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Seven Lies About Catholic History: Infamous Myths about the Church's Past and How to Answer Them

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The world hates the Church that Jesus founded, just as He said it would (John 15:18). It reviles her doctrines, mocks her moral teachings and invents lies about her history. In every age, but especially in our modern day, historians and political powers have distorted the facts about her past (or just made up novel falsehoods from scratch) to make the Church, and the civilization it fostered, seem corrupt, backward, or simply evil.

In Seven Lies about Catholic History, Diane Moczar (Islam at the Gates) tackles the most infamous and prevalent historical myths about the Church popular legends that you encounter everywhere from textbooks to T.V. and reveals the real truth about them. She explains how they got started and why they're still around, and best of all, she gives you the facts and the arguments you need to set the record straight about The how it was not a bloodthirsty institution but a merciful (and necessary) one, Galileo's why moderns invented a myth around it to make science appear incompatible with the Catholic faith (it's not), The why the 16th-century Church was not totally corrupt (as even some Catholics wrongly believe), and how the reformers made things worse for everybody and other lies that the world uses to attack and discredit the Faith.

Written in a brisk style that's fun and easy to read, Seven Lies about Catholic History provides the lessons that every Catholic needs in order to defend and explain not just apologize for the Church's rich and complex history.

200 pages, Paperback

First published August 5, 2010

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Diane Moczar

15 books14 followers

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5 stars
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105 (32%)
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61 (19%)
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18 (5%)
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10 (3%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
Profile Image for Glenn Crouch.
529 reviews19 followers
August 28, 2013
I was quite eager to read this book - and I will point out that I am a Lutheran and have a very strong interest in Church History.

Sadly, the Preface basically indicated that this book was for the Catholic faithful - which I thought was a shame. Good apologetical material should be aimed not just at those that agree with you but those that are opposed - not to mention those somewhere on the spectrum between the two extremes. However, I engage in lots of discussions with people about Church History, and I try do a fair bit to ensure "accurate" history for the Catholic Church. And let's not forget that prior to the Reformation, the Church History being talked about is the heritage of all Christian Churches - which is another thing I think the Author overlooks.

Now it seems that it would shock the Author that I, as a Lutheran, would agree with about 80% or more of her arguments, and have made many of them myself. I was hoping that this book would give me a swag of good arguments and references - rather I found many of the arguments very emotive and "hearsay" - by the latter I mean the Author criticises a "common lie" and does this by telling us (often with lots of emotive description) what "really happened". There are no footnotes, there are no arguments, there is no wrestling with History to discover the Church - we are "condemned" for accepting the lies that others have said, and we should accept what the Author says is the truth. Now remember I agree with most of her premises and agree with how History is often portrayed incorrectly.

One of the things I try to fight hard against is all the "Catholic Church Conspiracy Theories", but sadly this books seems to want to answer this by using "Protestant Church Conspiracy Theories", to answer "name calling" with "name calling". I appreciate that the Author is passionate about this, but I think that she needs to realise that some who disagree with here are sincere and not malevolent. We are all sinners and we all make mistakes, even our "heroes" have flaws (except for our Lord and Saviour).

The References at the back of the book do "save" the book for me, and yes I would still recommend it to some. However, those who I think most need to read a book that covers topics that this book covers would be too easily "put off" reading it.
Profile Image for Matthew Selby.
48 reviews21 followers
March 17, 2021
Short, sweet, and straight to the point. It is by no means an academic work, but that's not what it's supposed to be. It was intended for the masses, and it achieved its end elegantly.

I would recommend this book to everyone.
Profile Image for J. .
380 reviews44 followers
October 30, 2011
This book is a short but excellent primer on Catholic History. I can testify personally that had I read this book when I was younger, I would have had been on a different spiritual path altogether. This book tackles the major complaints that either non-Catholic Believers or non-Believers in general use to attack the Catholic Faith. This book is an amazingly wonderful beginning book for any Apology Library that everyone should read, it is simple and quick in explaining the various falsehoods that fight against The Church, this book cites its sources at the end.
Profile Image for Catherine Puma.
628 reviews21 followers
November 25, 2018
Those who actually want to understand the issues proposed in this work need to take Moczar's approach with a giant grain of salt. I think the core of her problem is presenting all of these discrepancies as LIES, essentially calling every group throughout history who does not believe her point of view as LIARS.

