Holy Ground: Walking with Jesus As a Former Catholic »

Chris Castaldo crecio en Long Island, New York como un catolico romano y trabajo a tiempo completo en la iglesia catolica por varios anos. Es graduado del Instituto biblico Moody y del Seminario Teologico Gordon-Conwell. En este momento es pastor de alcance comunitario y planteamiento de iglesias en la Iglesia College en Wheaton, IL. Reside en las afueras de Chicago con su esposa angela y sus tres hijos.

Chris Castaldo takes readers on a fascinating and practical exploration of the challenges and opportunities encountered by Catholics who become Evangelicals. More than just theological insight and historical background, Holy Ground shows you how to emulate the grace and truth of Jesus as you relate to your own Catholic past and the Catholic faith of those you love.

Library Journal

Castaldo (pastor of outreach & church planting, College Church) writes as a former Roman Catholic who has converted to evangelical Protestantism. He places himself in the "positive identity" camp now—that is, among those who cooperate warily with Catholics in some matters while remaining critical of Catholic polity and doctrine. While some readers may be uncomfortable with Castaldo's evangelism, mild and centrist as it is, his book importantly addresses the mutual ignorance many Christian denominations have of each other, especially at the lay level. VERDICT A useful, if not unbiased, survey of the differences between Catholicism and conservative Christianity.

Preface 11

Acknowledgements 15

Prologue: It's Only Life and Death 17

Part 1 Prespectives on Roman Catholicism

1 Understanding Why Catholics Become Evangelical 25

Confronted by Death 26

What Do Catholics Believe? 27

The Fundamental Difference 30

2 Reson One: Full-Time Faith 33

Excursus: Image of God 34

Searching for Purpose 35

The Church's Calling 38

3 A Portrait of Evangelical Faith: Martin Luther 41

Martin Luther 42

Excursus: Sola Scriptura 53

4 Reason Two: Personal Relationship with Jesus 55

The Journey Begins 56

Sactioned Steak 59

Relationship over Rules 61

5 Reason Three: Direct Access to God 63

The Papa 65

Speaking for God 69

Disagreement over the Papacy 70

6 A Portrait of Catholic Faith: Loyola and Contarini 77

Catholic Renewal 78

Colloquy of Regensburg 82

Three Types of Catholics 89

7 Reason Four: Christ-Centered Devotion 91

Beware of Nuda Scriptura 94

The Body of Christ 96

The Great Symphony 98

Religious Dissonance 99

8 Reason Five: Motivated by Grace Instead a Guilt 105

Ex-Catholics Talk about Salvation 108

The Centrality of Grace 114

"It Is Finished!" 119

Part 2 Relating to Roman Catholics

9 How Catholics View Evangelicals 123

Salvation as "Fire Insurance" 124

Excursus: Something Evangelicals Can Learn from Catholics 129

"Chummy Chummy" with God 130

Absence of Unity 131

Superficiality 134

Conclusion 137

10 Traditional, Evangelical, and Cultural Catholics 139

The Traditional Catholic 141

The Evangelical Catholic 144

The Cultural Catholic 149

11 How to Relate to the Catholics with Grace and Truth 159

Family Feud 160

How We ViewCatholics

Red Light 172

Don't Be a Pit Bull 172

Don't Attempt to Debate People into the Kingdom 173

Don't Partake of the Mass

Yellow Light 174

Be Cautious of How You Use Language 174

Recognize Your Familial Position 177

Be Cautious of Emotional Intensity 178

Green Light 178

Engage in Gospel Dialog 178

Keep the Main Thing the Main Thing 180

12 Glorify God and Enjoy Him Forever 183

Thinking about God 184

The Transfiguation 185

Jesus Comes to Fulfill the Ancient Promises of Israel (Matt. 17:1-3) 186

Jesus and His World Are Supreme over Creation (Matt. 17:4-5) 189

Perosonal Encounter with Jesus (Matt. 17:6-8) 195

Appendix: How the Catholic Church Became What It Is: Trent to Vatican II 199

The Council of Trent (1545-63) 199

Vatican I (1869-70) 202

Vatican II(1962-65) 208

Discussion Questions 221

Index 229