Evangelical Resources on Roman Catholicism

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Articles
3. Books
   • Evangelical Books on Roman Catholicism
   • Church History
     • Church History from the Beginning
     • American Church History and the Context of Fundamentalism
   • Authority and Epistemology
   • Justification
   • Marian Dogmas
   • Papacy
   • The Eucharist and Communion
   • Tradition and Sola Scriptura
   • Debates and Dialogues
   • Roman Catholic Works
   • Roman Catholic Apologetics
   • The Shape of the 21st Century Church
   • Introductory Books on Biblical Hermeneutics
4. Websites
   • Evangelical Websites
   • Websites of Former Roman Catholics
   • Online Resources
   • Roman Catholic Apologetic Websites
   • Roman Catholic Sources
5. Mailing Lists
6. Conferences
7. Conclusion

Introduction

In 1999, Pope John Paul II wrote an Encyclical which directed the Church into a new season of evangelism. This Encyclical, "Ecclesia in America", had wide reaching consequences, particularly for the Church in America. Called "The New Evangelization", this Encyclical directs the Church to a new effort of worldwide evangelism - an effort that is to begin in the Americas, be driven by Catholic laity, and spread around the globe. Most importantly, great lattitude was given to the Church in America in determining how this new evangelism should occur and be shaped.

This Encyclical was filled with John Paul's profound wisdom. He pointed to the failures of the Church in fulfilling its calling to evangelize and exhorted the laity to live to a higher spiritual calling. The gap between one's faith and daily living must be bridged, his Encyclical insisted. Spirituality is life in Christ, not life with Christ. Additionally, the Church is plagued by a lack of Biblical knowledge. John Paul encouraged the Church in America to teach the Bible, noting that ignorance of scriptures is ignorance of Christ. Finally, the "New Evangelism" is to be achieved in solidarity - the Church united on its front, with laity stepping forward and working arm in arm with the Priesthood. The "New Evangelism" should occur in nothing less than the context of a renewed and profoundly lived spiritual walk with Jesus Christ.

But somewhere along the line, something went terribly wrong. Early on, a subtle change was made that caused the organizers to view the harvest in America not as a matter of those who do not know Christ or have rejected Christ, but instead to a view that "Protestants" needed to be brought back into the fold of the Catholic Church. The focus on reaching those who genuinely do not know Christ became secondary to the new focus on converting errant "Protestants". The biggest names in Roman Catholic apologetics to "Protestants" were called upon to train a new wave of Roman Catholic laity to bring all into the Mother Church. The vision of John Paul for a transforming world evangelism was traded for the counterfeit change of helping "Protestants" become Catholic.

Many Evangelicals have been caught off-guard by the resurgence of Roman Catholic apologetics, unaware of the warnings of Evangelical apologists. Although the best estimates indicate that the number of converts from Roman Catholicism to the Evangelical church remains quite high, the apparent increase in Evangelical converts to Roman Catholicism is a trend which Evangelicals need to be aware of. Despite the lofty goals of "Evangelicals and Catholics Together", it seems clear that neither party is indeed ready to stop proselytizing the other.

Evangelicals much remain watchful and guard the essential doctrines given to us by Jesus Christ at great cost: the transforming grace of Jesus Christ, the sufficiency of the final authority of God's Own Word as recorded in scripture, and the spiritual significance of the celebration of the Lord's Table. At the same time, we must not lose sight of the greater need of the world to hear the transforming grace of Jesus Christ.

If you have comments, issues, or concerns, please email me directly: michaelh@ductape.net

Articles

• Kenneth R. Samples, "What Think Ye of Rome? Part One: An Evangelical Appraisal of Contemporary Catholicism"
  [ http://www.equip.org/free/DC170-1.htm ]

• Kenneth R. Samples, "What Think Ye of Rome? Part Two: An Evangelical Appraisal of Contemporary Catholicism"
  [ http://www.equip.org/free/DC170-2.htm ]

• Norman L. Geisler and Ralph E. MacKenzie, "What Think Ye of Rome? Part Three: The Catholic-Protestant Debate on Biblical Authority"
  [ http://www.equip.org/free/DC170-3.htm ]

