Two positive points of Vitz encouraged me.
The first is that atheists have positively encouraged Catholics to debate the Faith from the standpoint of Reason, one of the main topics on Etheldredasplace. One can trace the myriad posts under the tags or labels of thinking like Catholics, and the others at the end of this post.
The second is that being a Catholic demands that we do not have idols. Atheists create their own gods, as Vitz notes, but the Catholic enters into the "spiritual journey (that) commonly requires the 'refiner's fire', which is the burning away of narcissistic constructs that obscure our understanding of God or are psychological substitutes for God. The very painful burning away of defenses, projections, and other 'comforts' eventually permits a love of God in the absence of rewards for the self".
That quotation, obviously, supports the long, long series on the Doctors of the Church and the seeking of perfection, over 500 posts, on this blog.
I hope people take advantage of these posts, which will not only help one's self, but also help defend the ideals and teachings of the one, holy, Catholic, and apostolic Church.
I shall have one more post referring to this book.
