Below I have listed books by
well-read authors, mostly evangelical Protestants, who have something to say
about the Catholic Church. Search no more for the Catholic responses to the
claims made in them. I have included links and books that answer the charges.
Scroll down to read comments
about the writings of these authors:
(This book is regarded as the most accurate, most well-intentioned and least sensational of the bunch....many even say it is excellent...but watch out for a couple little things. The most serious blunder is its attempt to deny the unanimity of the Church Fathers when it came to the doctrine of the Real Presence (see info below). The fact that the Real Presence of the Eucharist was a universal belief, unanimously held by all Church Fathers, is hardly even debatable. The doctrine continues to be held by most Biblical Christians (including Catholics, Orthodox, Anglican, Lutheran, etc.)
The second notable mistake would probably be his suggestion that Thomas Aquinas held to Sola Scriptura. Now, come on. If Aquinas had believed in Sola Scriptura as defined by any Reformer, he would have been excommunicated. Instead, he is regarded as perhaps the greatest Catholic theologian since Augustine. A sloppy reading of an Aquinas comment led to Geisler's erroneous sola scriptura conclusion.
In fact, we
have been able to track down for you the very source of Geisler's mistake!!!!
When Thomas Aquinas said "sola canonica scriptura est regula fidei,"
Geisler mistakenly took this to mean that "only Scripture is a measure of faith." By not reading
the rest of the passage, Geisler missed
Aquinas' emphasis on the word "canonical"! What Aquinas was saying
was that only canonical Scriptures, as opposed to
non-canonical epistles, were a measure of faith! Aquinas was not at all contrasting Scripture and
Church authority!. What Aquinas was contrasting were the canonical writings and
the non-canonical, non-inspired writings! Two groups of writings!
Footnotes for above information:
1) www.bringyou.to/apologetics/a113.htm (root of the mistake: read the Latin)
2) www.catholic.net/RCC/Periodicals/Dossier/0304-96/thomas.html (this mistake was first promulgated by Florent Gaboriau in the 1980s)
“…if I have written anything erroneous concerning this sacrament or other matters,
I submit all to the judgment and correction of the Holy Roman Church,
in whose obedience I now pass from this life”
-SAINT THOMAS AQUINAS (just before death)
View more Thomas Aquinas stuff at
www.bringyou.to/apologetics/num34.htm ( Geisler errs greatly on Early Church teaching about the Eucharist)
www.cin.org/users/james/ebooks/master/aquinas/acreed09.htm
www.canapologetics.net/html/cri__2.html
(Rebuttal of Geisler’s essay “What Think Ye of Rome” Part 2)
www.canapologetics.net/Files/Rebuttals/rebutcri3.htm (rebuttal of Geisler’s “What Think Ye of Rome” Part 3)
www.catholic.com/thisrock/2003/0311fea2.asp
(Here is a great article by Protestant evangelical Ralph MacKenzie)
Related material is contained in the book: Not By Scripture Alone: A Catholic Critique of the Protestant Doctrine of Sola Scriptura (Queenship, 1997)
Finally, Geisler & MacKenzie's statement that George Salmon's critique of infallibility has "never really been answered by the Catholic Church" is inaccurate as Catholic apologist Dave Armstrong discusses in his article "How Newman Convinced Me of the Apostolicity of the Catholic Church" www.chnetwork.org/daconv.htm
The title of this book, “Faith Alone,” is not a phrase found in
the Bible. The phrase “Not by Faith Alone” is in the Bible (James 2:24).
But Catholics would say neither phrase is at all sufficient to describe the
rich teaching on justification that has been passed down through the apostles
and their successors in the Catholic Church. The book The Salvation
Controversy is one must-read for evangelicals wishing to achieve a deeper
understanding of the Catholic Church’s historic teaching on justification. Also
try Born Fundamentalist Born Again Catholic and
A Biblical Defense of
Catholicism.
These links rebut Dr. Sproul’s book, Faith Alone.
www.canapologetics.net/html/sproul1.html (Sproul-Part 1)
www.canapologetics.net/html/sproul2.html (Sproul -Part2)
www.canapologetics.net/html/sproul3.html (Sproul-Part 3)
www.canapologetics.net/html/sproul4.html
(Sproul - Part 4) http://matt1618.freeyellow.com/judgment.html
(more Sproul…”Faith Alone”) http://matt1618.freeyellow.com/abraham.html (rebuts Dr.
Sproul on Romans 4)
3. THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CONTROVERSY by Evangelical Protestant James White (Does this book title ring a bell? Perhaps you are thinking of the classic "The Catholic Controversy" by St. Francis de Sales, the Catholic Reformer who wrote it 400 years ago. The efforts of this holy saint brought 72,000 people in the Chablais region of France back to the ancient Catholic faith. No matter what Christian denomination you belong to, this saint's book is a must-read)
Regarding White's book:
Note: The little
pamphlet “21 Reasons to Reject Sola Scriptura” rebuts many of White’s
beliefs
www.americancatholictruthsociety.com/jwsola.htm
(rebuts White’s Sola Scriptura arguments)
www.americancatholictruthsociety.com/jwindex.htm
(Responses to James White)
http://ic.net/~erasmus/RAZ416.HTM (rebuts
White)
http://ic.net/~erasmus/RAZ417.HTM (rebuts
White on Moses’ seat)
www.bringyou.to/apologetics/a56.htm
(rebuts White)
www.mwt.net/~lnpalm/jw_jpk.htm
(rebuts White)
www.mwt.net/~lnpalm/jw_mt16.htm
(rebuts White)
www.geocities.com/Athens/3517/artwhite.htm
(rebuts White on justification)
http://matt1618.freeyellow.com/white2.html
(Open letter to James White)
www.cin.org/users/jgallegos/athans.htm
(White takes St. Athanasius out of context to imply views he does not have)
(One cannot read this book without also reading Gary G.