• Norman L. Geisler and Ralph E. MacKenzie, "What Think Ye of Rome? Part Four: The Catholic-Protestant Debate on Papal Infallibility"
  [ http://www.equip.org/free/DC170-4.htm ]

• Norman L. Geisler, and Ralph E. MacKenzie, with Elliot Miller, "What Think Ye of Rome? Part Five: The Catholic-Protestant Debate on Justification"
  [ http://www.equip.org/free/DC170-5.htm ]

• John Ankerberg and John Weldon, "Catholicism"
  [ http://www.apologeticsindex.org/c16.html ]

• William S. Farneman. "Roman Catholicism: Working Toward an Objective Understanding"
  [ http://www.bible.org/docs/theology/eccles/romanca/toc.htm ]

• The Threshold: Articles on Roman Catholicism
  [ http://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/articles/topic/romancatholic.html ]

• James G. McCarthy, "Roman Catholic Tradition" [PDF]
  [ http://www.ankerberg.com/Articles/_PDFArchives/roman-catholicism/RC1W0799.pdf ]

• EVANGELICALS AND CATHOLICS TOGETHER: THE CHRISTIAN MISSION IN THE THIRD MILLENNIUM
  [ http://incolor.inetnebr.com/mdavis/evandcat.shtml ]

• Christian Information Ministries, "Evangelicals and Catholics"
  June 6, 2003
  [ http://www.christianinformation.org/article.asp?artID=15 ]

• Scott McKnight, "From Wheaton to Rome: Why Evangelicals Become Roman Catholic"
  Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, 45:2 - 2002, pp451-472.

Books

Evangelical Books on Roman Catholicism

• Norman L. Geisler, Ralph E. MacKenzie. Roman Catholics and Evangelicals: Agreements and Differences
  Baker Book House, September 1995. ISBN 0801038758

  Of all the works on Roman Catholicism from an Evangelical perspective, this is one is by far my favorite. This work is a very thoughtful book that begins by outlining the areas where Evangelicals are in agreement with the Roman Catholic Church. The second section then carefully analyzes the various disagreements between Evangelicals and the Roman Catholic Church, including the popular arguments of Roman Catholic Apologists, and demonstrates the fallacies latent in particular views. The last section of the book considers how Roman Catholics and Evangelicals can work together in the future.

• John Armstrong, Ed. Roman Catholicism: Evangelical Protestants Analyze What Divides and Unites Us
  Moody Bible Institute, 1994. ISBN 0-8024-7169-2

• John Ankerberg, John Weldon. Protestants & Catholics: Do They Now Agree?
  Harvest House Publishers, 1995. ISBN 1-56507-314-2

• James G. McCarthy, The Gospel According to Rome
  Harvest House Publishers, 1995. ISBN 1-56507-107-7

• Ron Rhodes, Reasoning from the Scriptures with Catholics
  Harvest House Publishers, 2000. ISBN 0-7369-0208-2

• Ron Rhodes, The 10 Most Important Things You Can Say to a Catholic
  Harvest House Publishers, 2002. ISBN 0-7369-0537-5

• Eric Svendsen, Evangelical Answers: A Critique of Current Roman Catholic Apologists
  Reformation Press, 1999. ISBN 0-9670840-8-3

• James White, The Roman Catholic Controversy
  Bethany House Publishers, 1996. ISBN 1-55661-819-0

Church History

Some Roman Catholic apologists have claimed that to be deep within Church History is to cease to be Protestant. I have found this claim to be exaggerated, based on a rather one-sided reading of church history.

Church History from the Beginning

• Bruce L. Shelley, Church History in Plain Language, 2nd Edition.
  Word Publishing, 1995. ISBN 0-8499-3861-9

  Shelley's work is a readable introduction to Church History for the average reader. Typically this work is used as a textbook for Church History courses. Despite being 520 pages, the book moves very quickly from topic to topic; thus a more comprehensive treatment is necessary if one wishes to look more deeply.

