is a regular commentator on the "Busted Halo Show" on the Sirius satellite radio network based in New York.

DVDs - Fr. Barron's DVDs are used as powerful faith formation tools in universities, schools, churches and homes around the country. The series includes Seven Deadly Sins, Seven Lively Virtues; Faith Clips; Conversion: Following the Call of Christ; and Untold Blessing: Three Paths to Holiness.

YouTube - With over 180 online video commentaries by Fr. Barron, over 1 million viewers worldwide have made him the most popular of any evangelist on YouTube. These frequent, high-quality productions include brief and lively theological reviews of contemporary culture, including movies such as No Country for Old Men, Apocalypto, and The Departed, a three-part critical review of Christopher Hitchen's book God is Not Great, The Discovery Channel's The Jesus Tomb, the HBO series "The Sopranos", "Rome" and more.

Missions - MISSION CHICAGO features evangelization lectures by Fr. Barron at the behest of Cardinal George. These special missions and presentations throughout the Archdiocese are centered in downtown Chicago and attract business, civic, and cultural leaders.
Books - His numerous books and essays serve as critical educational and inspirational tools for seminarians, priests, parishioners and young people worldwide. His published works are also central to the numerous retreats, workshop and talks that h

Reviews

[Julie Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. It's a quick read that left me enthusiastic about spreading the faith and inspired in my own faith. In fact, within one day of beginning to read I was quoting it around the house and changing my own actions based on the inspirations. I expected to learn more about Barron's life and ministry but not that it would begin to change me.

That's the quick take. Here's the longer version.

I'm a fan of Bishop Barron's homilies and his Catholicism documentary series which was shown on PBS stations around the country. But what he's really known for, and where he got his social media start, is his YouTube videos where he talks about everything from baseball to movies to Catholic doctrine. This has drawn an audience ranging from faithful Catholics to angry atheists. So he's a pro at discussing the beauty and truth of Catholicism with a diverse crowd.

This book looks at both Barron's life and his philosophy behind "proclaiming the Gospel in a secular age." It is the result of twenty hours of interviews conducted by John L. Allen, Jr., who is an acclaimed Catholic author and journalist. I was really looking forward this book — and it lived up to my expectations. As you can see from my opening paragraph here.

Barron discusses leading people into a "space where they may be ready to hear and embrace those truths" by remembering that what you're trying to do is introduce them to friendship with Jesus. He talks about the fact that his enthusiasm is because he's trying to bring something positive into people's lives - that he's so on fire about the truth of Catholicism that he can't stop from sharing it because he wants everyone to have the goodness he experiences. He talks about finding the role God has designed for us in life, much as a character in a novel finds they are key to the plot even if they aren't a "main" character. And there is is love of Scripture, of how beauty shows truth, and much more.

All these things resonated with me and some of them were vivid reminders at times when I needed a pick me up or a good point in a discussion with a friend.

I think you'll find those things in here too. Highly recommended.

[Tom LA · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are interested in what the Catholic Church in the U.S. has to offer at its best and its most intelligent, look no further than Bishop Robert Barron. Not only I am catholic, but I also love Barron’s style, so I’m giving this book 5 stars without a doubt.

Bishop Barron’s YouTube videos and his Word on Fire ministry are one of the best modern communication channels of Catholicism that I know of.

This book reads like a long interview to Barron, summarizing his most impactful speeches, videos and homilies. The chapters are lean and engaging, spanning from theology to philosophy to secularism and atheism.

https://www.youtube.com/user/wordonfi...

[Craig Turnbull · Rating 3 out of 5]

Here's Father Barron, Chicago-born, Paris-educated, newly appointed Auxiliary Bishop of the Los Angeles diocese, and now poster-child for American Catholicism. Deeply rooted in the past with teachers like Thomas Aquinas, Augustine, Origen, and the more recent mystic/scholar Thomas Merton (d.1968) and even a singer by the name of Bob Dylan, Barron has made it his calling to reach out to the modern American people and indeed the world with a fully rationalized version of the Catholic Church.

I first pinged on Barron trolling his wildly popular YouTube channel with his now famous movie reviews and interactions with the surrounding culture. I've also caught snipits of his equally popular series CATHOLICISM. In every dose, Barron's 'everyman' style and clear academic power shines through. The man has a big brain, and a big heart to reach people.

As to the book, so much was good to read. As an evangelical minister, I have often tossed the Roman Catholic stream of Christianity into the buckets around the Council of Trent, mentally offloading it into irrelevance, as though it was stuck in time. Barron's thoughts however did much to educate me on the new Vatican II American brand of Catholicism and his sincere efforts to reach the lapsed Catholics, the growing secular 'nones,' and hard-core atheist alike.

"Barron is wholeheartedly convinced that Catholicism is true and good, but he’s equally convinced that, at its best, it’s also gorgeous, fun, fulfilling, life-affirming—and that if you can break through the cultural noise to get people to see all that, they’ll respond." (40)

His words and Allen's (he's the real author) build a solid understanding of not only this dynamic man, but also his much loved teachings.

Evangelical readers looking to understand the Catholic church today would find To Light a Fire on the Earth helpful for two reasons:

1. As a primer into the thought behind the parish down the street from them in their neighborhood.

2. As an aid in understanding the culture around us, Barron has a great read on the postmodern America, and dials into those questions and hurts well.