This felt like it was written by a Catholic high school debate team or political speech, not a historian! There is some last minute redemption in the Afterward where she lists her primary sources and explains in two or three sentences why each one was helpful & what it brings to the conversation, but this fact based approach is mostly lost throughout the meat of the work because she doesn't cite her sources properly.

Making sweeping generalizations about scientists, for example, instead of recognizing the ways in which Catholic or other Christian religious scientists are using their faith to inspire their work, is completely unproductive. She blows over feminist concerns with the church by saying that because there have been some helpful women in Catholic history, that desire to have women more involved in contemporary church leadership is stupid. Moczar descends to name-calling, accusing non-believers as "heretics", "ignorant", "base", "immoral", "idiotic", "atheists", "liars", "sadistic", "cruel," to name a few.

This work was really disappointing and off-putting to myself, as a Catholic, because I wanted to hear an informed historical background on common misconceptions.... and this is not worthy.
Profile Image for Kevin.
446 reviews1 follower
July 5, 2012
If you are looking for a good beginners book to help you defend Catholic history, you would do well to start with this book. Dr. Moczar explores several horrible lies about Catholic history and presents the true stories of the so-called Dark Ages, the Church's role in learning and progress, the Crusades, the Inquisition, the Galileo trial, Church corruption and the Reformation, the Black Legend and, finally, the Church's treatment of women. An easy read, and interesting read, and for history buffs everywhere, Catholic and non-Catholic, I heartily recommend this book.
4 reviews
February 13, 2015
In my opinion, this author's message would be far more effective if it did not take the tone of an emotional, vendictive rant. Maybe the title should have been a clue.
Profile Image for Heidi.
3 reviews37 followers
Read
February 18, 2016
Stopped reading--just found her tone and style so unengaging and immature.
Profile Image for Jess.
124 reviews8 followers
May 9, 2024
The section about what to do about widespread blasphemy was good. However, the tone throughout all of this was so nasty and immature that it generally just kind of stunk.
Profile Image for Ryan Lindsey.
44 reviews
February 8, 2023
Let me start by saying that this book, despite its flaws, is at least a counterweight to some of the anti-religiosity that has become more and more prevalent in the past few decades. The author means it solely as a defense of Catholicism, but the arguments she addresses and the counter-arguments she makes can be applied to religion in general without too much stretching.

Like many texts of this genre, however, the author fails by going too far. She’s not content with merely saying that the crusades weren’t as bad as many secular pop-historians make them out to be; she has to say that they were actually good. It’s not enough for her to rightly say that the Church’s corruption is often exaggerated, she has to claim that it’s never been corrupt at a systematic and/or significant level at all. She doesn’t stop at the claim that the Medieval world was full of brilliance and beauty, she practically says it was the pinnacle of human existence. And so on, ad nauseum.

Secular critiques of Catholicism have undoubtedly grown increasingly prejudiced, far-fetched, and out-of-touch with reality. It also seems to be the case that in politically correct society, Catholicism tends to be a scapegoat for religion in general; criticizing Islam is taboo among elite liberals, for instance, but criticizing Catholics certainly isn’t. And when most of their criticisms are truly just gripes about religion in general, equally if not more applicable to Islam, then their true anti-religious prejudice becomes clear. The sort of extreme pro-Catholic revisionism that the author presents here is not the answer that secular prejudice. Secular anti-theism is a spiritual and moral disaster, but so too is this sort of repugnant integralism.

One of the easiest things the author could have done to strengthen this book is to have a more charitable attitude towards other religions, rather than treating modern secularists as equally hostile to Catholicism as Muslims, Jews, and Protestants. For example, rather than giving the Catholic Church credit for all the philosophical and scientific and artistic triumphs of the Middle Ages, the author could have more honestly given credited to Islam and Graeco-Roman paganism for many of those things (Aquinas would have been a relative nobody without the work of Islamic philosophers). This way, she could have more accurately addressed the critics true intentions – an attack on religion broadly, rather than just Catholicism. This is, after all, the unwitting result of many Protestant critiques of the Church, which trumpet secular talking points and histories written by obviously anti-Catholic Renaissance and early-modern figures.

