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Roman Catholicism
Book by Boettner, Loraine
466 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1962
9 people are currently reading
153 people want to read
About the author
Loraine Boettner
62 books39 followersLoraine Boettner (1901-1990) was a Reformed Theologian, born on a farm in Linden, Missouri. After obtaining a Bachelor of Science degree from Tarkio College in 1925, he attended Princeton Theological Seminary where he studied Systematic Theology under Dr. Casper W. Hodge and received his Th.B. (1928) and Th.M. (1929). He taught Bible for eight years in Pikeville College, Kentucky. In 1933 he received the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity from Tarkio College, and in 1957 the degree of Doctor of Literature. He was a member of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church.
From 1958 until his death in 1990, Dr. Boettner lived a quite life in Rock Port, Missouri. For the remaining 32 years of his life, he generously sold his books at cost to any who wrote to ask for them. In doing so, Boettner made good conservative theology readily available at a time when such material was often difficult to come by. Through his writings, he served to popularize the Reformed faith and influenced literally tens of thousands of men and women around the world.
From 1958 until his death in 1990, Dr. Boettner lived a quite life in Rock Port, Missouri. For the remaining 32 years of his life, he generously sold his books at cost to any who wrote to ask for them. In doing so, Boettner made good conservative theology readily available at a time when such material was often difficult to come by. Through his writings, he served to popularize the Reformed faith and influenced literally tens of thousands of men and women around the world.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
September 25, 2007
this book is poorly researched, full of half-truths, misconceptions, and complete inaccuracies. Just look at the # of citations for a book this size. Two dozen? How many are primary sources?
This book is designed to lead people astray and misinform them about the Catholic Church.
I would give this zero stars.
This book is designed to lead people astray and misinform them about the Catholic Church.
I would give this zero stars.
June 21, 2016
Boettner has assembled a devastating critique of the utterly corrupt and fallacious Roman Catholic church. It's sad that Catholic reviewers are giving this work a 1 star rating and I bet they haven't even bothered reading the book! What are they so afraid of I wonder. It's the truth they're afraid of. They are terrified their precious religion will be exposed for the fraud it is. At the Council of Trent the Catholic church said one is condemned to Hell for believing that we are saved by faith alone (sola fide) which is what we Protestants believe. The entire Catholic church is a type of Anti-Christ system. It's very sad that nearly 1 billion people are following blindly this false religion. I pray someday their eyes will be finally open to the truth.
Some Catholic dogma which is wholly unsupported by Scripture:
belief in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist
baptismal regeneration
the Mass as a sacrifice
the special authority of the bishop of Rome
prayers for the dead
the perpetual virginity of Mary
the assumption of Mary
having ministers who don't marry (priests)
purgatory
The Catholic church doesn't want people to read and comprehend Scripture on their own because they might realize they've been lied to for so many years. For years the mass was said in Latin even though the congregations didn't know Latin. People were discouraged from reading Scripture on their own. Catholic apologists viciously attack the Protestant doctrine of Sola Scriptura because in that lies the seeds of their own destruction!
I highly recommend this book to those who are unsure about what the Roman Catholic church teaches. Or even for Catholics who are tired of getting the runaround to their questions.
Some Catholic dogma which is wholly unsupported by Scripture:
belief in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist
baptismal regeneration
the Mass as a sacrifice
the special authority of the bishop of Rome
prayers for the dead
the perpetual virginity of Mary
the assumption of Mary
having ministers who don't marry (priests)
purgatory
The Catholic church doesn't want people to read and comprehend Scripture on their own because they might realize they've been lied to for so many years. For years the mass was said in Latin even though the congregations didn't know Latin. People were discouraged from reading Scripture on their own. Catholic apologists viciously attack the Protestant doctrine of Sola Scriptura because in that lies the seeds of their own destruction!
I highly recommend this book to those who are unsure about what the Roman Catholic church teaches. Or even for Catholics who are tired of getting the runaround to their questions.
December 18, 2009
This book is an Anti-Catholic book. It is the largest collection of misconceptions and all out lies I have ever seen. It is clear from the severe lack of footnotes and the tiny bibliography that he spent zero time researching the true Doctrines of the Catholic Faith, but very typical of 19th and 20th century Fundamentalists' weaknesses in the feild of apologetics.
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February 4, 2022I was given this book when I was in 9th grade by my parents. They were concerned that I was being befriended by an older Catholic girl. I read it with great interest, taking every point as true. It was the first theological book I had ever read and set the tone for my early and immature theological fervor.
