How to Go from Being a Good Evangelical to a Committed Catholic in Ninety-Five Difficult Steps
Christian Smith. How to Go from Being a Good Evangelical to a Committed Catholic in Ninety-Five Difficult Steps
Reviewed by Chris Castaldo–
Wild boars are potentially dangerous. They indiscriminately charge and maul adversaries with their tusks. Less violent but equally destructive are religious converts. Perhaps for this reason Pope Leo X (1513 – 1521) in Exsurge Domine described Martin Luther as a wild boar when the young German from Wittenberg threatened the Pontiff’s ecclesial vineyard. Christian Smith’s recent book—How to Go from Being a Good Evangelical to a Committed Catholic in Ninety-Five Difficult Steps—like Luther before him, may also do damage to the Catholic cause.
According to Smith, the book seeks to persuade readers that the evangelical tradition doesn’t ultimately make sense, even on its own terms, and can’t live up to its own claim to truth (2). It “is written for American evangelical Protestants who for whatever reasons are intrigued enough to be open to the possibility or may be even actively contemplating the idea of becoming Catholic” (3).
The introduction lays groundwork concerning the book’s purpose and framework. With reference to the work of philosopher, Thomas Kuhn, Smith unfolds the process by which life’s major decisions (such as religious conversion) typically occur. These choices require nothing less than a “paradigm revolution,” a psychological sequence that comprises the book’s organizing framework.
Protestants will gain insight from chapter one, which consists of Smith’s summary of “normal evangelicalism,” the assumptions, perspectives, and ideas that comprise a “standard evangelical paradigm.” As Professor of Sociology at the University of Notre Dame, Smith is suited to provide this portrait, having dedicated much of his professional career to analyzing the cultural complexities of conservative Protestantism. His portrayal of popular evangelicalism is remarkably precise. At points you’ll cringe. It would be a shame, however, if readers were to make the mistake of reducing all of evangelicalism to this popular portrait. It is the shallow side of the pool in which Smith is conducting his exposition, and it is unfair and patently false to define the whole by this part. Unfortunately, there is no consideration of “normal Catholicism” here or anywhere in the book.
Subsequent chapters enumerate Smith’s observations of evangelical culture, “anomalies” in Kuhn’s nomenclature, which, from Smith’s perspective, reveal elements that range from the untenable to the deplorable. Some of these critiques are deserved: i.e., rootlessness, fragmentation, disunity, and a fascination with relevance. It’s not long however before evangelicals are pigeonholed with the most simple-minded and shallow exemplars of Protestant conservatism. Following are a few examples; many more could be cited.
In at least two places Smith accuses evangelicalism of intellectual inferiority, especially in regard to literary progress (44, 77-78). After suggesting that C.S. Lewis was perhaps more Catholic than Protestant, Smith defines evangelical authors by the work of Frank Peretti, Tim LaHaye, and the scads of romance novel writers, which he describes as “pathetic” (44). One can’t help but wonder, is it possible that these are the only evangelical authors with whom Smith is acquainted? Apart from his Protestant colleagues at Notre Dame, whom Smith names, evangelicals are weighed in the intellectual scales and found wanting.
In his second installment of anomalies, Smith tells readers to “Start wondering when the supposed ‘great apostasy’ happened and where the true Christian church was for the 1,000-1,400 years between then and the Reformation” (60-61). If you are scratching your head in confusion over where Smith found this term “great apostasy,” there is a reason. It is used by the Mormon Church to describe the period between the Apostles and Joseph Smith’s vision in 1820. It is a cultic notion that has no place in orthodox Protestant theology. The attribution of this doctrine to evangelicals by Smith is based either on ignorance or propaganda. The former is an egregious error and the latter is derisive.
Smith credits Protestantism with spawning and promoting secularization which in turn demystified the world and infected it with individualism and anti-traditionalism (68-69). There is a valid element here; but is it true of all Protestants? And are Catholics really immune to the problem? After reading such a bold statement, one would expect to see the imprimatur of Smith’s Bishop somewhere on the volume now that Smith has been liberated from Protestantism’s captivity to individualism and anti-traditionalism. The Bishop’s endorsement is missing. Think about that.
