*A Summary Critique*
*Catholicism and Fundamentalism* by Karl Keating (Ignatius Press,
1988). Reviewed by Kenneth R. Samples.
How should evangelicals view Roman Catholicism? This is an
extremely controversial question, and often emotionally charged.
The spectrum of opinion among conservative Protestants generally
ranges from those who see the Catholic church as foundationally
Christian (but with many doctrinal deviations), to those who
dismiss Catholicism outright as an inherently evil institution. It
would seem, however, that those of the latter persuasion
("anti-Catholics") are in the ascendancy. Chick Publications,
Alberto Rivera's Antichrist Information Center, and the Alamo
Christian Foundation are three rabidly anti-Catholic organizations
which accuse the Roman church not only of promoting false doctrine
but of causing many of the social and political ills of our time.
In the midst of this growing anti-Catholic sentiment, a strong
Catholic response has come forth in _Catholicism and
Fundamentalism_ by Karl Keating, a lay Catholic apologist.
Keating's book is an extensive apologetic work (360 pages) which
attempts to answer basic challenges to Catholicism leveled by
anti-Catholic fundamentalists. In a broader scope, it attempts to
present and defend those distinctive Catholic doctrines which
fundamentalists most commonly object to. Keating writes from an
orthodox Catholic position, accepting both the authority of the
church and the integrity and inspiration of the sacred text.
In his preface, Keating clarifies that his book is not a
thorough evaluation of Protestant fundamentalism _per se,_ but is
rather focused on that subset of fundamentalism which is
anti-Catholic, particularly the anti-Catholic organizations.
The book may be divided into four sections. The first (chapter
1) (1) attempts to define what is meant by the often ambiguous term
"fundamentalism," and (2) to trace fundamentalism's theological and
historical development over the past century. Special attention is
given to the fact that a disproportionate number of fundamentalists
were at one time Roman Catholic, discussing some of the factors
causing thousands of Catholics to embrace fundamentalism....
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