Mary – A
Catholic/Evangelical Debate
A
few years ago I got back in touch with an old college
friend named David Gustafson. We started to discuss
religion and the emails went zipping back and forth
across the Atlantic at an amazing rate. I saw the potential
for a book in our discussions. We were both brought
up in fundamentalist homes and attended Bob Jones University,
but David is now an Evangelical Episcopalian. Kimberley
Hahn said, ‘There are three things that keep most Evangelicals
from becoming Catholic: Mary, Mary and Mary.’ This
book airs the differences between us. I explain the
Catholic side and challenge David for following an
abbreviated and sparse form of Christianity. David
challenges me back. Both of us debate pretty sharply,
but our friendship shines through and I hope we never
cross the line out of Christian charity and into animosity.
There is simply no other
book in print that explores this most immovable impasse
between Protestants and Catholics
in a way that both uncompromising Evangelicals like
J.I.Packer and uncompromising Catholics like Richard
John Neuhaus
can wholly applaud. Clear, honest, mutually respectful,
uncompromising and illuminating.
- Peter Kreeft,
Boston College
This debate is
lively and full of challenge: it is also a dalogue, an interaction
between friends, not a polemic, and it could serve as a model for
ecumenical work. With a wealth of solid theological information,
it throws much light on Mary’s role in God’s plan and in the life
of Christians.
- Francis Cardinal
George, Archbishop of Chicago
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