The Decline and Fall of the Roman Church [Hardcover]

Malachi Martin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1981

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Church_ by the late traditionalist Roman Catholic priest Father Malachi Martin is a fascinating account of the history of the church progressing from the earliest beginnings to Constantine's eventual relationship with the church during the reign of Pope Silvester I up until the post Vatican II popes and Pope John Paul II.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 309 pages
• Publisher: Putnam Pub Group (T) (October 1981)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399126651
• ISBN-13: 978-0399126659
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #491,328 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great book, but it's more of an accessory than a necessity., August 1, 2005

By 

Monty Michaels (Tulsa, OK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Decline and Fall of the Roman Church (Hardcover)

First, keep in mind that this work was published in 1981. Secondly, keep in mind that this is not about current scandals or conspiracies in the Church. If you are expecting a lot of discussion from Malachi Martin on the latest intrigue and outrage at Vatican II, this is not that book.

Here is what the book is.

Martin begins the book with a brief narration of the state of the Church pre-312. Then, he points out that Pope Silvester's deal with Emperor Constantine was the beginning of the Roman Catholic Church's troubles. By allowing the Church to become intertwined with the affairs of the Empire, the Church became chained to this temporal world's affairs and drawbacks, and incidentally, the papacy has become corrupted by the whole process.
Then, from that point, Martin points out various examples of how the Church has become corrupted throughout history. Several amazing episodes that intrigued me can be found on page 109 (the story of the perverted 12-year old Pope, Theophylact), pages 124-125 (the account of cardinal Cesare Borgia, who wore a mask to hide a deformity, employed a personal assassin, was bisexual, and assassinated his own brother), and page 182 (the lack of attention to Martin Luther, due to overconcern with the imperial power of the Church's papal states). I was surprised to see that Martin didn't cover the Crusades much, but that's a different topic altogether, I guess.
Toward the end of the book, in the final section titled Decline and Fall, Martin brings attention to the Church's situation in the last century. It is at this point that you become grateful to Martin for having shown you the previous centuries of Church history. You can view the Church's modern plight in the context of its imperfect history.
Now, in this last section, Malachi Martin does not bring on condemning remarks about Pope John Paul II, and he is hesitant to criticize Pope John XXIII for the post-modern revisions of Vatican II. Rather, Martin sums up the entire downward movement of the Church, likening it to a snowball rolling down a mountain, rolling out of control after a certain point in history. (Martin really did a great job illustrating Napoleon's role in the West's secularization, by the way.)

Ultimately, this is a great book. It is great because it is well written, well thought out, and tied together nicely. In addition, any time a person can get an opportunity to hear Malachi Martin's take on Church history, they should take it! Martin has a unique perspective on these matters, and he is worth your attention.
As you can probably tell by the Amazon.com prices for used copies, it is rather expensive. I'm guessing that this is a bit of a rare book. Somehow, I managed to pre-order my copy, and I got it for $12. The copy I got was a novel-sized paperback that was about 260 pages. The price on the spine of my book was $3.95! This little thing is surely not worth $70! Yet, buy it if you must--though I'd encourage you to search the libraries first.
If you absolutely must have a book of Malachi Martins, I'd suggest Hostage to the Devil. Decline and the Fall of the Roman Church is more of an accessory than anything. It is not as much as a necessity as his other books.

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The History of the Popes., December 30, 2004

By 

New Age of Barbarism "zosimos" (EVROPA.) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Decline and Fall of the Roman Church (Hardcover)

_The Decline and Fall of the Roman Church_ by the late traditionalist Roman Catholic priest Father Malachi Martin is a fascinating account of the history of the church progressing from the earliest beginnings to Constantine's eventual relationship with the church during the reign of Pope Silvester I up until the post Vatican II popes and Pope John Paul II. The book shows the transformations that took place in the papacy as the relationship between temporal power and spiritual authority was worked out throughout the years. Also, the book shows how the early popes were chosen, including how many were appointed by kings or their predecessors (often involving intrigue and poisonings), up until the invention of the conclave. While the Roman Popes certainly were not impeccable, their spiritual authority in matters of faith and morals is guarranteed by the words of Christ himself. Much of this book is spent reviewing the many scandals and intrigues of the popes who often acted in a manner more befitting a petty despot than the spiritual authority of the world's strongest religion. Father Malachi Martin's thesis is that the church exists in a state of steady decline, brought about by a defection from its true principles, and an abandonment of spiritual authority for temporal power. Indeed, the sins of man are many, due to his fallen nature, and throughout the centuries they have come to corrode the very structures upon which Christ built his church. This book, written in 1981 is somewhat dated but its prophecy for the coming decades remains valid. The complications which have arisen since the Second Vatican Counsel, the brazen disobedience of Christ's supposed faithful to the authority of the pope and his predecessors, the collusion of the hierarchy with liberalism, modernism, and Marxist revolution, and the moral decline of the modern age are issues which currently confront the church more than ever. Perhaps the modern age can be made sense of in terms of prophecy by rereading those prophecies of the saints which reveal a hidden meaning behind historical events. I regret only that the author did not provide adequate footnotes to his book so that his facts could be checked against standard sources. He appears to take some liberty with things that may be unjustifiable. Nevertheless, for its important remarks concerning the coming and continuing crises within the church (recently brought to light in the many scandals among the priesthood and the hierarchy) this book remains of fundamental interest to all who want to understand the history and progression of the Roman Catholic Church and its papacy.

34 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars DIsturbing yet faith affirming., September 1, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Decline and Fall of the Roman Church (Paperback)

As a Catholic, I found Dr. Martin's book to be bracing, and yet it never denies that the Catholic Church is truly the institution founded by Christ. Indeed, the first pope(St.Peter) denied Christ three times, and one of the first bishops betrayed his Master and committed suicide!Ultimately, the Church needs to return to the ideal of it's founder, and reject temporal power in exchange for the power of the Spirit.