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288 of 298 people found the following review helpful: A must for Catholics and those who wish to understand them, December 16, 2004 By  Jonathan E. Prejean (Dallas, TX) - See all my reviews    "Irenic" is not the first word that ordinarily comes to mind when a book is subtitled "95 Bible Passages That Confound Protestants," but in this case, it's just proof of the old adage about judging books by their covers. The only beliefs that come under attack in this book are the ones that have been frustrating ecumenical dialogue and poisoning discussions with anti-Catholic stereotypes for far too many years. For Catholics, this book will come as a reassurance that Catholicism is firmly rooted in the Scriptures. For Protestants, it will provide a valuable opportunity to reexamine the hard questions that every faithful Protestant should be able to answer. But for all readers, the lesson is that those who gloss over serious study of Scripture in making reckless attacks on fellow Christians do so at their own peril. One feature that distinguishes this book from many other works is the genuine respect that Armstrong bears for the other side of the aisle. He cites arguments by famous Protestants from Calvin to Luther, Wesley to Kelly, not to tear them down but to demonstrate the amount of effort they put into forming their own conclusions. The point of these demonstrations is to illustrate that even thoughtful, devoted, and scholarly men can reason their way to different conclusions about these passages, and that in most cases, the Catholic view is no less thoughtful or reasonable an explanation. In an attitude of genuine intellectual humility, Armstrong constantly repeats a simple theme: "recognizing that reasonable men can disagree, here is why I believe what I do." Exercising the rare poise found in such writers as Jaroslav Pelikan, Armstrong makes his case strongly and convincingly while maintaining a profound respect for his opponents' intelligence. The book covers a number of Catholic distinctives that frequently arise in Protestant-Catholic dialogue, such as ecclesiology, the role of tradition, the papacy, and justification. On these issues, there is no new ground covered that has not been discussed at length in a number of places, but the advantage here is that the presentation is clear and concise, focused particularly on developing the strength of the Biblical argument. This is extremely helpful for beginners in Catholic theology, but it also reminds more advanced students just how effective it can be to make a simple, focused Scriptural argument that goes back to basics. Time and time again, Armstrong demonstrates the power of such arguments to convey the Catholic message. What impressed me most, though, was Armstrong's handling of sensitive moral issues in the final three chapters. In discussing clerical celibacy, contraception, and divorce, he bring an optimistic and idealistic perspective centered firmly in Christ to areas that have become overwhelmingly dominated by cynicism. Armstrong's positive view of human nature and the human condition is a refreshing change from the modern worldview that envisions people as being doomed to gross moral failings. His presentation is an excellent example of how sound moral teaching founded in the Gospel can truly be a light to the world. I recommend this book without reservation, and I encourage my fellow Catholics to take the study of these verses to heart and to commit them to memory. They are excellent reminders of how the Catholic faith is rooted in the Word of God.  Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? (Report this)

229 of 255 people found the following review helpful: Attacks Protestant Fallacies, May 30, 2005 By  Stanley D. Williams, Ph.D. (Northville, MI USA) - See all my reviews "Bible Difficulties" are what Protestant-Evangelical scholars call the result of comparing desperately different Bible texts that create paradoxes. (e.g. Romans 3:28 suggests we are saved by faith but James 2 and Hebrews 11 points to works. This is a paradox and not a contradiction, Armstrong points out because both are required and only possible through God's Grace) For the Protestant, correlating these texts into a cohesive theology is difficult. Armstrong suggests that a number of linguistic fallacies are necessary to keep the Protestant lifeboat afloat, including: Special Pleading, Attacking the Strawman, Obfuscation, Appeal to Emotion, and the False Dichotomy of Either/Or instead of using the And/Both argument. This naming of fallacies is what I believe to be long overdue in the Catholic-Protestant dialogue. Fallacies are the language of polemics, which is the art of selecting evidence and ignoring the counter evidence to support a foregone conclusion. Armstrong's technique in The