Years later, I had the chance as a young adult to discuss Catholicism with other adults. My youthful confidence that I had a solid understanding of Catholic theology was quickly dashed.
Years later, I had the chance as a young adult to discuss Catholicism with other adults. My youthful confidence that I had a solid understanding of Catholic theology was quickly dashed.
January 18, 2016
This is an excellent, well-studied work that helps define the differences between Roman Catholicism and the Reformed Protestant faiths.
December 17, 2018
Very little factual accuracy in this book.
In fact, besides the author's name, I doubt there is any.
A prime example of breaking the commandment against bearing false witness against your neighbor.
In fact, besides the author's name, I doubt there is any.
A prime example of breaking the commandment against bearing false witness against your neighbor.
July 5, 2017
Boettner's type of book is not what I'm looking for when trying to understand a belief that differs from my own. He as a Protestant could gain by learning a thing or two from someone who dealt with a similar topic but ended up on the other side of the fence; John Henry Newman was much more fair. He presented the best case for the views he disagreed with before trying to show their flaws. Boettner never aims to be fair, never seeks understanding, and only seeks to convince. I would have gained much more from a more thorough book that helped present Catholicism as Roman Catholics see it, and then attempted to show the shortcomings of that faith. One feels one is reading a two-page anti-Catholic tract that is expanded to 460 pages, not a scholarly analysis. Boettner rarely deals with primary sources, provides no footnotes to document sources, and shows very little love for those he sees as guilty of error and idolatry. And his fear of the RCC perhaps explains his strategy; he sees this church as being as dangerous to the US as Communism in that same period (50s and 60s). He doesn't have time to understand, he must only aim at defeating an enemy.
This is not to say the book is without strengths. He points out doctrinal issues that Catholics might have a hard time defending successfully or at least succinctly and convincingly. But the lack of fairness over and over again made me unwilling to trust what he wrote. On the one hand Catholics are not anti-communist enough, and on the other hand they are working hand in hand with Franco in Spain. Well, had they opposed Franco, this would only have convinced Boettner further of the way Catholics fail to oppose Communism.
It carries a very strong American perspective which also weakens it. Free markets in religion are good for religion as free markets for consumers are good for economics. More important, I suppose, than the unity that Christ prayed for in His High Priestly prayer in the Gospel of John. And the proof of the truthfulness of Protestantism is in how wealthy and prosperous the US and northern Europe were - but I would think Jesus would put little stock in that sort of argument and condemn the prosperous Protestant nations for not doing more for their poorer neighbours. The entire perspective seems old-fashioned and a bit out of keeping with a true catholic (little "c") Christianity.
I am glad to have gained some insights by having read the book, but even gladder to have it finished and behind me. Lacking in scholarship and lacking in love, the book ends up not being very convincing.
This is not to say the book is without strengths. He points out doctrinal issues that Catholics might have a hard time defending successfully or at least succinctly and convincingly. But the lack of fairness over and over again made me unwilling to trust what he wrote. On the one hand Catholics are not anti-communist enough, and on the other hand they are working hand in hand with Franco in Spain. Well, had they opposed Franco, this would only have convinced Boettner further of the way Catholics fail to oppose Communism.
It carries a very strong American perspective which also weakens it. Free markets in religion are good for religion as free markets for consumers are good for economics. More important, I suppose, than the unity that Christ prayed for in His High Priestly prayer in the Gospel of John. And the proof of the truthfulness of Protestantism is in how wealthy and prosperous the US and northern Europe were - but I would think Jesus would put little stock in that sort of argument and condemn the prosperous Protestant nations for not doing more for their poorer neighbours. The entire perspective seems old-fashioned and a bit out of keeping with a true catholic (little "c") Christianity.
I am glad to have gained some insights by having read the book, but even gladder to have it finished and behind me. Lacking in scholarship and lacking in love, the book ends up not being very convincing.
January 27, 2020
As complete an analysis of such a multi-faceted organization as I could have asked for, for the time written. The 1967 edition will obviously be somewhat less than helpful to someone wanting to know the current state of affairs, but as a history and evaluation of the Catholic Church from its beginnings until that point, it is excellent. And finally, of great importance is the fact that it is highly readable. After all, what good is a book that no one can stand to read?
July 29, 2017
This book is extremely biased and I would not recommend anybody to read it. A lot of what he says about Catholics most Catholics disagree with. However, even though this book is a big misinterpretation of Catholicism some things that he says are undeniably true.
July 12, 2013
Laughable.
