Reasoning from the Scriptures With Catholics

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Summary: Concerning his other book, Reasoning... Jehovah's Witnesses
Review: I just wanted to comment on an interesting quote from Ron Rhodes other book, Reasoning from the Scriptures with the Jehovah's Witnesses. On page 30 there's a rebuttal quote for Jehovah's Witnesses which states " If the Jehovah's Witnesses are the only true witnesses for God, and if the Jehovah's Witnesses as an organization came into being in the late nineteenth century (which is a historical fact), does this mean God was without a witness for over eighteen centuries of church history"

Can't Catholics say the same thing to Protestants? I just wanted to comment that, like some people here, I was searching at one point in my life for the Lord and I had lots of questions. Every single one of my doubts have been answered by pro and anti-Catholic books, and today I'm back in the Church. Especially helpful was a book by Scott Hahn, an ex Presbyterian minister who came home to the Church. I also want to say that with all my heart I feel that we are all Christians if we believe the Apostle's Creed and some people should use their strenghts to preach to the unpreached and people in cults (including Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons) who have distorted the truth.

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Summary: Well-written Critique of Roman Catholic Theology
Review: I would like to first state that I am Roman Catholic. I state such so you may understand my perspective, and the necessary biases I possess. Saying that, I claim that this book should be read by Roman Catholics for three reasons.

First, because it illustrates what Catholics should not do. I read through this text, and found it very informative and helpful. Many of its critiques of Catholicism are accurate, as the defenses many Catholics offer for Tradition or the Sacraments are faulty. This book is useful to Catholics for avoiding poor defenses, and forces a search for stronger grounding. One cannot jump to Scripture to defend Tradition. Tradition should stand on its own. I will say that some of his critiques are contrived (the seperation of Peter from the Rock for example), and so are less useful.

Second, this text is useful for understanding Protestant thought better. I cannot understand my views until I understand the views of those opposed to it. And Aristotle (Metaphysics Book a) and Aquinas (in commentary) stated that all people have a piece of Truth, and so dialogue is important, as Protestants must hold some truth in their critiques, and there must be some fault in the Church, as it is organic. This book lays out the major divisions, and defends Protestantism with great skill.

Third, this book is a wonderful resource for Scriptures that defend Catholic thought. The claim of offering "Roman Catholic Doctrines that run counter to God's word" (Rhodes, cover) falls short, but there are many good reflective questions in the text. A good meditative Roman Catholic would take these questions seriously (though with a questioning, not doubtful heart). I believe that there are good answers for each one of them.

And this is why I would recommend this book to any Roman Catholic, because it is healthy for us to read such things, it helps us understand Protestantism better, and it also helps us understand what defenses of our own work and what defenses don't.

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic book.
Review: It answered every question my Catholic friends asked, and had strong rejoinders for every issue they raised.

Complete.

These negative reviews seem suspiciously from those offended by the scope of the material, rather than the arguments raised and rebutted. They were formally and informally valid.

Read for yourself. Highly recommended.

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Summary: Flawed, yet remarkably strident in its imperfection.
Review: Protestantism is based on the concept of Sola Scriptura, yet, prior to Luther, nobody taught it(except for those recognized by both Catholics and Protestants recognize as heretics).

Scripture clearly teaches adherence to Tradition, that The Church is the Pillar of Truth.

Therefore, one who would try to argue against Catholicism from scripture is ultimately doomed to failure, for if one understands the New Testament in its proper context, one understands it from the perspective of Tradition, and therefore cannot use it to argue against tradition.

Don't wast you're money. Read something by Karl Keating or Scott Hahn.

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Summary: Good Resource for Catholic Apologists
Review: Rhodes has a more impressive bibliography than most "save the Catholics" texts. He doesn't seem to directly quote from Hahn, (the one reference is second hand), Madrid or some others, and sparingly and selectively of Keating. Has he really read them? Maybe his next book should be a detailed critique of all of Hahn's books. That would be interesting. He does quote a number of Documents and other papal writings. He relies on Hardon's dictionary, the Catholic Catechism and Ott for definitions which is fine. Oddly, he seems to rely heavily on quotes from Mary White the founder of the SDA and writer of numerous very Cathophobic works, as well as a James White who seems to be Mary's echo. I would hope that Protestant apologists reading this book would read all the books in his bibliography instead of relying on Rhodes interpretation and select quotes. I need to reread before going into a detailed critique of his commentary on the various issues. At first read, it appears to be the same old tired stuff trotted out with more detail but not a lot more sense. Again, Rhodes is another "Bible expert" claiming to be the authority on what the scriptures say or do not say, while poo-pooing the idea of any church having been gifted with authority. I give this book three stars for its detail and the fact that any serious Catholic apologist should read it and shelve it along side the Book of Mormon, JW texts, the Great Controversy, and etc. Good reference.