That said, Barron is still a Catholic, and a very devout one at that. As such, there are irreducible differences between his theology and mine. He's a deep student of Scripture as well as the tradition of the Church and views both as equal poles of authority. I on the other hand, see Scripture as the final and exclusive authority. He has a strong theology and devotion to Mary and sees the value of the intercession of the saints. I see only only one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. He views the Eucharist as a transformation miracle. I understand it to be deeply devotional, but nonetheless not salvific or grace-bestowing in any way. He has, at times, a weak understanding of salvation by grace alone through faith alone.

At the end of the day, even the modern, revised, Barron-voiced Catholic church is divergent from the teachings of Scripture. Although his language is common to mine at times, his meaning behind the words are just not the same.

[Father Brice Higginbotham · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is easily the best book I've read on the theory of evangelization, particularly the theory of evangelization in the contemporary West. As a Catholic priest whose job, therefore, is evangelization in the contemporary context, I am most grateful for this work and am most certainly putting it to use.

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary: An interview between Barron and Allen that is part biography and part outline of Barron's approach to the "new evangelization" of which his Word on Fire ministry is a leading exemplar.

Robert Barron is one of five Auxiliary Bishops in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. and through his YouTube postings, his Word on Fire website, and other media is probably one of the most followed Catholics on social media. He is the host of CATHOLICISM, a series of PBS documentaries on the Catholic Church. He is one of the most visible leaders of the "new evangelization" within the church. In this book, he engages with Catholic writer, John Allen in a wide-ranging discussion that is part biography and part survey of his key ideas and convictions that shape his ministry.

The Introduction and Chapter One focus on "The Barron Story." We find out that Barron was an ordinary Catholic kid (and avid baseball player and fan) growing up in the era of Vatican II whose religious imagination was captured while in high school (!) he was exposed to Thomas Merton and St. Thomas Aquinas. A year at Notre Dame resulted in a calling to the priesthood, studies at Catholic University, ordination in Chicago and further studies under von Balthasar in France, where he came to a "post-liberal" perspective centered in Christ and scripture. A move back to Chicago to teach at Mundelein Seminary led to mentoring from Father Andrew Greeley and Cardinal Francis George and encouragement to break into the media world that led to the YouTube videos, the CATHOLICISM series and Word on Fire.

With that the discussion moves to the"three pillars" of Barron's message--beauty, goodness, and truth. Barron believes in this generation, the evangelist leads with beauty and goodness, which point toward, but don't elucidate the truth of the gospel. In his approach to "Catholic beauty," he focuses on great literature, great cathedrals, great music, and great movies. Much of his focus on goodness centers around the saints and martyrs. He makes a fascinating statement about the latter:

"I thought, the only way Europe's going to be reevangelized is through the martyrs. In some ways, it's a terrible thing to say, but it's true. Argument will be part of it, but it's the martyrs. Martyrs will reevangelize Europe, and maybe it's missionary martyrs as in the early centuries of the Church's life."

He believes the martyrs focus attention on the end or teleology of morals rather than morality as keeping a bunch of rules. He believes in a church that both maintains high standards without obsessively focusing on them, and stresses the essentials of Catholic life and belief and the greatness of God's mercy. Barron the baseball fan describes it as wanting people to "feel the infield...to smell the ballpark."

He believes that it is through the beauty and goodness to be found in the Catholic heritage that people open up to truth. And here, Barron speaks out against a "beige Catholicism" that is bland and apologetic with no hard edges. He contends for a message centered on the priority of Christ, that contends that not all truth is found through science or personal experience, and that Christianity is not simply one of many ways up the mountain.

This brings us to center in on his ideas about evangelization, which he believes is to bring people into a relationship with a person, with Christ. The evangelist proposes, rather than imposes. He is especially concerned with the spiritual but not religious "nones" as well as those who have departed from the church. He holds up Christopher Hitchens as a model of an evangelist--smart, witty, and willing to argue hard.

The book turns to Barron's views of prayer and the supernatural, which he fully believes in, and the Bible. The influence of von Balthasar is evident here in his argument that priests need to start from scripture and that preaching above all must be biblical rather than starting from experience. It was fascinating that one of his favorite biblical scholars is N.T. Wright, who fuses scholarship and preaching. He describes a good sermon as one that "allows you to see the world with Biblical eyes."

A whole chapter is given over to "obstacles to the faith" ranging from the idea of God to issues of human sexuality to the clergy sexual abuse scandals that rocked the church. Concerning human sexuality, his concern for teleology and not simply rule keeping is evident:

"What the teaching is trying to do is to move people into the stance of more radical and complete self-gift, which in the Catholic view, includes not just unity and friendship but procreation and the gift of life. When that sexual ideal is held up uncompromisingly, you're going to get teachings against anything that would undercut procreation and the gift of life. That will strike some people as extreme. Yet the Church is also extreme in its mercy as it reaches out to, accompanies, walks with and understands gay people. For someone who has a gay orientation, is all that a massively difficult thing to integrate? Yes, absolutely, and we have to be sensitive to that. Do we need shepherds who are willing to walk with and accompany gay people? Yes, as Pope Francis always says. 'How far do we go?' All the way, all the way, but without dialing down the moral demand, the moral ideal. I think that's the thing."