• Philip Schaff, Alexander Roberts, Ed. The Early Church Fathers, 38 Volumes

• Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church, 8 volumes

  Online HTML:
  [ http://www.ccel.org/s/schaff/history/About.htm ]

• William Webster, Church of Rome at the Bar of History
  Banner of Truth Trust, 1995. ISBN 0-85151-710-2

  American Church History and the Context of Fundamentalism

• Mark A. Noll, A History of Christianity in the United States and Canada
  Eerdmans Publishing, 1992. ISBN 0-8028-0651-1

• Donald W. Dayton, Robert K. Johnston, Eds. The Variety of American Evangelicalism
  InterVarsity Press, 1991. ISBN 0-8308-1754-9

• George Marsden, Fundamentalism and American Culture
  Oxford University Press, 1980. ISBN 0-19-503083-4

• George Marsden, Understanding Fundamentalism and Evangelicalism
  Eerdmans Publishing, 1991. ISBN 0-8028-0539-6

Authority and Epistemology

• Eric Svendsen, Ph.D. Upon This Slippery Rock
  Calvary Press, 2002. ISBN 1-879737-47-7

  This book can be ordered through the NTRMin website:
  [ http://www.ntrmin.org/bookstore.htm ]

Justification

• R.C. Sproul, Faith Alone: The Evangelical Doctrine of Justification
  Baker Book House, 1995. ISBN 0-8010-5849-X

• R.C. Sproul, Getting the Gospel Right
  Baker Book House, 1999. ISBN 0-8010-1188-4

• James White, The God Who Justifies
  Bethany House Publishers, 2001. ISBN 0-7642-2288-0

Marian Dogmas

• Eric Svendsen, Who is My Mother?
  Calvary Press, 2002. ISBN 1879737450

• James White, Mary - Another Redeemer?
  Bethany House Publishers, 1998. ISBN 0-7642-2102-7

Papacy

• William Webster, The Matthew 16 Controversy
  Christian Resources, 1996. ISBN 1-879737-25-6

The Eucharist and Communion

• Keith Mathison, Given For You
  P&R Publishing, 2002. ISBN 0-87552-186-X

• Eric Svendsen, The Table of the Lord

Tradition and Sola Scriptura

• Keith A. Mathison, The Shape of Sola Scriptura
  Canon Press, 2001. ISBN 1-885767-74-9

• David King, Holy Scripture: The Ground and Pillar of Our Faith, Volume I: A Biblical Defense of the Reformation Principle of Sola Scriptura
  Christian Resources, 2001. ISBN 1-893531-02-3

• William Webster, Holy Scripture: The Ground and Pillar of Our Faith, Volume II: An Historical Defense of the Reformation Principle of Sola Scriptura
  Christian Resources, 2001. ISBN 1-893531-03-1

• David King, William Webster. Holy Scripture: The Ground and Pillar of Our Faith, Volume III: The Writings of the Church Fathers Affirming the Reformation Principle of Sola Scriptura
  Christian Resources, 2001. ISBN 1-893531-05-8

Debates and Dialogues

• John C. Olin, Ed. A Reformation Debate: John Calvin and Jacopo Sadoleto
  Baker Book House, 1966. ISBN 0-8010-2390-4

  This short 136 page book represents one of the most fascinating exchanges of the Reformation era.

• Fr. John R. Waiss, James G. McCarthy. Letters Between a Catholic and an Evangelical
  Harvest House Publishers, 2003. ISBN 0-7369-0989-3

Roman Catholic Works

• Catechism of the Catholic Church

  Available online here:
  [ http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/ccc_toc.htm ]

• The Catholic Encyclopedia

  Available online here:
  [ http://newadvent.org/cathen ]

Scott Hahn maintains a detailed bibliographical reference here. Note that many of the books on this list are marked "Protestant"; thus the list is not strictly Roman Catholic sources.

Roman Catholic Apologetics

This is by no means a complete list of Roman Catholic apologetics works. Many more can be found online, or by visiting a Roman Catholic bookstore such as Sacred Heart.

• Karl Keating, Catholicism and Fundamentalism
  Ignatius Press, 1988. ISBN 0-89870-177-5

  Review by Kenneth R. Samples, Christian Research Journal "Book Reviews" release A, April 15, 1994
  [ http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/cri/cri-jrnl/crj0059a.txt ]

  "While Keating's defense of Catholicism offers something significant to Catholic and Protestant readers alike, it is not without some weaknesses. One weakness lies in his understanding of fundamentalism. He does not seem to recognize the broad theological diversity within conservative Protestantism. After asserting that fundamentalism is nothing if not Calvinistic, he then proceeds to place Calvinism, Dispensationalism, and Pentecostalism all under one heading (fundamentalism), seemingly without recognizing the critical distinctions between these three theological schools."

