THE FAITH OF THE VATICAN — A Fresh Look At Roman Catholicism by Herbert M. Carson. Evangelical Press, 192 pages, £5.95. Available from the Free Presbyterian Bookroom, 133 Woodlands Road, Glasgow, G3 6LE.
MOST sections of nominal Protestantism see the face of Rome to be fair and attractive, especially since the encouraging of the laity to read the Bible, the rise of a form of Pentecostalism within Roman Catholicism, and the publication of the document “Evangelicals and Catholics Together”. Rome is being regarded increasingly as a true church. But she is condemned as false out of her own mouth by her Catechism of the Catholic Church.
Published in 1992, on the thirtieth anniversary of the Second Vatican Council, the Catechism is the first full and authoritative statement of Roman Catholic doctrine for more than 400 years. While the Scriptural tone of some of its language might suggest to some that Rome is perhaps moving closer to the truth, the very opposite is true. The Catechism not only reaffirms the false teaching of the 16th century Council of Trent but also reasserts more recent heresies such as the infallibility of the Pope and the assumption of Mary.
In this useful and easily read book, The Faith of the Vatican, the Rev. Herbert Carson demonstrates that the Romanism today is indeed the old soul-destroying system of the Counter-Reformation and earlier, to which have been added further poisonous ingredients during the intervening centuries. After giving a brief but broad historical survey of the rise and ascendency of the papacy, the author deals with the principal doctrines of modern Rome, especially as presented in the current Catechism of the Catholic Church – the doctrines of papal infallibility, Scripture and tradition, transubstantiation and the mass, the priesthood, justification, the worship of Mary, penance and purgatory. He also shows in the chapter entitled “Catholic Pentecostalism”, that the form of Pentecostalism in Roman Catholicism bolsters rather than impedes certain Romish errors: a fact that is seen especially in the cult of Mary, transubstantiation and the supreme authority of the papal office. After accurately stating Rome’s teachings the author shows clearly from Scripture that they are false, and lucidly explains the correct meaning of the portions of Scripture which Rome misuses to support her errors.
The reviewer found the chapters entitled Transubstantiation and the Mass and Mary to be especially helpful. Rome reasserts the blasphemous teaching of Trent about the claimed presence of Christ in the sacramental bread and wine when she states in her Catechism that “it is presence in the fullest sense, that is to say, it is a substantial presence by which Christ, God and man,
makes himself wholly and entirely present.” With regard to the cult of Mary, Carson emphasises that the ‘Mary’ of Catholic devotion has no links whatsoever with Mary of Nazareth. “The role they have given her, the extravagant titles (Advocate, Helper, Benefactress and Mediatrix), the omniscience required to know the prayers of people around the world — all this points to the ultimate idolatry, and the enthroning of a female goddess alongside the Saviour.” Mariolatry and the idolatry of the mass are indeed the principal undergirding of this masterpiece of Satan.
Carson, who also wrote Roman Catholicism Today (published by IVF in 1964), was formerly a Church of England minister and is now a Baptist minister (retired). It is not surprising to see that he is opposed to Infant Baptism and the Establishment Principle. The Faith of the Vatican is not Roman Catholicism Today under a new title, but is what its subtitle claims: A Fresh Look at Roman Catholicism, and therefore is a helpful work for giving one an understanding of the beliefs and practices of Romanism in its modern garb. However, it is surprising that the author does not cite and explain those parts of Scripture which point to the Roman Papacy as the “man of sin” and the “antichrist”. A well rounded view of Popery must necessarily include this aspect of it which God has revealed in His Word but which few, even in the professing church, treat seriously today.
The book has a full index, end-notes, and a useful bibliography. An index of Scripture references, as in his Roman Catholicism Today, would have been useful also. It is a very great pity that the author quotes from the RSV instead of the unsurpassed Authorised Version – the most faithful and accurate version of the Holy Scriptures in the English language.
His exposing of error and presenting of truth is not done in rancour but in compassion, and he argues, not for the sake of controversy but for the benefit of those who are deluded by Rome. We hope that the book will also serve to instruct Protestants in the errors of Romanism, move them to pray for its downfall and for the liberation of those held in bondage by it, and arouse them to contend for the honour of the only Head and Saviour of the Church, the Lord Jesus Christ.
NMR.