Has anyone read this anti-Catholic book?

[CompSciGuy]

An evangelical friend of mine has started reading books about Catholicism, some of which are ok, like Catholicism for dummies, but don’t feature a lot of apologetics. But he’s also reading another one called “Is Rome the True Church?” by Norman Geisler. I sort of cringed when I looked at it because I thought, oh brother, I bet I already know what this is about. I read some of the information at Amazon.com and found out that the book itself is a response to the president of the Evangelical Theological Society converting to the Catholic faith (praise the Lord!) and stepping down from his position. It has very poor reviews and I think that most of the reviews are by Catholic converts. I also saw that apparently the co-author converted to Catholicism shortly after the book was published.
But aside from all that, I am wondering if anyone has read this book and could tell me basically what arguments he makes; I feel like I have somewhat of an obligation to my friend since he’s reading into Catholicism, and I want to be able to point him in the right direction if he’s interested. But I wonder if I should bother reading this or not, if it’s all just the same old arguments I’ve heard before and nothing new.

 

[TimothyH]

I also saw that apparently the co-author converted to Catholicism shortly after the book was published.

Oh, the sweet, sweet irony! My grandmother used to say that if you play with snakes, expect to get bit. I guess the co-author’s research bit him on the hand.

If you have not read “Catholicism and Fundamentalism” by Karl Keating, it explains the basics of all the Fundamentalists and anti-Catholic arguments out there and how they find their root in the works of Loraine Boettner. Boettner wrote “Roman Catholicism” and whether anti-Catholic apologists even realize it or not, this single book is the foundation for amost all anti-Catholic rhetoric in modern times.

bks1.books.google.com/books?id=qn37ImknvSAC&printsec=frontcover&img=1&zoom=1&edge=curl&imgtk=AFLRE71GwIQxNSAEjL076GO6LxMK8knkOOMs_C6WfgLxuwcFOpb5G2Sk2KpnPXJVMZD-wsV5bNUYDt5OHH8YN5MKBbI51PsfiBCiwtI96BusXX7J_cYrv1Awkw1bGqoq6-TCN2aHNT_r

Catholicism and Fundamentalism is well worth reading to understand the basics of anti-Catholic arguments and how to refute them.

-Tim-

 

[Joe_5859]

Oh, the sweet, sweet irony! My grandmother used to say that if you play with snakes, expect to get bit. I guess the co-author’s research bit him on the hand.

If you have not read “Catholicism and Fundamentalism” by Karl Keating, it explains the basics of all the Fundamentalists and anti-Catholic arguments out there and how they find their root in the works of Loraine Boettner. Boettner wrote “Roman Catholicism” and whether anti-Catholic apologists even realize it or not, this single book is the foundation for amost all anti-Catholic rhetoric in modern times.

bks1.books.google.com/books?id=qn37ImknvSAC&printsec=frontcover&img=1&zoom=1&edge=curl&imgtk=AFLRE71GwIQxNSAEjL076GO6LxMK8knkOOMs_C6WfgLxuwcFOpb5G2Sk2KpnPXJVMZD-wsV5bNUYDt5OHH8YN5MKBbI51PsfiBCiwtI96BusXX7J_cYrv1Awkw1bGqoq6-TCN2aHNT_r

Catholicism and Fundamentalism is well worth reading to understand the basics of anti-Catholic arguments and how to refute them.

-Tim-

I second this recommendation. Although I am not familiar with the book in question, I would be willing to bet that a lot of the talking points come from Boettner. Keating’s book is a very good antidote.

 

[JRKH]

Have not read it and would not read it…(but then I’m pretty weak in apologetics etc.)

My approach might be to tell my friend that, so far as I am able to discover the book is not a very good representation of the faith - if his intention is to learn what the Church truly teaches, that might not be the book to go with.
If He DOES want to go ahead and read the book, then I would allow him to bring the arguments to me. "What about this…What about that…??
In this way I would be able to address specific concerns without having to frustrate myself unnecessarily.

Peace
James

 

[Jaypeeto4]

You might also want to read an apologetics book (a collection of his 16th century
pamphlets) by a SAINT.

Get and read THE CATHOLIC CONTROVERSY by Saint Francis De Sales.

It may be available online free for download, I don’t know, you might want to GOOGLE and see,
but I bought mine years ago from TAN BOOKS AND PUBLISHERS,
and I think they still have it. You can ask them at their website,
which I THINK is still

tanbooks.org

THE CATHOLIC CONTROVERSY was written at a time when Protestants LOATHED Catholics and vice-versa, so there’s some polemic in it, more so than in Karl Keating’s book, but it is, unbelievably SUPERB. All Catholics do themselves a gross dis-service
by NOT having a copy of St. Francis De Sales’s book THE CATHOLIC CONTROVERSY.
Believe me on this one. Obtain it. Read it. You will never regret it.
Love you all,
Jaypeeto4

 

[adrift]

I found a web site that has an exerpt.

And here is a review

 

[JimG]

Anti-Catholic books are a dime a dozen. Nothing particularly new there.
I too would recommend Karl Keating’s “Catholicism and Fundamentalism.”

The fact that the president of the Evangelical Theological Society of America converted to Catholicism is itself far more telling than this book he is reading.

 

[CompSciGuy]

You might also want to read an apologetics book (a collection of his 16th century
pamphlets) by a SAINT.

Get and read THE CATHOLIC CONTROVERSY by Saint Francis De Sales.

It may be available online free for download, I don’t know, you might want to GOOGLE and see,
but I bought mine years ago from TAN BOOKS AND PUBLISHERS,
and I think they still have it. You can ask them at their website,
which I THINK is still

tanbooks.org

THE CATHOLIC CONTROVERSY was written at a time when Protestants LOATHED Catholics and vice-versa, so there’s some polemic in it, more so than in Karl Keating’s book, but it is, unbelievably SUPERB. All Catholics do themselves a gross dis-service
by NOT having a copy of St. Francis De Sales’s book THE CATHOLIC CONTROVERSY.
Believe me on this one. Obtain it. Read it. You will never regret it.
Love you all,
Jaypeeto4

This book is in the public domain!

archive.org/stream/catholiccontrove00sain/catholiccontrove00sain_djvu.txt

I am a volunteer for Librivox, perhaps I could suggest this as an audiobook!