<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: interesting with a liberal slant
Review: An interesting and well-researched book that explains the struggle over the Catholic Church's papal infallibility controversy. It is a very readable account but seems to me biased in favour of a more 'collegial' view of infallibility.
Rating: 
Summary: An engaging look at the power plays in the Catholic Church
Review: Going to Catholic schools for 17 years (kindergarten through grad school) we were always taught that the Pope could be infallible. I didn't understand it then, and as an adult couldn't get my mind around the concept until I read Professor McClory's book. It's a fascinating account of last minute politics, desperate pleas, and the passions of those on both sides of the issue when it was to be decided. It's not really normal for me to sit down with a book on the history of infallability in the Catholic Church and read more than a few pages at the bookstore. This one I bought, took home, and read twice. That should say something about the way Mr. McClory writes, and how what should be dry subject matter is suddenly as relevant as the changes the next Pope will bring. An excellent book.
Rating:
Summary: Invaluable Research and Priceless Information
Review: I used to think I believed in Infallibility, but what they taught me in RCIA was wrong. VERY WRONG.
McClory clears things up extremely well. He begins by showing that the Early Church did not separate the "rulers" from the "ruled" as is clearly done today. (Have you ever heard the phrase: "The Church teaches that..."? It means: "The hierarchy teaches that...")
Moving through the centuries, McClory describes how Infallibility first stuck its head out of the ground through the strange whims of an eccentric Franciscan - whose followers claimed the forthcoming pope to be the Antichrist.
Then comes Pope Boniface VIII. In "Unam Sanctam" Boniface declares that submission to the pope is necessary for salvation. So much for the Orthodox! And so much for Boniface: After declaring himself co-redemptrix, the king of France exported him to Avignon.
But wait, that's not all! You also get to read about how the doctrine of infallibility was put into place, how all the bishops who rejected the doctrine would not even show up for the vote, how during the final vote a storm shattered a stain glass window almost directly over the pope's head. (He was spared by the canopy over the throne.)
Finally, swim through all the red tape of Vatican II and other documents which re-interpret and effectively alter the doctrine of infallibility, so that anyone can interpret it to mean whatever they want: that it applies to only 2 Marian doctrines or that it applies to everything the pope and Magisterium says.
Have I teased you enough? Buy the book.
Rating:
Summary: Raises good questions
Review: McClory raises crucial questions regarding the role of the papacy in both the Catholic Communion and christendom at large. While he is sympathetic to the Catholic Church's authority structure, his reading of the history of the dogma of Papal Infallibility has lead him to understand that the doctrine has been influenced greatly by less than Christian motivations and less than Scriptural perspectives. While many Catholics would reject his conclusions as based upon an inability to see the Holy Spirit's hand in history, or that he misreads the historical record (because we all know that God uses even wrong motivations to accomplish His will), I still think that they could find much value in this book since it will help them to understand the perspective of critics of the Church's dogmatic formation on the principle of authority. As an Eastern Orthodox, I found it useful for the same reasons, disagreeing with the author at various times, but overall appreciative of his analysis. It is not a fluffy book that skims the surface and it is very well-written.
<< 1 >>
| 