Barron deals candidly with the sexual abuse scandals and also outlines the steps he took as a seminary rector in the screening of candidates for the priesthood.

The concluding two chapters bring us up to the present as we see both Barron the bishop and Barron as he wrestles with how a ministry might become a movement. This last chapter was tantalizing as it considered other Catholic movements, and what it would take for Word on Fire to become another movement. We're left wondering if it will happen.

What was fascinating to me in this account were several things. One is that Barron is unashamed to speak of evangelization and seeking the conversion of people to the faith. Another was the focus on the person and work of Christ as central to the message of the church. I was also intrigued by his arguments against "dumbing down" the church's teaching and that kids who can summarize the plots of Star Wars and remember the strange names of characters, should easily be able to do the same with the Bible. Finally, his appreciation of the role of the goodness and beauty of the life of the church in preparing hearts for truth, that is, the demonstration of truth in life and history, coupled with a vibrantly articulation of that truth that does not lapse into subjectivity or relativism, is a bracing combination that challenges the banal sameness of contemporary "seeker sensitive" evangelicalism.

Barron and other Catholics of the new evangelization seem to be moving toward some of the very things American evangelicals are moving away from that once were hallmarks of their movement. We often seem squeamish about evangelism and conversion, about the Bible, the cross, and a bracing call to high ethical standards that reflect the ends toward which we have been saved. Barron, while thoughtful and engaging and gracious does not seem squeamish about any of this. Might there be something we could learn from the Bishop?

____________________________

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read half of it and skimmed the rest. A lot of the details I already knew from watching the Catholicism videos and his You tube videos.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

My introduction to Bishop Barron. I don't think will be the last of his books that I will read.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am a huge fan of Bishop Barron. I wanted to love this book. There was much to love in this book. But, the formatting choices rendered it rather soulless. This is not written by Bishop Barron at all. It is a memoir written by John Allen based on 20 hours of interviews he did with Bishop. I think that the format constrained both the writer and the subject. And made for a very ill fitting situation. Instead of having barons trademark tight philosophy with friendly everyman tone, it just sounded like a wandering chronology of Barron’s thoughts. Each chapter almost feels like an individual essay or article. There is a lot of redundancy throughout. And it just does not hang together well. It’s a darn shame because it could be so much better.

[James Gabriele · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is well-written, but doesn’t really do what it sets out to do. It feels like Allen was hoping to write a blockbuster book picking apart Barron’s thoughts on evangelization and how it works, but realized in his interviews that to Barron, the answer is simple: read. There’s a bit more to that but not enough to fill a 200-some page book. As a result, Allen was forced to fill the rest of the pages with something. Most of it feels like a sort of biography of Barron. There’s a lot of talk about what Word on Fire is, but not how it’s succeeded or how to use that personally in evangelization. I may have had the wrong idea when starting to read the book, but I feel slightly duped.

[Jon Wisnieski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good read. The more I learn about Barron, the more I like him. He is exactly the intelligent, passionate, winsome voice that the Catholic Church needs desperately today.

[Veronica Marquardt · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Authentic faith awakens the mind”, and this book does just that! I recommend this book to anyone who wants to dive a little deeper in their Faith, and “Set the world ablaze”

[Cameron M · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am admittedly a huge Barron fan, a big fan of Word on Fire, and practically everything the man stands for. I've been following him, his ministry, and his work for many years now, and this book is no different. I'm delighted to have read it, and it's splendid. I'd recommend it to any and all readers, and surely to Barron's delight, especially to the "none's" and the "hard-core atheists,", but not to forget the fallen Catholics.

This book isn't necessarily a biography on Bishop Robert Barron, but there are many instances throughout that go into some detail of the bishop's life and history to lay the foundation for a particular chapter or theme. I've known he was a native Chicagoan, that he was at Mundelein and its rector, and I've known about his appointment to LA as an auxiliary bishop. Like I said, big fan here.

John Allen Jr is a natural narrator and goes through the narrative with ease and the book is very readable, so that anyone can dive in and take it all in stride.

I particularly enjoyed the chapter on the chapter on Word on Fire taking his ministry to a movement, as it gave a better insight to those of us following what his plans and aspirations are to help evangelize the culture and bring more people to Christ. I'm a big fan of the their podcast, The Word on Fire Show, and some of their plans have been highlighted there, too.

Overall, stellar book, and can't wait for more from bishop Barron and the future of the Word on Fire team. May God bless him and his work!

[Wendy Wong Schirmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is excellent for several reasons, all of them related: its holistic and compelling presentation of what Catholicism is and isn't in terms of the transcendentals: the good, the true, and the beautiful; getting to know Bishop Robert Barron and what drives him and his Word On Fire internet ministry, and popular spiritual, theological, and philosophical misunderstandings that are often a stumbling block to the Catholic faith, not just among non-Catholics, but many of those who profess to have been "raised Catholic" or claim to be committed Catholics.

