Jesus Calling by Sarah Young

[FaithT]

Is it still ok for Catholics to read these devotionals? When I was Catholic i was told that they were fine to read. My Lutheran pastor told me not to because other editions were different, omitting things that previous editions had in them. Or something. So can Catholics read them?

 

[Michie]

Is it still ok for Catholics to read these devotionals? When I was Catholic i was told that they were fine to read. My Lutheran pastor told me not to because other editions were different, omitting things that previous editions had in them. Or something. So can Catholics read them?

Yes. Myself and others often read them. We are all Catholic.

 

[FaithT]

Yes. Myself and others often read them. We are all Catholic.

Yay! Because I got another one for Christmas and was told this just beforehand so it’s just been sitting on my bookshelf. And I really love her devotionals.

 

[Michie]

Yay! Because I got another one for Christmas and was told this just beforehand so it’s just been sitting on my bookshelf. And I really love her devotionals.

Yes. And remember you can always discuss anything questionable with your priest. I was told any Christian reading is fine as long as it does not promote anything contrary to the Catholic Faith.

 

[FaithT]

Yes. And remember you can always discuss anything questionable with your priest. I was told any Christian reading is fine as long as it does not promote anything contrary to the Catholic Faith.

Years ago, I had asked a former Bible Study teacher (Catholic) who used to teach at the seminary and she ok’d it, too.

 

[Michie]

Years ago, I had asked a former Bible Study teacher (Catholic) who used to teach at the seminary and she ok’d it, too.

Yeah. Overall those devotions are very benign. It’s just meant to help you through and support like you are sitting with a friend in a bistro.

 

[FaithT]

Yeah. Overall those devotions are very benign. It’s just meant to help you through and support like you are sitting with a friend in a bistro.

I’ve tried other devotionals but they just didn’t do anything for me, like hers do.

 

[Michie]

I’ve tried other devotionals but they just didn’t do anything for me, like hers do.

Well you can continue to read them.

 

[FaithT]

Well you can continue to read them.

 

[FaithT]

Yes. And remember you can always discuss anything questionable with your priest. I was told any Christian reading is fine as long as it does not promote anything contrary to the Catholic Faith.

Were you told this by a priest?

 

[Michie]

Were you told this by a priest?

Yes I was. I called and had a two hour conversation with him before I went into RCIA.

 

[narnia59]

Yes. And remember you can always discuss anything questionable with your priest. I was told any Christian reading is fine as long as it does not promote anything contrary to the Catholic Faith.

In general this is true, but it does assume the reader has enough of a background to recognize thoughts that would be contrary to the faith. And sadly that is often not the case in my experience.

When I was in high school many moons ago a Baptist friend gave me Hal Lindsey's book "There's a New World Coming." Aside from the whole "rapture" teaching which I did at least question as not Catholic, it taught penal substitution atonement theology. The language we use in discussing the atonement as Catholics was similar enough (I knew Jesus had died for my sins for example) that I didn't recognize that was not Catholic teaching and accepted it into my way of thinking. It was many years before that I learned that was false teaching and was able to root it out of my thinking.

For that reason I do not recommend books that aren't Catholic to people with the one exception of The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom. I just think we have such a rich treasury within the Catholic faith that we could never exhaust it all, so why look elsewhere?

The specific concern I have heard about Jesus Calling is that they are not simply devotions written by the author but she claims they are direct messages given to her from Jesus. In the Catholic world that kind of private revelation is given great scrutiny before it is recommended the faithful read. She was greatly influenced by the book God Calling and the claim of those authors is they engaged in a form of automatic writing whereby the book was actually authored by God Himself through them. That sends up a bit of a red flag for me, but I've also not heard of anything specific the book contains that would be problematic.

 

[RileyG]

I love Jesus Calling and pray it daily. I haven't read any of her other devotionals!

 

[RileyG]

In general this is true, but it does assume the reader has enough of a background to recognize thoughts that would be contrary to the faith. And sadly that is often not the case in my experience.

When I was in high school many moons ago a Baptist friend gave me Hal Lindsey's book "There's a New World Coming." Aside from the whole "rapture" teaching which I did at least question as not Catholic, it taught penal substitution atonement theology. The language we use in discussing the atonement as Catholics was similar enough (I knew Jesus had died for my sins for example) that I didn't recognize that was not Catholic teaching and accepted it into my way of thinking. It was many years before that I learned that was false teaching and was able to root it out of my thinking.

For that reason I do not recommend books that aren't Catholic to people with the one exception of The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom. I just think we have such a rich treasury within the Catholic faith that we could never exhaust it all, so why look elsewhere?

The specific concern I have heard about Jesus Calling is that they are not simply devotions written by the author but she claims they are direct messages given to her from Jesus. In the Catholic world that kind of private revelation is given great scrutiny before it is recommended the faithful read. She was greatly influenced by the book God Calling and the claim of those authors is they engaged in a form of automatic writing whereby the book was actually authored by God Himself through them. That sends up a bit of a red flag for me, but I've also not heard of anything specific the book contains that would be problematic.

In her introduction to Jesus Calling, she mentioned doing prayer journaling and the devotional was supposed to be used as if Jesus was talking to you. Thanks for the heads up! Your advice is always appreciated

 

[Gnarwhal]

EDIT: I shouldn't have answered, I don't know anything about this author. I defer to @Michie and others who do.