Divine and Healing Path: An Old Catholic Catechism (Paperback)

Some books that introduce a religious sect get you so pumped up that you are in danger of exploding. Others are so “dry” that you seriously consider imploding before you get to the third chapter.

This isn’t like the others. Expect the story of a man from California who took a journey toward God. He tells you about his journey, warns you about some of the pitfalls he found, and invites you to join him on a spiritual quest.

Old Catholics are something like Roman Catholics, but without the pope and his Inquisition. Old Catholic Churches are a loosly joined group of national churches, which in the USA is the North American Old Catholic Church. Each has all the sacraments. Yes: there are women priests and bishops. Yes: there are openly gay priests and bishops.

Don’t let anybody pull the pallium over your eyes because that is the way ancient Christianity used to be everywhere. You are in store for a wonder-filled spiritual journey, told by someone who walked-the-walk.

About the Authora

Jim Rankin (1942-2005) took the name Elijah when he became a bishop of the Old Catholic Church, a fairly common practice in years past.

Bishop Elijah taught that faith requires rigor faith requires discernment. Not every damfool notion you might have about God has value. Faith is sometimes a struggle, but it is never passive acquiescence to the first solution one finds to difficult and cosmic questions. There is such a thing as Sacred Tradition, and it must be respected, and if we challenge it, we had better be ready for a lifetime of wrestling with the wisdom of those who have gone before us.

Unlike many Protestants (who fret endlessly about whether God will toss them in the fire), Elijah was always confident about his role in the world and our ultimate and inevitable reunion with God. To us, salvation is not an event but a process, begun and enabled by God but facilitated by the power of human friendship and a willingness to reach out to the lost and confused. He has helped many to get their heads around the notion of God. In each life, someone eventually stands face to face with us and demands that we pay attention and get on the path. Jim Rankin, Bishop Elijah, can get in your face with his writing and haul you back into the Faith in a charming and delightful way.