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Title: Upon This Rock: St. Peter and the Primacy of Rome in Scripture and the Early Church (Modern Apologetics Library) by Stephen K. Ray, Stephen K. Ray ISBN: 0-89870-723-4 Publisher: Ignatius Press Pub. Date: March, 1999 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.21 (14 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Excellent book
Comment: I highly recommend this book because it's full of histirical proof for what the Catholic Church teaches about Saint Peter and about the Papacy. I have checked some of Mr. Ray's sources, too, and the checked quotations were accurate.
Ray often quotes Protestant scholars, who agree with some Catholic teachings, and others who disagree with them. That helps a lot, too, because some Catholic books about apologetics seem not to quote Protestant sources that confirm Catholic beliefs.
"Upon This Rock" includes an extensive bibliography, too.
But for me, the book has an annoying feature. Often, a footnote will fill most of a page. So after you read a paragraph or two of bigger print, you need to get most of the page's detail from the small print in the footnote. The book would have been much longer without the footnotes, but I would prefer much normal size print to much tiny print.
Buy this book. It will prove that the Catholic Church is right about Peter and about the papacy.
Rating: 5
Summary: well done
Comment: Stephen K. Ray does an excellent job of presenting the scriptural and historical case for the papacy. He writes clearly and well. I would like to make a point about a book mentioned in the review by the Eastern Orthodox gentleman, namely Brian Tierney's "The Origins of Papal Infallibility". Moved by that review I read Tierney's book. Brian Tierney, though a good scholar, has an axe to grind, specifically a liberal Catholic axe. I am surprised that an Eastern Orthodox person would commend the arguments of Tierney, since Tierney obviously is against not just PAPAL infallibility, but ALL infallibility, including the infallibility of Ecumenical Councils and the infallibility of the Church herself, both of which doctrines are believed in by the Eastern Orthodox. Tierney, as a liberal, does not believe that the Church can definitively commit herself to truths. In other words, he rejects the possibility of dogma. Essentially his position is that of Hans Kung.
The mistake that this Eastern Orthodox reviewer makes illustrates a basic problem with attempts to interpret the historical evidence in an Eastern Orthodox or Anglican way: these via media are self-destructive, as Newman realized. The Orthodox accept the hierarchical authority of bishops and the infallibility of Ecumenical Councils. But the scriptural evidence and the evidence from the ante-Nicene Fathers is stronger for the papacy than for the authority of Ecumenical Councils. One can pick holes in the evidence for the papacy, but only by using arguments that ultimately can be used even more effectively against other doctrines that the Orthodox would wish to uphold. Protestants have the same problem: the same arguments that are used against the papacy can be turned even more effectively against the New Testament. To return to Ray's book, I recommend it very highly.
Rating: 4
Summary: The best Catholic work on the papacy
Comment: Stephen Ray, a former Baptist and now convert to Catholicism, tackles the heavily debated issue of the papacy. As far as Roman Catholic apologetics goes, this book is one of the best and is without a doubt the best Catholic book available defending the papacy. Ray begins his book by discussing the issue of whether Peter ever resided in Rome. Ray begins by analyzing the Bible verse I Peter 5:13 and illustrates how this enigmatic reference to Babylon can only be speaking about Rome. Ray argues for this primarily on two reasons: 1.) Babylon was a code word used for Rome and 2.) there were no recognized and documented Christian settlements in the actual city of Babylon. With this proof established Ray then begins to document references from the Early Church Fathers validating Peter's presence in Rome. His list is impressive and he devotes the first 100 pages of his book to prove that Peter was in fact in Rome. Finally, he deals with some of the comments made by other Christians who doubted Peter's presence in Rome. This includes wrestling with remarks made by John Calvin and other present day fundamentalists who deny this historic truth. I think Mr. Ray did an excellent job of making his case, my only complaint is that the belief that Peter resided in Rome has been established and believed by a majority of Christians, even non-Catholic ones. The only ones who still argue for such an erroneous position are virulent fundamentalists who dislike everything Catholic.
In the second half of his book, Mr. Ray attempts to prove that the Papacy was in fact granted a historical and successive power of jurisdictional rule. I think Ray does a good job of arguing for such a concept, but that his argument isn't airtight and is not a slam dunk case. First, his quotations from the Early Church Fathers are selective, and he doesn't do a good job of clarifying the context from which those quotes are taken. Second, Mr. Ray does not truly take William Webster's argument to heart because Ray never attempts to prove that the modern understanding of the papacy is the same as it was in the Early Church. Relying on an argument from silence will not work because the argument from silence could just as easily support the opposing position. What is needed is positive proof that the Fathers believed that the Bishop of Rome was the ruling Bishop supreme over the rest of the Church. In fact, I think a vast majority of Ray's proof-texts could just as easily fit in with an Orthodox understanding of the Bishop of Rome as the the bishop with the primacy of honor, and a limited role in singly defining Church issues. Finally, Ray weakens his case by not dealing adequately with all of the evidence that disproves his case. In the beginning of the book he says that no Church Father ever questioned the Pope's authority to intervene in local Church affairs, but Cyprian and Augustine did do just this. Cyprian would not abide by Pope Stephen's demands and showed that some Bishops did question the Pope's rights thus disproving Mr. Ray's assertion. Lastly, Ray does not even mention documents like the letter of Gregory the Great to the Bishop of Constantinople that completely disprove his argument. In this letter Gregory of Rome says that no bishop should be made a bishop above bishops because to elevate oneself to this rank would make all other bishops no longer bishops. Yet, this is exactly what the Gregorian Reformes did when they made themselves Universal pontiff over the entire Church, thus strictly contradicting what Gregory the Great, a previous Pope, had said.
All in all, this work is a great work for any Catholic who wants to understand the historical roots and reasoning for the papacy. The case is well argued for, well developed, and well documented. Nevertheless, this book still contains some serious weak spots and is not as air tight and concrete as some would like to maintain. To understand both sides of the argument read this book in conjunction with William Webster's, The Matthew 16 Controversey. By reading both books I think the reader will be able to understand both sides of the argument and make an informed decision on their own.
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Title: Crossing the Tiber: Evangelical Protestants Discover the Historical Church by Stephen K. Ray ISBN: 0898705770 Publisher: Ignatius Press Pub. Date: February, 1997 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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Title: Faith of the Early Fathers by William A. Jurgens ISBN: 0814604323 Publisher: Liturgical Press Pub. Date: January, 1998 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
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Title: Jesus, Peter & the Keys: A Scriptural Handbook on the Papacy by Scott Butler, Norman Dahlgren, David J. Hess ISBN: 1882972546 Publisher: Queenship Pub Co Pub. Date: April, 1997 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: By What Authority?: An Evangelical Discovers Catholic Tradition by Mark P. Shea ISBN: 0879738510 Publisher: Our Sunday Visitor Pub. Date: September, 1996 List Price(USD): $8.95 |
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Title: Catholicism and Fundamentalism: The Attack on "Romanism" by "Bible Christians" by Karl Keating ISBN: 0898701775 Publisher: Ignatius Press Pub. Date: May, 1988 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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