Forty Reasons I Am A Catholic (Sophia Institute Press)

Dr. Peter Kreeft is one of the most well-known Catholics in the United States. He is a professor of philosophy and a prolific author, penning over 40 books on philosophy, theology, and apologetics. His most recent book is entitled Forty Reasons I Am A Catholic. Before I talk about the book, I would like to clarify that Dr. Kreeft explains that there are well more than 40 reasons he is Catholic. He simply wrote down 40 reasons, because he believes a good question (Why are you a Catholic?) deserves a good answer, or 40 in this case.

The book is not systematically organized by topic, but instead is just 40 concrete examples from Dr. Kreeft's life. Each chapter is only a few pages long with the longest being six pages. His first reason sounds simple, "because he believes it's true," but it is deeper than that. He is Catholic because he believes it holds Jesus' truth, and ends this chapter by telling people that they should only convert to Catholicism if they believe it is true. If they don't believe that, don't become Catholic or leave the Church, because hypocrisy is a grave sin. Other examples in this book range from his belief of Jesus in the Eucharist and the sacrament of Confession to something so personal as his mother.

The book is written in a very accessible and approachable language. It is very easy to read through, but Dr. Kreeft doesn't dumb anything down, and presents sound philosophical arguments for his serious reasons. (Don't expect one for the chapter on because of the movies.) This book is good for non-Catholics who wonder why you are Catholic, teens/young adults who are in the questioning stage of their life and going off to college, or Catholics who have been Catholic for a long time but sometimes wonder or question why they are Catholic. I highly recommend it and will be passing this book along to others.

This book was provided to me for free by Sophia Institute Press.