Michuta's book: The Gospel According to James McCarthy:
A Catholic Answer to James McCarthy's "The Gospel According to Rome")
Also see:
http://ic.net/~erasmus/RAZ273.HTM
(rebuts McCarthy))
www.bringyou.to/apologetics/a64.htm
(rebuts McCarthy on authority)
www.bringyou.to/apologetics/num48.htm
(rebuts McCarthy on co-mediatrix)
www.bringyou.to/apologetics/num39.htm
(Who Will Defend McCarthy?)
www.catholic.com/library/Exposing_Catholicism.asp (read about McCarthy’s deceptive video called “Catholicism: Crisis of Faith”)
The
Baptists' visit with the Catholics
5. Evangelical Author
William Webster
http://ic.net/~erasmus/RAZ423.HTM
(rebuts Webster on development of doctrine)
http://ic.net/~erasmus/RAZ31.HTM
(refutes Webster’s critique of Catholic tradition)
www.bringyou.to/apologetics/num49.htm (refutes William Webster and David King’s self-published book Holy Scripture: The Ground and Pillar of Our Faith (2001))
www.cin.org/users/jgallegos/web.htm (refutes
Webster’s essay on Sola Scriptura and the Early Church)
www.chnetwork.org/journals/sola/sola11.htm
(demolishes Webster’s arguments on Sola Scriptura)
Book: Not by
Scripture Alone
A book by Protestant Dr. Eric Svensen
www.bringyou.to/apologetics/num32.htm (answers
Svendsen’s questions)
matt1618.freeyellow.com/svendsen2.html (refutes
Svendsen’s essay)
7. Fundamentalist Dave Hunt (this guy is known for his
less-than-scholarly attempt to argue that the Catholic Church is the Whore of
Babylon in his book “A Woman Rides the
Beast: The Roman Catholic
Church and the Last Days” This author is very much dismissed not only
by Catholics, but by evangelical Protestants as well, to say the least)
www.catholic.com/library/hunting_the_whore_of_babylon.asp
(disproves Hunt’s seven arguments)
www.catholicculture.org/docs/doc_view.cfm?recnum=875
(rebuts Hunt)
http://hometown.aol.com/philvaz/articles/num25.htm
(corrects Hunt)
www.bringyou.to/apologetics/num36.htm (rebuts Dave Hunt)
www.bringyou.to/apologetics/num25.htm (rebuts Hunt on Inquisition)
8. PAPAL SIN by
Garry
Wills (The thing you should know about this author is that he rejects all the
main doctrines of the Catholic Church and the moral teachings of
Christianity, yet he claims he is Catholic. Very misleading. In fact
Wills rejects Church
teachings on abortion, transubstantiation & the Real Presence in the
Eucharist, male clergy members, celibacy for priests, contraception, gay sex
(sodomy), papal infallibility, apostolic succession, the doctrines on Mary, and
the authority of the Magisterium. As the critique on catholic.net points out, this anti-Catholic
book would never have been published by the mainstream press if the author did
not claim to be “Catholic.”
www.catholicleague.org/research/papalsins.html,
http://credo.stormloader.com/Reviews/papalsin.htm
www.catholic.net/rcc/Periodicals/Igpress/2000-10/books.html
9. ROMAN CATHOLICISM by Lorraine Boettner (The “facts” and “dates” presented in this book are so ridiculous and off-the-wall, I cringe to even publicize stuff like this, but the sad fact is that juicy, sensational stories sell, and I know someone personally who bought it all up unaware. So beware to the unsuspecting.)
The book Catholicism vs. Fundamentalism by Karl Keating points out many of the Boettner errors. Also see:
www.shasta.com/sphaws/inventions.html
www.canapologetics.net/html/inventions_.html
www.dwightlongenecker.com/Content/Pages/Articles/CurrentEvents/NewAntiCatholicism.asp
www.canapologetics.net/html/the_papacy.html
www.catholic.com/library/The_Anti_Catholic_Bible.asp
(Anti-Catholic Bible)
www.catholic.com/library/Catholic_Inventions.asp
(Catholic “Inventions”)
www.catholic.com/library/More_Catholic_Inventions.asp
(More Catholic “Inventions”)
8. This site rebuts evangelical writers who argue against the Eucharist.
www.bringyou.to/apologetics/num34.htm (Eucharist defended)
Before reading any of the above evangelical books, I’d suggest reading “A Biblical Defense of Catholicism” by Dave Armstrong.
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And . . . .the newest book . . . .Is The Reformation Over?: An Evangelical Assessment Of Contemporary Roman Catholicism by Mark A. Noll and Carolyn Nystrom 2005
(this book is less of a critique and more of a charitable analysis of evangelical-Catholic relations today. Click on the title for more info)
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