Customer Reviews

How Can I Get to Heaven?: The Bible's Teaching on Salvation-Made Easy to Understand

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Robert Sungenis does an outstanding job of presenting the biblical truth about the doctrine of justification, his case is simply irrefutable. Having held to the belief in justification by faith alone for most of my life, it took a great amount of effort on my part to maintain my objectivity as I examined what the bible really teaches about how a person is saved. To maintain the "faith alone" position after reading this book would be to ignore Scripture.

I think that this book is well written and surpasses his other book on the topic: "Not by Faith Alone." It is easy to understand and shows the Protestant doctrine on Justification for what it is: a 16th century invention that has no basis in God's Holy Word.

"[Abraham]'s faith and his actions worked together;his faith was made perfect through his actions."

This is what saved Abraham, and this is what Catholics really believe.

Sungenis shows that a person can't work his way to heaven-we aren't employees of the Jesus Christ Corporation. He also notes that the only time in the Bible that the words "faith" and "alone" are only put together in James 2:24. This is when James writes that we are not saved by faith alone. It would be good to read James 2:14-24 about this.

But more importantly, Sungenis shows that being saved is a process. Even when we accept Christ in our lives, that doesn't mean good works spontaneously flow out of us. Earlier in Ch. 2, James sets of a poor and a rich man attending the same Christian meeting. The temptation is to adore the rich and ignore the poor. And this often happens. Instead, we must stand guard, even with our faith, to resist doing evil.

"How Can I Get To Heaven" is a shorter, simplified version of "Not By Faith Alone" by the same author. This books omits the references to the Greek texts and the appendices which are in the "Not By" book.

But it is still an excellent book, outlined in pretty much the same format as the much larger "Not By" book (300 pages as opposed to 700). It covers in simple, readable language the teachings of Paul, James, and Christ on the subject of justification. It shows how all of their teachings are in perfect harmony with no need to deflate, dismiss, or outright ignore the texts which shoot "sola fide" in the heart.

It covers how justification is NOT a one-time event, how one's salvation CAN be lost, how Christ's righteousness is actually infused into us, not merely imputed to us, how justification is a familial restoration and not merely a courtroom decree. It also touches on predestination, free will, final justification, "certain knowledge" of one's own salvation, and purgatory.

This book is sufficient to arm Catholics who wants to stand up to those who try to teach them "justification by faith alone." It would also be a good book for a protestant who wants to learn what the Catholic Church REALLY teaches - not necessarily what your parents and pastors TOLD you it teaches. If you are a serious protestant who would not mind putting "sola fide" to the proof, yes, read this book.

Five stars!!! If one wants a work of heavy scholarship on this subject, see also "Not By Faith Alone" by the same author.

Although Robert Sungenis has certainly received a bad reputation in Catholic apologetics because of some extreme opinions in other works, there is no doubt that his work is an invaluable contribution to biblically defending Catholicism. This work is very thorough and provides very little room for dispute. I highly suggest this book for all interested readers.

Robert Sungenis (born 1955), is the founder of the Bellarmine Theological Forum and Catholic Apologetics International. He has written very important works of Roman Catholic apologetics such as Not by Faith Alone: A Biblical Study of the Catholic Doctrine of Justification, Not by Faith Alone: A Biblical Study of the Catholic Doctrine of Justification, and Not by Bread Alone: The Biblical and Historical Evidence for the Eucharistic Sacrifice of the Catholic Mass. He has also been criticized for making anti-Jewish remarks, as well as for advocating Geocentrism (i.e., that the Sun revolves around the Earth, and not vice versa; see his book Galileo Was Wrong: The Church Was Right).

In his Introduction to this 1998 book, Sungenis writes, "Despite this confusion, this author believes God did not leave his Church with a confusing assortment of competing answers. From the beginning of his dealings with men, we will show that God made it very plain how they could be saved... The book you are holding will simplify and thoroughly explain this issue for you. When all is said and done, I hope you can agree with me that the question, 'How Can I Get to Heaven?' is not really complicated at all."

Here are some quotations from the book:

"Did the apostle Paul teach justification by faith alone? For those who propose that he did, a very haunting question remains: Why didn't Paul use the specific phrase 'faith alone' anywhere in his New Testament writings... What would have stopped him from such an important addition if the solitude of faith in regard to salvation was at the foremost of his mind?" (Pg. 2)
"(W)hen Paul says Abraham was justified by faith, he has in view a faith which incorporates the whole of Abraham's life, a faith that believes God in spite of the circumstantial evidence that militates against believing, a faith that envisions the ultimate glory of the heavenly kingdom." (Pg. 36)
"We may infer that James understands a continual relationship between faith and works from the use of the singular 'work' in James 2:20-24. Although James is singling out the sacrifice of Isaac as the work of Abraham, this is only for the purpose of illustration." (Pg. 97)
"Although the New Testament can be used to support the possibility that SOME people who fall away were never justified originally, it does not apply this to EVERY case." (Pg. 188)
"Suffice it to say, however, that the doctrine of predestination is not a 'Calvinistic' idea. The early fathers of the Church taught predestination and incorporated it into the official statements of the Catholic Church early in its history." (Pg. 246)
"God foreknew that Esau, out of his own free will, would choose to remain in godlessness. We know God is basing his decision on his foreknowledge of the future, since in Genesis 25:22-23 God foretells the future to Rebecca." (Pg. 270)