THE CATHOLIC REVIEW: ‘Why I Am Roman Catholic’ is succinct and personal

by Deacon Rick Bauer

Those of us who regularly interact with non-Catholic Christians and others who have left the Catholic faith are often puzzled about how to communicate accurate information about Catholicism in a manner that is readily digestible. We either overwhelm friends or inquiring relatives with long explanations or recommend books that are dauntingly theological; other times we are too simplistic or find ourselves ducking the difficult aspects of the faith.

What does it mean to claim that you follow the Catholic Christian faith, the Catholic tradition? Can you explain that in a short statement? We are familiar with personal confessions and conversion stories, but many of us are not ready to hand over our precious copy of St. Augustine’s “Confessions” or a lengthy philosophical work by Peter Kreeft (no harm in either choice here) because we wonder if it will it ever be read. Is it too much, too soon?

Enter Matthew Levering’s “Why I Am Roman Catholic” (InterVarsity Press, 2024).  Levering, who earned a doctorate at Boston College, is a professor of theology at University of Saint Mary of the Lake in Mundelein, Illinois. Author or coauthor of over 35 books including “Scripture and Metaphysics,” “Participatory Biblical Exegesis,” and “Engaging the Doctrine of Israel,” he is a longtime member of Evangelicals and Catholics Together, a group I sought out as a Protestant minister reconsidering his Catholic roots. “Why I Am Catholic” is a delightful discovery of a book that provides complete explanations taught in a narrative form, a clear and unflinching embracing of the truths of the Catholic tradition — including ones that modern culture instinctively rejects — in a nonconfrontational manner that is refreshing, succinct, and respectful of the human person. A further delight is his near-encyclopedic knowledge of the writings of saints down through the ages of the history of the Church (with citations and short references on nearly every page, saving us from endless page-flipping). Levering brings us into communion with that great cloud of witnesses (Hebrews 11) who cheer us on as we run the race that is our Christian, Catholic faith. What I discovered in reading this delightful book is that Matthew Levering is a Catholic not because other faiths or communions are deficient, errant, or even ugly, but because Catholicism is beautiful. He may have a lesson for us right there — that beauty is a means of evangelization.

This book is structurally tight. While it is an apologia for the faith, it is not framed in a defensive or encyclopedic format. Levering has a gentle and informative approach that would provide the gist of a conversation at a café or in your living room after lunch with a friend. The author begins by describing his own faith journey, which included being born into a Quaker family and converting to Catholicism in high school. As one would expect, there are specific reasons bound in history for a Christian faith, and a compelling rationale for that Christian’s faith to be Roman Catholic in expression (though respectful of other Christian faith traditions). Here we find relevant references from both Sacred Scripture and the writings of saintly wisdom, theological insight, and Levering’s own personal testimony, and as such, these opening chapters extend an invitation to consider anew the tradition Levering came to love and from which he has learned so much.

The next two chapters are brilliant and disarming. Levering answers the question “What I Have Found Especially Beneficial About Being a Catholic” (not an argument, but the blessings of humility, grace, and the Eucharist) in a tender and personal manner.

His fourth chapter is clear and pulls no punches; he writes about “What I Have Found Difficult About Being Catholic.” I’m torn between not spoiling the experience and providing good reasons for getting the book, so I’ll summarize: 1) difficulties due to Post-Vatican II controversies; 2) those struggles that arise from the interior temptation to worldliness (which is not just Levering’s experience); and 3) the clergy sexual abuse scandals. Each section is vulnerable and candid, with only a few explanations. In a citation from Bishop Robert Barron, to whom the book is dedicated, he conveys the bishop’s own sense of pain due to the clergy sex abuse crisis, while not embracing the too-easy assessment that the culprit is the celibate, all-male priesthood. saying that “all human beings are fallen, and celibate males do not have a monopoly on selfishness, stupidity, and wickedness” (Barron, “Letter to a Suffering Church,” pp.89-90). Levering pulls no punches, shares his own pain and frustration, but gets to the heart of the issue without defensiveness. Rather than shy away from the challenges that Catholicism presents to society, Levering leans into these matters to offer an honest yet hopeful account of being Roman Catholic.

Levering’s last two chapters move further afield and are helpful in addressing questions that people often ask about the Catholic faith — the question of ecumenism (other Christian faiths) and the manner in which Catholics interpret the Scriptures. Embedded in Vatican II, Catholics have embraced ecumenism not as an attempt to restore a pre-Reformational monolithic unity, but rather to see our separated churches through the lens of an exchange of gifts. Many Catholic scholars have benefited greatly from the works of numerous contemporary Anglican, Protestant, and Orthodox biblical scholars and theologians, such as Dietrich Bonhoeffer and C.S. Lewis. This ecumenically-enriched Catholic Church is therefore more than the Catholic Church at the time of separation centuries ago, and has formally embraced dialogue and friendship instead of diatribe and dismissal. This posture is reflective of Vatican II’s “Lumen Gentium,” to be sure.

Finally, how Catholics approach the Scriptures is a topic that may do more to entice rather than to alienate non-Catholics. Levering uses a well-known passage for his example, the creation account of Genesis 1:1-3. Citing St. Ambrose and other Church fathers, Genesis 1:1 can be understood as God the Father speaking in verse 1, God the Holy Spirit in Genesis 1:2, and Genesis 1:3 as the Son, whom St. Ambrose says, “there is one God the Father Who speaks, and one God the Son Who acts” (p.143). In addition to translating Hebrew words into terms understandable in English, Levering sees unity with other Christian faiths in careful translations of original texts, and in interpreting the Scriptures by themselves — the “Regula Fidae,” or Rule of Faith (texts are understood in the way they harmonize with the rest of the scriptural record). Levering goes on to read canonically, reflecting the insights of Catholic exegetes like Gary Anderson and David Cotter that God is the Creator and not merely the orderer of all things. Levering includes the prelude of John’s Gospel (John 1:1-3) as an example of biblical exegesis of Genesis by an inspired writer, citing also Cyril of Alexandria on John’s Gospel and other inspired insights from St. Paul. Hence Catholic biblical exegesis is a rich menu of understanding the original texts, other scriptural references, and the history of interpretation through 2,000 years of commentary and the occasional dogmatic pronouncements from the Church, none of which do any violence to the root meanings of a text, reflecting insights from Vatican II’s “Dei Verbum.”

The remarkably fruitful and doctrinally faithful Matthew Levering has offered Christians everywhere a new gift with this small but luminous jewel entitled “Why I Am Roman Catholic.” Personal, penetrating, humbly forthright, and with a sweeping spiritual vision of the divine life, Levering follows his own ecumenical advice: share joyfully with others what the Lord has given you. Richly adorned with the gleaming traces of one the most profound gifts of his tradition — the communion of saints — Levering’s insightful discussion is a torch in the darkness of heated arguments and familial strife. Levering takes us through his own sense of blessing, challenge, and hope in his Christian vocation as a Catholic. Non-Catholics in particular will find this an encouraging witness, and all Christians should receive it with thanks, and aspire to communicate the faith in a sweetly reasonable manner.

                                                — Deacon Rick Bauer 

 (For comments or to suggest a book that might be helpful for Catholics, write Deacon Rick at rbauer@diocs.org.)