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95 of 126 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent resource of Roman Catholic teaching, February 9, 2005
This review is from: The Gospel According to Rome: Comparing Catholic Tradition and the Word of God (Paperback)
McCarthy's "Gospel According to Rome" is an excellent, well organized, and easy-to-use resource book on the subject.
To those Roman Catholics who have bashed this book, I can only say they must be very insecure in their beliefs or very uncomfortable with the teachings of their own religious institution. For the hard truth is that McCarthy's book is not based on his own biased opinion or interpretations of Catholc belief, but a straightforward presentation of the doctrines and teaching of the Roman Catholic Church, via its own well-referenced catechism and official documents.
Though written by a former Catholic, this is not a personal rant abut the Roman Catholic Church. Rather, McCarthy's main aim is to inform about the teachings and structure of the RCC. For this reason alone, many Catholics who have written disparagingly here would do well to read a book like this, as my own experience and observations have taught me that the average church-going Catholic knows little about the offical teachings of his/her own Church.
For example, ask ten Roman Catholics what one must do to get to Heaven, and you will typically get ten different answers. Yet, Mr. McCarthy, utilizing the Vatican's own official teaching (and , in this instance, with the aid of concise, detailed flow charts) clearly delineates the complicated criteria for justification and sanctification that the RCC has developed over the centuries.
As stated, in this sense, this book would be even useful to Catholics who need a simpler understanding of a belief system that is so complicated it requires the employment of canon lawyers.
McCarthy's detailing of the process which made "the Assumption of the Virgin Mary" an infallible doctrine is worth the price of the book alone.
Of all the unique and peculiar doctrines that separate the RCC from Protestants, it can be easily argued that this is the most peculiar. Where is the evidence, scripturally, historically, or otherwise, that Mary was assumed bodily into Heaven? McCarthy relates with inarguable historicity how Pius XII was able to use the RCC notion of tradition to declare ex cathedra a new belief requirement for Roman Catholics, in spite of deafening silence on the matter from the entire body of early Christian fathers.
The book is well organized, with chapters expressing in great detail the Roman Catholic teaching on a topic, followed by a Bibilical response. The material is well authenticated with the Roman Catholic catechism's reference numbers indicated throughout. Every assertion is well documented.
My highest rating, for a well written, interesting and informative book on official Roman Catholic teaching. The first book on my shelf I go to when I need such a resource.
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24 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Fairer Than Most, May 21, 2009
This review is from: The Gospel According to Rome: Comparing Catholic Tradition and the Word of God (Paperback)
By quoting extensively from Catholic sources the author tries to fairly treat Catholic teaching. Of course, he approches this from a Protestant perspective, but he gets credit for not only quoting from original sources but also for addressing some of the Catholic arguments in support of those teachings.
In the forward he says, "Catholic teachings are carefully examined in light of Scripture, which speaks for itself." If Scripture spoke for itself wouldn't all Christians of good will follow the single line of doctrines taught by Scripture? Assuming there are Christians of good will we must conclude that Scripture isn't quite so clear. Is there an authoritative Protestant interpretation of Scripture? A Protestant catechism?
So, we are left with Catholic teaching pitted against one man's view of what Scripture says. A similiar book could have been written showing from Scripture why his Catholic half of the book is absolutely what Scripture teaches. Who owns what Scripture means? The author assumes he does but that is not well established.
In the very last section of the book, Appendix E, he addresses Sola Scriptura. Since the very format of this book assumes this doctrine, I would have expected that he would have majored on this topic. But he cannot, or at least refuses to, address a key challenge to that teaching. If Scripture is your sole authority where does Scripture claim, clearly please, that it is the sole authority? He punts on this question rather than prove his position(pg. 354) The conclusion is that he cannot answer this critical attack on hos position. And so this book argues from a position that the author fails to support, and it fails as a result.
Why Tradition? Jesus said "If they hear you they hear me." Paul says to "hold on to the traditions that you were taught by us...". We know that even the prophets passed on teachings that are not recorded in the OT. Matt. 2:23 suggests that the holy family returned from Egypt to fulfill the prophetic claim that "he shall be called a Nazarene." Where in the OT is that recorded? If Scripture claims sole authority the above would be contradicted and that is why he appears to punt on the issue.
The book I would like to read would record all of the places where Catholics and Protestants agree! Maybe it would be helpful to place our focus there for a while and see how we are brothers instead of building walls between us. Would that book sell?
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44 of 64 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Well done., October 14, 2003
This review is from: The Gospel According to Rome: Comparing Catholic Tradition and the Word of God (Paperback)
Its interesting to see all those people who marked this book with 1 star. I wonder if they even read the book? For example, in the review entitled "thou shalt not commit false witness", a reviewer claimed the McCarthy hates catholics. Little does that reviewer know that McCarthy expresses his love for catholics right in the pages of the book, as he came from a Catholic background. The book is interesting and well-written, even if you don't agree with the conclusions. I would surmise that even one who does not agree with the books conclusions would have to give it a minimum of 2 or 3 stars for a good effort. The book is an interesting read, and very factual and well-substantiated. It doesn't resort to bitter polemic, but rather presents a strong case for the Protestant view of Catholic tradition. The book does a fine job of objectively presenting Catholic dogma, as put forth in various official sources. After the presentation of the dogma, McCarthy goes into a Biblical critique of it.
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