Customer Reviews

Once a Catholic

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

It's hardly suprising that Tony left the Catholic Church given his limited (and often incaccurate) understanding of Catholicism.

For a more honest treatment of Catholicism from a Protestant, check out R.C. Sproul. Or even better--go to the horse's mouth and read 'The Faith of Our Fathers' by Cardinal Gibbons.

The deluge of books published in the last few years by former Evangelical Protestant pastors converting to the historic Churches raises an interesting question - what about those going in the opposite direction? What is their take on the issues that divide Christians? Tony Coffey, a former Catholic turned Evangelical Protestant evangelist, intends such a response in Once a Catholic but succeeds only in defining a narrow ahistorical version of the Christian faith confined to the parochial outlines of shallow pop culture and its modernist ethos.

Coffey's troubles begin early when he attempts to attack the idea of tradition. Focusing on the passages where tradition (the Greek paradosis - which simply means that which is passed down) is criticized and ignoring passages where it is praised, he is seemingly unaware of the wealth of scholarship on the issue and instead recycles lame arguments long since refuted. All Christians - including Evangelicals like Tony Coffey use their own tradition as a template for understanding Holy Scripture. The dispute is really not over tradition per se but which of these traditions best reflects Apostolic teaching. 

This misreading of the issue of tradition leads many modern Evangelicals astray method of scriptural exegesis. The individualistic paradigm so common in Evangelicals circles is of modern vintage and completely alien to the culture and life of the early Church. Until modern Evangelicals take seriously the witness of the early Church, they are doomed to descend ever more deeply into triviality and irrelevance.

If his understanding of the early Church is evidence, Coffey obviously does not take this witness seriously. Firing a barrage of simplistic judgments on topics ranging from the formation of the New Testament Canon to the liturgy, Coffey aims at any and all Roman Catholic position differing from his own. All along, he appears blissfully unaware many of the positions he now supports are unique to his modern version of the faith and have little historical support.

In his zeal to attack Roman Catholic doctrine, Coffey often lets his emotions get the better of him and sinks into unintended heresy. For example, in his attempts to refute the Catholic interpretation of the Bread of Life discourse in the Gospel of St. John as Eucharistic, he latches on to the passage "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing." He thus implies Jesus is saying His flesh counts for nothing and that His words should be taken "spiritually." This exegesis of the passage is, to put it mildly, problematic. If the flesh of Christ profits nothing, then what are we to make of the Cross? By inferring our salvation had no physical aspect, he implicitly negates the Incarnation. Like the crowd who listened to the Jesus speak these words, he recoils when faced with an uncomfortable byproduct of the Word becoming flesh. In the end, he prefers lapsing into gnosticism to fully accepting the Incarantion.    

Even when turning to the more problematic Roman positions of the papacy and the Marian dogmas, Coffey is surprisingly weak. Rather than giving an accurate portrayal of the development of these beliefs and a proper critique, he builds up straw men and proceeds to knock them down. It is interesting that many arguments he uses are the same ones noted converts to Rome believed prior to their conversion and later discovered were erroneous. Thus, despite his claims of fairness, Coffey never ventured to understand the reasons behind the doctrines of his former ecclesial home and is parroting arguments used in his own conversion. The centrality of personal experience in his faith is evident by his confidence that if he didn't have answers to these objections to the Catholic position, then there mustn't be any. Ironically, he makes no use of far more telling criticisms of Rome put forward by many Protestant, Anglican, and Orthodox scholars. His entry into this debate is best interpreted as well meaning but misguided and uninformed. 

With all the obvious weaknesses, it must be said to Coffey's credit that he never engages in the scandalous sensationalism common to some anti-Catholic literature. He is a very sincere man, but is sincerely unequipped for this debate. One may agree with him in rejecting many Roman Catholic claims, but his refutations of those claims are both historically naive and factually flawed.    

It is doubtful any properly catechized Roman Catholic (or a knowledgeable Christian of any persuasion) would find Once A Catholic convincing. He may well make converts, but only among those with little or no understanding of the faith of the Church through the ages. It is precisely this lack of historical perspective leading many thoughtful Evangelicals to leave the movement. Some, sadly, reject Christianity entirely; others, less shaken, move to a richer expression of the Christian Faith within Anglicanism, Orthodoxy, confessional Protestantism, and, increasingly, Roman Catholicism. It would be a strange irony if, by his own inaccuracies, Coffey planted the seeds of future Roman Catholic apologists - hardly fruit he is seeking.

When I began studying Catholicism, I bought this book, thinking, hoping, it might provide intelligent and informative refutations of Catholic teachings. Instead I found Mr. Coffey clearly knows very little about his former faith. At times his arguments seem legitimate, painting a picture of an utterly abhorable Church - an unrealistic picture of the Roman Catholic Church. Somewhere along the line he must have misinterpreted or misunderstood his instructors. I wouldn't suggest this book if you're honestly interested in Catholicism. And I wouldn't suggest it if you're not. If you want the Truth, buy something by Scott Hahn (Rome Sweet Home if you're beginning). Then buy something more in depth. But by all means, don't stop with Catholic books. Read anti-Catholic books as well. Keep an open mind and an open heart, begin, continue and end in prayer, and you'll understand the Catholic Church. May God bless you and your search for His Truth, and may that Truth reveal His amazing love.