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Summary: A Rational Approach
Review: Ron Rhodes, formerly with the Christian Reasearch Institute, has written another "Reasoning From The Scriptures" book as the same format as his other two (Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons). His other two "Reasoning" books are different in one aspect than this one. Both Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses are arguably monolithic, non-Christian, and cultic (in a social and theological context). The Catholic religion, however, isn't monolithic and therefore isn't cultic and, one could argue, non-Christian.

Rhodes does go through his opening chapters explaining this difference. He admits that some catholics are evagelicals and understand God's grace and are "saved." This book is then to, I assume,reach other sects of Roman Catholicism. I do wish that he would have spent more time on this subject. For Christian groups who consider the Caholic church as cultic, this will be easily "tossed" aside without further thought. He does however, give many good suggestions on how to dialogue with Catholics.

The most important section in dialoguing with Catholics is to develop personal relationships. He is right on target here and I hope many who read this book will pay attention to this area of advise. Rhodes doesn't shy away from the tough issues confronting Catholic teaching.

He, with great detial, focusses on such things as Papal infallibilty and Maryology. He does an outstanding job on puratory and indulgences. My major disagreement comes at the end of his book.

If the Catholic converts (to the gosple of grace, not any denomination), he says we should encourage the person to leave the church. Here he doesn't build a good case saying such things as "staying in the Catholic church might send mixed signals." I would disagree, that admitting the problems, and yet, demostrating God's grace and love within the church, is possibly the way to reform it or introduce others to God's grace. Teachings in the church change, which his book demonstrates, and sometimes one person can make that change. His thesis to encourage them to leave is week and such an important request should have a stronger religious and philosophical outline as to the reasons for such a bold move.

This book is a good tool and the research is impeccable. The overall content is superb and worth the study.

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Summary: False prophets? Jesus warned us about them......Papacy???
Review: This book denotes the very basics pertaining to the flawed doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church. True new testament scripture is that found in the writings of the original apostles. Nothing in scripture supports the seat of the Pope, the claims of infalability, nor how the church is to carry itself as claimed by the Roman Catholic Church. Christ did not come sit on a throne of gold, to build a city of gold and wealth such as that found in Italy. The Pope lives high on the hog, while millions suffer. Christ came as a humble carpenter and died as one in the eyes of many throughout the world. However, he died as the savior of the world to true Orthodox Christians.

Politics and power have corrupted the Church through the history of the Catholics and over time, corrupt doctrine has become tradition. Peter himself was chastened by Paul for falling toward the old law to appease the masses. It is ironic that the Catholic Church would claim to build upon Peter as their rock. The Rock is Christ and is not to be mistaken. Why would Christ build his church on an imperfect man? There would have been no reason for Christ to come to earth and be slain.

I'm pretty sure that the poor ratings of this book have been made by Catholics trying to defend their faith. However, the words of Jesus shall not pass away and they will not be altered by those who respect the base doctrines set forth by Christ through the Apostles. In the end all that matters is what side of the cross you are on. If you have led a life of deceit and have lead others down the path of Catholicism I pitty your souls.

Pray to God, not Mary. Have a personal relationship with the Lord, not through a priest. Believe in the Lord,not the Pope. Believe that Christ is the one true way to salvation, not sacraments and works. Do not be deceived by wolves in sheep's clothing. Satan is crafty and will use goodness to blind the masses as he as done through the Catholic church.

The truth is in this book and I urge anyone reviewing these comments to read it and judge for themselves.

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Summary: My thoughts a few years later...
Review: Well, I'm back. You will see my review as one of the first for this book. It was released new when I first reviewed it and found it to be quite lacking. Since that time I have been doing much research and praying while continuing my dialogue with my Catholic friends. What I have had is indeed a conversion experience. I am NOW Catholic! It saddens me that Protestants belittle Catholicism. Strangely enough, one of the things that got me looking into Catholicism was the statement oft said that "Catholics worship Mary instead of God". I wanted to find out if this was true and I have to say this is totally inaccurate and I'll prove it. It is true Jesus loves every one of us, including his mother Mary. I feel sorry for those who relegate her and demean her - she is afterall the mother of Jesus. She is the first person on earth to accept Jesus as her Lord and Savior! She freely chose to give birth to Jesus and let His Will be hers. How much love Jesus had for his mother, and how sad it is for people to belittle someone whom Jesus so loved.

