Roman Catholicism

Rating:
Summary: This is anti-intellectual
Review: "Divine tradition is the writings of the fathers and doctors of the catholic church. Now God is infallible, so divine tradition should be also. But Boettner writes that Augustine, a prolific church father, wrote a book of retractions to his writings later in life. Another Church doctor, Alphonsus Liguori, in his book, the means of salvation and perfection, wrote that if God willed all the angels to go to hell, they would willingly do so to follow the divine will. This is absurd since God cannot make a contradiction."

In response to this post and this book, all I can say is that people need to do a better job of understanding what it is they are trying to condemn. First, Boettner misleads the reader to believe that Augustine "comes to his senses later in life". Maybe the reader should, himself, read Augustine to find the TRUTH. Boettner also attempts to build up a Catholic strawman and then knock it down. He does it well (who couldn't). In fact, if this was actually what the Church taught, I would be objecting myself. Furthermore, he is dishonest, which is a cardinal sin for a "scholar".

For starters, Catholic tradition is not the "writings of the fathers and doctors of the Catholic Church". The Church fathers bear witness to Apostolic Tradition, but they aren't in themselves "Tradition". Thus, a Church Father OR Doctor CAN err. Their writings are only accurate in as much as they agree with what the Church has always taught. This does not mean that our understanding cannot grow or expand. However, teachings cannot be contradicted (i.e. cold-blooded murder is never morally acceptable). The teaching on infallibility only extends to matters of faith and morals. And that only extends to the Magisterium. Thus, a Pope declaring that one Bible is better than another one is not a contradiction on infallibility. "Faith and Morals" simply put are articles of the faith that are necessary for our salvation along with moral teachings that guide our faith.

Furthermore, the teaching on infallibility only states that the Holy Spirit will PREVENT the CHURCH from teaching error in these areas. It does not extend to INDIVIDUALS, except the Holy Father (in Ex Cathedra pronouncements). These rarely occur. Thus, both the author's accusations and all critics of Catholic (Apostolic) Tradition are unfounded. Remember, all you critics of Catholic Tradition, the words of St. Paul, "So then Brothers, stand firm and hold to the TRADITIONS we brought to you, whether by word of MOUTH or by LETTER" (2 Thess 2:15). Also, that the "CHURCH of the living God, (IS) the PILLAR and FOUNDATION of TRUTH" (1 Tim 3:15). Thus, Scripture (which is a part of Tradition itself, said St. Paul in 2 Thess 2:15) bears witness to the Church's teaching on Tradition. A teaching that was handed down by Christ and the Apostles in the once and for all, complete deposit of faith.

To sum it up, let us see what the Church teaches about it's own beliefs on Tradition. "Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture, then, are bound closely together and communicate one with the other. For both of them, flowing out from the same divine well-spring, come together in some fashion to form one thing and move towards the same goal" (CCC, 80). "The Tradition here in question comes from the apostles and hands on what they received from Jesus' teaching and example and what they learned from the Holy Spirit. The first generation of Christians did not yet have a WRITTEN NEW TESTAMENT, and the New Testament itself demonstrates the process of living Traidition. Tradition is to be distinguished from the various THEOLOGICAL, DISCIPLINARY, LITURGICAL, or DEVOTIONAL traditions (little "t"), born in the local churches over time. These are the particular forms, adapted to different places and times, in which the great Tradition (Big "T") is expressed. In the light of Tradition, these traditions can be retained, modified or even abandoned under the guidance of the Church's magisterium" (CCC, 83). Thus, man-made traditions can be modified or abandoned, but Apostolic Tradition is objective truth revealed by God and cannot ever change. This is what the Church claims infallibility over. Don't take my word for it, do your research, and try reading something other than anti-Catholic sentiment if you ACTUALLY want to learn what the Catholic Church teaches.

Rating:
Summary: Garbage
Review: Believe me I have other things to do tonight than write an amazon book review. However, I just couldn't let all these negative reviews go unchallenged. This is a great book! The bad reviews are primarily written by Catholics who have never read the book, but know of it through a very biased trashing of it by Karl Keating in his Catholicism and Fundamentalism. One reviewer I saw even referred to the author as a "her" ... any reader of the book would know that Lorraine Boettner is a man! This book is a great source of embarrasing information. You will learn how many Catholic doctrines are not only unbiblical, but also relatively recent concoctions. You will learn of many of the frauds that the Catholic Church has perpetrated on its unsuspecting followers - such as the house in Italy that they claimed was Mary's flown in from the Holy Land. The greed, the corruption, the bizarre practices - it's all here. Let's not forget the atrocities, such as the Inquisition and the war crimes in Croatia that the Catholic Church was so intimately involved with. Sadly, pointing out the truth about Catholicism has been termed "bashing" and is now politically incorrect. It has been getting harder and harder to find resources that tell it straight. Dear Catholics, you are saved only by grace, through your faith in Jesus Christ, the One mediator (no Mary), not by works nor through sacraments.

