Upon This Rock: St. Peter and the Primacy of Rome in Scripture and the Early Church (Modern Apologetics Library)

Rating:
Summary: 'Rock'-solid proof of the primacy of Rome's bishops!
Review: As a Catholic convert of just two years I had much to learn about the history of the universal church of Jesus Christ. Many doctrines were still hard to accept after my conversion, however, with books like that of Mr. Ray's, Mr. Hahn's, Mr. Jurgen's and Mr. Lewis' I am shedding off my Protestant 'tendancies' faster than jaguars can sprint. WARNING: This book is for serious Bible and history-lovin' Christians only! This work is another 'must-have' for Catholic apologists. The only criticism that I had for this book is that it provided too much evidence for the Catholic position of the papacy. I was literally overcome by the mountain of truth which displayed itself in full technicolor within this book's covers! After reading this book, I will never 'see' the Holy Father the same way again. A positive look to be sure! Pax

Rating:
Summary: Excellent book
Review: I highly recommend this book because it's full of histirical proof for what the Catholic Church teaches about Saint Peter and about the Papacy. I have checked some of Mr. Ray's sources, too, and the checked quotations were accurate.

Ray often quotes Protestant scholars, who agree with some Catholic teachings, and others who disagree with them. That helps a lot, too, because some Catholic books about apologetics seem not to quote Protestant sources that confirm Catholic beliefs.

"Upon This Rock" includes an extensive bibliography, too.

But for me, the book has an annoying feature. Often, a footnote will fill most of a page. So after you read a paragraph or two of bigger print, you need to get most of the page's detail from the small print in the footnote. The book would have been much longer without the footnotes, but I would prefer much normal size print to much tiny print.

Buy this book. It will prove that the Catholic Church is right about Peter and about the papacy.

Rating:
Summary: In Response to Seth below
Review: Seth:

I understand your suggestion about Webster's book having read adn responded to it. On my website (www.catholicconvert.com > Products > Pooks > Upon this Rock) I have posted an extended web debate with Mr. Webster. You may find it interesting and may change your opinion of his book.

Since I am the author of Upon this Rock, I unhappily have to rate my own book to get this message posted. So, hey, sorry, I rated it a 5 star :-)

Rating:
Summary: well done
Review: Stephen K. Ray does an excellent job of presenting the scriptural and historical case for the papacy. He writes clearly and well. I would like to make a point about a book mentioned in the review by the Eastern Orthodox gentleman, namely Brian Tierney's "The Origins of Papal Infallibility". Moved by that review I read Tierney's book. Brian Tierney, though a good scholar, has an axe to grind, specifically a liberal Catholic axe. I am surprised that an Eastern Orthodox person would commend the arguments of Tierney, since Tierney obviously is against not just PAPAL infallibility, but ALL infallibility, including the infallibility of Ecumenical Councils and the infallibility of the Church herself, both of which doctrines are believed in by the Eastern Orthodox. Tierney, as a liberal, does not believe that the Church can definitively commit herself to truths. In other words, he rejects the possibility of dogma. Essentially his position is that of Hans Kung.

The mistake that this Eastern Orthodox reviewer makes illustrates a basic problem with attempts to interpret the historical evidence in an Eastern Orthodox or Anglican way: these via media are self-destructive, as Newman realized. The Orthodox accept the hierarchical authority of bishops and the infallibility of Ecumenical Councils. But the scriptural evidence and the evidence from the ante-Nicene Fathers is stronger for the papacy than for the authority of Ecumenical Councils. One can pick holes in the evidence for the papacy, but only by using arguments that ultimately can be used even more effectively against other doctrines that the Orthodox would wish to uphold. Protestants have the same problem: the same arguments that are used against the papacy can be turned even more effectively against the New Testament. To return to Ray's book, I recommend it very highly.