Protestants Like Good Book Mom Don’t Know Why They Oppose Catholicism
A few years ago I came across the site Good Book Mom (GBM), which aims to introduce moms to wholesome, worthwhile reads for their families. It does this mainly with some free but mostly paid/membership-based book lists.
I can’t remember if I saw the membership option back then but I do recall setting that site aside and going off about my day.
Earlier this year I thought about revisiting the site so I looked more into its founder, Korrie Johnson, mostly to determine if she’d be someone we’d be proud to support in our homeschool journey. I found a podcast interview she did and decided I should give her program a try because it looked better than what I remembered.
But before buying a membership, I wanted to ask her questions as the options confused me a bit, if I’m being honest.
I read that she was a Protestant so I was also interested in seeing whether her book lists ever included Catholic books as well (silly me, I know), or at least books that Catholic families could read confidently (i.e., without cringing or correcting–which are common reactions Catholics have to Protestant stuff we may read with our families without first pre-reading it to confirm if it was fine).
What I got as a response was pretty surprising–and not in a good way.
In her email, she basically wrote (and I’m paraphrasing but I also pasted her whole response below), “This is the difference between my plans and no, I don’t list Catholic books because the Catholic Church isn’t biblical. Trust me; I went to Catholic school so I know. Much love!”
I don’t know about you, but a response like that took away all the excitement I had for patronizing what I (perhaps erroneously?) thought was a worthy service.
I know, I know.. I should stick to Catholic authors*, Catholic book recommenders*, or even Orthodox and Protestant** recommenders who at the VERY least don’t (openly) hate the Catholic Church.
Hear me out, though: Back then I seriously thought GBM would be a great tool for my homeschooling arsenal in all the book names I dreamed it’d equip me with.
(The notes that the asterisks above point to are toward the end of this post, if you’d like some neat additional reading. Suffice it to say that paying [monthly] for booklists of modern books is silly. With those asterisks you’ll see much better suggestions of where to spend your money.)
But I digress…
What follows is my conversation with a very misguided Ms. Johnson in which she makes some serious and wrong allegations about the Catholic Church. I then proceeded to correct her and later she lets me know she’d respond within a few weeks.
But it’s been several MONTHS since I last heard from her, so I think it’s safe to say/write that I’m in the clear to publish it.
But first: Why am I publishing it?
As a Catholic who reverted to the faith (whereas she grew up Catholic and fell away from the Church), I’ve become more zealous in my defenses and awareness of Catholic teachings and dogmas.
I simply don’t tolerate people (whether they’re dumb, one-off YouTube commenters or Protestants preachers or pundits who run “ministries” despite lacking actual Church-instituted authority) who erroneously call out a Catholic belief or teaching while pretending they’re correct, as though they were blissfully unaware or simply too INTO their beliefs to acknowledge they’re wrong.
So I’m posting this for a couple of reasons:
- To validate the common Catholic belief that many–if not most–Protestants don’t know a) what they believe or why they believe it, and b) why they oppose the Catholic Church.
- As a result of their ignorance and/or willful disregard for the Truth, they deserve to be (charitably and kindly) called out on occasion with facts.
These messages function as my way to show you a potential defense that you can use when your Protestant friends and relatives insist that the Catholic Church states that those who don’t practice Faith PLUS Works will go to Hell.
The messages
I start by asking her if she could differentiate between her membership options and whether she offers book titles in Spanish and for Catholics
Her “Gotcha!”
She responds by explaining her membership options more in detail (even though book lists really shouldn’t require a membership [see * and **, towards the bottom]) and caveat-ing the whole thing with a Gotcha like so many Protestants like to do.
Below I included her “loving” admission. I didn’t want to include her membership options because I didn’t want to advertise her services, so I’ve only summarized them within the quote:
My membership is actually not centered around the book club, but book lists. … The $99/year option allows you to have all access to all of my book lists all of the time instead of having your access to lists rotate. I hope that makes sense!
I’m sorry, I do no have any Spanish resources, but I know that The Good Book Company and New Growth Press do release some of their titles in Spanish.