Rating:
Summary: A inaccurate surface analysis of the Catholic Church.
Review: I always find it interesting when certain groups of people attack the Catholic Church based on the assertion of "inventing" doctrine. They often point to the dates when the Church officially names such previously shared and accepted beliefs. They say 'That proves that it was "invented" by the Church because it was documented well after the death of the apostles." The Catholic Church, when a long standing, all the way back to the first and second centuries, tradition becomes challanged or distorted will establish a special council to lay out the exact meaning and often name to a doctrine (example being - The Trinity) to do away with misconceptions. I use the example of the Trinity because most protestants are unaware of the Council of Nicene back in the fourth century that officially defined and named what was considered to be a commonly held TRADITION, but had at that time come under attack from various heretics. The word TRADITION scares most protestants because in order to discredit the Catholic Church they have decreed that all TRADITION passed down from the earliest of times is false if not found in the Bible. If you are a protestant reading this, read about the history of forming the New Testament. It wasn't handed directly from God's hand to Christians, but was a long process of evaluation in determining what was divinely inspired and what was not. Many books were left out that some wanted to include - they are known as the "Gnostic Gospels". It was the Catholic Church who determined which books were to be included and which ones were not. This was 300 years after the Apostles. Please tell me what bible were the earliest of Christians using to verify and justify their beliefs prior to the fourth century. They relied on TRADITION. I could go on forever about the many gross misconceptions that protestants have concerning Catholic beliefs, but there is already a good number of sites and books that could properly educate if people are truly interested in the truth.

Rating:
Summary: Not all factual
Review: If you come anywhere close to this one, better have your theological library nearby.

Rating:
Summary: Garbage
Review: It's really obvious he doesn't know or understand what he is talking about.

Rating:
Summary: Don't waste your time
Review: Poorly written with little scholarly merit or research value....just validates the theory that a good majority of fundamentalists are more concerned with discrediting Catholic tradition than they are about justifying their own flawed religious beliefs...

Rating:
Summary: No understanding of the Catholic Church
Review: The author displays a complete disregard for the teachings of the Catholic Church (either pre-Vatican II or post-Vatican II)and instead offers recycled stereotypical nonsense of Catholicism offered by the same pseudo-religious Protestant preachers who seek to discredit the Church.

One might actually gain a better knowledge of the Catholic Church by reading:

a) The Bible
b) The Catechism of the Catholic Church

(Something that the author of this book has obviously not done)

Rating:
Summary: unscholarly, biased and angry
Review: The problem with this book is that is wholly unscholarly. The author makes all sorts of extravagant claims against the Roman Catholic Church and almost always either fails to correctly cite the material or it is found to be completely out of context. There are dialogs that could be opened about Roman Catholicism but this author's work can only serves as an embarrassment for the arguments Boettner and his modern constituents are making. There are many more balanced and scholarly materials available throughout amazon.com and the Internet. I would suggest looking there.

Rating:
Summary: So far off the mark
Review: This book is so full of misconceptions that it almost becomes a comedy! Don't waste your money on this because it is not a true representation about what the Catholic Church believes, practices and teaches. And please don't call it the "Roman" Catholic Church. The Catholic Church has 20 or so liturgical rites of the Holy Mass, only one of which is the Roman rite. Quite a few are the Eastern Catholic rites such as the Byzantine, etc. Eastern Catholic priests do not take the vow of celibacy and so can marry. The priests who celebrate the Roman rite do take the vow and do not marry. This is a "discipline" not a "dogma." Rest assured that the Catholic Church is the ONE, Holy, and Apostolic Church that Christ founded. I was raised a Baptist and thanks to Jesus in the Eucharist I joined the Catholic Church. At my prayer group here in Kansas City, I have learned the complete truth about my Catholic faith (to which I converted in 1987). Anyhow if you want the truth about what the Catholic Church is, don't buy this book. It's better to get the info from an actual Catholic source than from outside the Church from someone who has twisted the truth and taken scripture out of context. Maybe it was not the author's intent, but that is sadly what he has done.