Although rather short I found Why Do Catholics Worship Mary? very good for what it is meant to be an examination on the claim that Catholics when they ask Mary for her intercession are actually worshipping her and partaking in idolatry. This is a claim that many Protestants make, to this day. Some also claim that intercessionary prayer is unbiblical and unreasonable too. Well guess what? Gerard-Marie Anthony explodes those beliefs and proves just the opposite.
In a very clear writing style Anthony lays out the usual Protestant arguments in the first few chapters, then using the Old and New Testaments, shows how these arguments are just totally wrong.
I found this book just at a time when I had been noticing an increase in anti-Catholic sentiment on the Internet of late. While reading the comments below an article about the Shroud of Turin I found that many Protestants were writing the most diabolical offensive trash about the Catholic faith. It was really quite eye opening, at how little some so-called Christians actually know about the original Christian Church started by Jesus Christ.
As a Catholic I found this book insightful as to how some Protestants frame their beliefs in opposition to what the Bible says and the Catholic Church believes. I learned some interesting facts and some counter arguments by reading this book. The author also points out the many Biblical quotes that support the Catholic position and explain why the Protestant view is misguided. If members of other Christian faiths actually took the time to read this book they might learn something. I hope some do.
Anthony was the child of a mixed marriage, just like me, his father was Protestant and his mother Catholic. My father never made any of the wholly offensive claims that some members of various Christian sects do such as the pope is the anti-Christ, that the Catholic Church is a cult or that Catholics are sun worshippers, etc. These types of statements and claims are quite bizarre and they can get even more blasphemous and sac religious. My father after years of contemplation and of his own volition converted to Catholicism and by his example led me back to church.
I look forward to other books by Gerard-Marie Anthony.
I received a complimentary copy of Why Do Catholics Worship Mary? as a member of the Dorrance Publishing Book Review Team. Visit dorrancebookstore.com to learn how you can become a member of the Book Review Team.