Of course, the biggest fault of the author was to expand the doctrine of Papal Infallibility to seemingly apply to the whole institutional Church at all times. I expect Catholics to believe in Papal Infallibility, but the authors gross expansion of that doctrine sets this book up to fail in many crucial ways.
6 reviews
September 19, 2025
This was a very interesting read, and although I agreed with everything the author contended, I was disappointed by the lack of historical evidence or sources for her arguments, as well as her often emotive or informal refutations.
Profile Image for St Joseph Treasury.
4 reviews1 follower
March 24, 2011
Infamous Myths About the Church’s Past and How To Answer Them. Diane Moczar

The world hates the Church that Jesus founded, just as He said it would (John 15:18). It reviles her doctrines, mocks her moral teachings and invents lies about her history. Historians and political powers have distorted the facts about her past (or made up falsehoods from scratch) to make the Church, and the civilization it fostered, seem corrupt, backward, or simply evil.

In "Seven Lies about Catholic History," Diane Moczar tackles the most infamous and prevalent historical myths about the Church, popular legends that you encounter from textbooks to T.V., and reveals the real truth about them. She explains how they got started and why they’re stillaround, and gives you the facts and the arguments you need to set the record straight about:

• The Inquisition: how it was not a bloodthirsty institution but a merciful (and necessary) one

• Galileo’s “trial”: why moderns invented a myth around it to make science appear incompatible with the Catholic faith (it’s not)

• The Reformation: why the 16th-century Church was not totally corrupt (as even some Catholics wrongly believe), and how the “reformers” made things worse for everybody.

Written in a brisk style that’s fun and easy to read, Seven Lies about Catholic History provides the lessons that every Catholic needs in order to defend and explain the Church’s rich, complex history.

Sale: $11.50 @ webstore.com/~StJosephTreasury
1,353 reviews6 followers
February 8, 2015
Diane Moczar tells us in the introduction that she wants to set the record straight and remove personal bias from the equation. Her tone and some of her language undermines this last bit. I agree with the goal and accept/previously aware of the historical narrative being biased for in many cases the reasons she lays out. However, even me a reader who wants and does believe her historical narrative, found some of the book difficult to read because of the contempt she displays for some groups and the general style of of course Catholics are right. I think that Catholics are one of the last groups it is socially acceptable to mock and ridicule and think that anti Catholic bias in the US is rampant and insidious. I still found her vitriolic at some points. Another problem I have is that there are few footnotes. An appendix provides general sources but no endnotes. This is just bad scholarship. I don't understand who her audience is, but not sourcing your claims won't prove anything to anyone not inclined to believe you already. Right idea, horrible delivery.
1 review
December 22, 2022
She is strongly trying to sway people’s thinking about the Catholic Church by simply dismissing strong historical facts and telling people what they wish to be true. She shows no evidence that she’s studied numerous historical documents to prove her claims are actually myths. She states a pope ordered some slaves to be freed and therefore the church has been kind to slaves. But, she excludes telling that the church did have it’s own slaves and now are pledging to pay $100 million to the descendants of slaves. Her information on Pope Pius X11 is incomplete. He may have done some good things, but she leaves out his secret meetings with Hitler and that he burned documents revealing sexual abuse at that time by Catholic German priests and monks. Much more will be coming out about Pope Pius X11 in the newly opened vatican archives about that time period. She is making money off of and disrespecting the victims of the Catholic Church. This book should be banned.
Profile Image for Jason Schaitel.
12 reviews
February 20, 2016
The sections on the Middle Ages, The Inquisition, the Galileo episode and the "church vs science" were good introductions. They came across a little overly partisan at times and took quite a few shots at Protestants. I would have added a star if the author were more irenic. I also found the author might have gone a little past correcting lies and defending the RCC to being a Catholic booster.
I have an overall positive impression of the book, but would be hesitant to recommend it to a person who has little prior knowledge of church history.
Church history is a mix of commendable and condemnable and whatever your group is that you identify with you have to be able to come to terms with your group's failures and cut others some slack.
Profile Image for Robert.
92 reviews1 follower
December 7, 2019
I recommend the book. I concur with another reviewer here. I wish had this book available many years ago. Anyway, is a condensed book, perfect for today's lifestyle, very trustworthy on account of all the references included. Well written, very illustrative.

