What do you think?
Rate this book
The Roman Catholic Church
religion
288 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1969
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 19, 2021
This is a hard one to review. At the cover of the book there is a review saying "An extremely readable and informative account of the doctrine" and on the back "In clear, intelligible language". I've concluded therefore that I'm extremely dense and need to broaden my vocabulary because I was lost more times than I can say with the language used. I just realized the author is a priest by reading that back cover!! Wow - I did not catch that whilst reading the whole book! I did however learn a word that definitely describes the Roman Catholic Church and that is actually how I can describe it now in my own words "beleaguered fortress." There is too much information to compress into 300+ pages to really capture all of a church that has been there since Christianity was first founded so I guess the author did do the best he could and only touched the surface on the major structure and function inside Romanism. I'm glad I read it.
September 23, 2024
A JESUIT SCHOLAR PROVIDES AN EXCELLENT OVERVIEW OF CATHOLICISM
John L. McKenzie (1910-1991) was a Jesuit priest and perhaps the premier Catholic Biblical scholar of the mid-twentieth century; he taught at the Jesuit Theologate in Indiana, then Loyola University in Chicago, then became the first Catholic Faculty member at the University of Chicago Divinity School. Following this, he taught at the University of Notre Dame, at Seton Hall University, and at DePaul University. He wrote many other books, such as 'Dictionary Of The Bible,' 'The Civilization of Christianity,' 'The Old Testament Without Illusions,' 'Authority in the Church,' etc.
He wrote in the Preface to this 1969 book, "The Roman Catholic Church has surprised and bewildered members and others alike during recent years. Those who are interested are entitled to a more synthetic view of the church than they can obtain from journalistic pieces... The publishers thought the synthetic view could be written, and they invited me to do it." (Pg. 9)
He adds, "I have chosen to emphasize those features of Catholicism which seem to be peculiarly Roman... it is impossible to discuss Roman Catholicism without admitting that Catholics accept their Romanism... Roman Catholics are not moving toward a non-Roman Catholicism. I understand ROMAN Catholicism to begin with the conversion of Constantine... [which] was the first decisive factor in the series of events which was to give the Western church its Roman character." (Pg. 12-13)
He notes, "The origins of infant baptism are obscure, but the practice is ancient. It is scarcely possible to present the grounds on which the practice was first adopted, but they could not have been much different from the grounds on which the Roman Church justifies the practice now. The principal reason is the Roman belief that infants share in the hereditary guilt of mankind which is called original sin. The sacrament is deemed effective even for those who are unable to accept it by personal choice; just as the hereditary guilt was not contracted by personal choice, so redemption from the same is achieved without any decision of the subject." (Pg. 177-178)
He observes, "In recent years a number of priests have become uneasy with the practice of stipends [for Mass], fearing that it may approach commerce in the sacred, and in a few parishes the practice has quietly been abandoned. Where the priest is salaried, it appears that his stipend is already paid, and that he should celebrate the Mass in virtue of his salary. A cash offering should not be necessary to assure the celebration of Mass for one's intentions... No one will be unhappy if these practices are quickly abandoned." (Pg. 189)
He explains, "The administration of communion under one species only is certainly the most serious modification the Roman Church has made in the sacramental signs. Theologically the practice is justified by the Roman realism of its teaching on the presence of Jesus, a realism which certainly has been influenced by liturgical practice. The Roman Church believes that 'the whole body' is present in the whole of the species and in any part of the species after division... Thus it believes that the communicant receives no more of Christ in bread and wine than he does in bread alone..." (Pg. 194)
He states, "The Roman Church claims its credibility on its historical continuity with the apostles, on the unity of its teaching with apostolic teaching, and... on its historic reality as a manifest sign of God at work. All these claims have been disputed; it is not our purpose here to vindicate them, but simply to set forth the base of the Roman claims. Ultimately the base is that no other church can vindicate the same claim, and the Protestant churches have somewhat implicitly acknowledged this by denying that either Rome or the Protestant churches can make the claim." (Pg. 251-252)
He admits, "The Roman Church... has never had the knowledge of what it believed in its perfection. If one observes that the teaching office has exhibited imperialism, one must also notice that the Roman Church has not always spoken at times when the mature judgment of history is that it should have spoken.
