Pope Fiction: Answers to 30 Myths and Misconceptions About the Papacy
Madrid, Patrick. 1998. Pope Fiction: Answers to 30 Myths and Misconceptions About the Papacy. 1st ed. Basilica Press.
Rating:
1
Review:
Apologetic Trash!
I guess I should have realized it before reading this book (well, before buying it), but I didn’t. I actually thought this was going to be an intellectual account of the commonly cited misdeeds of the Catholic Popes. Well, it isn’t. What it is, is an apologetic work that contradicts itself from chapter to chapter in trying to make an argument for why the Roman Catholic Papacy is legitimate. In so doing the book attempts to refute all of the arguments made against the legitimacy of the papacy, including such things as: the pope’s involvement (or lack thereof) in World War II and the murdering of the Jews; whether or not the pope has a tiara with 666 on it, etc.
As with most apologetic work, the author stretches arguments, pushes logical fallacies out windows, quaintly misquotes (while accusing detractors of doing the same), and butchers history. And I can make that accusation without being an expert on Catholic history. As a matter of fact, I wouldn’t claim to know a lot about Catholic history. But what I do know is that this book really isn’t worth your time or money. Having studied history, read academic books on history, and studied some philosophy and logic, this book is a poor excuse for an argument.
If you are Catholic and like to argue with Protestants or other detracting groups and don’t care whether or not your arguments make logical sense, then this might be a good book for you. If not, the weak attempts at historical accounting don’t even make it worth reading. There are better books out there than this for studying the history of the popes. Don’t waste your time.
Addendum: I guess I am being a bit harsh here and am not really backing up my claims, am I? Well, I apologize. I would just suggest, in the end, that you look for an academic book on the popes, like ‘Saints & Sinners: A History of the Popes’ by Eamon Duffy.