• Scott Hahn, Rome Sweet Home
  Ignatius Press, 1993. ISBN 0-89870-478-2

  John W. Robbins, "The Lost Soul of Scott Hahn"
  [ http://www.trinityfoundation.org/reviews/journal.asp?ID=109a.html ]

  "The Lost Mind of John W. Robbins"
  [ http://members.aol.com/dpinstitut/John_Robbins_on_Scott_Hahn.html ]

• Scott Hahn, The Lamb's Supper
  Doubleday, October 1999. ISBN 0-385-49659-1

• Scott Hahn, A Father Who Keeps His Promises
  Charis Books, 1998. ISBN 0-89283-829-9

• Mark P. Shea, By What Authority?
  Our Sunday Visitor Books, 1996. 0-87973-851-0

• David B. Currie, Born Fundamentalist, Born Again Catholic
  Ignatius Press, 1996. ISBN 0-89870-569-X

• Thomas Howard, Evangelical is Not Enough
  Ignatius Press, 1994. ISBN 0-89870-221-6

Scott Hahn maintains a detailed bibliographical reference on Roman Catholic apologetics here.

The Shape of the 21st Century Church

• David B. Barrett, George T. Kurian, Todd M. Johnson, Eds. World Christian Encyclopedia : A Comparative Survey of Churches and Religions in the Modern World, 2nd Edition.
  Oxford University Press, March 2001. ISBN 0195079639

• Philip Jenkins, The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity
  Oxford University Press, March 2002. ISBN 0195146166

  This book, written from a distinctly Roman Catholic perspective, draws heavily upon readily available research to paint a portrait of global Christianity few Americans are aware of.

• David Aikman, Jesus in Beijing: How Christianity Is Transforming China and Changing the Global Balance of Power
  Regnery Publishing, Inc., October 2003. ISBN 0895261286

• Alister E. McGrath, The Future of Christianity
  Blackwell Publishers, January 2002. ISBN 0631228152

Introductory Books on Biblical Hermeneutics

The following is not a comprehensive listing of resources related to Biblical interpretation, but a few introdoctory resources are listed here.

• Dyck, Elmer, ed. The Act of Bible Reading: A Multi-Disciplinary Approach to Biblical Interpretation
  Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1996.

• Fee, Gordon D., and Douglas Stuart. How to Read the Bible For All Its Worth: A Guide to Understanding the Bible, 2d ed.
  Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1993.

• Kaiser Jr., Walter C., and Moises Silva. An Introduction to Biblical Hermeneutics: The Search For Meaning.
  Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1994.

• Klein, William W., Craig L. Blomberg, and Robert L. Hubbard, Jr. Introduction to Biblical Interpretation.
  Dallas: Word Publishing

Websites

Evangelical Websites

• New Testament Research Ministries
  [ http://www.ntrmin.org/ ]

  Eric Svendsen

• Alpha and Omega Ministries
  [ http://www.aomin.org/ ]

  James R. White

• Christian Resources
  [ http://www.christiantruth.com/ ]

  William Webster

• Christian Liberty
  [ http://members.aol.com/jasonte/ ]

  Jason Engwer

• Grace Unknown
  [ http://www.graceunknown.com/ ]

  Tim Enloe

• Theologically Correct dot Com Ministries
  [ http://www.theologicallycorrect.com ]

  Kerry Gilliard

• The Strait Gate
  [ http://www.straitgate.com ]

  Steven Luker
  Reformed Resources and Real Audio Debates, teaching sermons and lectures

• Gospel Outreach Ministries Online
  [ http://www.gospeloutreach.net ]

  Rolaant L. McKenzie

• CARM: Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry
  [ http://www.carm.org ]

• Reaching the World for Christ Minitries
  [ http://www.reachingforchrist.org/index.php ]

  Julie Staples

• Apologetics Index: Roman Catholic Church
  [ http://www.apologeticsindex.org/c16a.html ]

Websites of Former Roman Catholics

• Catholic Concerns
  [ http://www.catholicconcerns.com/ ]

  Website of former nun Mary Ann Collins.

