Confessions of a Convert
Description
Mentioned by Pope Francis as a writer whom everyone should read, Robert Hugh Benson, author of Lord of the World, shares his spiritual journey from being an Anglican and son of the archbishop of Canterbury to becoming a Roman Catholic priest. Through his humble, honest, and memorable story, Benson invites us—in this republished classic—to think about what it means to wrestle with the deep questions of our Catholic faith while rejoicing in the power of their universal truths.
In 1907, The Ave Maria magazine invited well-known English novelist Robert Hugh Benson to share his conversion story. He began the first of eight installments with a statement that captures the perils and joys faced by converts as they attempt to “cross the Tiber.” “When one stands at last upon high ground, it is extraordinarily difficult to trace the road by which one has approached: it winds, rises, falls, broadens and narrows until the mind is bewildered.”
Benson weaves those challenges into Confessions of a Convert as he examines his own life for the signs and wonders that illuminated his way. He was astonished at how the remote God of his Anglican upbringing drew close to him, igniting a fire in his to heart and a desire to know God on a deeper level. This transformation led him to the doorstep of the Catholic Church. Reluctant to venture further because he was known as an important figure in the Anglican world, Benson grappled with the sacrifices he would make, including the loss of his vocation, family, and friends. After the death of his father, Benson finally embraced the nearness of God found in the Eucharist.
He shows us that coming closer to Christ and his Church is not always neat and tidy. Benson’s humor and humility help bridge the century-long gap between his time and ours and he teaches us to embrace the questions, struggles, and falterings of our faith in a way that’s full of God’s love.
Product Details
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“It jars. It enlightens. It surprises.”
“Just as John Henry Newman’s Apologia Pro Vita Sua and G. K. Chesterton’s The Thing continue to both encourage those on their way into the Church and sustain those already in it, so too, Robert Hugh Benson’s 1913 memoir Confessions of a Convert retains its power to inspire. I find that Benson’s breathtakingly intimate prose does even more. It jars. It enlightens. It surprises.”
From the foreword by Dawn Eden
Author of Remembering God's Mercy -
“Between Cardinal Newman and Dr. Scott Hahn, there was Robert Hugh Benson.”
“Between Cardinal Newman and Dr. Scott Hahn, there was Robert Hugh Benson. The son of the Archbishop of Canterbury, his entrance into the Catholic Church in 1907 caused an uproar in English-speaking Christianity. Modern readers will find Confessions of a Convert to be a reliable guide to understand why Protestant clergy and lay people come home to the Catholic Church.”
John Bergsma
Author of Bible Basics for Catholics -
“Startled me—all over again.”
“As a convert myself, Confessions of a Convert startled me—all over again—with the same poignant, invigorating shock of my first breathtaking plunge into the deep waters of the ancient Truth that is our Catholic faith.”
Sonja Corbitt
Author of Unleashed -
“A book of startling originality.”
“Confessions of a Convert is a book of startling originality that charts the path of how a committed Anglican priest found himself called to Rome. This account is set to surprise, inspire, nurture, nourish, and ultimately guide a new generation in its contemplation of the experience of conversion.”
Martyn Sampson
English professor at the University of the West of England
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