Catholics do not worship Mary, but hold her in such veneration because she completely gave herself unto God's will while the apostles were fickle and not sure what to believe. As is true of us in our world today, a person's rage can be enkindled when someone talks about their mom in a bad way, just imagine how Jesus feels when his mom is talked about badly. For those who don't know, veneration is not worship, it is what one does to honor someone when they do something exemplary such as winning the Nobel Peace Prize or something similar.

Which leads me to my proof that we are to venerate Mary the mother of Jesus. This is taken from the Gospel of John 19:26-28 "When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, 'Woman, behold, your son.' Then he said to the disciple, 'Behold, your mother.' And from that hour the disciple took her into his home." This is said right as he is close to death on the cross, entrusting Mary into the care of one of the apostles and to us. It's right there in scripture, I don't see how it can be ignored.

She is not to be worshiped, but for someone who lived their whole life as a YES to God, she is someone to be looked on with much gratitude for showing that it is very possible to follow the will of God for all one's life. For that is the reason Catholics hold her in such high esteem. They are simply following the commandment Honor thy father and mother.

The rosary is often thought of as Marian worship, but it is not. It is a celebration of Jesus' wonderful life and his breaking into this world of sin and death to redeem us. It is, basically, a prayer of the Bible. One will meditate on the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus from a biblical perspective - what's wrong with that?

I would talk more about the truth of the wonderful church I have discovered, but such would take more than my limit in this review. If you still remain doubtful, check out www.catholic.com. My best wishes to all of you on your faith journeys. Just don't let this book be the final answer for you on Catholicism - hear it from the horses mouth.

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Summary: Converted to Catholicism thanks to this book
Review: When I first read this book three years ago, I had already read and profited from several of Rhodes' other books. I had never really viewed Catholicism as an anti-biblical religion, however, with my Protestant background I had always felt that there was something "weird" about it. So I decided to check out his critique of Catholicism.

After reading it, I came away with the view that something was definitely more "weird" with Protestant theology than Catholic theology and that lead me to research the topic more closely and, eventually, convert to the Catholic Church.

So how could a book so thoroughly dedicated to making people not want to be Catholic, turn a person into a devout Catholic? Well for starters misleading quotes, ignoring or downplaying scirptures that directly contradict the author's views and slipping in numerous unproved assertions as though they were fact.

For instance, Rhodes insists on the idea of the perspicuity (clearness) of Scripture and that although not every verse is clear, the main doctrines are clear(saying that "in the Bible the main things are the plain things and the plain things are the main things"). But when he tries to answer the assertion that the Bible nowhere says that its the final authority on matters of faith and practice, he jumps back and says that there doesn't need to be an explicit statement in the Bible teaching Sola Scriptura. Wait a minute! What happened to the clearness of Scripture? Of all things, that should be a "plain thing." Moreover, Rhodes doesn't even attempt to deal with Phillip's preaching to the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8. An instance that directly contradicts his doctrine of perspicuity.

This sort of analysis carries over into his specific explainations of verses. Consider Acts 2:38:

"Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit"

He starts his explanation by saying: "Admittedly, this is not an easy verse to interpret. But a basic principle of Bible interpretation is that difficult passages should be interpreted in light of easy, clear verses." Now lets think about this for a second, is what Peter is saying to the Jews really all that unclear? It certainly seems to be a simple response to a simple question the Jews asked ("Brothers, what shall we do?") after being affected by Peter's preaching. The way he "answers" this is by appealing (selectively, I might add) to a nuance in the Greek language and by piling on verses that emphasize faith in salvation(but never faith ALONE).

Explanations like this can be found in virtually every chapter. The only way this book will convince you that the Catholic Church is wrong is if you are only looking for something to confirm what you believe to be true. While I respect his desire to share the good news with us Catholics and his overall curteous manner. I still cannot recommend this as a good exposition of the Protestant position (or, more correctly, the Dipensational Protestant position) or a good critique of the Catholic position. Save your money.