The doctrine of justification by faith alone, the material cause of the Reformation and central barrier to rapprochement, is covered in just three pages (81-83). Smith argues that this division no longer exists in light of the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification (JD) signed by the Vatican and Lutheran World Federation in 1999. He writes, “The truth is: reconciliation has been achieved—time to return home. Time to wake up and smell the coffee, and undo the divisions of the past. Can evangelicals deal with that?” (83).
It is true that the JD is a significant achievement that illuminates some implications of our common Augustinian heritage, but it is overstated and theologically imprecise to conclude that unity has thus been reached and the Reformation is therefore now over. Even if one were to stand on his head and read the JD with an eye closed, differences concerning baptismal regeneration, the pope, Mariology, and the significance of simul iustus et peccator are still glaring. Most fascinating, however, is that nowhere does Smith mention that it was the Catholic side of the dialogue that made the largest concession when, in its annex, it officially endorsed the doctrine of faith alone.
Unhelpful generalizations are also evident in Smith’s treatment of sola Scriptura, which trades on the misunderstanding that evangelicals look to Scripture as the sole religious authority, as opposed to the only inspired source of authority (83). More creative still is his conspiracy theory of sola Scriptura’s origin, which he attributes to the political stratagem of Martin Luther (90).
The final chapter, titled Shifting and Solidifying Careers, focuses on the practical steps involved in actually becoming Catholic. The apologetic edge that characterizes previous chapters fades and gives way to a warmer, almost pastoral approach to helping readers navigate the challenges of conversion. This, unfortunately, is short-lived. Smith concludes by giving full expression to his triumphalism. After developing the metaphor of a drunken roommate dancing by herself in denial after her party guests have gone home and a football team on the field an hour after the game has concluded, he writes: “That is something like what evangelical Protestants who today continue to oppose, attack, and remain separated from Catholicism in the name of the Reformation are doing. Somebody needs to give them a clue. To that end, the message of this book is this: ‘Um, people? The Reformation is over. Go home’” (174).
Major flaws plague Smith’s book. Here is the central one: from cover to cover he portrays evangelicalism at its worst and Catholicism at its best. As a new convert, perhaps Smith is unaware that this approach is explicitly denounced by the Catholic Church. For instance, the Vatican Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity in the document titled Summons to Witness to Christ in Today’s World says, “We also admit that there are negative aspects of witness which should be avoided and we acknowledge in a spirit of repentance that both of us have been guilty of proselytism in its negative sense. We affirm that the following things should be avoided . . . comparing the strengths and ideals of one community with the weaknesses and practices of another community” (36).
Following from the above flaw is Smith’s erroneous suggestion that the Reformation is now over. It is true that the developments of Vatican II have resulted in deep changes in the culture and theological articulation of Rome. Evangelicals should be aware of these developments, and, when appropriate, celebrate them. But as Smith himself demonstrates in his sections addressing Scripture and justification, essential theological differences between Catholics and Protestants are as relevant today as they were in the sixteenth-century, a fact that is sadly confirmed by the omitted word between “Gordon-Conwell” and “gothic” in the index (where the word “gospel” should have appeared).
The most disappointing aspect of Mr. Smith’s book is the realization of what it could have been. Anyone who has read Smith appreciates his amazing insight into how cultures work. At this time in history, when movements such as the New Evangelization of Pope John II and Neo Calvinism are stimulating discussion between Catholics and Protestants, the need for doctrinally measured, life-giving insight is greater than ever. Given his expertise, Mr. Smith is poised to serve this need in a significant way. Sadly, this book delivers more heat than light.
Chris Castaldo is Director of the Ministry of Gospel Renewal at the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College. He is the author of Holy Ground: Walking with Jesus as a Former Catholic and main contributor to Journey’s of Faith: Evangelicalism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Catholicism, Anglicanism.
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