Like the series of interviews the German journalist Peter Seewald conducted with Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, the former prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith who subsequently became Pope Benedict XVI, To Light a Fire on the Earth is in the format of an interview, and Barron's interlocutor is journalist John Allen, well known for covering the Catholic beat in the United States and Rome.

Upon being named auxiliary bishop of Los Angeles, Barron relates that his superior, Archbishop Gomez told him: "be present to your people, give them hope, teach them doctrine." Barron does that in spades here, not just in terms of the work he's done of many years, but the very content of this book.

Where Barron has always excelled-- and one can see this both in his short YouTube videos and at length in the Catholicism series that aired on both PBS and EWTN when it first dropped-- is knowing how everything fits together. Whether one is Catholic or not, To Light a Fire on the Earth provides the reader with an approachable sense of the lay of the land in the Church in the United States, in Rome, and the world, throughout the structure and the hierarchy right down to the individual lay believer, what's at stake, and what can be and is to be done. Here, one reads of what Catholics believe and don't believe about God and humanity and faith and reason, what it means to think like a Catholic and see the world though Catholic eyes as well as what the logical implications are, stumbling blocks to both belief and implementation both inside and outside the Church, the tectonic plates and where bridges need to be built in the Church in the United States, what it means to "go out to meet the culture with fife and drum," in the words of the Protestant theologian Paul Tillich. It's not a work of apologetics, but it's where Barron emphasizes the reasons for apologetics at all. Barron also doesn't shy away from hard questions and how the Church addresses them, making it clear that orthodoxy, orthopraxis, and pastoral sensitivity go together without watering any of those things down.

To Light a Fire on the Earth can therefore act as a practical guide at the parish level-- not just for priests who have to prepare homilies, but for anyone teaching RCIA or getting involved in evangelization work. It's also a practical guide to any Catholic who wants to deepen their faith, but can potentially whet the appetite of any non-Catholic or non-believer who is the least bit curious. To that end, Word on Fire has also made free for download an accompanying workbook in PDF format. At the very least, it's a book that prompts anyone at all to engage who Catholics are and what "the Catholic thing" is all about. As I've sometimes exhorted my students whenever approaching religion in a classroom setting: "I don't care what you personally believe; when it comes to the beliefs of others, just get it right."

To that effect, Barron's bete noire has always been what he calls "beige" or "dumbed-down Catholicism," the results of which he even goes as far as to say are a "pastoral disaster." In an episode of the Word on Fire Show, Barron relates advice he received from his late mentor and archbishop Francis Cardinal George: "if you're not a man of ideas, you're going to be a lousy pastor of Jesus Christ." It's not hard to see why: a beige Catholicism is often an aggressively bland Catholicism. And if human beings are matter and spirit, and not either/or as the Church teaches for her professed belief in Jesus Christ, God Incarnate, then approaching people with watered-down faith that insults their intelligence isn't exactly pastoral. A dumbed-down faith also doesn't let Jesus be Jesus: presenting Jesus as He is-- God made man, and also mysterious and strange rather than comfortable and domesticated-- means presenting a Jesus Who is compelling and anything but blah, because He's simply big enough and weird enough as He truly is for there to be something there for everybody to latch onto, and then to go deeper.

Barron has therefore always insisted on a presentation of Catholicism that is smart, beautiful, and radiant, convinced that life centered on, through, with, and in Jesus Christ produces lives that are exactly those things. The Communion of Saints, after all, is made up of radically different individuals, and yet, what produces such vibrant individuality is paradoxically that their lives are about one thing: conformity to Jesus Christ, which means accepting right relationship with Him and the means that He Himself provides in order for that relationship to thrive (the Sacraments). What that produces, Barron never gets tired of relating, is lives that compellingly radiate goodness, truth, and beauty in the most vibrant way. Or, in the words of one of his other theological heroes (Barron's main man is St. Thomas Aquinas), St. Irenaeus: "the glory of God is a human being fully alive." The panoramic range of the Catholic faith is therefore on full display here.

[Joseph Roach · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway (so thank you Goodreads!). I knew about Bishop Barron because of his very inspiring and artful CATHOLICISM series. This book brings you deeper into his WHY. He is such an intelligent and well read person, yet brings all of that knowledge “down” the the layman’s level. After reading the book I would love to join his parish or his Word on Fire movement. What an inspirational, optimistic and faithful man in a time when the world needs him most. Excellent “get to know you” book.

[John Droesch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book. An enjoyable dialogue between John Allen and Bishop Barron that explores the motivation, background and plans of the “ ‘el Gran Predicador’ that makes the airwaves tremble.” Barron is a much needed figure in the Catholic world to help rebuild the faith and evangelize the culture.

[Casan Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great book by Bishop Barron. Includes more of his own journey into the faith.

[Jaime K · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book isn’t written by Bishop Barron, but by John Allen Jr. But it’s a streamlined account of conversations and interviews Allen had with the Bishop on multiple things within the Catholic faith. While the lack of citations/sources bothers me with some things, and I am not always a fan of Allen’s writing/reporting, this is a great book on Bishop Barron--his life, history, faith, and ministry. j

The introduction sets things up well. Allen compares Fulton Sheen and Bishop Barron as both are “communications geniuses.” Then we get this gem: “[...] Barron is a man passionately in love with Jesus Christ and the Catholic Church, and he wants you to feel it too--not because you’ll go to Hell if you don’t, but because your life will be richer, more satisfying, and better if you do.”
I like how Allen explains some words, phrases, or concepts that may not be known to everyone.

