It is a wonder. Here is a man who is rightly considered the most respected Catholic theologian in America writing a book of utter lucidity and beguiling simplicity that invites the inquiring lay person to the high adventure of Christian faith as that faith is taught and lived in the Catholic Church. It should be read also by priests and catechists and by academic theologians who want to see how erudition can be put in the service of people. As an adult convert, Fr.
Dulles knows the questions that bother people most.
He responds to those questions in a manner that is completely straightforward, modest, and persuasive. I can imagine that some readers may think the book a mite impersonal, but, having discovered the inexhaustible marvels of the faith, Fr. Dulles is reluctant to let his own ideas get in the way of communicating that discovery to others. Anyone who has a say in what books are acquired for a parish or school library and doesn t include a copy or three of The New World of Faith is guilty of dereliction of duty. This is one of Saint Alphonsus' most famous works.