I was raised in the Catholic church, went to Catholic school for 9 years, and knowing the theology of the church cannot recommend resources that are Catholic. I do not say that to be judgemental or unkind, but to speak the truth in love that what the Catholic church teaches is not Biblical. As the largest example, but certainly not the only, the Catholic church’s stance is that if you believe in justification by faith alone, you are anathematized- or damned. Here is the Vatican’s official documents- you can find it under the Justification heading, Canon IX. This is a false gospel.
I’m happy to converse more, if you would like to. Please know I speak out of experience and love.
THREE things that struck me:
- She may be speaking out of “experience” but she actually either has none or she lacks the necessary experience needed to hold such a position, making this point completely irrelevant.
- Moreover, her admission that she had attended Catholic school unfortunately invalidated her argument because Catholic schools aren’t known for properly catechizing students. (I should know: I attended Catholic schools through high school and I’m JUST NOW learning things I should’ve learned forever ago.)
- Talk about coming out of left field!
Lucky for her, I have almost 2000 years’ worth of Church history to explain where she was wrong… and my response is REALLY long:
[Bear in mind that I first thanked her for her explanation of her membership options and her recommendations of two Christian companies that publish books in Spanish since I’m always on the lookout for bilingual and Spanish-language resources.]
… I didn’t have apologetics on my Bingo card for this week but I’m not going to turn away this great chance, and I’m really happy you said you’d be open to conversing more because God knows I like writing and talking :). Is email all right? We can talk over the phone/Zoom, too, Idk. Note, though, that I’m not looking to convert you and I don’t think you’re looking to convert me. (Idk if professional Catholic apologetics would be too keen on my disinterest in changing another’s mind? but that’s mostly because I prefer chatting informally about beliefs and observances w/no agenda.)
BEWARE: What follows is long.
TLDR:
1) No, we don’t believe Faith Alone believers are damned
2) The Bible verses at the end reference Faith + Good Works.
We have similar backgrounds! Well, I, too, grew up Catholic–in Colombia, a very Catholic country, and I’m a cradle Catholic. Unfortunately most “devout” Catholics there are just Catholic in name only, and my family was no exception. (I don’t say this to shame them b/c they’re well aware of this fact, but rather to illustrate that our catechesis growing up wasn’t exceptional.)
I went to Catholic school growing up there, too, but I don’t recall learning much about our faith. Then we moved to the US, where I was enrolled in Catholic school through 12th grade. Again (and this problem isn’t new in the Church), no great Catechesis for kids, so most who graduate don’t care to stay in the Church.
At some point I met my Catholic Alabamian husband (my family and I were already naturalized citizens by then) and got married in the Church. Had our then-only-child baptized in the Church as well but were still relatively lukewarm until my miscarriage, when we reverted to the Church and my devotion and desire to learn so much exploded. (A healthy baby girl came a year after our loss–also baptized!)
To me, it’s the one true Church that was established by Christ and after studying Protestantism, Orthodoxy, etc. I won’t change my mind because there are so.many.things that I know to be true that I can’t be dissuaded against at this point.
With that aside, I see you’re quoting a singular passage out of context. (And for the record, you weren’t being unkind in the slightest. It’s normal to want to defend something that you cherish and I appreciate the chance to do the same.)
What’s “anathema”?
It’s not “damned”: Only God can send someone to Hell.
(The Catholic Church doesn’t curse anyone, and whoever states or promotes otherwise is intentionally deceiving their audience.) This term refers to the person being excommunicated, which simply refers to them not being in the Body of the Church–or knowing something in the Church and not following it.
So of course that’s not biblical because it’s not true.
Here’s a bit more concerning your specific dilemma from a longtime popular apologist because I didn’t want to paste a whole page here: https://www.catholic.com/audio/ddp/anathema
In sum: “… the penalty of anathema [which isn’t a damning] was imposed rarely and only on those who continued to assert their Catholic identity [i.e., never on Protestants].”
But what about Faith Alone? Not biblical.