While Tony Coffey does write in a gentle and non-confrontational manner, this book is so full of wild inaccuracies about the Catholic faith that I wanted to lay my head down and groan. He is such a nice man and means well, but this book DOES NOT represent the truths of the faith. My guess is that Mr. Coffey didn't really become acquainted with the realities of Roman Catholicism before he 1) left the Church; and 2) wrote this book. In spite of its warm tone, it merely re-hashes every misconception Protestants have ever had against the Church and it barely skims the top of those issues in the most superficial manner. For instance, his whole take on "graven images" made me so frustrated -- if he was a true Catholic, he should have known better! Mr. Coffey is no scholar. If he had done his homework, he would most likely today be embracing the beauties of his Catholic faith. (It also gave me pause that the person who wrote the book's forward is an ex-priest: My feeling is that if a man can't even do what the Bible says and "be not foresworn" and "let [his] yes mean yes and [his] no mean no," then his honor and integrity might be suspect in other areas as well.)

Tony Coffey's book is easy to read, and covers most of the problems Evangelicals have with many Catholic teachings. In this, the book does well, because it is so easy to understand. His writing style is very conversational. Yet, there is a lack of in-depth analysis and at times he overeaches in his assertions.

In example of this is when he writes about traditions, "The tragedy of tradition is that it blinds people from seeing God." (p. 24). This is overreaching since one, God determined set up many traditions and therefore, would be in some way at fault; and secondly, the blame is on people who misplaceses the focus on tradition on tradition itself and not on God. Many Catholics (I'm not one) gain a rich, fresh relational expiernece with the living Christ through their traditions.

Similiarily, almost all Protestants have traditions. Try changing the style of music in many churches and watch the uproar or consider the battle some churches have faced over such non-formal traditions as pews or chairs, choirs or contempory bands, and alter-calls. I think Protestants must admit their traditions before engaging in dialouge on this point.

His strongest chapter is "Is the Papacy taught in Scripture?" and "What About Mary?" These chapters are good introductions into these polemic issues, but one should study more in regards to these areas.

This book is probably best suited for someone who is new to the subject. My advise would be to read more material after engaging this text. This engagement should be from both sides of the ailse.

A Catholic friend who really knows his faith read this book. He was able to refute the WHOLE thing with official Catholic sources AND THE BIBLE. Only an ignorant Catholic will be fooled by this drivel. This book is typical of anti-Catholic books. No wonder even sincere Protestants dismiss these anti-Catholic bigots.

If you're looking for what Catholics really believe and why, this is the biggest waste of money ever! It's nothing but a bunch of sadly misguided anti-Catholic propoganda that isn't worth your valuable time....

The author of this book obviously has not studied Church history and scripture accuretly. First of all, the doctrine of "sola scriptura" is not mentioned anywhere in the Word of God. Secondly the Catholic Church came before the bible, not the other way around. In any case, if the Holy Spirit is the source for the interpretation of the Bible alone, then it implies He is a source of confusion, since there are over 28,000 Protestant Denominations who interpret the Bible, supposedly the correct way. The only One, Holy, Catholic (Universal) Church that has existed since the time of Jesus is the Roman Catholic Church. After all, it was Catholic leaders who canonized the Bible. Next, the author obviously has no understanding of the doctrine of the Communion of Saints. For example, the Virgin Mary is not viewed amongst Catholics as a deity. Secondly, Catholics firmly believe Jesus is the one mediator between God and Man and is the Lord and Savior of the human race. There are many issues that are viewed in error in this book. The author who says he is a former Catholic was a poorly catechized Catholic, in that he did not fully understand his faith.

Study the early church fathers with an open mind and you'll be pleasantly surprised, all you anti-Catholic Catholics (and others). I'd recommend Scott Hahn's books as a start. There is no substitute for an open mind and earnest, good faith study. This book supplies neither.

I only wish there were a higher rating than 5 stars!

Whether or not the reader is a Catholic, questions such as; "why do Catholics do those things or espouse these beliefs?" may have been on your mind. Tony Coffey provides insightful, well founded and valid answers to such queries. Like Tony Coffey, I as a former Catholic (now a garden variety Christian), and my siblings were taught many things based on the traditions of the Church. Now as a rational, thinking adult, I've discovered that those traditions are not founded on the written word of God- the Bible. Tony Coffey explains the Vatican councils and why the faithful are indoctrinated toward blind obedience to the rules of the CHURCH and the demands imposed regardless of the validity of such rules. Catholics like lemmings are to follow blindly along. In a respectful tone, "Once a Catholic" opens one's eyes to a clear understanding and to just what the Vatican has been engaging in under the guise as the first, one, and only, universal Christian church. This book explains the Catholics belief in the diety of the Virgin Mary and everything that implies. He explains why value is placed on the repetitious praying of rosaries, novenas, and why Catholics go to the saints as intercessors. "Once a Catholic" doesn't offend or attempt to discredit the Catholic Church. The book merely says with sensitivity, "believer beware," to those who care to read and ponder on the value of the truth.

This book is an intelligent approach to issues that have challenged us all. Read this book in one sitting. You'll be glad you did and it will be time well spent.