Chapter 1 is about Bishop Barron’s early life, Catholic upbringing (he was about 10 when the norvus ordo Mass came), and desire to become a priest.
~ I find it very interesting that the post-Vatican II changes were essentially thrust on everyone and his family just rolled with it.
It humors me that the dress code changes among religious threw so many people off.
~ I love that he read “Seven Storey Mountain” while listening to the Beatles. Then he found Aquinas and Bob Dylan, and everyone seemed to mesh into something absolutely sensible to him.
~ He grew up when religion was reimagined in terms of emotion, social relevance, and personal experience. He now realizes that this has stunted us--and many Catholics overall recognize that this has only hurt us, even if we can’t articulate it.
~ In the late ‘80s, he met a priest who invited him to speak at the LA Congress a few years later, and then encouraged him to enter the media world. It sounds like the typical story: Person complains about something. Priest tells person they could be in charge. Person either leans into the responsibility, or buckles.
Barron leaned into it. He got $50K to be on the radio in Chicago.
~ He considered being a professor but was told that his skills could actually put him into a bigger and better direction.
I never heard of the CATHOLICISM series, but now I want to watch them all.
I love learning about how Word of Fire came to be.
~ It’s hilarious to think of him wandering around World Youth Day oblivious of his status and then being bombarded at the booth there. It’s hard for me to think that it was only by 2015 that he became one of the best-known Catholic evangelists (at least in the U.S.). I would swear I heard his name a lot before then, that he was considered as well known before then. I guess saying “by 2015” makes the statement more definite. Also, that’s when he was made an auxiliary bishop of Los Angeles, so that also makes sense.

Chapter 2 is about how Bishop Barron uses beauty to approach his missionary work. The Catholic church is beautiful, good, and true, so life is better because of it. As humans, we fall in love with beautiful things--they are fun and life-affirming. Catholics have great cathedrals, music, and movies (some of which are secular but with a Catholic twist)--and I will add art. What’s not to love?
The analogies between golf (and baseball) and the Catholic (Christian, really) faith are fantastic. Rules are what make golf something people are good at. But they first love the sport before getting into the rules.
That’s the bishop’s goal for drawing people to the faith.
Let’s let others feel Catholicism before we talk about things like sexual teaching.

Chapter 3 is about the good of Catholicism, including the saints, the martyrs, morality.
I think the words on how the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church is sobering and a very strong statement. Then Allen paraphrases (and quotes) Bishop Barron about how the saints and martyrs show what morality is, that their lives were ordered to the good despite their sins. Freedom is about working to be ordered to an objective truth and good about who we are meant to be. Without that, there’s a spiritual (and sometimes physical) apathy.
We can’t water down Catholic moral teaching, even in the face of hostility. It’s extreme in its demands but also its mercy.

Chapter 4 is about the truth of Catholicism, including how so many people complain that kids can’t “get” the Resurrection or even writings from Lewis, Chesterton, and Aquinas. Young children and teens can have an articulate conversation about a movie or a book; they are expected to take advanced math and science courses in high school (even if they aren’t able to; as a high school math teacher, I know this, and it’s educational society pushing this insanity). Why therefore don’t we expect them to take philosophy, to argue the way classic liberals did?

Bishop Barron is very aware of how so many arguments circle back to sexual morality. I think it’s brought up in every chapter (and I sometimes feel like Allen is repetitive in this). We have to show our joy that Jesus is Lord before talking about getting sexual lives “in proper order.” We have to explain that the Bible is inspired by God and written by humans in different literary genres before talking about what “disordered behavior” actually means. We have to be ecstatic about God’s mercy before explaining why abortion is taking a human life.
Too, we have to demonstrate and talk about the fact that faith is not a private matter, that is a social thing, even in a secular world. We have to allow that both realms of science (experimental/hard and social/soft) strengthen the monotheistic view of having implicit evidence and rational warrants for believing in God.

Chapter 5 is about evangelization, and ways in which we can challenge modern atheists. It is fascinating to know how he did in arguments and conversations with others via YouTube comments. We need to be smart, and recognize science and philosophy are strongly linked to religion.
I like the quote “Pope Francis hasn’t change the faith, but he has changed the conversation.” He’s shown in many ways that the Catholic Church is not just about sex. He shows that joy and beautiful gestures in style and pastoral outreach draw people to the faith.

Chapter 6 is about prayer, the supernatural. I really like that he says that nearly everyone prays, even atheists. I also love the analogy between a tech taking remote control over another’s computer (even if they’re in a different state) and the intercession of the saints.
That intercession drives so many people’s faiths. Guadalupe, for one, is explained as a big reason why so many Mexicans are still Catholic, despite the awful persecution they faced (especially in the 1920s).
But faith is not dependent on the extraordinary, and we can see the truth about ourselves and the love of God without what I’ve often heard referred to as ‘mountaintop experiences.’ And yet, “the closer we move to the luminosity of God, the more intensely our inner life is exposed for what it really is.”

