Catholic Apologetics Guidebook

Other Religions

Topics on This Page:

Eastern Orthodoxy
Protestantism
Calvinism
Fundamentalism
Seventh-Day Adventism
Jehovah's Witnesses
Mormonism
Gospel Assembly
Judaism
Islam
Buddhism
Hinduism
Freemasonry
Paganism
New Age
Atheism

Eastern Orthodoxy

Articles:

• Catholic Answers: Eastern Orthodoxy
• Eastern Orthodoxy by Fr. John Hardon, S.J. – This long and detailed article gives a good overview of the history, beliefs, and practices of the Eastern Orthodox churches.  The article is actually a chapter from Fr. Hardon's book Religions of the World.

Protestantism

Articles:

• Protestantism by Fr. John Hardon, S.J. – This long and detailed article gives a good overview of the history, beliefs, and practices of the various major branches of Protestant Christianity.  The article is actually a chapter from Fr. Hardon's book Religions of the World.
• What Was the Reformation? (Chapter 6 of The Great Heresies) by Hilaire Belloc
• Why Only Catholicism Can Make Protestantism Work: Louis Bouyer on the Reformation by Mark Brumley

Books:

• The Roots of the Reformation by Karl Adam – This link allows you to read the full text of this short book online.

Calvinism

Articles:

• Snipping Calvin's Tulip by Christopher Cuddy – A former Calvinist who converted to the Catholic Church discusses Calvin's theological system.
• A Tip-Toe Through TULIP by James Akin

Fundamentalism

Articles:

• Catholic Answers: Fundamentalism
• Catholic Answers: How to Talk with Fundamentalists
• Fundamentalists by Peter Kreeft – An overview of the major points of disagreement between Catholics and Fundamentalist Protestants

Books:

• Catholicism and Fundamentalism: The Attack on "Romanism" by "Bible Christians" by Karl Keating
• The Usual Suspects: Answering Anti-Catholic Fundamentalists by Karl Keating

Seventh-Day Adventism

Articles:

• Catholic Answers: Seventh-Day Adventism
• CUF Faith Facts: Seventh-Day Adventists
• The Sabbath: Saturday or Sunday by Tim Staples
• Catholic Answers: Sabbath or Sunday?
• CUF Faith Facts: Give it a Rest - Sunday is the Lord's Day

Web Sites:

• Dies Domini: Catholic/Adventist Dialogue and Apologetics

Jehovah's Witnesses

Articles:

• Who Are the Jehovah's Witnesses? by Francis J. Ripley – a thorough summary of the history and beliefs of the Jehovah's Witnesses
• CUF Faith Facts: Jehovah's Witnesses - A Catholic Response
• Talking to Jehovah's Witnesses by Jason Evert
• Helping Jehovah's Witnesses Get the Picture by Mary Kochan
• Catholic Answers: The God of the Jehovah's Witnesses
• Catholic Answers: History of the Jehovah's Witnesses

Books:

• Answering Jehovah's Witnesses by Jason Evert

Web Sites:

• The Fellowship of Catholic Ex-Jehovah's Witnesses

Mormonism

Articles:

• Part 1: The Appeal of Mormonism and Part 2: The Wacky World of Joseph Smith and the un-Christianity of Mormon Theology by Fr. Brian Harrison
• What You Need to Know about the Mormons by Isaiah Bennett
• The Mormon Christ by Isaiah Bennett
• Drawing the Line for Mormons - A Closer Look at the LDS Church by Mary Kochan
• In Search of "The Great Apostasy" by Patrick Madrid
• Catholic Answers: Distinctive Beliefs of the Mormon Church
• Catholic Answers: The Gods of the Mormon Church
• Catholic Answers: Mormonism's Baptism for the Dead
• Catholic Answers: Problems with the Book of Mormon

Gospel Assembly

The Gospel Assembly movement is a relatively small and obscure religious sect, comprised of a loose association of individual congregations, all of which have their roots in a religious revival movement founded by William Sowders in the United States early in the 20th century.  Doctrinally, this sect has many similarities to the Jehovah's Witnesses, but their worship style is drawn from Pentecostalism.  In doing research for this web site, I wasn't able to find anything written about the Gospel Assembly movement from a Catholic perspective, and the few Protestant web sites which describe this movement tend to be problematic in one way or another.  Therefore, I have written my own brief overview of this sect, which you can read here:

