Currie's journey provides lessons for all Christians

Born Fundamentalist, Born Again Catholic by David B. Currie

Ignatius Press, 1995

While Born Fundamentalist, Born Again Catholic is now nearly 15 years old, it still remains a wonderful tale of one man's journey to and discovery of the Catholic faith. Though both the Catholic and Protestant reader may be inclined, though for different reasons, to think there is nothing to be learned from a fundamentalist exploring the Catholic Church, Currie's effort here demonstrates quite the opposite: his personal journey provides a wealth of valuable insight and understanding that all readers serious about their Christian faith are sure to find thought-provoking and enlightening.

Currie's fundamentalist roots run deep -- his father was a fundamentalist preacher and both and he and Currie's mother were teachers at Moody Bible College. Currie was prepared to follow in their footsteps, earning a degree at Trinity International University and pursuing a master's of divinity at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. It's this personal background from which Currie writes that makes his story so relevant. It's the reason Protestants can rest assured that Currie is approaching this information in an unbiased manner. In fact, this is not a path he went joyfully down, skipping and smiling all the way. His was a reluctant journey, with many resulting hardships. Consequently, he digs deep to make sure he is unearthing the true story.

Similarly, Catholics are afforded the opportunity to see, through his eyes, many of the misunderstandings and falsehoods Protestants commonly hold regarding numerous Catholic beliefs and practices. Currie is adept at pinpointing the origins of these errors, explaining why they are such an issue for Protestants, and detailing the real truths his journey and study revealed to him. His narratives on such things as the Eucharist, the Pope, and salvation are succinct and coherent refreshers for Catholics who often stumble when explaining such foundations of the church.

Beyond the theology, Currie's is simply a good story, too. He quickly pulls the reader into his world at the time his journey began. Who he is and what he is going through are real. He makes the reader care about his trials and tribulations; his challenges and obstacles; his perseverance and successes; while also sharing in the emotions that accompany those experiences. There are a lot of books about theology, but it is this human element that really makes Born Fundamentalist, Born Again Catholic a page-turner.