From Atheism to Catholicism

From Atheism to Catholicism was an ok read. I think if I was more familiar with the works of some of the philosophers and psychologists mentioned it may have been more enjoyable. My intentions were to give the book to someone I know but I don’t think it is reader friendly enough to pass along.


The author, Vost’s journey from atheism to Catholicism is quite interesting. He starts out in his God-less period and explains why Nietzsean and Dawkin’s ideas can be so lucrative to young people.

PART I: GOD IS DEAD?
1. Friedrich Nietzsche's Superman
2. The Lord and Lord Bertrand Russell
3. Albert Ellis: Reason, Emotion, Psychotherapy, and Jehovah
4. Aristotle Shrugged: Ayn Rand and the Intellectual Soul
5. Darwin and Dawkins: Genes, Memes, and "Me's"

Part 2 explores psychologists and philosophers who did not believe that reason rules out faith in God. Here minds such as Alfred Adler, and the Stoics are examined.

PART II: SIGNS OF LIFE
6. Alfred Adler and the Fictive Goal of God
7. Stoic Strivings: The Slave, The Lawyer, The Emperor, and God
8. Mortimer Adler and the God of the Philosophers

The last section looks at the reasons why Vost himself was enlightened to theism. Men such as St Thomas Aquinas, CS Lewis, GK Chesterton and Pope John Paul II helped him to see the real truth.

PART III: CHRIST HAS RISEN FROM HIS TOMB!
9. St. Thomas Aquinas: The Angelic Doctor Effects a Cure
10. C. S Lewis: God Save the Queen
11. G. K. Chesterton: What Could Be Right With the World
12. Pope John Paul II: Faith and Reason, Body and Soul

My favorite part of the book was the Truth Box section found at the end of each section. Here a brief but to the point truth was revealed about the flaws of atheism.

All in all I enjoyed reading Vost’s conversion story but I also thought the book was sort of choppy and the flow seemed to have no cadence. It certainly is a book full of research and proof and if reason is what you need then this book has it.

This review was written as part of the Catholic book reviewer program from The Catholic Company. Visit The Catholic Company to find more information on From Atheism to Catholicism . They are also a great source for a baptism gifts or first communion gifts.