Now that we dispelled the lie that Catholics damn anyone who believes that Faith Alone saves, let’s get to the root of the matter. And that is that we believe that faith + good works save and that the idea of “faith alone” is what’s not biblical. (I assume that’s where you were going next.)
The Bible doesn’t teach salvation by faith alone, but that we need to do other things to be saved, including being baptized. Neither Sola Scriptura *nor* Sola Fide are biblical.
Protestants believe we are justified by faith alone and us Catholics believe we are justified by faith + good works: That makes it seem like we believe that how we go from being dead in sin to being alive in Christ (i.e., justification) is through a combination of faith + works.. NOT true. Paragraph 2010 of the Catechism says, “Since the initiative belongs to God in the order of grace, no one can merit the initial grace of forgiveness and justification at the beginning of conversion.”
Re:that Counsel of Trent (“We are justified by faith because faith is the beginning of human salvation, the foundation, and the root of all justification, without which it is impossible to please God”).. The question ISN’T merely, “Does faith justify us?”
Lots of early Christians say faith justifies us. We ARE justified by faith in Christ, but that is not the same as saying we are justified by faith ALONE because the fathers also talk about us being *under the new law of Christ*, for example. The Fathers didn’t know about or teach Faith Alone, either, but I’ll get to that.
So do these crazy Catholic believe there’s a secret recipe for the Good Works that they must do? Nope.
That way of thinking about faith + works can also make it seem like we must perform an arbitrary number of good works in order to get to Heaven.. Also NOT true.
And I think this is where many Protestants get hung up? They believe a simple, easily rebutted lie about Catholics.
The only good work a Catholic must do to get to Heaven is to just not die in a state of mortal sin.
Good works are not the automatic byproduct of faith, but they only come from faith, as Paul says in Galatians 5:6. “For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is of any avail, but faith WORKING THROUGH love.”
I like to think about it this way (and this is a very elementary explanation of it): I love my dear friend but her knowing that isn’t enough. If I don’t tell her, thank her for her friendship, spend time with her, and so on, she simply won’t know. Although God is different because he’s all-knowing and perfect and he KNOWS what’s in our hearts, whereas us humans are imperfect and need to be shown signs of love, we Catholics nevertheless like to live out our faith in many ways–not to convince God that we love him, but because we don’t want to die shortly after having committed a mortal sin that might make God question our devotion when our time comes. Plus, unlike my friend, God wills us to do good works for him.. and then likes to reward us for our work. But I’ll get to that too!
You read the Bible regularly, right? Maybe do Devotionals as well, and teach Christianity to your kids? That’s *more* than just “faith alone.”
Reading the work of God is a way of showing God your love and faith as well, for example.
I’m sure you also try to lead a good, respectable life, follow the Commandments and the Golden Rule, and aim to do the right thing every day.
All of those are good works! (We Catholics simply add other biblical things, like penances, Confession, Corporate Works of Mercy, etc.)
Likewise, doing something objectively reprehensible to someone before saying that we love him/her is contradictory, and not a good way to show said love and fidelity.
Good Works Show Our Faith
We don’t show love to someone by simply doing nothing
Good works help us live out our faith, and the Bible is full of examples of men and women doing good works and preaching those good works (e.g., the Beautitudes) to get to Heaven.
Along those lines, Pope Benedict XVI said during a general audience that, “Luther’s phrase, ‘faith alone’, is true IF it is not opposed to faith in charity, in love. Faith is looking at Christ, entrusting oneself to Christ, being united to Christ, conformed to Christ to his life.”
But Sola Fide/Faith Alone wasn’t even something that the early Church fathers practiced or taught because it’s not in the Bible. GOOD WORKS IS, THOUGH:
God has BOUND himself (promised) to reward us for our deeds:
(Mark 9:41) “For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward.”
The “reward” for doing those good works is a gift. God isn’t “strictly” obligated to give you the gift. It’s something he wants to do.. not something he HAS to do. The “gift” for doing good works is the “reward” of eternal life:
(Romans 2:6-7) God “will repay each person according to what they have done. To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life.”
