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The Church and the Pope: The Case for Orthodoxy Paperback – July 1, 2022

by Robert Spencer (Author)
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Today, the place and authority of the bishop of Rome in the first millennium has become a matter of great interest and importance not only for the official dialogue but for all serious seekers of the true Church. One such seeker is the prolific New York Times Bestselling Author Robert Spencer, who applied his analytical acumen to a thorough examination of The Church & The Pope.

From the New Testament and the Apostolic Fathers through the Oecumenical Councils and the filioque controversy in the time of St. Photios the Great, on up to the Great Schism, all of the “flash points” of church history indicate the same conciliar nature of the Church as witnessed in Acts: “it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us.”

The whole “cloud of witnesses” give testimony to the truth of the Church vis-a-vis the post-schism papal claims: the Apostle Peter himself and the choir of the Apostles, St. Clement of Rome, St. Ignatius of Antioch, St. Polycarp of Smyrna, St. Irenaeus of Lyons, St. Cyprian of Carthage, St. Cyril of Jerusalem, St. Athanasius the Great, St. John Chrysostom, Blessed Augustine, St. Gregory the Great, St. Photios the Great and others.

Viewing the life and nature of the Church throughout the first millennium through the spiritual vision of these great saints, Spencer first walked, and now walks us, out of the weeds of innovation and division and back into the garden of the Church Fathers where unity and continuity shine.

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  1. Print length
    112 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    July 1, 2022
  4. Dimensions
    6 x 0.26 x 9 inches
  5. ISBN-10
    1639410058
  6. ISBN-13
    978-1639410057
  7. See all details
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Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
48 global ratings
A book for those who love truth
5 out of 5 stars
A book for those who love truth
This is a book for those that love the truth of Christs Holy Church.
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Top reviews from the United States

kenneth Patrick Higgins
5.0 out of 5 stars Concise and to the Point, but I wish it was longer than 110 Pages!
Reviewed in the United States on March 2, 2024
Verified Purchase
I devoured this book in a day. It's not very long, only 110 pages including introduction and concluding remarks, but the content is straight to the point. The author has walked both sides of the aisle, so to speak, being both a Melkite Greek Catholic for many years before becoming Orthodox. He clearly presents his arguments from biblical evidence, Church Fathers, and from historical events. He does not rely on quote mines. He also brings in quotes from Roman Catholic apologists and explains why he disagrees. As stated before, this book isn't extensive, being only just over 100 pages, but I don't think it needs to be any longer for the author to state his case. And he does so without being argumentative, belittling, haughty, etc. His writing is measured, calm, and fair at least to me as someone trying to discern between Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy. I recommend it highly for anyone on the fence or for those leaning towards Orthodoxy who just need one more gentle nudge.
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Marcos belizario
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book
Reviewed in the United States on January 17, 2024
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The book is great however the only small problem i had is that some of the references are numbered differently thus making it slightly harder to find the references
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Malachai
5.0 out of 5 stars Biblical aid
Reviewed in the United States on August 17, 2023
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This book will teach about the relationship of the church but also the pope which can help to determine proper understanding of biblical scriptures and history.
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John Kotsonis
5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Book
Reviewed in the United States on June 16, 2023
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Well researched, expertly written, this book makes its points very clearly and convincingly. The author demonstrates his deep knowledge and appreciation of the issues. At the same time, he writes with respect for both sides.
4 people found this helpful
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Jeremy Sarah
5.0 out of 5 stars Best $12 I've spent in a while.
Reviewed in the United States on November 17, 2022
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I grew up an evangelical but have been searching for something deeper that I feel I've been missing.
Some cool history provided here.
6 people found this helpful
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TheMorganFamily
5.0 out of 5 stars A book for those who love truth
Reviewed in the United States on January 23, 2023
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This is a book for those that love the truth of Christs Holy Church.
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TheMorganFamily
5.0 out of 5 stars A book for those who love truth
Reviewed in the United States on January 23, 2023
This is a book for those that love the truth of Christs Holy Church.
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4 people found this helpful
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Bryson Gillenwater
5.0 out of 5 stars great
Reviewed in the United States on May 4, 2024
I really liked this book a lot. I was informative yet short and sweet to the point. I recommend this book.
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nomoGods4me
1.0 out of 5 stars It's all been said before and to no avail
Reviewed in the United States on September 27, 2022
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What follows are the opinions of an ex-Catholic agnostic atheist whose sympathies lie primarily with the Orthodox Church.

In the conclusion of his book, Robert Spencer, a relatively recent convert from the Catholic to the Orthodox Church, states that many of the points he makes in it were made in the 19th century by Eastern patriarchs in an Ecumenical Letter written in response to Pope Pius IX's invitation to the Orthodox Church to return to the Catholic fold. In sum, the patriarchs stated that Catholicism’s innovative teachings, i.e., those it proclaimed after the two churches fell out with each other in 1054, are "impious," "soul-destroying," and "condemned." Neither the pope nor the Eastern Patriarchs, Spencer remarks, "had any doubt where the other one stood, or why."

