United in Heart, Divided in Faith: A Guide for Catholic-Protestant Couples

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Summary: Covering interfaith debates
Review: Expertly and inspiringly written by Sandra L. Stanko (a professional writer who is herself involved with in an interfaith relationship), United In Heart Divided In Faith: A Guide For Catholic-Protestant Couples ably and informatively covers the intricate and unique problems involved in a Catholic-Protestant relationship or marriage. Covering interfaith debates, discussing difficult compromises and the universal power of praying for help, United In Heart Divided In Faith is a serious and "reader friendly" self-help guide for Catholics and Protestants focusing upon a shared future.

Rating:
Summary: United in Heart, Divided in Faith: A Guide for Catholic-Prot
Review: I thought this work is a good resource for those considering marrying across the Tiber. In today's I am okay you are okay world many people marry across denominational lines and are surprised how unhappy it can be sometimes. The best part of the book is in section three when Mrs. Stanko raises the questions about whether a couple is equally yoked. If a couple is going to be mixed they must at least have a common level of interest and practice. For example if neither of you goes it might work, if both are very involved it can work but you must deal with more theological areas first. What struggles to work is when one of you almost never goes and the other is on fire for Christ. The former sees the latter as a "whacko" and "hyper religious" and the latter sees the former as "dead weight" and "failing to supply enough evidence of your faith that if Christianity was illegal the former spouse could not be convicted". The honeymoon will end and it will not be fun for either of you if you have not throughly thought all these issues through. It is not as simple as getting an agreement on the kids and going from there. What role will prayer and worship play in your lives? Is there actually time to go to worship at Christmas with all the dinners and gifts? Do we really have to go to church on vacation? If you can't agree on these issues then you will be without your best rememdy to problems; praying together. Thanks to Mrs. Stanko couples have a resource to get these discussins started.

Rating:
Summary: Theoretical rather than practical
Review: This would be a good resource for a Protestant-Catholic couple who don't know much about the differences between their religions and want to clear up misconceptions. The book is divided into three sections. The first covers "core beliefs" that Protestants and Catholics hold in common, the second covers differences, and the third is devoted to dealing with issues related to marriage. Each chapter ends with questions for discussion. Therefore, it could be a good way to begin reasonable discussion on sensitive issues like Marian devotion, the sacraments, the infallibility of the Pope, etc. However, because of the brevity of the book Stanko is not able to deal with these issues fully, so it might be best to use this as launching pad to further reading about each other's religions. There are already books from both the Protestant and Catholic perspective that do similar comparison/contrast with Catholic and Protestant doctrines, and one might supplement this book with some of those. Occasionally, the brevity of the work means that some issues (like justification) are simplified to what may be a dangerous extent. The average Catholic DOESN'T have quite the same view of faith and works that Protestants do, though the two views are much more similar than most realize. A couple who wants to get into the heart of this issue should turn to the Lutheran-Catholic joint declaration on justification, and to James Akin's _The Salvation Controversy_ for more detailed information.

What disappointed me about the work was that I really was looking for something more practical. I think the focus on common and differing beliefs is great; it just happens that my boyrfriend and I had already done some of this by reading works from each other's denominations. I would have preferred a book that dealt more with the issues that come up briefly in Section three, which is the shortest section. I was also surprised that Stanko said nothing about the differences between Catholic and Protestant sexual ethics. The book is designed for couples who are considering marriage, and for such couples, the Catholic Church's stance on contraception and certain marital acts might be of much more than theoretical importance, but nothing whatsoever is said about this.