^^ When we die, we are judged according to our deeds and at that point in time it is determined whether or not you “qualify” for the full inheritance. That’s what Romans 2:6-7 is referring to.
AND
(Colossians 3:24) “knowing that from the Lord you WILL receive the reward of inheritance. [see? Eternal life is a reward]. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.”
The full inheritance is not ours yet. It’s not something the eye or the ear has experienced yet:
(1 Corinthians 2:9) “However, as it is written: ‘What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived’ — the things God has prepared for those who love him.”
Moreover, God causes us to do “good works” and then those “good works” which He caused you to do result in obtaining the “full inheritance” of eternal life (Rom.2:6-7), which is IRREFUTABLY A REWARD:
(Colossians 3:24) “knowing that from the Lord you WILL receive the reward of inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.”
Additionally, God has promised to reward certain actions, and when those actions are performed the reward is required on God’s part. Therefore, it follows that one cannot obtain the full inheritance (barring some extraordinary circumstance, like dying in infancy, etc.,) without those God-inspired “good works.” (Eph.2:10). If you say that (i.e., “Faith Alone Justification”), then you are “anathema.”
Okay, but where Faith + Good Works in the Bible?
- James 2:24 – not justified by faith alone
- James 2:26 – faith without works is dead
- Gal 5:6 – we must have “faith working in love”
- Phil 2:12; 2 Cor 5:10; Rom 2:6-10, 13, 3:31; Mt 25:32-46; Gal 6:6-10; Rev 20:12 – works have merit
- Jn 14:15 – if you love me, keep my commandments
- 1 Jn 2:3-4; 1 Jn 3:24; 1 Jn 5:3 – keep commandments
- A note about Romans 3:28.. When Martin Luther translated the letter to the Romans into German in the 16th century, he added the word alone —but alone is not in the original Greek text.
I know that was A.LOT but you opened the door :)!
Happy to continue chatting about this and I hope you have a wonderful weekend.
Her response
She was appreciative of my “willingness to talk things through without being offended.”
She continued:
Unfortunately, rare is the person these days who can calmly disagree without taking it as a personal attack. I absolutely will to respond, but will have to revisit in a few weeks. …”
She added that she’ll be unable to respond until around April because of presentations and a family vacation. (But it’s August and I haven’t heard back!) I wished her well on her presentations and that was that.
In conclusion
Save yourself the money and either skip the paid book lists or the book list memberships.
(For what it’s worth, however, the books I’ve read that Carole Joy Seid** has recommended has been stellar.)
Additional resources
*Sarah Mackenzie, whom I’ve written about before in a past Favorites post and on my homeschooling website, is both a Catholic author AND a Catholic recommender of books through her site The Read Aloud Revival. She’s also the founder of Read-Aloud Premium, a membership program for moms/parents that is honestly everything most homeschool-related memberships, like Ms. Johnson’s, wish they could be. (And the best parts are her book lists are FREE and she doesn’t openly hate any denominations. In fact, I don’t think she hates anybody.)
**Carole Joy Seid (CJS), a Protestant and founder of the transformational Homeschool Made Simple method that I wrote about in a more recent Favorites post, is not only another role model, but also happens to somehow radiate hope, excitement, and tremendous positivity through her seminars (her digital seminars are the bee’s knees so I’m sure her face-to-face ones must be absolute knockouts) and podcast episodes. Her philosophy WILL make you rethink everything you thought you knew about (home) education. She offers free books lists as well, while others are included with your purchase of her digital seminars. They’re to be treasured for generations. Her wisdom is unmatched and her offerings are priceless.
**Another protestant book recommender is Jan Bloom, whom CJS has had on her podcast. On her site, Books Bloom, she features two of the books she’s written that list dozens of “authors of another age who invented their characters, developed their plots, and wrote their books during a time when the virtues we esteem as Christians were the accepted values of most of society.” We have the original and I’ll be getting Vol. 2 in due time. Like RAR Premium and CJS’s resources, her books are also priceless.. and VERY affordable considering they represent a one-time payment for invaluable lists with thousands of book names.
