Amazon.com (ISBN 0066213304, Hardcover)

In The Truth of Catholicism, John Paul II's biographer George Weigel tackles 10 of the most controversial and complex questions for which the Catholic Church provides answers. The subjects of these questions include the uniqueness of Christ, the meaning of freedom, the dignity of human life from conception until natural death, and the use and abuse of sex. Weigel writes as a committed Catholic, and he asks that readers of all faiths suspend their disbelief while reading his book. "By 'coming inside' and seeing how the Catholic vision of the human condition and the human prospect fit together," Weigel explains, "both the curious and the discontented will, it is hoped, be able to see the affirmation and celebration of the human project in Catholicism, not condemnation and mindless prohibition." Weigel's project is worthy, his chosen questions are important ones, and his answers are easily understood and often persuasive. Nevertheless, his choice not to acknowledge the political dynamic of "condemnation and mindless prohibition" that mitigates many of Catholicism's truths is unfortunate, as those worldly dynamics are as real as divine revelation, and will always be, as long as we live in a fallen world. --Michael Joseph Gross