Oops, another James White thread I can’t let pass by…
The book (
The Roman Catholic Controversy, 1996) has been dealt with in here, since White’s arguments from the book have been addressed. Basically the book is a re-statement of White’s opening statements and some of his rebuttals from his formal debates pre-1996, e.g. Justification debate with Pacwa from 1991, Papacy debate 1993 with Matatics, various debates with Robert Fastiggi from 1994, sola scriptura debates with several apologists, Marian debates from mid 1990s, etc. If you listen to his debates pre-1996, you have heard (read) virtually the entire book.
The “fallible knowledge” argument is a re-statement of anti-Catholic Anglican George Salmon’s “you must be infallible yourself to know the Church is infallible” answered by Cardinal Newman long ago. A distinction needs to be made between certainty (or Newman’s “certitude”), infallibility, and faith. You can be certain 2+2 = 4 even though you may make mistakes in large addition sums. See B.C. Butler’s
reply to Salmon’s argument here. It is very good.
Also the book by (convert) Henry Graham
What Faith Really Means deals with
"private judgment". It was also addressed by Phil Blosser in a chapter in Sungenis
Not By Faith Alone on the philosophical / practical problems with sola scriptura.
An early exchange I had on the book from my FidoNet days (1996 just when the book came out) is
here on my site. White contributed, and I let them have the last say, but I made some good points.
Many of White’s objections to the Papacy have been addressed in numerous threads. You can do a search for White and Papacy, etc. I’ve listed all the past threads dealing with White several times.
As I’ve also mentioned, this stuff was dealt with in a lot more depth by the old Catholic vs. Anglican controversialists from the late 19th, early 20th century. Check out these pdfs for real “controversy” : White’s stuff is fluff in comparison
The Pope and the Council (pdf) by “Janus” (von Dollinger)
Anti-Janus: A Reply to "The Pope and the Council" (pdf) by Hergenrother
Plain Reasons Against Joining the Church of Rome (pdf) by Littledale
Catholic Controversy: A Reply to "Plain Reasons" (pdf) by Ryder
St. Peter: His Name and His Office (pdf) by Thomas W. Allies
The Primitive Church and the See of Peter (pdf) by Luke Rivington
also
HTML version (someday)
Bishop Gore and the Catholic Claims (pdf) by Dom John Chapman
also
Studies on the Early Papacy (HTML)
Phil P
