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52 of 95 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
John 10:1, September 22, 2002
In this book McCarthy overlooks many Scripture passages in his teaching to Catholics. For example, McCarthy says:"You can be positive that you are going to heaven" (p. 6), but Saint Paul wrote: "I pommel my body and subdue it, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified" (1 Cor 9:27). And in Ecclesiastes 9:1 it says "But all this I laid to heart, examining it all, how the righteous and the wise and their deeds are in the hand of God; whether it is love or hate man does not know." McCarthy says on page 6, "God is willing to reserve a place for you in heaven right now," but Jesus said, "Only the one who perseveres to the end shall be saved" (Matt. 24:13). McCarthy continues: "You can have confidence that upon death you will go straight to heaven. You don't even have to show up on that terrible day when God will judge the sins of others." But Scripture contradicts him: "Work out your salvation with fear and trembling" (Phil. 2:12) and "Therefore, let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall" (1 Cor. 10:12). "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive good or evil, according to what he has done in the body" (2 Cor. 5:10). On page 10 McCarthy says: "If God let us in the way we are, heaven would soon be as contaminated with evil as we have made this earth." But Scripture says: "Therefore, if any one is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come" (2 Cor. 5:17). According to McCarthy on page 11, the Church has no solution for sin: "Simply repeating the words or performing a ritual, such as the sacrament of confession, is not enough." But Jesus said to the Apostles, the first priests of his Church, "If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven" (John 20:23). On page 14, McCarthy states: "You can't make up for your sins by going to Mass, praying the Rosary, obtaining indulgences, abstaining from certain foods, doing good deeds, offering up your sufferings, or even entering the religious life." But Scripture says: "For God will render to every man according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life, but for those who are factious and do not obey the truth, but obey wickedness, there will be wrath and fury" (Rom 2:6-8). On page 19, McCarthy mentions the theological fantasy that God forgives your future sins now! But Scripture says: "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will forgive you; but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses" (Matt. 6:14-15). On page 20, McCarthy asks: "What could you do to earn forgiveness and eternal life in heaven anyway?" Scripture gives some examples: almsgiving (Tobit 4:10-11), holy anointing of a sick person by a priest (James 5:14-16), and holy communion (John 6:54). He continues: "The Bible says that no one will get to heaven by keeping the Ten Commandments." Read Matt. 19:17, where Jesus states, "If thou will enter into life, keep the Commandments." McCarthy also attacks good works: "All the good works in the world can't make up for one sin." But the Bible disagrees: "Whoever brings back a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins" (James 5:20). Similarly, McCarthy states on page 22 that for salvation you can't depend on the things God gave us: your priest, Mary, the saints, the Church, baptism, the Ten Commandments, holy communion, "not even your good works," but Scripture replies: "Therefore, brethren, strive even more by good works to make your calling and election sure" (2 Peter 1:10) and "Baptism now saves you" (1 Peter 3:21). Jesus says if we eat His flesh and drink His blood, we will have eternal life (John 6:54). Incidentally, McCarthy says that the Eucharist is "only a symbol," but in John chapter 6 Jesus says it is literally His body and blood, and this is why Jesus loses the crowd (and many Protestants) with this doctrinal teaching (notice He didn't call them back). St. Paul confirms the Real Presence in 1 Corinthians chapters 10 and 11. On page 23, McCarthy states a big myth about the Catholic Church: "Following the traditions of men, it has departed from the true Christian faith by setting aside God's Word." In this way, he makes Jesus out to be the liar-because it was Jesus who said of His Church, "the gates of hell will not prevail against it" (Matt. 16:18). I'll just mention three more errors. Page 26 McCarthy says oral Tradition does not deserve the same honor as Scripture, but Scripture says: "So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by letter" (2 Thess. 2:15). Then he says "Scripture is the standard for judging the truthfulness of all teaching," but the Bible says that the Church is "the pillar and foundation of truth"-not Scripture ( 1 Timothy 3:15), and that the Church is the highest authority-not Scripture (Matt. 18:15-18). Finally, on page 30: "Nowhere in the Bible is there an example of anyone praying to Mary or to the saints." Wrong! Luke 16: 19-31 where the rich man prays to Abraham to be released from his torment.
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