Almost Catholic: An Appreciation of the History, Practice, and Mystery of Ancient Faith [Hardcover]

Jon Sweeney (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 25, 2008

Jon Sweeney, a self-described “evolved Protestant” and noted religious writer, has long been fascinated by the Catholic Church. However, it wasn’t until he was a young missionary in the Philippines that he truly began to understand the Church’s traditions, mysteries, and religious beliefs and its hold on those who follow the tradition. As he explains, Catholic spirituality is all about responding to the fundamental mystery of Jesus, the incarnation, and what it all meant in the beginning as well as what it means today.

In Almost Catholic, Sweeney offers an appreciation of Catholicism, weaving in the story of his own explorations with those of others who have also been attracted to this tradition. He finds himself drawn to the Church’s ancient and medieval traditions out of a desire to connect with the deepest and widest paths on the way. Two millennia of saints and practices and teachings and mystery form a connection for him to the very beginnings of Christianity.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Rosaries, rituals, crucifixes and canonized saints: Sweeney, an Episcopalian, enthusiastically embraces these trappings of the Catholic faith, even as many Protestants find them unbiblical and some Catholics have abandoned them. In his latest book, Sweeney talks about his chosen state of being almost Catholic, explaining how Catholicism's practices and outlook help connect him to the divine and expand his worldview. Raised as an evangelical Protestant, Sweeney tells how he grew up believing Catholics were going to hell unless they found our brand of true salvation. Later, as a church planter in the Philippines, his thinking started to shift when he stepped inside a Catholic church for the first time. Overwhelmed by the sensory experience, he came to love Catholicism as an approach to faith that lands in the heart and the body as well as in the head. He has stopped short of converting, however, saying that those who remain outside the institution can still access Catholic life. Although Sweeney's love of Catholic practice makes for interesting reading, he saves his best for describing the differences between Catholic and Protestant thought, providing a depth that goes beyond fascination with externals. (Feb.)
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Review

Rosaries, rituals, crucifixes and canonized saints: Sweeney, an Episcopalian, enthusiastically embraces these trappings of the Catholic faith, even as many Protestants find them unbiblical and some Catholics have abandoned them. In his latest book, Sweeney talks about his chosen state of being “almost Catholic,” explaining how Catholicism's practices and outlook help connect him to the divine and expand his worldview. Raised as an evangelical Protestant, Sweeney tells how he grew up believing “Catholics were going to hell unless they found our brand of true salvation.” Later, as a church planter in the Philippines, his thinking started to shift when he stepped inside a Catholic church for the first time. Overwhelmed by the sensory experience, he came to love Catholicism as an approach to faith that “lands in the heart and the body as well as in the head.” He has stopped short of converting, however, saying that those who remain outside the institution can still access Catholic life. Although Sweeney's love of Catholic practice makes for interesting reading, he saves his best for describing the differences between Catholic and Protestant thought, providing a depth that goes beyond fascination with externals. (Feb.) (Publishers Weekly, December 3, 2007)

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass; 1 edition (February 25, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0787994707
• ISBN-13: 978-0787994709
• Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 1.2 x 8.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,075,453 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jon M. Sweeney has lived in Vermont since 1997. He has three kids, one in college, one in high school, and a new baby girl. He writes and reflects on spiritual matters in books, articles, blogs, and other media, and he works in book publishing.

Jon was the cofounder and editor-in-chief of SkyLight Paths Publishing for several years. Since 2004 he has been the associate publisher at Paraclete Press.

His spiritual and religious life continues to evolve, and much of Jon's writing is about this. His first 20 years were spent as an involved evangelical (a story he told in the memoir Born Again and Again); he then spent 22 years as an active Episcopalian (see The Lure of Saints and Cloister Talks, among other books); and in the fall of 2009 he was received into the Catholic Church. Today, he is a practicing Catholic (of a more monastic variety), but his most regular spiritual practice is Jewish, as he prays regularly with his wife, a rabbi, and they keep a Jewish home.

Sweeney often says that he loves the church, the synagogue, and other aspects of organized religion, and wants to see these organisms survive (he loves religion; he's not just spiritual), but he also is not interested in doing things to simply prop up falling institutions. In all of his writing, Jon is drawn to the ancient and medieval (see Strange Heaven, Beauty Awakening Belief, The Road to Assisi, and the forthcoming The Pope Who Quit).

Sweeney has a special passion for Saints Francis and Clare of Assisi. He has written several books on Francis and Clare including Light in the Dark Ages: The Friendship of Francis and Clare of Assisi, a History Book Club and BOMC selection, The St. Francis Prayer Book, and The St. Clare Prayer Book. He has also written books on embodied prayer, the Virgin Mary, and other subjects. His most recent are Almost Catholic: An Appreciation of the History, Practice, and Mystery of Ancient Faith, published by Jossey-Bass, and Verily, Verily: The King James Bible--400 Years of Influence and Beauty.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Read, April 21, 2009

By 

Eugene C. Cochran (South Georgia Methodist) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Almost Catholic: An Appreciation of the History, Practice, and Mystery of Ancient Faith (Hardcover)

I thought this was a refreshing book about how an evangelical was enriched by the catholic tradition. Too often present day Christians think their tradition goes back to the founding of their particular group when in fact we share a longer tradition with others. If you read Richard Foster or many other spiritual writers they will consult both catholic and protestant writers and mystics. I an a United Methodist and I have been informed by Anglican and Catholic heritages as well as my own Wesleyan heritage. This writer communicates to Protestant readers the practices of Roman Catholics that we could learn from and benefit from ourselves.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Crucifixes, Rosaries, Stations of the Cross, Novenas and Merton, St. Francis, Chesterton, O'Connor, August 30, 2009

By 

Thomas M. Loarie (Danville, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Almost Catholic: An Appreciation of the History, Practice, and Mystery of Ancient Faith (Hardcover)

Author John M. Sweeney has written an excellent book, "Almost Catholic," that should find a home with non-Catholics, lapsed Catholics, and Catholics "in good standing" alike. Sweeney's family was originally Roman Catholic but found it was not easy being Catholic in Kansas in the 1800s so they became evangelical Protestant. Today, Sweeney is an Episcopalian. He admits that his family's Catholic history may be haunting him.

The book is composed of six sections:
* Definitions and language which includes "The Eleven Steps to Becoming a Truly Catholic Christian."
* The Catholic Imagination" which explores a particular way of seeing the world - God is here in sacred places and spaces.
* What it means to be Catholic which is to fully embrace the Incarnate Christ - the Crucifix, the Stations of the Cross, and relics, "bones and bodies."
* Physical connections to spiritual reality which includes the Rosary, Novenas, Icons/Images, Confession, and the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
* A reflection by the author on his faith journey which includes chapters on Thomas Merton, St. Francis of Assisi, G.K. Chesterton, Flannery O'Connor, and the Roman Catholic Catechism.
* Practices that pull us together which include the Sacraments, Sacramentals, and Blessings, which are being rediscovered today by many outside the Catholic Church.

Sweeney, who has thought deeply about the Catholic tradition, wrote this with the hope others would learn as he did about the jewels that lie below the surface. Non-Catholic religious leaders have confused the matter by preaching that being Catholic is primarily about that outer crust of religious observance. As the reader will learn, there is much beauty to uncover and there are many elements of Catholicism that have the potency for non-Catholics and for uncommitted Catholics as well as for Catholics who believe they are well formed.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Strange, Paradoxical, (Almost) Catholic, June 12, 2010

By 

Alcee Arobin (USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Almost Catholic: An Appreciation of the History, Practice, and Mystery of Ancient Faith (Hardcover)

This book is not quite what I was expecting. I picked it up anticipating a quasi-history of Roman Catholic spiritual traditions. In reality, it reads more like a self-help book (a la The Purpose Driven Life), with Jon Sweeney laying out his own opinions on Jesus and the Gospel and how he believes they should apply to everyday life. It might have helped had I known that Sweeney is some type of motivational speaker, and this book certainly employs the language I associate with those types of seminars (there's plenty of talk about your "true" vs. "false self").

I also found that in his infatuation with Catholicism, he was unfair with Protestant Christianity in many places. And I think I can judge this without bias - I'm not a Christian, just someone who's recently become interested in the matter, and reading lots of different texts lately on Jesus and those who follow Him. For instance, Sweeney criticizes Protestantism for its lack of imagination and its heavy focus on personal faith. For someone like myself, I can't help but simultaneously consider the many benefits of the Reformation. Luther's rejection of religious hierarchy paved the way for democracy, something I happen to like quite a bit. Also, for all the focus on Catholic mystery, I find that there's plenty among Protestants as well. What about Pentecostal charismatics, or the intense spiritual movements in African-American Baptist churches? I find them all equally fascinating.

The book has many chapters and each is intended to deal with a certain element of Catholicism, but they really don't. For instance, there's a chapter on the Rosary. But it's hard to explain what all of the chapters become. There is no history of the Rosary, or even any explanation of what it is. It's just more of Sweeney's personal musings and a story about the first time he prayed the Rosary. And then there's the chapter on Iconography, which, far from providing a defense of the practice, actually seems to provide a stronger argument for those who oppose such objects as idolatry.

This book is terribly difficult to describe, but I still find myself rating it rather highly for a couple of reasons. First, it's immensely readable. And maybe it is just a bunch of self-help mysticism, but, nevertheless, I wouldn't mind if he turned out to be right. While I personally would have liked more of a substantive assessment of Catholicism, Sweeney does excel in certain topics, such as the "sensuousness" of Jesus, which I thought was very well argued. I also admire his open-armed approach to Christian fellowship. In an atmosphere that seems dominated by those more concerned with who to exclude from the faith, it's nice to find a voice for moderates.