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Revolution in Rome
Book by David F. Wells
149 pages, Hardcover
First published March 1, 1973
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About the author
David F. Wells
43 books98 followersDavid F. Wells (PhD, University of Manchester) is the Distinguished Senior Research Professor at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.
In addition to serving as academic dean of its Charlotte campus, Wells has also been a member of the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization and is involved in ministry in Africa.
He is the author of numerous articles and books, including a series that was initiated by a Pew grant exploring the nature of Christian faith in the contemporary, modernized world.
In addition to serving as academic dean of its Charlotte campus, Wells has also been a member of the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization and is involved in ministry in Africa.
He is the author of numerous articles and books, including a series that was initiated by a Pew grant exploring the nature of Christian faith in the contemporary, modernized world.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 12, 2024
AN EVANGELICAL THEOLOGIAN LOOKS AT THE POST-VATICAN II CHANGES IN CATHOLICISM
David Falconer Wells (born 1939) is A Professor at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and has written other books such as 'The Courage to Be Protestant: Truth-Lovers, Marketers, and Emergents in the Postmodern World,' 'God in the Wasteland: The Reality of Truth in a World of Fading Dreams,' 'No Place for Truth: Or, Whatever Happened to Evangelical Theology,' etc.
He wrote in the Preface to this 1972 book, "It is not easy for a Protestant to write a book on Catholics... I doubt, however, whether anyone will be outraged by this book... But there may be some who fear that too much has been conceded to Rome, for they will search in vain for those warnings about blasphemies and antichrists which used to litter the pages of Protestant works in the past... I have studiously avoided being controversial... It has been my aim ... to write for both Protestants and Catholics, hoping to apprise both and offend neither. I have sought to be informative without failing to be charitable." (Pg. 7)
He states, "It is not entirely clear what direction the new thinking in Catholicism will take. Immediately following the [Second Vatican] Council, there was a euphoric atmosphere in Roman Catholic circles. The triumph of progressive theology seemed beyond question; the Church no less than its faith would be remade and revitalized. In the last few years, however, the realization of these dreams has become a little less certain... [But] the myth of an unchanging Catholicism has now been exploded." (Pg. 21, 24)
He observes, "Vatican II did not openly sanction revolution, except in one paragraph, but its endorsement of the new eschatology, its giving of sacred meaning to the secular, has opened up the possibility of Church involvement in revolutions. There is no question, though, how radicals in South America will understand that one paragraph which gives tacit approval to revolution." (Pg. 68)
He points out, "The Council was not saying that all religions are equally true. Rather, it was trying to combine the old idea that Christ is to be found only in the Roman Catholic Church with the newer idea that something of the divine is to be seen in all men.... even atheists are not wholly devoid of a Christward relation. Among them are what [Karl] Rahner has called 'anonymous Christians.' ... A man may be outwardly and explicitly atheistic but he may well be inwardly and implicitly Christian. And it needs to be remembered that his standing before God depends on the interior dimension rather than the exterior facade." (Pg. 90, 92)
He adds, "the new assessment of atheism dispenses with the necessity of the Church for salvation, and thus accords with the general mood of the New Catholicism... in effect making salvation dependent no on external Church allegiance but on internal self-commitment. Even those who see some future for the institutional Church concede that in the decade ahead, Catholicism will be much changed." (Pg. 93)
This 50+-year old book obviously needs to be supplemented by more recent ones; but it is still a penetrating Evangelical look at Catholicism, that will be of interest to anyone studying Catholic/Protestant relations.
David Falconer Wells (born 1939) is A Professor at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and has written other books such as 'The Courage to Be Protestant: Truth-Lovers, Marketers, and Emergents in the Postmodern World,' 'God in the Wasteland: The Reality of Truth in a World of Fading Dreams,' 'No Place for Truth: Or, Whatever Happened to Evangelical Theology,' etc.
He wrote in the Preface to this 1972 book, "It is not easy for a Protestant to write a book on Catholics... I doubt, however, whether anyone will be outraged by this book... But there may be some who fear that too much has been conceded to Rome, for they will search in vain for those warnings about blasphemies and antichrists which used to litter the pages of Protestant works in the past... I have studiously avoided being controversial... It has been my aim ... to write for both Protestants and Catholics, hoping to apprise both and offend neither. I have sought to be informative without failing to be charitable." (Pg. 7)
He states, "It is not entirely clear what direction the new thinking in Catholicism will take. Immediately following the [Second Vatican] Council, there was a euphoric atmosphere in Roman Catholic circles. The triumph of progressive theology seemed beyond question; the Church no less than its faith would be remade and revitalized. In the last few years, however, the realization of these dreams has become a little less certain... [But] the myth of an unchanging Catholicism has now been exploded." (Pg. 21, 24)
He observes, "Vatican II did not openly sanction revolution, except in one paragraph, but its endorsement of the new eschatology, its giving of sacred meaning to the secular, has opened up the possibility of Church involvement in revolutions. There is no question, though, how radicals in South America will understand that one paragraph which gives tacit approval to revolution." (Pg. 68)
He points out, "The Council was not saying that all religions are equally true. Rather, it was trying to combine the old idea that Christ is to be found only in the Roman Catholic Church with the newer idea that something of the divine is to be seen in all men.... even atheists are not wholly devoid of a Christward relation. Among them are what [Karl] Rahner has called 'anonymous Christians.' ... A man may be outwardly and explicitly atheistic but he may well be inwardly and implicitly Christian. And it needs to be remembered that his standing before God depends on the interior dimension rather than the exterior facade." (Pg. 90, 92)
He adds, "the new assessment of atheism dispenses with the necessity of the Church for salvation, and thus accords with the general mood of the New Catholicism... in effect making salvation dependent no on external Church allegiance but on internal self-commitment. Even those who see some future for the institutional Church concede that in the decade ahead, Catholicism will be much changed." (Pg. 93)
This 50+-year old book obviously needs to be supplemented by more recent ones; but it is still a penetrating Evangelical look at Catholicism, that will be of interest to anyone studying Catholic/Protestant relations.
February 28, 2021
This is a well-written and irenic consideration of the Roman Catholic Church in the years after the Second Vatican Council. Wells is a committed Evangelical Protestant but tries to present the positions and debates clearly and accurately though also, as he notes, in condensed or succinct form. Reading the book from an almost 50-year distance it is interesting to see where Well's predictions of where the Catholic church was going were correct and where things did not go as he expected but, in fairness to him, who could have predicted the rise and lengthy pontificate of John Paul II and his immediate successor, Benedict XVI.
August 30, 2011
BRING THIS BACK INTO PRINT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews