Evangelical is Not Enough: Worship of God in Liturgy and Sacrament [Paperback]

Thomas Howard (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1984

In this deeply moving narrative, Thomas Howard describes his pilgrimage from Evangelicalism (which he loves and reveres as the religion of his youth) to liturgical Christianity. He soon afterward became a Roman Catholic. He describes Evangelicalism with great sympathy and then examines more formal, liturgical worship with the freshness of someone discovering for the first time what his soul had always hungered for. This is a book of apologetics without polemics. Non-Catholics will gain an appreciation of the formal and liturgical side of Catholicism. Catholics will see with fresh eyes the beauty of their tradition. Worship, prayer, the Blessed Virgin, the Mass, and the liturgical year are taken one after the other, and what may have seemed routine and repetitive suddenly comes to life under the enchanting wand of Howard's beautiful prose. Howard unfolds for us just what occurs in the vision and imagination of a Christian who, nurtured in the earnestness of Protestant Evangelicalism, finds himself yearning for "whatever-it-is" that has been there in the Church for 2000 years. It traces Howard's soul-searching and shows why he believes the practices of the liturgical Church are an invaluable aid for any Christian's spiritual life. Reminiscent of the style and scope of Newman, Lewis and Knox, this book is destined to be a classic.

Product Details

• Paperback: 162 pages
• Publisher: Ignatius Press (December 1984)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0898702216
• ISBN-13: 978-0898702217
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #447,327 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

105 of 110 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful, profound, warn, and gracious., August 19, 2000

By 

Stephen M. Bainbridge "www.professorbainbridg... (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Evangelical is Not Enough: Worship of God in Liturgy and Sacrament (Paperback)

As an evangelical deeply interested in and sympathetic to Catholicism, I found Thomas Howard's "Evangelical is not Enough" to be one of the most moving religious books I've read in years. Howard was born into an evangelical family, moved into an Anglican communion as an adult, and subsequent to the first publishing of "Not Enough" became a Roman Catholic. This is NOT a Roman Catholic apologia. As noted, Howard's famous (and, within evangelical circles, highly controversial) conversion post-dates this book. Instead, is an apologia for all the apostolic liturgical starins of Christianity (including the Anglican and Orthodox traditions).

Although the story is obviously colored by Howard's faith journey, this is not a biography or memoir. Instead, it is an exploration of the liturgical tradition written by someone deeply sympathetic to the evangelical tradition. Howard explores such controverted issues as Mary, the authority of scripture and church teaching (sola scriptura), justification (sola fide), and liturgy.

I believe (with Howard) that the evangelical churches have gone too far in rejecting liturgy. A traditional High Church service touches my soul far more deeply than the modern praise worship so common in evangelical services. (I was recently in one of those mega-churches where they serve Starbucks coffee and everybody takes their latte into the pew. I'm glad there are churches like that for people who prefer that style of worship, but its not for me.) The hard questions for me are the touchstones of Reformation theology--sola scriptura and sola fide. Does the apostolic tradition have authority or is only scripture authoritative? Is salvation by faith alone or by faith and works? Howard has struggled with these issues too and has given us a fair, balanced, honest, and deeply scriptural set of answers. In sum, HIGHLY recommended.

67 of 71 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An honest account of one man's spiritual journey, August 23, 1998

By 

John Knutsen (Berkeley, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Evangelical is Not Enough: Worship of God in Liturgy and Sacrament (Paperback)

Howard was a shining star among Protestant Evangelicals until his conversion to Catholicism in the 1980s, and that conversion is described and explained in this book. His decision shocked his former Evangelical compatriots, some of whom attacked him rather severely for it. Howard had already written several books on Christian themes--some dealing with his hero, C.S. Lewis--and has continued in recent years to write books discussing aspects of the Catholic faith. This work is a fascinating apologetic about the limitations of Evangelicalism and the fullness of liturgical Christianity. It has much within its pages that will benefit Catholics and non-Catholics alike. Howard's gift for making complicated issues clear has led some to call him "America's answer to C.S. Lewis."

Howard makes it clear that he still has a great love and respect for his Evangelical roots: this is by no means an anti-Evangelical book. He found, however, that despite all the passionate zeal that he felt earlier in his life, there was still something missing--something that he discovered could only be found (much to his surprise) in the liturgy. One of Howard's strengths is his ability to anticipate the objections that Protestants hold regarding each topic, which allows him to explain liturgical Christianity with greater clarity while still retaining what is good about the Evangelical approach. The fact that he once shared these objections gives added weight and open-mindedness to his discussion. It is clear that Howard's interest is to find the Truth, not to take sides in a partisan theological debate, and in that sense this book is perhaps something of a spiritual thriller. His tone is always optimistic, sympathetic, passionate, and informative. He brings to this book a clear love for Christianity that readers of any faith will likely find contagious. Catholics will come away with a greater understanding of the beauty and grandeur of their ancient faith, while non-Catholics will better understand why liturgical Christianity is the fullest expression of the faith as Christ intended.

If you have heard a lot of bad things about the Catholic faith but want to find out more for yourself, Howard's later book (On Being Catholic) is a better place to start. If, however, you are interested in learning why yet another prominent Protestant made a carefully reasoned and heartfelt decision to embrace liturgical Christianity, this is the book for you. Howard is a clear, insightful and penetrating writer of great learning who believes very strongly in his subject, and his enthusiasm is evident on every page. He brings with him all the excitement and wonder of a convert who has discovered for the first time the Catholic faith as it really is, finding that it is a far different thing from what he had always heard and assumed. His surprise at what he found is evident, which is what makes this such an honest and touching account.

52 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not just for Catholics!, December 8, 1999

By 

Ian Drummond "Ian Drummond" (Beverly, MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Evangelical is Not Enough: Worship of God in Liturgy and Sacrament (Paperback)

Tom Howard has written an excellent book here. It does not have to be read by a Catholic in order to gain great meaning from the work. As an evangelical, I can identify with what he discusses as lacking in the Church. He does a good job at identifying exactly the issues he sets out to work with: worshipping God in liturgy and sacrament. It is not a This-Is-Why-You-Should-Be-Catholic book, or at least does not necessarily have to be taken as a work of Catholic apologetics. He is aiming at the need in ANY church to identify its roots and appreciate 2,000 years of history in the communion of saints.

It was valuable to learn about the reason behind many traditions. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who sees the traditional liturgy as rote memorization, boring and irrelevant to their life. Tom Howard breaths life into doctrines and practices of the Church, both traditional evangelical and Catholic, that many people can lose sight of.

What I liked, though, is that he took it to the next step, claiming that worshipping God is not entirely subjective, i.e. it is objectively GOOD to have roots in tradition. So often Christians are comfortable with "whatever size fits" in worship, and don't consider that WHAT they do may be as important as how they FEEL when doing it.