Most Helpful Customer Reviews
49 of 60 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Mediocre, January 22, 2002
This review is from: Reasoning from the Scriptures with Catholics (Paperback)
This book deals with most of the doctrinal disagreements between Catholics and Protestants. The best thing about this book is that it delves into many of the "proof texts" used by Catholics to support their doctrine and explains how the Catholic interpretation is false. He does a good job exposing Catholic errors regarding transubstantiation, Mary, and the Papacy. However, I was disappointed by holes in several of his arguments, including the overlooking of much Biblical material. For example, in talking about the appearances of Mary at Lourdes and Fatima, Rhodes just makes the blanket statement that God does not want to allow us to ever have contact with the dead, and that therefore these appearances are demonic impersonations. However, in making this conclusion, Rhodes ignores the appearance of Elijah and Moses on the Mount of Transfiguration as well as the appearance of Samuel to Saul at Endor, both of which are Biblical examples of appearances to the dead. Also, Rhodes sometimes makes statements of great import without giving any documentation for them, such as his statement that some of the Church fathers believed in the Immaculate Conception while others did not. Not only this, but he relies on James White's book as a source at times, which is not good scholarship, since Dr. White's book is also a popular book, not written at the scholarly level. Finally, he does not devote enough time to the question of justification in the Catholic Church, and seems to just dismiss Catholicism as "works salvation" when Catholic doctrine is actually more complex than that. I would not recommend this book to anyone who wants to delve into the subjects very deeply, but it is a decent book for getting a general picture. I would not recommend taking everything at face value, though.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
104 of 140 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Book offers no new insight and incorrect in some areas, May 26, 2001
This review is from: Reasoning from the Scriptures with Catholics (Paperback)
I was so excited to get this book after I heard about its recent release at my church from some of the congregation. They hadn't read it yet but were going to buy it so I thought I would beat them to it. Well I got it and found that it has many holes in it, especially in describing papal infallibility, Mary, and the Saints. It falls back to previous books in the field such as Roman Catholicism by Loraine Boetner that was written in the 1920s, and used many myths about Catholicism that any educated Catholic could shoot down instantly because they are simply myth. This book offers little insight into real Catholic dogma. I know because I have studied it extensively becaues I have many Catholic friends and family and have studied their faith with great scrutiny and have found much to my great sadness that their faith is in fact scriptural, and the doctrines of papal infallibility and devotion to Mary do hold water. Don't get me wrong, I am not converting, but merely stating that many of the things we believe about Catholics are myth, and trust me the Catholics are catching onto this myth. They now have books such as Karl Keating's "Catholicism and Fundamentalism: The Attack on Romanism by Bible Christians" and "What Catholics Really Believe-Setting the Record Straight: 52 Answers To Common Misconceptions About the Catholic Faith", and Henry G. Graham's "Where We Got The Bible", and Marc P. Shea's "An Evangelical Discovers Catholic Tradition". It is in these books that we can truly understand the Catholic church (who best to understand it then from Catholics themselves) and then share our faith with them. After reading the above books I have come to a greater understanding of what Catholics believe and why and this has helped me in opening up dialogue with them. Anyone serious about apologetics will get these books.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
42 of 56 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
After a quick review of Rhodes' book, April 14, 2005
This review is from: Reasoning from the Scriptures with Catholics (Paperback)
Four quick comments:
1. Even though the book claims to be reasoning "from Scriptures", it in fact relies heavily on something else - the theories and interpretations of some U.S. Evangelical Protestant SCHOLARS who, allegedly, help us "understand the real meaning" of controversial biblical passages. Paradoxically, this serves as a perfect illustration of the Catholic truth that the Scriptures cannot be understood in isolation (as if they just "fell from heaven"), and that we (the Church) need SOMETHING ELSE in making sense of God's revelation. Now, where do we find this "something else"? In the latest generation of Ph.D. graduates from U.S. Evangelical Protestant colleges? What is this "something else" that we need (clue: it is also mentioned in the Bible)? Academic scholarship? Or perhaps SHEPHERDSHIP (apostolic authority guided by the Holy Spirit through history - i.e., tradition)?
2. Even though the book claims to be based on Scripture alone, it does resort quite a bit to theology--although only the kinds of theories that support the views of SOME U.S. Evangelical Protestant traditions. Furthermore, Rhodes does not ponder the deeper theological arguments of the Universal and Historic Church. Even though Rhodes seems to have read the Catechism and a few papal documents, he does not meditate long enough on what they say and mean.
3. The very title of the book assumes as a given what Catholics since apostolic times never believed or practiced: That the Christian message is to be discerned from Scripture alone, without reference to the living and ongoing tradition of the Christian community and its pastors, guided by the Holy Spirit. This "sola scriptura" assumption was not St. Paul's approach, nor St. Luke's, nor St. Justin Martyr's, nor St. Ignatius of Antioch's. Hence, the very purpose of the book (stated in its title) determines its very limited relevance.
4. Rhodes does not fail to note when an author happens to be a former Catholic turned Protestant. However, when mentioning (quickly and without comment) Scott Hahn, Peter Kreeft, and others, he fails to note that they are well respected former-Protestants-turned-Catholic academics.
In sum, the book provides an opportunity for Catholics to sharpen their arguments in defense of Historical Christianity. For Evangelical Protestants, it can only feed them with a traditional set of biases about the One Church.
Beyond these differences, Catholic and Protestant Christians have a lot of work to do to understand each other and face the real adversary of Christ's Gospel.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
|