Catholic Verses is unique among the Catholic apologetics. Similar to other books, the text is divided into topical chapters --- The Church, Divisions and Denominationalism, Bible and Tradition, The Papacy, Justification and Salvation, Judgment and Good works, Baptism, The Eucharist, Penance, The Communion of Saints, Relics and Sacramentals, Purgatory and Prayers for the Dead, The Blessed Virgin Mary, Clerical Celibacy, Divorce, and Contraception --- 16 in all. Rather than just explain the Catholic position, Armstrong begins each section with a collection of Bible "proof" texts that do two things at the same time. They (a) support the Catholic position on the topic, and (b) undermine the Protestant position by using Protestantism's own technique-the Bible Alone. The uniqueness of Armstrong's approach is what comes next. He liberally quotes Protestant leaders and commentators on these same verses and puts these quotes next to each other, and in one situation summarizes their conclusions in a table to prove that Protestants cannot interpret these passages with any consistency or assurance of absolute truth. Armstrong adeptly points out that the main reason Protestants can't agree among themselves on doctrine is because they're too preoccupied with NOT being Catholic. An enlightening byproduct of Armstrong's analysis is how much Protestant doctrine has reversed itself from the original Reformers to today. Anti-Catholic sentiment wrongly claims that Catholicism has changed or reversed fundamental dogma over the centuries, leading Catholicism into corruption. While many who are ignorant of Catholic doctrine believe this, no one has ever been able to point to a single doctrine where such a reversal has occurred. Not the same is true of Protestantism, and Armstrong proves it by comparing the original Reformer's claim with contemporary Protestant theology... well, with some contemporary Protestant theology, insomuch as there's little agreement. The Catholic Verses is an accessible explanation of why Protestants continue to sidestep, ignore, mumble, or just pretend certain Bible verses do not exist, while, at the same time claiming to hold the Bible up as the inspired, inerrant Word of God which contains everything we need to know for Salvation -- and that is a contradiction, not a paradox. A belief Catholicism holds as well. Armstrong gives ample and convincing evidence that when you look at the Bible through Catholic eyes, it all fits together and makes sense, there are no contradictions, there is absolute truth, and God and Jesus become real instead of a mystical uncertainty with which Protestantism, in their irrational protest, must be satisfied. I too, miss an index, but the TOC is comprehensive and adequate. Stan Williams, Ph.D.  Comments (8) | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? (Report this)

139 of 148 people found the following review helpful: An excellent Catholic apologetics work, December 8, 2004 By  Scripsit (The Ozarks) - See all my reviews I read this book as part of my studies to decide whether I ought to join the Catholic Church. I strongly recommend it to anyone who might be considering the same, as well as to those who unknowingly suppose that Catholicism is somehow inherently unbiblical. It's just not so. Sadly, many folk suppose that a book such as this must be characterized by doing violence to the plain meaning of the text. Mr. Armstrong does an admirable job of demonstrating that in many cases, it is not the Catholic but rather the Catholic's opponent who has run roughshod over Scripture. Representative examples: 1) Did Christ tell the rich young ruler to believe something, or to *do* something in order to be saved? 2) The Protestant supposes that the word "justified" means something different in James than elsewhere in the Bible, rather than letting Scripture interpret Scripture. There's a reason why Luther didn't like this Epistle: he couldn't wedge it into his "faith alone" model. The subtitle of the book is a reference to Luther's 95 Theses; this could lead someone to suppose that Mr. Armstrong's book is intended as a refutation of Luther's work. While in certain respects (as in the discussion of James) this may be the case, that's not the primary focus of the book. Rather, the author presents us with 95 different examples of biblical passages that are often misread or misunderstood by Protestants and which demonstrate the biblical character of Catholicism. Perhaps the most glaring omission from the book is that it lacks an index. Perhaps this can be added in a future edition. The table of contents is fairly extensive, which certainly helps, but a book like this is particularly useful as a reference work, and the absence of an index is why I'm only giving it 4 stars.  Comments (4) | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? (Report this)