Rating: Summary: I Love This Book! Review: Anything Patrick Madrid has written should be owned by any searching Christian, but this book is a must. You will want several copies. It is worth owning just for the first chapter where Patrick introduces one six (6) word sentence and shows how, with the emphasis on a different word each time you read that sentence, without knowing the context and history, you cannot truly understand what is being said. WOW! Now that was amazing, Mr. Madrid! Now we know why the 30,000 different denominations in the world cannot get along with others in their own denomination-not to mention cannot even have lunch with some of the other denominations. Then the book is great for any Catholic or any other Christian who truly wants to understand the TRUTH about "where is that in the Bible?" We are new converts and we are amazed (after years in the scripture) at the ignorance we had about the beliefs of the Church until we started studying Church History and books written by Madrid, Hahn, Keating and many more. This book, Where is That in the Bible, is simple and filled with verses. Truth is a wonderful thing. Buy it now. You will love it.
Rating: Summary: An Apologist's Swiss Army Knife Review: As is a fine Swiss Army knife to an avid outdoorsman, this book is essential to both the career apologist and the weekend evangelist. With a mere flick of the thumb, these pages fall open to a well crafted and highly researched response to any snare that a Bible thumping Protestant might lay in your spiritual path. Madrid's deft, eloquent explanations,-coupled with his meticulous Scriptural citations, -make this book the all-purpose survival tool for those of us who oft times feel that we're hacking our way through a tangle of "Biblical" challenges to our faith. Problem with the Papacy? Flip open age 30. Need to refute an attack on Mary? Page 65. Got somebody questioning the existence of purgatory? Page 84. Etc., etc., etc. I've worked with Madrid on a couple of his books, yet this small gem remains my favorite. On page 14, Madrid recommends that the reader "take the notes and verses listed here and highlight them in your Bible." I did. The Bible I use when debating Protestants bears notes and citations I gleaned from Patrick Madrid's Where is That in the Bible. Your Bible should,too.
Rating: Summary: This is rich - Review: From the church that brought you Bible burnings, and yes, the Bible on the list of forbidden books comes the smash hit - "Where Is That In The Bible?". Facing plummeting membership as they lose any semblance of moral authority (aka pedophilia, priestly genocidal actions in Rwanda, etc.), this new hit book attempts to address those few Catholics who actually still think that their doctrinal foundations should be Biblical. Meanwhile, the scholarly reference works of the church (to which the average Catholic has no access) openly acknowledge the pagan origins of 90% of church teaching. Not to worry, the mental acrobatics gone through to justify the most egregiously non-Biblical positions will thrill and amaze. Purchase it for the entertainment value alone.
Rating: Summary: Trying to have it several ways Review: I am impressed only about one and one-half stars' worth. Like Scott Hahn's latest (Hail, Holy Queen), Madrid promises a lot more than he delivers. Please recognize that each argument he makes and scripture that he sites can be interpreted differently. He insists that we trust the Church to help us interpret -- despite the over-whelming evidence that the Catholic Church has been, historically, perhaps (and charitably) fifty-fifty in the "trustable" department. However, as we all should agree, the need for understanding and charity toward each other is more important now-a-days than ever before. Mr. Madrid provided one valuable personal service here -- my flirtation with the Catholic church is over, the last "I-have-converted!" book has been read and laid aside, and my satisfaction with the Protestant expression of Christian faith renewed. However, there is a respect for persons such as Madrid, Drake, Howard, Hahn, and in particular Mark Shea, that made all the expenditures and hours of reading worth it. I know these are Christian kindred, despite what the J. T. Chicks of the world claim. Do yourself a favor -- check out Philip Yancey. You will likely find his teaching and advice of greater value. Thanks, and God bless.
Rating: Summary: Nice, but too basic Review: I guess it depends on what you expect or what you need this book to do for you. Mr. Madrid, an excellent Catholic apologist, says at the outset that this book is basic. In my experience, many of the chapters are simply too short--they contain too little evidence, they do not go deep enough. It seems to me that the book was written in a hurry. Some topics are covered especially poorly, such as Sabbath worship (Sunday vs. Saturday) and Annihilation of Soul vs. Eternity of Soul in hell. I think we could have expected more from Mr. Madrid. Don't get me wrong--it is a good and helpful reference work. I just think it's too basic and insufficient.
Rating: Summary: Very disappointing Review: I'm a lapsed Catholic. Much of the reason for my "straying" from the Church centered around differences of opinion when it came to some of the Church's teachings. When I couldn't get the *why* answered through my youth minister, friends or even multiple priests, I left. So, when I saw this book, I was somewhat excited that it might finally answer many of the questions I had. Unfortunately, it doesn't. The author points out in the introduction that there are many ways to interpret any given sentence, let alone the Scriptures. He then proceeds to cite Scripture verses in an attempt to explain/defend the Catholic teachings. However, in many cases, the verse quoted does not appear to support the specific teaching . . . at least, I can't see how it does. And the author does not go on to explain/extrapolate how the verse applies, or what the "proper" interpretation should be. Obviously, if the Scriptures were so crystal clear that all it took was a quick quote in order to explain a particular teaching, there wouldn't be such a big rift between denominations. But the author does not go into any more detail or support the statements (teachings) made, even after going to lengths to explain how any given statement can be interpretted in multiple fashions. Basically, I was expecting a book that would explain the Catholic teachings, then follow it up with *why* the Church teaches it. This book fails miserably in that regard.
