4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A thorough, yet not too academic summary, suitable for all., July 16, 1999
By A Customer
This is the kind of book ordinary people will like. It is complete, but not so detailed that the reader would lose the main thought. Mr. Gillis poses questions the "man or woman in the street" has pondered, but never had answered before; and he doesn't try to evade or white-wash problems or controversies. He gives credit to the simple, ordinary people who try to live their lives in accord with the laws of God, in simple faith and in caring service to their neighbors. The book makes me feel good about all the truly good people out there--people who work and struggle to find meaning in their lives. Mr. Gillis has done us all a great favor in showing the difficulties others have gone through, yet still kept trying.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An admirable,unbiased,reader-friendly account of Catholicism, June 18, 1999
By A Customer
Chester Gillis has favored us with an engrossing account of one of the world's leading religions with this account of Catholicism, yesterday and today, in America. Using reader-friendly text, suitable for the general public, he delineates the history of American Catholics, their beliefs and practices, over the last four centuries. Yet the account is by no means sterile or dry; instead, the author uses anecdotes, letters, and attributed quotes to give the text an immediacy and relevance which is most refreshing. Gillis covers such disparate topics as the Black Experience in the Catholic Church,Hispanics and their influences, ethnic groups of all kinds; controversies surrounding abortion, homosexuality, women's rights--including ordination, clerical misconduct, academic freedom, etc. In all, he is thorough and insightful. He traces the rise and fall of parish life in metropolitan areas and the state of religious life among vowed and unvowed members of the church. In fact, it is impossible to think of an area he hasn't covered. Photographs, charts, and graphs strengthen the statistical data; notes containing bibliographical material serve for further research or corroboration; a valuable glossary of terms, an impeccable index, and an offering of modern Internet sources will satisfy students or curious readers desirous of more information about specific topics. This book is suitable for Christians and non-Christians alike, for it presents a valuable insight into the lives and beliefs of a people who continue to influence the world and shape the policies of nations.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Lord, deliver us!, January 16, 2010
Ever on the look out to add good books to our parish library, I bought this book recently. I noticed that it had 7 solid very favorable reviews, and came with a recommendation by Jay Dolan, of the University of Notre Dame. Having read some of Dolan's books, I ponied up the money.
I now wish to add something to balance out the critical ledger:
Objection 1: An ambiguous presentation of the faith, what the Church officially teaches
Objection 2: gives the impression that dissent from the official Catholic faith is justified.
Objection 3: Gillis appears to have been very cozy personally with a number of well-known Catholic dissenters: Charles Curran & Monika Hellwig, in particular.
Objection 4: It is one thing to write about the gulf between official Catholic teaching, on say, birth control & abortion, and the actual practice by American Catholics. However, it is quite another thing to write about this in such a way as to belittle the Catholic teaching, or blur the lines between the Church's official teaching and dissent, as if this dissent were acceptable behavior.
Gillis spends three full pages on his friend, Charles Curran, justifying his dissent from Humanae Vitae, Pope Paul VI encyclical against birth control.
On page 110, Gillis writes, "Should a bishop be allowed to judge the professional competency of a university professor? Would this not be better left to peers in other institutions of higher education? Further, does not tenure protect one from retribution if he or she criticizes ecclesial positions? Is it the duty of theologians in church-related institutions to defend the public teachings of the church at all costs?" He thus implies that bishops are not competent to judge the content of college professors in Catholic schools, where the Catholic faith is supposed to be taught.
The Catholic faith is not a faith that is dependent upon polls of professing Catholics. If 7% or 70% of American Catholics are, in fact, practicing birth control, in defiance of Catholic teaching, this does not justify the rebellious actions of the few or the many. The same can be said of other matters: abortion, premarital sex, adultery, pornography, etc.
The United States has laws prohibiting rape and murder. If a sizeable portion of our population engaged in these two acts, would that justify doing away with these laws? Giving a dissenting opinion that laws against rape & murder are old fashioned and can be ignored does not justify the intrinsic evil that rape & murder are.
Similarly, Gillis seems to propose that dissent by American Catholics from the official Catholic teaching against birth control, abortion, and the like are acceptable.
Finally, Gillis' "Selected Further Reading" is a down-sized Who's Who of the Catholic liberal left:
--James Carroll, of "Constantine's Sword" notoriety
--Thomas C. Fox of the notorious left National Catholic Reporter
--Monika Hellwig, "The Modern Catholic Encyclopedia"
--Richard McBrien, author of the rightfully maligned tome, "Catholicism."
--Thomas P. Rausch
God have mercy! And saints deliver us from such Catholic teachers!
Save your money and buy some other book on Catholic history. Avoid "Roman Catholicism in America" by Chester Gillis like the plague.
John Paul, Oklahoma City
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
