Reviewed by LouAnn Edwards
I love a good conversion story and Scott and Kimberly Hahn’s is one of the best. Their book “Rome Sweet Home, our journey to Catholicism” begins with Scott admitting that he had a troubled youth and knew something had to change. At a teen retreat he made a commitment to Christ and dove quickly into the works of Martin Luther and Calvin resulting in strong anti-Catholic convictions. He went on to become a minister and theology professor at a Presbyterian church and university.
Kimberly’s father was a pastor and she spent her early years leading bible studies and youth groups. She and Scott met when they served together in a young life ministry at their Christian college and soon married. Scott’s love of scripture took him down an unexpected — and somewhat unwelcome — path of discovery to certain truths that he’d never considered before. His protestant faith had always taught that we were justified by “faith alone” or “sola fide.” But there was a new problem Scott unwittingly discovered-–nowhere did St. Paul teach that! This awareness completely shook his world as the entire reformation flowed from this one core teaching. If that was wrong…what else was?
At the same time, Kimberly was taking an ethics class examining the practice of birth control. In her heart she could only conclude that it was contrary to natural law and shared her new convictions with Scott. Their family was beginning to take notice of all they were questioning.
The next barrier Scott encountered was “sola scriptura”, or the bible alone as authority. Scott now realized that nowhere in the bible did it say that the bible was the only authority. How had he never noticed this before? This was a key teaching of his protestant faith! Scott found the proof in 1 Timothy 3:15: “The church is the pillar and foundation of truth”. It couldn’t be “the bible alone!” Scott knew that since the reformation over twenty-five thousand different Protestant denominations had formed, all claiming to follow the Holy Spirit and scripture, with five new ones forming every week. How would that make sense?
And then there was the Eucharist. Scott attended a Catholic mass and wrote “I had fallen head over heels in love with our Lord in the Eucharist.” But Kimberly was not so sure of Scott’s arguments for Catholicism and resisted it at every turn. But Scott patiently prayed and waited. Finally, five years after Scott’s conversion, Kimberly joined the church and took as her confirmation saint St. Elizabeth Ann Seton. In talking about the saints, she realized “I was not approaching them instead of Jesus, but rather going with them to Jesus.” Their journey home was finally complete.