So to compensate the brevity, at the end there is an excellent set of references if you wish, and are willing to invest the time, to go deeper on a particular subject. Or even all of them.
Profile Image for Amy Bodkin.
199 reviews6 followers
December 25, 2017
Very interesting book; however, not very well written....and it did gloss over a few things (such as the fact that many Jews in Spain were Christians in name only because they have been threatened with death...granted not necessarily by the Catholic Church at large but that was still relevant information). If anything it re-emphasizes to me just how pivotal this pendulum we swing on between faith and reason truly is.
Profile Image for Michael Shurtleff.
37 reviews4 followers
February 2, 2016
I can add nothing to the blurb! It's completely accurate and sums up my opinion of this book nicely. I came away indignant--not because Dr. Moczar said anything incendiary or inappropriate, but because the world still buys in to these awful lies about the Bride of Christ. I recommend this book to anyone who values truth.
Profile Image for Joseph.
Author 2 books18 followers
December 18, 2018
Worthless, unless you like Donald Trump-style rants: "I didn't do that, but if I did it was perfectly justified!" Throw in that the "seven lies" are obvious straw men held by almost no one, and you have a book that is generally absent of intellectual, spiritual, or entertainment value.

Just read actual history.
Profile Image for Erin.
44 reviews
October 10, 2011
If you're into apologetics and have an understanding of the topics discussed, it's a good book. But if you don't have the history behind the topics, it can be taxing...Overall, the book did give good points of discussion. I'd still recommend reading this book.
32 reviews36 followers
December 20, 2011
Addresses common historical misconceptions about medieval and renaissance Catholicism. An apologetics must-read.
Profile Image for Leo.
15 reviews
March 15, 2015
I really enjoyed this book. There is a lot of history that needs to be put into perspective. I believe that this book does a good job of creating that perspective.
Profile Image for Susan.
388 reviews
May 23, 2019
Did not finish. I wanted to like it, as I love history and I'm Catholic. But the biases were rather overt, which is disappointing in a history text.
Profile Image for Stephen Heiner.
Author 3 books114 followers
May 7, 2017
Ms. Moczar has written a fine work with great sources for those who wish to go deeper into the seven subjects she picks:

The Dark Ages
The Crusades
The Inquisition
Galileo
The Black Legend
Church as enemy of progress
Church as heart of corruption

Rather than try to highlight the best of her chapters here (I'll leave you to read the whole book, as it carries a strong recommendation from me), I want to focus on a passage from Appendix 1, which is entitled, "How to Answer a Lie."

"Fortunately or unfortunately, nearly all the lies discussed in this book, which are truly lies about history, lead back to basic questions about the Catholic Faith. This should give us an inkling that most of the lies were originally told by people who opposed the Church herself, not merely the interpretation of a historical happening. When we discuss historical lies, therefore, we must be prepared to go into the underlying presuppositions about God and faith. This is not so easy, but there is a wealth of apologetics resources available in print and online...The Catholic historian must therefore be prepared to be an apologist...it is, of course, part of our Catholic vocation to be able to defend the Faith anyway, so this should come as no surprise." (p. 172)

She also encourages calm and charity when discussing with people. Remember, they may genuinely not know, they may have some things to teach you as well, and look for ways you can agree whenever possible.
36 reviews1 follower
September 30, 2018
In essence, this book is an introduction to some serious historical malpractice which I have frequently encountered in previous reading.

The seven lies include what we all “know to be true” about the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, the conflict between science and religion and more.

The material was really interesting and led me to renew my intention of reading on these topics in more depth.

This rating is for the Audible edition of the book. It would be four stars otherwise. I give the book itself 4 stars and the narration only 2. I found the continual mispronunciation of many words had the effect of pulling my mind out of the material and into mental corrections. Definitely a problem.
Profile Image for Rebecca The Files of Mrs. E, .
399 reviews1 follower
April 26, 2023
This is a quick read filled with factual information in an easy format. Moczar addresses various historical lies told about the Catholic church and why, going back to the actual history as well as the events surrounding it and why the truth was distorted. This is perfect for Catholics wanting to know more about Church history and how to address mistruths about our faith, but it's also good for anyone looking to have a more thorough understanding of history and see things from a different point of view.
4 reviews
January 4, 2026
This was a good primer for anyone interested in some of the more controversial time periods in the Catholic church. The book remains surface level on each topic but presents each event in such a way that makes you question why you were taught to view topics through a certain lens in a public education or secular upbringing, i.e. Catholic church bad, Reformation good. I am excited to go pick up a history book and take a deeper dive into these subjects.
Profile Image for Laura.
1,936 reviews27 followers
August 6, 2019
I try to read at least one book a year about my Church. This was my most recent selection.

I enjoy apologetics. I liked the facts and the explanations. However, I didn't care much for the author's tone. I don't like "of course," "naturally," etc.

Still, I learned a bit more than I used to know.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews

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