Why I Am Catholic, Matthew Levering. IVP Academic (ISBN: 9781514003145) 2024.

Summary: A Catholic theologian explains why he is Christian and Catholic and what it means to embrace this tradition.

At a time when many people are fleeing any organized religious tradition, theologian Matthew Levering unabashedly asserts “I love being Catholic”. In this book Levering explains how he came to faith and why he entered the Catholic Church. He describes the book as “an unfinished meditation on my Catholic life.” Throughout he weaves in his reading of Catholic saints and theologians with his own experience.

He begins by explaining how he came to Christian faith. For him, it was his sense of his own frailty and the reality of death that prompted his search. He was drawn by the cross of Christ, aware that he desperately needed it. Third, he was drawn by the awesomeness of the Triune God, a theme running through the book. Fourthly, the coherence and harmony of the two testaments was convincing.

He read himself into the Catholic Church, devouring works of John Paul II, von Balthasar, and Ratzinger. The unifying authority of the Petrine office drew him, Mary as Mother of the Lord Incarnate who intercedes, the beauty of the Eucharist, and Catholic teaching on marriage. The Church’s teaching on marriage is also one of the things he considers most beneficial as a context to nurture love and teach us the self-giving of Christ. In addition, he finds the Church’s teaching on humility and the providence of God beneficial.

However, being Catholic is not without its difficulties, which Levering admits with candor. He would be on the side of those troubled by accommodations to the secular world post-Vatican II. Yet he is even harder on himself, and the temptations to worldliness with which he struggles. Likewise, he finds the scandals of clerical sexual abuse disheartening. He forthrightly advocate support for victims, transparency, and believes turning to Christ’s saving power can bring real holiness out of the ruins.

While Levering warmly embraces Catholicism, he also speaks warmly of his ecumenical relationships. He acknowledges the polemics of the past. Likewise, he remains firm in his conviction that the Catholic Church is the one church founded by Christ. Thus, he opposes any ecumenism seeking to restore a lost unity. Rather, he sees ecumenism as an exchange of gifts, a means to foster warm relationships, and as a way to anticipate the unity of the church in the eschaton.

Finally, he concludes the book by offering an example of Catholic theological exegesis. He focuses on Genesis 1:1-3, weaving in all of scripture and drawing on theologians from Athanasius to his contemporaries. He concludes personally, speaking about how it is this God who has shown his light into Levering’s heart.

I spent one of the most remarkable hours of my life several years ago in an interview with Matthew Levering. I have rarely met someone who combined such theological learning with such passionate love for the Triune God. As he spoke of his faith, I was in awe and wonder, not of Levering, but of the Triune God of whom he spoke. And this is what I encountered afresh in this book. He did not persuade me to become Roman Catholic. But he clearly bore witness to how the Catholic Church is the place where he has encountered the living God, enriching all of his life.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.