Chapter 7 talks about what I noted above about the Bible being written in different styles and by different authors. It also hits home the fact Catholics have to understand and discuss the Bible in order to have intelligent conversations about the difference between what it actually teaches about us and God vs. what is written in it.
Also, it’s not just one book, but a library of books.

Chapter 8 is lengthy and talks about obstacles to the faith.
It begins talking about writings from Pope emeritus Benedict XVI, whose work I’ve only been mildly intrigued about until now. Now I want to read more.
Bishop Barron wants to reach three groups: Lapsed Catholics, “nones” (particularly millennials, who are the largest population in that group), and hard-core atheists. All have a “secularist pentarchy of protest” comprising of the idea of God, religion and science, religion and sex, religion and violence, and the Bible.
The arguments for God from Aquinas: unmoved mover, first cause, contingency (which is most effective, per Bishop Barron), degree, and natural end.
I love the comment that philosophy is so much more than obsolete primitive science. It’s rational and simply asks different questions than science. And since religion is philosophical, it agrees that the world itself is not divine, so we are able to analyze and dissect it. It’s other than God but full of intelligence. Science agrees that nature has a form; we agree that it is not divine. That argument as to how religion and science complement each other is fantastic.
As for religion and sex, Catholicism is about love, and directing sexuality towards the good of others. “Love is not a feeling, but rather an act of the will, to desire the good of the other as other.”
It’s sad that his mother realized in 1992 that sex abuse scandals were cropping up so much, and thus told people her son was an author, not a priest. I feel bad for her.

Chapter 9 discusses Barron’s call from the nuncio to become an auxiliary bishop, and then his work as a bishop.

Chapter 10 is about Bishop Barron’s desire to have Word on Fire be a global movement and spirituality, which would be the first originating in the U.S. This was my favorite chapter.
There’s an interesting note about someone who used to host an MTV show now being the assistant content director for Word on Fire.

[Cathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent! Having enjoyed many of the series Bishop Barron developed with the help of Word on Fire and having listened to many of his YouTube videos, it was enlightening to hear how he got to be such a dynamic Catholic evangelist and to hear about his views on many issues that we struggle with today.

[Judi Maylone · Rating 3 out of 5]

“He wants to draw you into Catholic faith and practice, not because he thinks you’ll be punished if you don’t become a part of the Church but because he thinks it’s so amazing, so rich, so powerful - in three key words - so beautiful, good and true- that your life will be infinitely better because of it.”

Hard to rate, as this is not the type of book I usually read so I have no comparative basis. It made me interested in aspects of my religion I realized I am not well informed about. It made me excited to find ways I can better share my faith and practice in the "beautiful, good and true" that draws me to it.

[M.T. Sullivan · Rating 2 out of 5]

First and foremost, I feel it necessary to state my negative rating is largely the result of false expectations. I went into this with respect and admiration for Bishop Barron based on his video presence and expected a book written primarily by him, focused on effective methodology (a course if you will) one might use in order to evangelize in the current world climate. This, in my opinion, was not that. While the book resulted in my taking of a few valuable notes in that regard, the majority of it focused on Barron’s vision for the would-be Word on Fire movement and a lot of name dropping of apparently notable Catholics. As this was written by journalist John Allen Jr., the book’s tone of voice is far removed from Barron’s intellectually stimulating musings (save for excerpts from the Bishop himself) and much more journalistic (article-like) in style; a considerable downside in terms of maintaining my interest. The book failed to delve adequately deep into any particular philosophical realm and it felt a little “all over the place” in terms of direction and purpose; quite honestly, leaving me longing for its end. That said, my appreciation for Bishop Barron and his work remains strong and I hope the book can and does enhance others’ pursuit of and relationship with Christ; even if it generally fell short of doing so for me.

[Adam Shields · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short review: This is really a book by John Allen with participation by Robert Barron. Barron is the subject of the book. It isn't quite a biography, but has biographical elements. It is half biographical exploration of Barron and half exploration of Catholic issues of evangelism.

I intentionally try to read outside of my standard Evangelical-ish Christian world. So I picked this up on sale on kindle because I have followed Barron for a while. But it is not really worth more than the $1.99 I paid for it. It is somewhat fluffy in its biography. And while it does give some insight to the people and issues around Barron, it doesn't really deeply explore them.

My somewhat longer review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/to-light-a-fire/

[Lukas J. Petersen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m an enormous fan of Robert Barron, and if you’re not familiar with him, this is definitely a book worth reading.

But this should be clear: it is not a book by Barron, but rather one written by someone else about him. I probably didn’t check closely enough before buying. Anyway, if you’ve read some of Barron’s books previously or listened to his Word on Fire shows, you’ll find very little that is new in this work. It’s a good primer on the man, but his devoted fans will likely he let down by the lack of new ground it covers.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

The magazine interview format grows exceedingly stale over the length of the book. Since I listen to the WoF podcast, there was not an awful lot that was new here, but there were definitely some interesting pieces and a greater sense of integration.

The book underscores what an odd phenomenon Word on Fire is, centered on such a mild-mannered, folksy intellectual... and that said as someone who has begun getting involved and plans to become more so.

