Rodney Stark defends Catholicism

[Ontheway]

Why is this non-Catholic scholar debunking “centuries of anti-Catholic history”?
An interview with Dr. Rodney Stark, sociologist and author of “Bearing False Witness”
Catholic world reporter. May 07, 2016 03:21 EST

A prominent protestant historian debunks pervasive anti-catholic myths perpetrated by academics and pop-culture. A new and important book that should be read by all of us.

 

[7_Sorrows]

sounds like it is worth reading.

 

[JimG]

An interesting interview with Mr. Stark here. The book surely looks like a good read, but as Mr. Stark comments, “I suspect that these myths are too precious for the anti-religious to surrender.”

 

[Cathoholic]

Ontheway.

Thank you for posting this interesting story.

God bless.

Cathoholic

Why is this non-Catholic scholar debunking “centuries of anti-Catholic history”?

An interview with Dr. Rodney Stark, sociologist and author of “Bearing False Witness”

May 07, 2016 03:21 EST

**Carl E. Olson **

Dr. Rodney Stark has written nearly 40 books on a wide range of topics, including a number of recent books on the history of Christianity, monotheism, Christianity in China, and the roots of modernity. After beginning as a newspaper reporter and spending time in the Army, Stark received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, where he held appointments as a research sociologist at the Survey Research Center and at the Center for the Study of Law and Society. He later was Professor of Sociology and of Comparative Religion at the University of Washington; he has been at Baylor University since 2004. Stark is past president of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion and of the Association for the Sociology of Religion, and he has won a number of national and international awards for distinguished scholarship. Raised as a Lutheran, he has identified himself as an agnostic but has, more recently, called himself an “independent Christian”.

His most recent book is Bearing False Witness: Debunking Centuries of Anti-Catholic History (Templeton Press, 2016), which addresses ten prevalent myths about Church history. Dr. Stark recently responded by e-mail to some questions from Carl E. Olson, editor of Catholic World Report.

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CWR: You begin the book by first noting your upbringing as an American Protestant and then discussing “distinguished bigots”. What is a “distinguished bigot”? And how have such people influenced the way in which the Catholic Church is understood and perceived by many Americans today?

Dr. Rodney Stark: By distinguished bigots I mean prominent scholars and intellectuals who clearly are antagonistic to the Catholic Church and who promulgate false historical claims.

CWR: How did you go about identifying and selecting the ten anti-Catholic myths that you rebut in the book . . .

See the whole story here . .

catholicworldreport.com/Blog/4766/why_is_this_noncatholic_scholar_debunking_centuries_of_anticatholic_history.aspx

 

[Petaro]

It is good to see Iron Man on the side of the angels…

 

[MT1926]

Looks like an interesting read.

Thanks for the heads up.