Refuting the Attack on Mary: A Defense of Marian Doctrines [Paperback]

Father Mateo (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1999

Have you been grilled for answers about why Catholics believe that Mary remained a virgin, or that she was immaculately conceived, or assumed into heaven? How about why she is called "Mother of God" or "Queen of Heaven"? Have you wanted to provide clear and full answers to questions like this but found yourself unable to do so? Are you tired of Fundamentalists and door-to-door missionaries telling you that Catholic teachings on Mary are "unbiblical"? This book is just what you need. Father Mateo explains the basis for these and other teachings on Mary. He points out the basis for them in Scripture and the writings of the early Church Fathers. Just as important, he points out the errors of logic and fact committed by anti-Catholics as they mount an attack on the Blessed Mother. A one-of-a-kind work, this book is both remarkably concise and remarkably powerful in its explanations of how to defend the truth of Catholic teaching whenever you are called upon to refute the attack on Mary.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Father Mateo was the pen name of a Catholic priest who was an emeritus professor of New Testament Greek at a prominent university. He spent nearly fifty years of his priesthood promoting the faith, especially among young people. Not content to work only in the classroom, from 1987 to his death in 1996, Father Mateo hosted the "Ask Father" forum on the Catholic Information Network.

Product Details

• Paperback: 101 pages
• Publisher: Catholic Answers; 2nd edition (April 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1888992085
• ISBN-13: 978-1888992083
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,086,571 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A condensed review of Marian Doctrine, November 16, 2000

By 

NYJ (Atlantic Coast, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Refuting the Attack on Mary: A Defense of Marian Doctrines (Paperback)

Father Mateo was the pen name of a Catholic Priest who hosted the "Ask Father" forum on the Catholic Information Network until his death in 1996. This book was written as a direct rebuttal to a two-part article entitled "The Mary of Roman Catholicism" printed up in the Christian Research Institute Journal in 1990. Father Mateo hits many of the theological points of Marian doctrine in this book, though it would be nice to have a copy of the two CRI articles mentioned in this book. If you are not familiar with Marian doctrine, this book does not give you time to catch the basics, and it can get quite heady at time. If you have been "down this road before" though, this book will be fast paced. Though it is a direct rebuttal to a duo of CRI articles, this book can be used by Catholic apologists when discussing Marian doctrine, as the book is quite comprehensive. However, if you are looking for a slower paced, easier to read Catholic Apologetics book based on Marian Doctrine, I would recommend "The Catholic Answer Book of Mary" by Peter Stravinskas instead.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good material but why so short, December 21, 2000

By 

V. M Salomon "vinnie70" (Glendale Heights, Il) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Refuting the Attack on Mary: A Defense of Marian Doctrines (Paperback)

Refuting the attack on Mary is a book written in response to material published by the Christian Research Institute. The CRI argues against the Catholic Church seeking to increase devotional practices to Mary among Catholics. CRI sees this as jeopardizing the ecumenical movement. With this idea as their battle cry, they issue a full frontal attack on straw man arguments related to Mary. In this way CRI acts as Don Quixote knocking down false arguments in a seemingly heroic way.

Fr. Mateo sets the record straight. He gives counterpoints to their arguments in a blow-by-blow defense. Fr. Mateo gives quick lessons in Greek grammar when necessary to explain verses. He also includes plenty of protestant quotations that support veneration of Mary. His refutations are well written.

The issue I had with the book is that I think with a little more work, it could have been much better. The book is a reprint of articles published in This Rock magazine. Because of this, it answers CRI's objections well, but that's all it really does. Fr. Mateo does not anticipate counter attacks, which could have been handled easily without adding much to the articles. One example is in the chapter Queen of Heaven. One common counter argument against Mary as the queen of heaven is that in Rev 12:2 the woman with the crown of stars is experiencing labor pains. Labor pains are a temporal effect of original sin. If this woman was Mary and Mary was conceived without sin, how would she experience labor pains? It would have been prudent to add the answers to these kinds of questions to this book. (In case your wondering, the answer can be found in The Lamb's Supper by Scott Hahn pages 78-79.)

Refuting the attack on Mary is a decent book to learn how to counter some arguments against Mary but it could have been much more. If you are going to buy only book, skip this one. If you have more than a passing interest in Marian studies, you will probably enjoy Refuting the attack on Mary.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Short, but profitable, March 8, 2001

By 

Kevin G. Whitty "Kevin Whitty" (Oak Park, MI United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Refuting the Attack on Mary: A Defense of Marian Doctrines (Paperback)

Father Mateo succeeds in answering the Protestant's charges against the Marian doctrines, but not in a lot of detail. He does, however, point you in the right direction.

If you are looking for a general explanation for these doctrines, or if you just want to have some good answer to give a Protestant who is grilling you, then this book is for you. If you prefer a textbook analysis of Mariology, see "All Generations Shall Call Me Blessed" by Stefano M. Manelli.