Rating: Summary: An Excellent, Bible-Based Resource Review: Our separated brethren and sisters frequently ask Catholics to prove our beliefs from the Bible, despite the teaching of Saint Paul that the Church is the "pillar and ground of the truth" (1 Tim 3:15). Patrick Madrid tackles the unique teachings of the faith, those that are most likely to be controversial among both Christians and non-Christians. He does so with respect and without ridiculing the beliefs of others. And he accomplishes this without quoting out of context or using ellipses (...) to omit words that fail to support his viewpoint. Highly recommended to all--but it will take the wind out of your sails if you hate the Catholic Church and think you can use the Bible to justify your hatred.
Rating: Summary: Great For Reference, Not For Scholarship Review: Patrick Madrid has assembled an excellent tool for the Catholic who would like to see where exactly his/her Church's teachings are found in the Bible. It is an outstanding reference for finding those verses in Scripture that make you smile and say, "The Bible may as well just say 'Be Catholic!'" I highly recommend "Where is That in the Bible" for the Catholic who has already had an introduction to Scripture and apologetics, for this book does work to introduce the reader to either. Instead, it is a wonderful supplement to a Catholic's on-going study. By no means a scholarly treatise (it wasn't intended to be), "Where is That in the Bible" is easy to read and digest while making the reader see the Bible as less complex, more managable and the kind of literature only God could author.
Rating: Summary: Every Catholic Should Own this book Review: The art of defending beliefs soley by scriptural reference is not one historically well developed in the Catholic church. Many times growing up, I would ask my mother or a faith formation teacher why Catholics believe something, and the response would be becuse the Church has always said that.
The fact is that the Church would not say something that was not supported by scripture, but when thrust into the Bible Belt as a teen, and constantly forced to defend my beliefs which were attacked as "unbiblical," I was not properly prepared for any such dialogue. Only saying "I know it's somewhere in the Bible" does not convince many minds, particularly when the people arguing with you appear to knwo that Bible more thoroughly and insist they never heard of anything to justify your belief.
I wish I had this book then. It is a great handbook for explaining the biblical roots of Catholic beliefs that generally come under attack or that seem difficult to explain by scritural references. Topics included (but are not limited to) the papcy, calling priests "father," communion of saints, Mary, relics, statues, purgatory, slavation, sola sciptura, and the sacraments. All faith formation prgrams should give a copy to all candidates for confirmation (if not a bit sooner) and RCIA. Also, every parent should have a copy so tht when the questions come up, they can quickly find the answers, if they do not remmebr the sources off hand. It also is helpful to people thining about leaving or returning to the Catholic Church, as well as those thinking about entering.
Patrick Madrid describes this book as the fruit of his study of scrpiture. That it comprises notes he made in the margins of his Bible to defend and explain Catholic beliefs. The format is similar to an encyclopedia and has indexes on the side of the pages about the topics, so that it is easy to find support for topics that are the source of your (or others') questions. Each topics has a brief explanation on the doctrine of belief, and usually includes the references to where the belief is articulated in the Cathechism, directing the reader to where the teaching is explained in greater deatil. Then a list of biblical references follows, so the reader can see how the cathechism pulled these teachings out of scripture.
The book also includes scriptural references to provide defense against attacks by Morman, Jehovak Witnesses, and details about the Inquistion.
The book focuses on scriptural references that are shared with the Protestant Bible. Meaning, that the Catholic Bible has more references than the book indicates to support its beliefs, because it includes a more comprehensive collection of Old Testament books, but Madrid wisely does not use these references because they would not have much validity with Prostestants who don't consider those books "biblical."
It is difficult for me to decide whether this is a four star rating or five stars. I wish the book was longer and had more explanations, but at the same time I value its compact size, whcih can easily be carried in a purse or pocket. At times I felt that some of the references used to validate a doctrine were tenuous at best, but upon those occasions, there were many other references on the subject that supported the Church's persepctive more clearly. I also wished at times that Madrid more fully explained the relationship between the scripture verses cited and the doctirne, but doing so would have produced a different sort of book, one long and more difficult to find the references in a pinch. As this book's accessible format is one of its strongest assets, it seems wrong to penalize it by giving it less a star; particularly when the argument involves wanting more of a good thing.
Rating: Summary: Helpful & Practical Review: This book gives helpful, concise apologetics explanations about catholicism along with the related bible passages.
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