Publisher's Description

Who Speaks For God Today? More and more Catholics are asking, "Who speaks for God today?" Whether its birth control, confession, or the Virgin Mary, Catholics are wondering if the hierarchy of the church is speaking for God—and should they listen? Author Tony Coffey, who grew up in the Catholic Church, had those same questions and more:

• Is the Papacy taught in Scripture?

• Should we confess our sins to a priest or to God?

• What does Scripture say about Mary?

• Is there a need for purgatory?

• When church tradition and the Scriptures conflict, which view holds more authority? The answers Coffey found to those questions were startling and life-changing. And he shares them in this book in a loving, sensitive spirit. From beginning to end, Once a Catholic offers real answers and great encouragement to people everywhere: Only when you realize who speaks for God can you really know and follow Him.

Endorsement

This book offers an excellent critique of the Catholic church, their traditions and whether or not they are scriptural. I only wished that I had it with me back when I was talking with a Catholic friend. I would have had a better understanding during our conversations.

I have had many back and forth discussions, in the past, with a young man who is going through the seminary process of becoming a Catholic priest. Our discussions would always leave me observing that, for him, it was the Catholic church that held the authority and spoke for God, not the scriptures. I never imagined that a person, who claimed to be a Christian, would ever allow man's teachings to trump God's word.

There were times in which he would refer to teachings of the Catholic church in order to base his beliefs, which would oftentimes directly contradict plain teachings in God's Word. I also recognized that there were times when I would observe an issue within the Catholic church's teachings and he would try to use scripture to defend the Catholic tradition; however, with closer inspection, those scriptures would be taken out of context.

He always wanted to debate me about theological matters of Christianity, which I soon learned is difficult to do when the other person submits to the authority of the Catholic church's traditions over the plain teachings of God's Word.

As a matter of fact, I once asked him if, while reading the Bible, he ever came to any conclusions that conflicted with the Catholic traditions; this was his exact response: “..through my own speculation or conclusions on theological matters I've arrived at positions which have been at odds with the Church. But the moment I recognized my views were at odds with the Church I abandoned them.”

Eventually, we had to part ways. A friend loaned me this book a few weeks after I stopped talking to the man. I found it very revealing and spot on. The author addresses many of the conflicts between the Catholic church and scripture.

Much of what he and I talked about and I observed during our conversations was already addressed (and effectively argued) in this book.

I highly recommend this book if you are a Catholic, talking to a Catholic or just curious if the Catholic church's teachings fit with scripture. Awesome book. It's a quick read and it's not a bore! lol I'm going to buy it for personal reference.