Book Review: Roman Catholic Theology and Practice

Gregg R. Allison. Roman Catholic Theology and Practice: An Evangelical Assessment. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2014. 496 pps. $28.00.

Since Gerrit Berkouwer’s The Conflict with Rome (1948) and Loraine Boettner’s Roman Catholicism (1962), evangelical theology has been lacking a thorough assessment of Roman Catholicism that penetrates the real theological issues at stake. There has been little work on the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965), and many evangelicals don’t have the tools to theologically grasp what happened then and how it has been affecting the Roman Church since. Growing numbers of people are impressed by the aggiornamento (update of language and expressions without substantial change) taking place in Rome and are asking whether or not the Reformation is definitely over. Most of these analyses are based on a pick-and-choose approach to Roman Catholicism. Bits of its theology, fragments of its practice, pieces of its history, and sectors of its universe are considered as representing the whole of Roman Catholicism. But when the big picture of the Roman Catholic theological cathedral is lost, interpretations become superficial and patchy.

Gregg Allison’s new book is good news to all who have long desired a reliable theological guide in dealing with Roman Catholicism. Based on a painstaking analysis of the 1992 Catechism of the Catholic Church, it covers the all-embracing trajectory of Roman Catholic theology and practice. Instead of juxtaposing ephemeral impressions and disconnected data, the professor of Christian theology at Southern Seminary in Louisville provides a theological framework that accounts for the complexity of the Roman Catholic system and its dynamic unity. Read more