Rating: 
Summary: Pablum
Review: David B. Currie provides an interesting account of his own apostasy. If you are looking for an honest and serious look at the differences between Romanism and Biblical Christianity there are many better places to look. I was particularly interested in what he had to say about the eucharist but was quite disappointed. I wonder if Currie has ever read St. Augustine on John Chapter 6? Currie treats this topic by portraying all non-romanist beliefs about the eucharist as Zwinglian. Here is a clue Mr. Currie, not all protestants are Zwinglians, and not all Fundamentalists are Zwinglians. Heck, a quick poll will tell you that a significant percentage of American Roman Catholics are actually Zwinglian in their beliefs about the eucharist. Many times I found myself in agreement with the author's critique of evangelicalism, but he did not explain why his recognition of these problems would cause him to go straight to kissing the Popes ring and praying to dead men. His portrayal of all Biblical Christians as ignorant Zwinglians is as honest and fair as those who would characterize all Romanist priests as people with a particular moral problem that has been in the news a lot in recent years. Instead of this pablum buy a Bible and a RC catechism and you will be better informed about what Rome teaches and what the Bible teaches. RG
Rating: 
Summary: An honest and thought provoking book
Review: If you are a reconciled Catholic from the evangelical side of the faith, you should read this book. If you ever wondered what your evangelical brethern believe, you should read this book. Mr. Currie does an excellent job of getting at the basic differences between the religious thinking of Catholic and evangelicals. Mr. Currie should also be praised for his humble and forthright manner. With only occasional (and mostly necessary) side journeys, Mr. Currie tells a straightfoward history of his journey to reconciliation with the Catholic faith. Though the book is not overtly about apologetics, it is one of the better books on apologetics that I have read. Many books on apologetics tend towards one-upmanship, this book definitely does not. The manner throughout is humble and presented in a "this was my journey" manner. Mr. Currie originally wrote this book to his evangelical brethern as an explanation: it is his apology. It is also evident that Mr. Currie still has much love and affection for his former brethern (as well he should) and this love, which is obvious throughout the book, makes Mr. Currie's book such an enjoyable and enlightening read.
Rating: 
Summary: Well-Researched and Readable!
Review: It is not easy being a minority in a predominantly Protestant country. I'm a cradle Catholic of 57, and I've never read a better book that explains Catholicsm so clearly. Born Fundamentalist-Born Again Catholic takes on the major issues of Authority, Salvation, Mary, and The Rapture among others. David Currie explains them in a lucid, well-researched, and scriptural manner. It took tremendous courage for David Currie to leave a fundamentalist Baptist background, with a minister father and many Baptist relatives and friends. He did it because he is a reader and a seeker-of-truth. He could not ignore the call of is heart. He never denigrates his former church or any of the people in it,writing with love of his own journey into the Catholic Church. He still regards his former Baptist congregation as brothers and sisters in Christ. Having attended a Baptist church for a year, I know how much courage this took. Catholics are regarded by fundamentalist Baptists as unsaved, little better than heathens. That much of this is ignorance does not make it any easier to go against the culture in which you have lived. I commend David and his family. The Church and the world are better off because of his decision.
Rating:
Summary: Born Fundamentalist, Born Again Catholic
Review: An easy-to-read informative book explaining Catholicism for Protestants (as well as uninformed Catholics) told within the framework of David B. Currie's personal journey. What makes this book distinct is how it calmly and carefully examines the practices which truely divide Protestant from Catholic (Real Presence of Communion, grace justified by faith and works, papacy, mary, etc.) There's no contentious baggage. I gave it to my Baptist friend and he loved it. I have yet to find a Protestant equivalent that deals with these issues; usually, they are simply ignored. If anyone can point me to one I would appreciate it. This book is a must for anybody who wishes to consider themselves at all informed about Christianity.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent book
Review: This is one of my favorite apologetics books. This book covers many of the issues that divides catholic and protestants such as Mary, the sacraments, the bible,and it has a really good section on the different beliefs about the rapture and the end times. I highly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: Born Fundamentalist, Born Again Catholic
Review: This book is easy to read. I wish every anti-Catholic fundamentalist could read it, as well as every lukewarm Catholic. I will help re-ignite your faith.
