Surprised By Truth 2: 15 Men and Women Give the Biblical and Historical Reasons For Becoming Catholic. (v. 2) [Paperback]

Patrick Madrid (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 3, 2000

This collection of testimonies by people who’ve found new life in the Catholic Church is one of the most potent weapons for the Faith ever crafted! These authors don’t just tell their stories — they also give you an insider’s view of the fatal weaknesses in the creeds and belief systems that beckon unwary Catholics every day: Fundamentalism, New Age paganism, Mormonism, materialistic hedonism, and many others.

You’ll discover why these converts forsook beliefs cherished by their families and friends in order to enter the Catholic Church. Their reasons are so compelling that Catholics can use them to draw their own non-Catholic friends and relatives to the Faith.

These converts will also convince wavering Catholics to stay Catholic, and they’ll bolster the faith of Catholics when anti-Catholic arguments start to make them doubt. Readers will come away with new gratitude to God for the Catholic Faith, and with a strong new tool they can use to stand proudly for that Faith.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“An excellent gift for friends and relatives who have lost their way.” -- Ralph Martin, author, Called to Holiness

“Excellent and often moving testimony of how God works through His Church to offer hope, comfort, and, of course, truth.” -- Our Sunday Visitor

“There’s hardly a better tool for communicating the fullness of the Catholic Faith than this collection of personal stories.” -- Marcus Grodi, host, EWTN's The Journey Home

About the Author

Patrick Madrid is the founder and publisher of the award-winning Envoy Magazine, a Catholic journal of apologetics and evangelization.

His books include Surprised by Truth, Surprised by Truth 2 (Sophia Institute Press), Pope Fiction, Any Friend of God’s Is a Friend of Mine, Where Is That In the Bible?, Search and Rescue (Sophia Institute Press), and the forthcoming Surprised by Scripture (Sophia Institute Press). He’s a contributor to the forthcoming Encyclopedia of Apologetics and is a co-author of Not by Scripture Alone.

In addition to his books, Patrick hosts the popular EWTN television and radio series “Pope Fiction” and co-hosts the new EWTN television apologetics series “The Truth About Scripture and Tradition,” (coming in the fall of 2001).

Patrick has published articles and essays on apologetics in Catholic and Protestant journals such as Catholic Dossier, New Covenant, This Rock, New Oxford Review, Regeneration Quarterly, Sacerdos, Catholic Extension, Credenda/Agenda, and Lay Witness. In addition to his writing projects, he has conducted hundreds of apologetics and evangelization conferences in English and Spanish across the U.S., as well as throughout Europe, Asia, and Latin America.

He is a veteran of numerous formal public debates with Protestant ministers, Mormon leaders, and other non-Catholic spokesmen.

Patrick and his wife Nancy live with their eleven children in the countryside of central Ohio.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Sophia Institute Press (October 3, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1928832180
• ISBN-13: 978-1928832188
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (51 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #447,587 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great sequel to great book, December 6, 2000

By 

"kathrynlively" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Surprised By Truth 2: 15 Men and Women Give the Biblical and Historical Reasons For Becoming Catholic. (v. 2) (Paperback)

If you subscribe to Envoy Magazine you may already be familiar with some of the stories in this wonderful sequel to Surprised by Truth. Nonetheless, this volume is a terrific addition to any Catholic apologetics collection if you do not keep an archive of the stories as they appeared in the magazine.

While the first Surprised by Truth concentrated primarily on Evangelical Protestant converts to the Faith, Surprised by Truth 2 chronicles the stories of converts from other realms: Mormonism, paganism, Judaism and Unitarianism among others. This volume even included stories from cradle Catholics who fell away and returned. I thought it interesting to read to read these viewpoints, as "Catholic convert" books usually focus upon former Fundamentalists who join the Church and it is rare to find conversion stories about Mormons, Jehovahs Witnesses and people of other faiths. I enjoyed reading how the people in SbT2 discovered how they came to Catholicism: which included thorough study of the Bible, prayer, and moral issues like abortion.

Books like this are great not only for people considering the Catholic Faith but for cradle Catholics seeking assurance in their faith.

62 of 67 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unlike most sequels this one's a hit!, August 22, 2000

By 

Tim Drake "Author and Journalist" (Saint Joseph, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Surprised By Truth 2: 15 Men and Women Give the Biblical and Historical Reasons For Becoming Catholic. (v. 2) (Paperback)

Pat Madrid has done it again. Surprised by Truth 2 picks up where the original left off. Whereas the original featured 11 stories of primarily Evangelical Protestants, the sequel (or equal perhaps) features 15 stories from men and women of a variety of backgrounds: Mormon, Lutheran, pagan, Protestant missionary...

While many of these stories have appeared in the pages of Envoy Magazine, collectively they leave a lasting impact on the reader. Each story demonstrates how the Holy Spirit acts within individual lives to move individuals towards Christ and His Church.

Each story highlights various historical, biblical, personal, and emotional reasons for the individual conversions. Taken as a whole, the book confronts most of the arguments that people have against the Catholic Church.

I'd recommend this book to those who have misconceptions with the Church, those unsure why they are Catholic, and those solid in their faith. It is reassuring, inspirational, informative, and uplifting.

31 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best of the bunch, June 16, 2003

By 

"socalreviewer" (Southern California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Surprised By Truth 2: 15 Men and Women Give the Biblical and Historical Reasons For Becoming Catholic. (v. 2) (Paperback)

Of the three Surprised by Truth volumes in the series, I definitely liked this one the best. While the first volume was very good in providing a strong dose of conversion accounts from ex-Encangelicals (something people needed to read when it came out back in 1994), and the third volume was interesting, though light on apologetics info and not as well-written, Surprised by Truth 2 is the strongest. Not only was the variety of stories the best of the three (it included stories by relapsed Catholics as well as from converts from non-Protestant backgrounds, which was a big plus), SBT2 has the strongest literary punch. Though all the chapters were excellent, the truly standout chapters were by Kristine Franklin (Our Mission to Convert Catholics Made us Catholic), Fr. Ray Ryland (Meeting Christ on His Terms, Not Ours), Thomas Howard (Catholic Is Not Enough) and Patrick Madrid (Conclusions of a Guilty Bystander). Those four essays in particular combined keen intellectual insights with superb writing and convincing arguments. The one downside in this book (actually with all three) is that it didn't include a chapter by a convert from atheism. There are plenty of atheists milling around out there, and having a well-written and logically coherent account of believing in God would have been icing on the cake. Who knows? Maybe a future Surprised by Truth volume will have one.