[Valerie Barnes · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would give this 3.5 stars. It just isn’t what I was hoping for! I thought it would be a primer on effective evangelization; instead, it was 1/3 BB biography, 1/3 BB views on Church hot topics, and 1/3 what BB says evangelization and devoted groups look like now and what the future may hold.

[Ken Madsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bishop Barron’s latest book examines his philosophy on the “new evangelization” of the Catholic Church. It is written by John Allen based on interviews he had with Bishop Barron. The subtitle “Proclaiming the Gospel in the Secular Age” captures the intent of the book. Bishop Barron has a deep love of Catholicism and he believes the countercultural message of Jesus Christ is just as relevant today as it was 2000 years ago. He uses the analogy of when he fell in love with Bob Dylan’s music. He wanted to share this love with everyone he met. This is the same approach he takes when evangelizing the love of Christ.

As with music, Bishop Barron believes it is through the transcendence of beauty that one can move people towards the goodness and the truth of Catholicism. As he states when he first heard Dylan on the “Concert for Bangladesh” album: “I’d never heard of him, but the crowd went berserk….I was particularly blown away by”A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall.” The language, the voice, the people responding to it..that was it.” He uses the cases of Catholic beauty as the first step in the evangelization process. In the book, he expounds on literature ( Brideshead Revisted), great cathedrals (Chartres), music and movies such as A Man for All Seasons, Ben-Hur and Gran Torino. The latter he states is “one of the most Christological movies ever made”

With beauty as the first step, he expounds on goodness and truth. He uses the saints, especially the martyrs to introduce the concept of Catholic goodness. With regards to the truth of Catholic teachings, Barron spends time on what he calls “beige Catholicism”, a watered-down version of the faith, prevalent after Vatican 2. In his words, “It’s a Catholicism that’s become bland, apologetic, unsure of itself, hand-wringing, overly accommodating, that’s allowed it’s distinctive color to blend into beige, so that it’s hard to distinguish it form other religions and the wider culture.” He believes this to be a major factor for the poor formation of most Catholics and their lukewarm attitude towards the faith.

His Word on Fire ministry initially started as a way to interact in the public square as he produced YouTube videos to discuss issues and to present a Catholic perspective. He then goes on to produce his series “Catholicism”, which becomes his chef d’oeuvre of new evangelization. He also covers many of the obstacles to the new evangelization and his hope for his ministry to become a movement.

Bishop Barron is a great promoter for the Catholic faith. His deep knowledge has impressed even the most diehard atheist. Through this book, one gains a good understanding for his mission.

[Colin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bishop Robert Barron has been using the media to share the Gospel with an increasingly secularized culture since his days as a Chicago priest in the 1990s. In To Light a Fire on the Earth, John Allen, Jr. Interviews Bishop Barron and presents his thoughts and experience on a broad range of topics as they relate to evangelization.

The book covers familiar topics such as the existence of God, the bible and common objections to the faith and Christ's church. What sets this book apart from more general works on these topics is relating them to evangelizing lapsed Catholics and the secular "nones." After a brief biography of Barron, the discussion begins with the three transcendentals.

They lead with beauty, in accordance with Barron's recommendation for evangelization. Bishop Barron proposes that the beautiful provides a more appealing path to goodness and truth for today's nones. He finds beauty in traditional places like gothic architecture and polyphonic music. But he also looks for God, and ways to share God, in the unexpected corners of pop culture, such as Hollywood movies and Bob Dylan.

When they move on to goodness and truth, the Bishop continues to pursue what is positive and appealing. Instead of presenting apparently unappealing rules or dry theology, Bishop Barron considers the saints. Those whose lives are marked by heroic virtue provide tangible examples, not of rules, but how goodness can transform human lives. Bishop Barron doesn't shy away from controversy and can defend the intellectual tradition of the church with the best of them, he simply proposes leading with a positive message as an evangelistic strategy. A favorite analogy of his that he shares is baseball: you don't get people to love baseball by starting with the infield fly rule. Only once one loves baseball do the rules make sense.

After covering the transcendentals, the book moves through various topics. Bishop Barron gives advice both on how you might want to approach topics (don't lead with hell or sexual morality) and how to handle those more unappealing topics when they're brought up. Bishop Barron acknowledges that past sins of the church and unappealing presentations of the faith have hurt people and can be a barrier to evangelization today. He recommends acknowledging these facts and not defending the indefensible.

To Light a Fire on the Earth is not an exhaustive resource on apologetic arguments or doctrine. Instead, it's an enjoyable and quick read that can help a would-be evangelist set off in the right direction when it comes to reaching out to lapsed Catholics,"nones", and hard-core atheists. Bishop Barron is realistic in his expectations - not everybody he encounters converts on the spot. The hope, however is that some are lead to Christ and others may at least be more open for the experience.