"It is difficult to understand how the Roman Church... could have accepted the Crusades. It is difficult to understand how it has never officially declared that slavery is immoral... the Roman Church has sometimes shown a remarkable tolerance for human weakness. One must say that it has often been less of a force for Christian belief and Christian morality than it was instituted to be." (Pg. 257)
Although 55 years old, and a few things in it are now "out of date," this remains an excellent overview of the Catholic church, by an articulate and very knowledgeable expositor.
John L. McKenzie (1910-1991) was a Jesuit priest and perhaps the premier Catholic Biblical scholar of the mid-twentieth century; he taught at the Jesuit Theologate in Indiana, then Loyola University in Chicago, then became the first Catholic Faculty member at the University of Chicago Divinity School. Following this, he taught at the University of Notre Dame, at Seton Hall University, and at DePaul University. He wrote many other books, such as 'Dictionary Of The Bible,' 'The Civilization of Christianity,' 'The Old Testament Without Illusions,' 'Authority in the Church,' etc.
He wrote in the Preface to this 1969 book, "The Roman Catholic Church has surprised and bewildered members and others alike during recent years. Those who are interested are entitled to a more synthetic view of the church than they can obtain from journalistic pieces... The publishers thought the synthetic view could be written, and they invited me to do it." (Pg. 9)
He adds, "I have chosen to emphasize those features of Catholicism which seem to be peculiarly Roman... it is impossible to discuss Roman Catholicism without admitting that Catholics accept their Romanism... Roman Catholics are not moving toward a non-Roman Catholicism. I understand ROMAN Catholicism to begin with the conversion of Constantine... [which] was the first decisive factor in the series of events which was to give the Western church its Roman character." (Pg. 12-13)
He notes, "The origins of infant baptism are obscure, but the practice is ancient. It is scarcely possible to present the grounds on which the practice was first adopted, but they could not have been much different from the grounds on which the Roman Church justifies the practice now. The principal reason is the Roman belief that infants share in the hereditary guilt of mankind which is called original sin. The sacrament is deemed effective even for those who are unable to accept it by personal choice; just as the hereditary guilt was not contracted by personal choice, so redemption from the same is achieved without any decision of the subject." (Pg. 177-178)
He observes, "In recent years a number of priests have become uneasy with the practice of stipends [for Mass], fearing that it may approach commerce in the sacred, and in a few parishes the practice has quietly been abandoned. Where the priest is salaried, it appears that his stipend is already paid, and that he should celebrate the Mass in virtue of his salary. A cash offering should not be necessary to assure the celebration of Mass for one's intentions... No one will be unhappy if these practices are quickly abandoned." (Pg. 189)
He explains, "The administration of communion under one species only is certainly the most serious modification the Roman Church has made in the sacramental signs. Theologically the practice is justified by the Roman realism of its teaching on the presence of Jesus, a realism which certainly has been influenced by liturgical practice. The Roman Church believes that 'the whole body' is present in the whole of the species and in any part of the species after division... Thus it believes that the communicant receives no more of Christ in bread and wine than he does in bread alone..." (Pg. 194)
He states, "The Roman Church claims its credibility on its historical continuity with the apostles, on the unity of its teaching with apostolic teaching, and... on its historic reality as a manifest sign of God at work. All these claims have been disputed; it is not our purpose here to vindicate them, but simply to set forth the base of the Roman claims. Ultimately the base is that no other church can vindicate the same claim, and the Protestant churches have somewhat implicitly acknowledged this by denying that either Rome or the Protestant churches can make the claim." (Pg. 251-252)
He admits, "The Roman Church... has never had the knowledge of what it believed in its perfection. If one observes that the teaching office has exhibited imperialism, one must also notice that the Roman Church has not always spoken at times when the mature judgment of history is that it should have spoken.
"It is difficult to understand how the Roman Church... could have accepted the Crusades. It is difficult to understand how it has never officially declared that slavery is immoral... the Roman Church has sometimes shown a remarkable tolerance for human weakness. One must say that it has often been less of a force for Christian belief and Christian morality than it was instituted to be." (Pg. 257)
Although 55 years old, and a few things in it are now "out of date," this remains an excellent overview of the Catholic church, by an articulate and very knowledgeable expositor.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews