Reaching out sensitively to our Catholic friends

Alistair Chalmers  |  Reviews
Date posted:  12 Feb 2026
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Reaching out sensitively to our Catholic friends

I’ve been looking forward to this book for a while, and I’m genuinely glad it is now available.

Sharing the Gospel with a Catholic Friend fills a gap that many of us in conservative evangelical circles may not even realise exists. We often assume we understand Roman Catholicism well enough to engage with it confidently, yet in practice our understanding is frequently partial, second-hand, or shaped more by caricature than careful listening. Richard Baxter offers a timely and pastorally wise corrective.

One of the great strengths of this book is that Baxter writes not as a detached observer but from personal experience. Having been raised within the Catholic Church himself, he is able to describe Catholic belief and culture with an accuracy and nuance that many Protestants lack. He repeatedly reminds the reader that “Catholic” is not a uniform category. There is enormous diversity within the Catholic Church – cultural, theological, and devotional – and assuming that every Catholic believes, practices, or understands doctrine in the same way is not only inaccurate but deeply unhelpful for gospel conversations.

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