What, has that certainty somehow vanished since that exchange? Don't both churches today understand exactly where each other stands? How would ongoing discussion after 10 long centuries not be beating a dead horse? Is it any wonder, as RS points out, that the issue of papal power, the worst of Catholicism’s pretensions in Orthodox eyes, does not preoccupy the contemporary Orthodox Church; that Orthodox responses to Catholic claims regarding the papacy are hard to find? Isn’t that because the Orthodox have had it to here repeating the same arguments against it?

Regardless, Spencer insists that more discussion is needed on the part of church leaders: "[U]ltimate reconciliation between Orthodoxy and Catholicism will not be possible without some consideration of what has separated them in the first place, and that will inevitably involve each side making a full and honest statement for the case of its position [. . .] [U]nless it is fully acknowledged and understood by both sides" what divides them, there can be no real unity.

Some consideration of what has separated them in the first place? Seriously? Like there haven’t been all kinds of it for eons and to no avail? It’s only too clear that neither church has any intention of relinquishing its claims, their cushy ecumenical exchanges notwithstanding.

Spencer points out that Pope Paul VI (d. 1978) stated that "undoubtedly” the papacy is "the greatest obstacle on the path of ecumenism," which prompts the question: Does RS mean to suggest that that statement signaled the Catholic Church's coming round to a future admission of the falsity of the papal office? That will never happen. He goes on to quote Pope John Paul II as saying that what is needed is “a way of exercising the [papal] primacy which, while in no way renouncing what is essential to its mission, is nonetheless open to a new situation.” The author remarks that for that to happen would require “examining what is really essential to the papal mission, and what isn’t.”

But it's precisely what is ESSENTIAL to the primacy, infallibility and universal jurisdiction, that the Orthodox Church expects the Catholic Church to renounce. Does Spencer imagine that John Paul II would have ever maintained that those two elements are inessential? The idea is ludicrous on its face.

Spencer avers that if only the pope would “return to the situation of the first millennium” (when both churches were united), then he would retain his preeminent status as the first bishop among equals “without exercising pretensions to infallibility that popes clearly do not have [. . .] and universal jurisdiction [. . .].” But if anything is expendable in the doctrine of the papacy, it’s the pope’s status as “first among equals.”

If the Catholic Church were ever to renounce what it claims is the solemnly defined doctrine of papal power, that would entail the renunciation of much, much more. The 14 councils that Catholicism teaches are ecumenical but which Orthodoxy rejects as spurious would have to be renounced as well, at least insofar as their teachings and decrees are at variance with Orthodoxy, and they would surely be numerous. The Catholic Church would have to resurrect its liturgy of a 1000 years ago, while allowing for reasonable adaptation, which would be nonetheless repellent to the great majority of Catholics, both clerical and lay, as well as to its theologians. A slew of much-loved Catholic devotions would have to be abandoned, such as that of the Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, etc. Papally-approved Marian apparitions, such as Lourdes and Fatima, along with those of Catholic saints, would have to be quashed as counterfeit—indeed, satanic. And the veneration of those saints (whose canonizations the church claims are infallible) would have to be done away with as well.

There isn’t the least likelihood that any of that will ever happen. If it did, millions of Catholics worldwide would certainly apostatize. They would regard themselves and their descendants down the ages as having been duped beyond forgiveness. And the scoffing of unbelievers would deafen the world.
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Top reviews from other countries

rtfy
5.0 out of 5 stars An Anglo-Catholic in wholehearted agreement
Reviewed in Canada on May 10, 2023
Verified Purchase
I appreciated and agreed with the argument throughout. I endorse Robert Spencer’s analysis of the errors of Roman Catholic claims of papal supremacy, universal jurisdiction, and infallibility.
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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Insightful and challenging
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 14, 2023
Verified Purchase
I found this a very readable story delving into perhaps the lynch pin of the divide between Rome and the Orthodox. You cannot read this book and seriously grapple with its points.
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Thought provoking + well researched as is usual for Mr. Spencer
Reviewed in Canada on October 1, 2022
Verified Purchase
Definitely a book worth reading and thinking about. At the very least. Serious questions, serious suggestions that would require a degree of genuine humility, for a worthy goal, on the part of all concerned.
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Clive Smart
5.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful and succinct look at Orthodox Catholic differences
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 5, 2023
Verified Purchase
As above. The author covers a lot of ground in few pages! Awesome. It helped me so much return to True Orthodoxy as the author did. He shows categorically that the RC church is second millennium western innovation. There simply is no two ways about it. Blessed fullness of Grace and life in Orthodoxy. This is a fantastic little book to put the intellect at full ease so you can go deeper: Orthodoxy takes one to the heart...for the experience of God. I cannot say the same for the Roman church speaking subjectively. This author doesn't get lost in lists and unnecessary detail. But the conclusions are clear as day: Orthodoxy is the Church and its holy, beautiful and untarnished!
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