Monday, December 30, 2019

Book Recommendation on the Papacy: "Rome's Audacious Claim"


There are many good books that refute the Roman Catholic dogmas relating to the papacy and its authority, including my personal favourite:


A recent book that addresses many modern Roman Catholic apologists (e.g., Steve Ray; Trent Horn; Jimmy Akin) is that of

Paul Pavao, Rome's Audacious Claim: Should EveryChristian Be Subject to the Pope? (Selmer, Tenn.: Greatest Stories Ever Told, 2019)

Not only does he engage with the best Rome has to offer, Pavao does not engage in an “all but the kitchen sink” approach of some of the weaker critics of the Papacy, and even refutes the lame petros/petra argument:

The common Protestant argument that Peter (Gr. Petros) cannot be “the rock” (Gr. Petra) because petros means “pebble” and petra means “boulder” is not true. Petros does not necessarily mean pebble, nor necessarily differ from Petra. Peter could not have been called Petra, because Petra is feminine. Finally, Jesus was almost certainly speaking in Aramaic, where both words would have been Kephas. (p. 28)

This would be a good resource to get for those who interact with Catholic apologists, especially on the issue of patristic support (or lack thereof) of Catholic practices.