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Book Review: Atheist to Catholic: 11 Stories of Conversion

Professor Rebecca Vitz Cherico has edited eleven stories of former atheists who received the gift of faith and converted to the Catholic Church.  These men and women tell their faith stories about how they came to believe in Jesus Christ and the Catholic Church.  Some of these people started out as nominal Christians, but over time lost their interest in Christianity.  Some of these people had no or very little religious up-bringing in their families.  A number describe how they searched into various religions and came to believe in Christianity.

These people did not convert lightly and many of these people are intellectuals. As graduates of schools like Yale or Sanford, they were steeped in an environment where people viewed faith, especially the Christian faith, and most especially the Catholic faith, through the lens of intellectual snobbery.  Chapter 5 contains the story of the conversion of the editor’s father, Paul Vitz, the famous psychologist.

The stories in Atheist to Catholic: 11 Stories of Conversion (Servant  Books, 2011.  115 pages) are inspiring and can be of help for atheists and agnostics to receive the gift of faith.  This book is highly recommended.

CL editor’s note: Also recommended, in the same vein, is From Atheism to Catholicism: How Scientists and Philosophers Led Me to the Truth by Kevin Vost.


Br. Benet Exton, O.S.B., has been a monk of St. Gregory’s Abbey, Shawnee, Oklahoma since July 10, 1985. He is the cataloging librarian and archivist for St. Gregory’s University, the oldest college in Oklahoma and the only Catholic university in Oklahoma. He writes book reviews for the American Reference Book Annual (ARBA), Library Journal, Choice, The Sooner Catholic, the St. Louis Review, American Benedictine Review, the Oklahoman, the Catholic Library World, Curled up with a Good Book website (www.curledup.com), the Catholic News Agency website, and other websites and journals.
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