A Catholic Perspective on the Gospel Assembly Movement

Judaism

Articles:

• Judaism by Fr. John Hardon, S.J. – This long and detailed article gives a good overview of the history, beliefs, and practices of Judaism.  The article is actually a chapter from Fr. Hardon's book Religions of the World.
• Comparing Christianity and Judaism by Peter Kreeft
• Salvation is from the Jews by Rosalind Moss with Roy Schoeman
• The New Testament and Anti-Semitism by James Akin

Books:

• Salvation is from the Jews by Roy Schoeman

Web Sites:

• The Association of Hebrew Catholics
• Salvation is from the Jews (Roy Schoeman's web site)

Islam

Articles:

• Islam by Fr. John Hardon, S.J. – This long and detailed article gives a good overview of the history, beliefs, and practices of Islam.  The article is actually a chapter from Fr. Hardon's book Religions of the World.
• Comparing Christianity and Islam by Peter Kreeft
• Sharing the Gospel with Muslims
• Catholic Answers: Endless Jihad - The Truth about Islam and Violence
• The Great and Enduring Heresy of Mohammed by Hilaire Belloc

Web Sites:

• Answering Islam – This web site is written and maintained by Evangelical Protestants, and as such, it will inevitably contain some information (or links to information) that contradicts the Catholic faith.  However, this site seems to be well regarded as one of the best resources for Christian apologetics on the topic of Islam, and therefore I think it is worth listing it here.

Buddhism

Articles:

• Buddhism by Fr. John Hardon, S.J. – This long and detailed article gives a good overview of the history, beliefs, and practices of Buddhism.  The article is actually a chapter from Fr. Hardon's book Religions of the World.
• Comparing Christianity and Buddhism by Peter Kreeft
• Are Jesus and Buddha Brothers? by Carl Olson and Anthony Clark (plus sidebar article: Christ versus Buddha)
• Tranquility or the Cross? The Dangerous Appeal of Buddhism by Alice von Hildebrand

Hinduism

Articles:

• Hinduism by Fr. John Hardon, S.J. – This long and detailed article gives a good overview of the history, beliefs, and practices of Hinduism.  The article is actually a chapter from Fr. Hardon's book Religions of the World.
• Comparing Christianity and Hinduism by Peter Kreeft

Freemasonry

Articles:

• Catholics and Freemasonry by Fr. William Saunders
• CUF Faith Facts: Can Catholics Be Freemasons?
• The Masonic Religion by William Whalen

Paganism

Articles:

• Comparing Christianity and the New Paganism by Peter Kreeft
• Anti-Neo-Pagan Apologetics by Jimmy Akin
• Part 1: What is a Pagan?, Part 2: Return to Paganism, and Part 3: Engaging Paganism, by Mark Shea
• Dispelling the Charms of Wicca by Mary Zurolo
• The Scholars and the Goddess by Charlotte Allen – This article debunks many erroneous historical claims regarding the origins of Wicca.
• The New Paganism by Hilaire Belloc

New Age

Articles:

• The Age-Old New Age Movement by Harold Berry
• Nothing New Under the Sun by Marcellino D'Ambrosio
• Come Again? by Mike Aquilina – Discusses the common New Age belief in reincarnation.
• Reincarnation Western-Style: the Resurgence of Age-Old Superstition in a Scientific Era by Marie George

Books:

• Catholics and the New Age by Fr. Mitch Pacwa, S.J.

Atheism

The God's Nature and Existence page of this web site contains some links which may be helpful in making the case for Christianity to atheists (or agnostics).

Articles:

• A Short Introduction to Atheism by Carl Olson
• Answering Atheism
• Atheism's Gods by Bobby Jindal

Books:

• Answering the New Atheism by Scott Hahn and Benjamin Wiker
• God Is No Delusion by Thomas Crean, O.P.
• What's So Great About Christianity by Dinesh D'Souza