/lit/ - Literature

>>17913979
Because God's existence cannot be rationally proved. I do believe what I've posted so far strongly argues for the existence of a God, though - at the very least a perfect, transcendental mind. Belief in God can never be arrived at solely through use of our mental faculties, but we are so much more than simply our mental faculties.

>>16953334
TBK did two things for me. Firstly, it drove home that active love is one of the most important things a Christian can do. All philosophy and theology falls down next to genuine love in action. Secondly, it almost startled me in its hope for the salvation of sinners. Anyone who gave an onion, has the potential of making the feast. A simple act of kindness can transform even the most hard-hearted sinners, and it's through genuine love- rather than metaphysical debate- that will save people. This is why Christ's response to the Grand Inquisitor's argument is a kiss- signifying unconditional love- that results in the Inquisitor sobbing and letting Christ go, his worldview crumbling to pieces.

Don't read Hildebrand for that reason. The only works of his I've got are his Aesthetics. These are what did it for me:

> Conversions
Augustine - Confessions
Chesterton - Orthodoxy
Seven Storey Mountain - Merton
Lives of the Saints - Butler

> Spirituality
Introduction to the Devout Life - de Sales
Imitation of Christ - A Kempis
Interior Castle - Avila
Collected Works - John of the Cross
The Cloud of Unknowing - Anon
Theologica Mystica - Dionysius
Preparation for Death - Liguori

> Jesus
Life of Christ - Sheen
Jesus of Nazareth - Ratzinger

> Apologetics
Why we're Catholic - Horn
Essential Catholic Survival Guide - Catholic Answers
A Shorter Summa - Kreeft
Miracles, Screwtape Letters - Lewis

> Fiction
TBK, C&P - Dostoevsky
Death of Ivan Ilyich - Tolstoy
Divine Comedy - Dante
Paradise Lost - Milton
Silence - Endo
The Name of the Rose - Eco
Diary of a Country Priest, Under the Sun of Satan, The Imposter - Bernanos
The Power and the Glory, The End of the Affair - Greene
Of Love and other Demons - Marquez

> Films
Diary of a Country Priest
Calvary
Silence
Of Gods and Men
The Mission
The Passion of the Christ
A Man for all Seasons

>>15360555
To confirm: the Catholic Church is the ONLY Church which contains the fullness of the truth. The greatest minds in Christian history (Augustine, Aquinas) were Catholic, as were the greatest mystics (Theresa of Avila, John of the Cross, Thomas A Kempis) and countless great and beautiful minds. Catholic theology integrates wonderfully with Aristotlean teleology thanks to Aquinas.

The Catholic Church was the ONLY Christian Church until the reformation- we're talking well over 1000 years. Is that what Christ meant? "The gates of hell will not prevail against it, except for like the next 1500 years, then this dude Luther will come along and all will be well". False. The early Church practiced Confession and believed in Transubstantiation (see the Didache and writings of the early Church fathers). WHILE STILL ALIVE, the apostle John, WHO PERSONALLY KNEW JESUS, referred to Peter's successor as the authority on Christian moral dispute.

Martin Luther venerated Mary and believed in many Catholic doctrines. The moronic anti-Catholic rhetoric is a result of a vicious anti-clerical, anti-intellectual fundamentalist movement in the 18th century started by people who were suspicious of the Catholic Church's power. How much sheer pride must you have to think that your interpretation of Scripture is the correct one? There are hundreds of Protestant sects, splintering and sundering, each interpreting a different way, each believing themselves to be the highest authority. Versus ONE Catholic Church. ONE teaching for all her followers. ONE sanctioned interpretation of Scripture, so that God may give us the definitive ruling on the matter and avoid in large part the silly flip-flopping of flawed Protestants. (The Orthodox schism is not related to the interpretation of Scripture).

Everyone should be informed. I recommend ANY protestant read "Why we're Catholic" by Trent Horn, "The Essential Catholic Survival Guide", at the very least some of Fulton Sheen's talks ("Life is worth Living is a favourite of mine, a collection of talks on various aspects of the Catholic Church). As the great Cardinal Newman said, "To be deep in history is to cease to be Protestant".

>>15063565
I was in a similar position to you a couple of years ago, OP. While I ultimately discerned my vocation was to marriage rather than the priesthood, I found the following useful off the top of my head:

> Nicomachean Ethics
> Kreeft- A Shorter Summa
> Confessions
> Introduction to the Devout Life
> Turning the heart to God
> Imitation of Christ
> The Interior Castle
> Ladder of Divine Ascent
> Preparation for Death
> The Cloud of Unknowing
> Sayings of the Desert Fathers
> The Seven Storey Mountain

Fiction:
> Dostoevsky- TBK, C&P
> Tolstoy- The Death of Ivan Ilyich, Father Sergius
> Flaubert- Temptation of St Anthony, Saint Julian
> Bernanos- Diary of a Country Priest (great one)
> Greene- The Power and the Glory
> Dante- Inferno, Purgatorial, Paradiso
> Milton- Paradise Lost
> Goethe- Faust 1&2
> CS Lewis- most apologetics, Screwtape Letters
> Eco- The Name of the Rose
> Garcia Marquez- Of Love and Other Demons

Would also greatly recommend Fulton Sheen's talks, he did an excellent miniseries called 'Life is Worth Living' which was instrumental in the development of my faith.