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Well-known authors and researchers John Ankerberg, John Weldon, and Dillon Burroughs have updated and revised The Facts on Roman Catholicism, an important title from the popular Facts On Series (more than 1.9 million copies of books from this series sold). Presented in a convenient question-and-answer format, readers are given a general overview and detailed information based on a biblical evaluation of the Roman Catholic Church. They discover similarities and differences between the basic theologies of Catholicism and Protestantism. Topics include: Have the basic doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church changed? What are the sacraments, and how do they function in the life of a Catholic believer? What does the Catholic Church teach concerning salvation? What unique role does Mary have in Roman Catholicism, and is it biblical? Can the differences between Catholics and Evangelicals be set aside?… (more)
User reviews
Now, it must be noted here that Mr. Ankerberg reflects a very narrow cross-section of Protestants in the Evangelical tradition called
The Catholic Church is open about what it teaches. If you want to understand the what and whys of Catholicism, there are myriad resources to which you can turn for accurate information. This book is not one of them. Google Catholic Answers, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Catholic blogs, Our Sunday Visitor, etc.
There is one example by Mr. Ankerberg which should suffice to show his lack of scholarly inquiry. In the section on justification, he condemns Pope John Paul II for saying that "man is justified by works and not by faith alone." He cites this as coming from an article in the Los Angeles Times in 1983.
There are two problems with this citation: first, the late pope was one of the most prolific writers of the 20th century. Why is it necessary to cite an obscure reference that is difficult for most people to access?
Second, the words the pope allegedly spoke are taken verbatim from the Epistle of James (James 2:24). Mr. Ankerberg appears to either not realize that or hopes that his readers are ignorant of Scripture. (NB: he does not assert that the pope took the letter of James out of context, in fact, he provides no context for the pope's quote at all.)
There are only two options here: 1) Mr. Ankerberg is totally ignorant of Scripture, which severely damages his credibility as providing a Scriptural alternative to Catholicism, or 2) Mr. Ankerberg hopes that his readers are ignorant of Scripture, which ruins his trustworthiness. Either option is a reason to commit this little book to the recycling bin and pick up something else.