Rating:
Summary: Defines evangelicalism too narrowly
Review: David Currie did a poor job explaining evangelical theology and beliefs. While he described how some fundamentalists have viewed things, he failed to discuss the views of the majority of the evangelical world. He simply described his own experiences and perspectives. He did not address the views of major spokesmen of evangelical theology such as, J.I. Packer, R.C. Sproul, John Stott, Alister McGrath...
On page 114, he admits that he was not thinking critically of evangelicalism even when he was in seminary. Currie, it seems, still has not begun to really engage with the broad range of evangelical thinkers. Even in his book, he fails to interact with statements by evangelicals (he rarely quotes any evangelical and when he does he almost never names the person or organization). Instead, Currie argues against his own summary of evangelical positions.
While I believe that evangelical beliefs are very sound, certainly there are many shortcomings of evangelical culture, but Currie does not appear to be serious about really addressing them. He prefers to summarize the 'evangelical' position and then critique his own summary. Currie needs to quote evangelical leaders and then argue against their explanations, not argue against his own statements.
For anyone looking for a better critique of evangelical culture, I recommend Robert Weber's Evangelicals on the Canterbury Trail.
Rating:
Summary: Intellectual Dishonesty.
Review: This book to me is an exercise in intellectual dishonesty. I will give a couple of examples below. The author devotes an entire chapter to show that Catholics really do honor the Bible and asks, "If Catholics do esteem the Bible highly, where did Evangelicals acquire this misperception that they do not?" The author answers his own question. On page 164 the author notes, "Yet for generations Protestants trusted their Bibles (translated from unreliable manuscripts) instead of accepting the reliable tradition of the Church." The contradiction here is evident. On page 102 he notes, "The Catholic Church as a whole has never forbidden reading the Bible." This is untrue. The Council of Valencia in 1229 placed the Bible on the Index of Forbidden Books and the Council of Trent reaffirmed this decision.
On page 176 the author writes, "Christ is the 'one mediator between God and man' (1 Tim. 2:5). Yet Christ has chosen to share that function with others." If there is only one mediator, how can there be others? Again, what we have here is another contradiction.
The author's discussion of the word "until" is confusing. He tries to suggest that the word found in Matthew 1:25 is not as it is used today. On page 158 he cites 2 Sam. 6:23 as saying "no children until the day of her death." This verse makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. The author tries to make the argument, by this verse, that there is a biblical use of the word. Another version has the word "unto" in 2 Sam. 6:23. This makes perfect sense. The author neglects to explain what the word "until" really means in this case.
One other thing this work shows is the need to redefine certain words to make it appear that the theology he now embraces is biblically acceptable. Protestantism, which encompasses evangelicism and fundamentalism, does not need to redefine words to make it conform to biblical theology. The words as defined are unique to Catholicism. And Catholic theology is unique in itself. This work also suffers from lack of source notes and for want of an index as well. I cannot recommend this book at all.
Rating:
Summary: I kept saying "Amen" as I read this book
Review: This book tells my story! I was raised fundamentalist but became Catholic through the grace of God. As I read this book, I kept thinking that I could have written it myself. All of the misconceptions and prejudices with which I was raised were presented, and the Catholic truth was presented to counter them. I like the way that Currie writes in an easy-to-read style which effectively dispels the myths with which many of us fundamentalists were raised. This is an absolute "must read" for anyone raised fundamentalist who is considering Christ's Church. This is also a great gift for any of your fundamentalist friends if you are Catholic.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful!
Review: A gentle "must read" for any Catholics puzzled by the seeming animosity shown by some of their Fundamentalist friends. Ordered several more copies for my family. It was loved and is being much quoted by all. David B. Currie.... many thanks!
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