April 30, 2019
This book has been on my bookshelf for quite some time and although I have read it at least once before I thought that in order to post a more informed review I would need to read it again. Before I begin I would like to note that the author makes a rather unfortunate concession: “Scripture quotations throughout this book for the most part are from the American Standard Version of 1901 rather than the King James Version since the former is generally conceded to be more accurate.” The author’s preference is unfortunate in that it is now conceded that the American Standard Version of 1901 was not as accurate as it was once thought to have been. The fact that it is no longer in print is rather telling while the King James Version is still as popular as ever if not more so. Now on to the review.
This is an absolutely devastating critique of the Roman Catholic institution by Loraine Boettner. It is hard hitting and therefore doesn’t pull any punches. If any of this is true, and I have no reason to believe otherwise, then those who maintain the system, be they the church hierarchy or other supporters, have much to answer for. The author’s critique is well founded and historically accurate. The history of the institution is not a flattering one and is available to any intrepid lay historian if he or she knows where to look. Those that were formerly a part of the institution can and have attested to the accuracy of such critiques and one must ask why there are those that continue to be a member of such a corrupt, false and questionable institution.
The hierarchy whose responsibility it is for the maintenance and day to day running of the church must bear the blame for keeping the laity and others in perpetual darkness regarding the error of a system that can no longer be sustained in light of the facts. Transparency is a must. Otherwise, one cannot help but wonder what they are trying to hide.
The laity must also bear much of the blame for allowing and thereby permitting the hierarchy to maintain a system that is fraught with so much abuse, error and scandal instead of demanding it answer for those abuses and errors if not outright lies and remain a member of such a system. They also cannot and should not escape responsibility for refusing to hold those in the hierarchy accountable for the manifest errors and abuses that are part of the RC institution and for refusing and/or failing to investigate their claims. They can and must do the research themselves as to the validity of the institution’s claims that it is the “one true church”. Any objective research must eventually concede that the “church” cannot be what it claims to be.
Those who are not members of the RC institution must acknowledge that they also bear part of the responsibility for not demanding that the hierarchy answer and atone for the abuses and clear and unmistakable errors that makes up the RC institution.
One cannot but help wonder that if the information contained in this book were common knowledge in just what form or how much of the Roman Catholic institution would be with us today if at all. The RC church will always have its defenders no matter what but then these are the type of people who refuse to be confused by the facts.
This is an absolutely devastating critique of the Roman Catholic institution by Loraine Boettner. It is hard hitting and therefore doesn’t pull any punches. If any of this is true, and I have no reason to believe otherwise, then those who maintain the system, be they the church hierarchy or other supporters, have much to answer for. The author’s critique is well founded and historically accurate. The history of the institution is not a flattering one and is available to any intrepid lay historian if he or she knows where to look. Those that were formerly a part of the institution can and have attested to the accuracy of such critiques and one must ask why there are those that continue to be a member of such a corrupt, false and questionable institution.
The hierarchy whose responsibility it is for the maintenance and day to day running of the church must bear the blame for keeping the laity and others in perpetual darkness regarding the error of a system that can no longer be sustained in light of the facts. Transparency is a must. Otherwise, one cannot help but wonder what they are trying to hide.
The laity must also bear much of the blame for allowing and thereby permitting the hierarchy to maintain a system that is fraught with so much abuse, error and scandal instead of demanding it answer for those abuses and errors if not outright lies and remain a member of such a system. They also cannot and should not escape responsibility for refusing to hold those in the hierarchy accountable for the manifest errors and abuses that are part of the RC institution and for refusing and/or failing to investigate their claims. They can and must do the research themselves as to the validity of the institution’s claims that it is the “one true church”. Any objective research must eventually concede that the “church” cannot be what it claims to be.
Those who are not members of the RC institution must acknowledge that they also bear part of the responsibility for not demanding that the hierarchy answer and atone for the abuses and clear and unmistakable errors that makes up the RC institution.
One cannot but help wonder that if the information contained in this book were common knowledge in just what form or how much of the Roman Catholic institution would be with us today if at all. The RC church will always have its defenders no matter what but then these are the type of people who refuse to be confused by the facts.
January 29, 2013
A blueprint for misrepresentation of Catholic teaching. Sad.