[Joseph R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is based on a series of interviews conducted by journalist John Allen in 2016 right after Robert Barron, a priest of the Chicago archdiocese, became an auxiliary bishop in the Los Angeles archdiocese (he has subsequently been moved to be bishop of Winona-Rochester). After a chapter describing Barron's life, the book delves into his views about the Catholic faith and how best to communicate that faith to others. He explains the three transcendentals, the attributes that every thing has--truth, goodness, and beauty. For contemporary evangelization, our culture is put off by people claiming to have the truth or to put forth a moral code, so Barron advises starting with beauty. No one has ever been converted by arguments from canon law or by being told what to do. Beauty has a natural appeal that can open hearts and minds to further questions. While works of art like a Chartes Cathedral or Michelangelo's Pieta come first to mind, the heroic lives of contemporary saints like Oscar Romero or Mother Teresa have an appeal that begs for further investigation. The intellectual and moral imaginations are engaged, leading into a discussion of the true and the good. It's a foot in the door letting all the rest make it in.

Barron provides a lot of other insights to understand and proclaim the gospel, especially using new technology and the amazing variety of media available these days (YouTube, podcasts, etc.). Engaging the culture happens best where it is readily found. Using these tools goes hand-in-glove with his target audiences--lapsed Catholics, people with no religious affiliation (the "nones"), and the New Atheists (who have done quite a bit of their own evangelizing). He has gathered a small but growing group of clergy and lay people under the aegis of the Word on Fire. His goal is to bring more people to Christ and his method is to develop this cadre to engage the culture, maybe having centers in various big cities that draw like-minded people to pray together and work to present the faith to others.

The book is a fascinating look at Barron's ideas for the evangelization and for growing in faith.

Recommended.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

I usually enjoy Bishop Barron, but in some ways, I was disappointed with this book. First of all, this was more a biography of Robert Barron and his evangelizing style than about helping the average lay person to be more affective in sharing their faith. To be sure, Bishop Barron is a public figure and much of what he does in reaching out through social media does help spread the faith in a time that the Church is losing more and more people-especially younger people. However, there didn't seem to be much in the way of practical application in this book. The few points Barron did make were repetitive (lead with beauty before truth, don't focus on sex, and so forth) and frankly, most people who reject the faith are unlikely to be persuaded, no matter how compelling the argument-especially as secularism is promoted. Unfortunately, Barron believes in focusing on the "Nones" instead of reaching lapsed Catholics (to be fair, the book does address lapsed Catholics, with about one page) and encouraging faithful Catholics in growing in their faith. Why is it so important to focus on the Church first? Because without a healthy Church it will become even harder to reach an unbelieving world. My own personal opinion (and I admit that it's opinion) is that the church needs: 1. Bishops and priests who stick to teaching and preserving the truth of scripture and tradition, 2. Better catechesis for the laity in the church (and reminding people to bring their children to church) and encouraging lifelong faith formation so people better understand their faith, 3. Perpetual adoration and prayer times for all parishes (we NEED to pray folks and the church should be accessible at all times) and 4. A return to reverence and understanding of the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Without getting back to these basics, it seems like the church will continue to decline. With all that said, if you really want to understand Catholicism, I recommend going back to Robert Barron's "Catholicism" book and watching the video series. It's hard to improve from his best.

[Benben Michaels · Rating 5 out of 5]

Barron’s central thesis is that the Church must lead with beauty and goodness to open hearts to the truth of the Gospel. He argues that, in our secular age, many are closed off to explicit doctrinal arguments but remain captivated by the beauty of Catholic art, architecture, music, and the lived witness of saints and martyrs. For Barron, these are not mere “entry points” but essential aspects of evangelisation, as beauty and goodness naturally point to the transcendent and ultimately to Christ.

The book is also a critique of what Barron calls “beige Catholicism”-a bland, apologetic approach that avoids the challenging or mysterious aspects of faith. Instead, he advocates for a bold, joyful proclamation centred on the person of Jesus, insisting that Christianity is not just one option among many but a unique and compelling path to truth and fulfilment.

Barron is especially concerned with reaching those who are “spiritual but not religious” and those who have left the Church. He insists that evangelisation is about proposing, not imposing; it’s about inviting people into a relationship with Christ rather than winning arguments. He also addresses the need to engage with science and philosophy, showing that faith is not in conflict with reason but is enriched by it.

Throughout, Barron emphasises the importance of witness-living a life of joy, mercy, and intellectual engagement as the most persuasive testimony to the Gospel in a secular context. The book also discusses the challenges posed by modern atheism and secular ideologies, encouraging believers to understand and thoughtfully respond to these perspectives, rather than retreat from them.

[David Warren · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is insightful, inspirational, and educational in the classic Bishop Barron style. It would certainly be a terrific gift for anyone intrigued by an aspect of Catholicism who wants to know more about the faith.
It also serves as a call to remind Catholics of their important task of evangelization in a secular world.

Barron draws from his vast wealth of knowledge and shares gems of information on every other page in a conversational style.

Co-Author John Allen writes the book detailing his conversations with Barron in what reads like a long-form magazine interview.

My only critique is that too much of the book relies on statements that Barron has already given in his Word On Fire Podcast. Several portions of the book seem to simply be transcribed from previously aired episodes. As someone who has literally listened to all 100+ episodes, I was already familiar with many of the ideas shared in this book and felt like I had to retread old territory in order to discover something new.

Still, there is new material in the book that I haven't heard or read anywhere else. Further, seeing Barron's words in print allowed me time to draw references and discover historical nuance that I was previously unaware of.

Conclusion: A perfect book for anyone who hasn't already been following Barron for some time. Consider it an intro to the Word on Fire movement.