• Just For Catholics
  [ http://www.justforcatholics.org/ ]

  Website of former Roman Catholic Joe Mizzi, dedicated to reaching Catholics with the Gospel.

Online Resources

• Bible Gateway
  [ http://bible.gospelcom.net ]

• Crosswalk.com
  [ http://www.biblestudytools.net ]

  Compendium of Lexicons, concordances, commentaries, patristic writings, etc.

• Early Church Fathers
  [ http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/ ]

  Searchable Database of Patristic Writings

• The Perseus Digital Library
  [ http://www.perseus.tufts.edu ]

  Search ancient Greek and Latin writings - help determine how words were used in common literature of the day

• Greek Language and Linguistics Gateway
  [ http://www.greek-language.com/ ]

  Focus on ancient and Hellenistic Greek writings

• The Online Greek Bible
  [ http://www.greekbible.com/ ]

• Biblical Studies Foundation
  [ http://www.bible.org/ ]

  Home of the New English Translation

• Phillip Schaff, The History of the Christian Church
  [ http://www.ccel.org/s/schaff/history/About.htm ]

Roman Catholic Apologetic Websites

• Scott Hahn
  [ http://www.scotthahn.com/ ]

• Mark P. Shea: One Voice in the New Evangelization
  [ http://www.mark-shea.com/ ]

• The Crossroads Initiative
  [ http://www.crossroadsinitiative.com/index.html ]

  A Dallas-based organization focused on "stimulat[ing] renewal and conversion, to make people proud to be Catholic again".

Roman Catholic Sources

• Catechism of the Catholic Church - Search Engine
  [ http://www.christusrex.org/www2/kerygma/ccc/searchcat.html ]

• Papal Encyclicals Online
  [ http://www.papalencyclicals.net/index.htm ]

  A non-comprehensive collection of Papal Encyclicals maintained by a Roman Catholic layman.

Mailing Lists

• RCC-Evangelical
  [ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rcc-evangelical/ ]

  "Issues between Evangelicals and Catholics - what divides us? For too long, rhetoric, suspicion and misinformation have been promoted on both sides about each other. What theological problems exist within Roman Catholicism? What is Sola Scriptura? What purpose does tradition play within the historic Christian faith? In the view of Evangelicalism, can Roman Catholics be considered 'Christians'? Did the Reformers hold some views similar to Roman Catholicism? These issues and more divide Roman Catholics and Protestants."

Conferences

• Fullness of Truth
  [ http://www.fullnessoftruth.org/ ]

  The "Fullness of Truth" Conference is a regularly held regional conference, made up largely of Evangelical Roman Catholics. The conferences are usually spread out across several days and include a varitable who's who of popular Roman Catholic apologists.

  "From its inception in January 2001 (known then as "Journeys of Faith"); "Fullness of Truth" has offered the Houston Catholic community an additional forum for evangelization and catechesis. Continued efforts toward this aim shall include regional evangelistic conferences which explore family, youth and moral/social issues, supplemented by parish-based speaker engagements, missions and workshops. The focus thus far has been bringing leading theologians to the Houston area to help address a growing and widespread longing for greater knowledge of Christian truth as taught by the Magisterium of the Catholic Church and the universal Catechism. Conversion stories by those who found the fullness of truth in the Catholic faith have proved to be one popular method, and the outpouring of support has been overwhelming.

  "Other specific goals include the pursuit of Catholic radio in Houston, TX, the offering of accredited follow-up coursework in evangelization, scripture study and apologetics, as well as organized in-home study programs and spiritual pilgrimages. "Fullness Of Truth" pledges complete assent and faithful obedience in all matters of faith and morals to our local ordinary, and the entire Magisterium of the Roman Catholic Church, and is under the spiritual guidance of Msgr. Paul Procella, V. F., Fr. Ed Wade, and others.

  "Fullness Of Truth", therefore, ultimately exists to help bring wayward Catholics back home to the Church Jesus founded and to offer good Catholics another means to become better ones."

Conclusion

"You are therefore urged to read with good will and attention, and to be indulgent in cases where, in spite of our diligent labor in translating, we may appear to have rendered some phrases imperfectly."

Quoted from Ecclesiasticus, a book of the Old Testament Apocrypha