May 12, 2022
I grew up in a very large, and very devout Roman Catholic family. In Southwest Louisiana, Cajun French was our primary language, with often broken English being our second language. Louisiana boasts of being Roman Catholic, they don't "counties", but "Parishes". So thoroughly was Louisiana, that when made a State in 1812, William C. C. Claiborne, its first Governor designed it's seal to reflect its Roman Catholic populace. To this day, a white Mother pelican plucks her own chest to feed her chicks the blood that gushes forth: A very old Roman Catholic symbol found in many European Churches.
Despite all of this religious and cultural influence on my religious thinking, Roman Catholicism could never answer any of those essential questions all of us need to have eternally settled; chiefly - "How can I be made right with God?", and "How can I be sure I will go to heaven when I die?".
In my 21 years with the RC Church, the best they could offer me was a plethora of convoluted and confusing, non-answers. Most of the time, I was simply handed their stock answer- "That's just one of those 'Mysteries of the Faith' a GOOD Catholic doesn't question".
Well I did question it, and continued to question it, until one day I DID get the answers, but NOT from them. It was from this very book by the late Dr. Loraine Boettner - "Roman Catholicism".
What I found in his writing was not the anger filled rhetoric much of the anti-Catholic literature has. No, what I found was a very humble man, whose every word dripped with concern for my soul.
Some accuse him of lacking scholarship; I beg to differ, he was quite thorough-going in his research, and actually (though he was in no way obliged to do so) dismissed some of the false, and deliberately slanderous charges made against Roman Catholics. Disagree with him if you must, but do not denigrate this man's character by dismissing him as yet another hate-filled, anti-Catholic monster.
The book "Roman Catholicism" certainly changed my life, and I am confident that any truly objective reader will be benefited by it too. 5-Stars easily.
Despite all of this religious and cultural influence on my religious thinking, Roman Catholicism could never answer any of those essential questions all of us need to have eternally settled; chiefly - "How can I be made right with God?", and "How can I be sure I will go to heaven when I die?".
In my 21 years with the RC Church, the best they could offer me was a plethora of convoluted and confusing, non-answers. Most of the time, I was simply handed their stock answer- "That's just one of those 'Mysteries of the Faith' a GOOD Catholic doesn't question".
Well I did question it, and continued to question it, until one day I DID get the answers, but NOT from them. It was from this very book by the late Dr. Loraine Boettner - "Roman Catholicism".
What I found in his writing was not the anger filled rhetoric much of the anti-Catholic literature has. No, what I found was a very humble man, whose every word dripped with concern for my soul.
Some accuse him of lacking scholarship; I beg to differ, he was quite thorough-going in his research, and actually (though he was in no way obliged to do so) dismissed some of the false, and deliberately slanderous charges made against Roman Catholics. Disagree with him if you must, but do not denigrate this man's character by dismissing him as yet another hate-filled, anti-Catholic monster.
The book "Roman Catholicism" certainly changed my life, and I am confident that any truly objective reader will be benefited by it too. 5-Stars easily.
March 10, 2025
A good book overall, although I really wish Boettner had put more work into citing sources and making footnotes. While he quotes sources extensively, there are almost no footnotes throughout the book and it makes the book seem far less academic than a work of this magnititude ought to have. It is certainly not the first book I'd recommend on the subject, but there is much in it that is valuable and thoughtful. I think he ends the book very aptly: "Its [The Roman Catholic Church's] interpretation of the Scriptures is so erroneous and its practices are so persistently unchristian that over the long period of time its influence for good is outweighted by its influence for evil. It must, therefore, as a system, be judged to be a false church."
September 30, 2025
After reading the book Roman Catholicism, which contains its history, doctrines, and practices, I found it biased because the author stated that he is a Protestant. While reading this book, I still found it interesting because of the conflicting controversies within the Christian world. It also gave me wisdom in making my own decisions about what I should believe in.
Reading this work helped me understand the differences between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism and how historical developments have shaped these beliefs. In my view, it is important to stay focused on faith, scripture, and a personal relationship with God.
Reading this work helped me understand the differences between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism and how historical developments have shaped these beliefs. In my view, it is important to stay focused on faith, scripture, and a personal relationship with God.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 2, 2022
I read this book in the 1970's. I was preparing to go to Ecuador to live.
(We did live there for 13 years)
At that time Roman Catholicism was the the religion of over 90% of the
population of Ecuador and I wanted to as much as I could about their
religion so I read this book. It has over 450 pages so is pretty thorough.
(We did live there for 13 years)
At that time Roman Catholicism was the the religion of over 90% of the
population of Ecuador and I wanted to as much as I could about their
religion so I read this book. It has over 450 pages so is pretty thorough.
April 3, 2025
Flawed but very interesting p
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews