Shane Kapler: The God Who Is Love - Explaining Christianity From Its Center
March 11, 2010
Reviewed by Jim Logue, Jr.
Shane Kapler wasn't always a Catholic. He had his doubts, questions, curiosity. How can Catholics believe in the the things they do? Instead of just tossing the questions aside, he sought answers. And the answers he found were in the Catholic Church.
This book has several lives. It is an autobiography. It is a journal of Shane Kapler's journey to the Catholic Church. It is a catechism written in the language of a normal person. It is a reference book of Scripture and quotes of people from the saints to the early church fathers to today's theologians and apologists of the Catholic faith.
A sample of how the book deals with topics is Chapter 5 - Every Boy Needs His Mother (and Brothers and Sisters Too). This chapter deals with our Blessed Mother Mary. Kapler talks about how, as a teenager, he questioned the role of Mary in the Church, and how his conversion as a young man was influenced greatly by a growing devotion to Mary. In the chapter, he takes a look a the Scriptural insights of Mary, comparing Mary's visit to her cousin, Elizabeth, to David's reception of the Ark of the Covenant. Kapler also quotes from early Church fathers such as Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, and Tertullian, and more. He asks the questions that we also tend to ask, and provides some good, solid answers.
The book deals with topics like the Trinity, the Old Testament vs. the New Testament, Salvation, the Catholic view of the "Rapture", biblical errancy, marriage and sexual behavior, our relationship with other Christians and other churches, the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, and more.
I like this book because it is well-written and easy to follow. Some books can be heavy on the technical terms and hard to read. That's not the case with this book. If you know someone who has questions about the Catholic Church, or if you want to learn more about what it is you believe, this is an excellent book to get started.
You can learn about Shane Kapler, order copies of the book, and read his blog at ExplainingChristianity.com.


