Curtis Martin followed a spiritual journey similar to many outspokenly evangelistic Catholics. He was baptized and raised as a Catholic, but left the faith while he was young. In college he encountered evangelizing Protestants who introduced him to the concept of a personal relationship with Jesus and knowledge of God through Scripture. As he grew in faith, he began to explore the early church fathers and discovered that they believed in a church that had the characteristics of today's Roman Catholic Church. Wanting to follow God completely, he returned to the Catholic Church and has been a prominent teacher, speaker, and author as well as founder of FOCUS, the Fellowship of Catholic University Students.
In Made for More, Curtis draws on the works of both Protestants and Catholics to present a basic apologetic work that should be accessible to a very broad audience. He helps his readers deal with the most fundamental spiritual questions as to the existence of Jesus and the purpose of our lives.
He begins with Jesus: “Who do you say that I am?” Using the same logic as great writers such as C.S. Lewis, he challenges all notions that Jesus could possibly be anything other than what He claims to be. He either has to be God or He has to be a liar, a lunatic, or just another moral teacher like the Buddha. Curtis shows why the latter three are impossible, leaving us with the logical conclusion: that He is God.
Curtis also covers some of the historical evidence in a fashion similar to the well-known Protestant author Josh McDowell in The New Evidence that Demands a Verdict. He covers the historicity of the resurrection and the validity of the Bible and its transmission, two key issues that underpin our confidence in the teaching handed down by the church.
Being a Catholic, Curtis goes beyond McDowell and other Protestant apologists to provide evidence for the Catholic Church and the sacraments, especially the Eucharist.
He concludes the book with his own conversion story.
Since this book is only 128 pages in length, it can be read rather quickly even though it is packed with an amazing amount of information. This is a great book to give to skeptical teens or adults who need solid answers to the key questions. It's also a great book for those looking for an introductory level defense of Christianity, and Catholicism in particular.
