This exciting book shows that, far from straying from the Bible, Catholicism is eminently and thoroughly biblical. Indeed, Catholicism is the only Christian religion that is in full conformity with what the Bible clearly teaches. To demonstrate this, Catholic author Dave Armstrong (a former Protestant campus missionary) focuses on those issues about which Catholics and Protestants disagree the most: the role of the Bible as a rule of faith, whether we are justified by faith alone, whether doctrine develops, what the Eucharist really is, veneration of Mary and prayer to the saints, the existence of purgatory, the role of penance in salvation, and the nature and infallibility of the papacy.

Working patiently, systematically, and, above all, charitably (and citing Church councils, the Church Fathers, canon law, and the Catechism of the Catholic Church), Armstrong begins his comprehensive examination of each of these disputed issues with an authoritative explanation of what the Catholic Church actually teaches.

Then, with skill and tenacity, he subjects each Catholic teaching to microscopic scrutiny, measuring its conformity with the Bible. Armstrong’s rigorous, Scripture-packed analysis relies on hundreds of Bible passages (including verses from 229 of the 259 chapters in the New Testament!), shedding light on the meaning of those passages as well as on the meaning and truth of the doctrines in question.

The result? With a mastery of Scripture equal to that of the most committed Protestants, Armstrong demonstrates that the Catholic Church is the “Bible Church par excellence,” and that many common Protestant doctrines (such as sola Scriptura) are in fact themselves not biblical.

Here is a book that challenges Protestants to reconsider their anti-Catholic assumptions; and that will lead Catholics to turn with greater confidence to Scripture, where they will find a powerful biblical defense of their Catholic faith.

The book answers these questions:

• Is the Bible (as Protestants claim) the sole rule of faith? (Or does it actually direct us elsewhere for answers about disputed questions of faith?)
• Does the Bible teach, as many Protestants claim, that believers can be saved by faith alone? (Or is the Catholic Church right: there's more that we must do.)
• Does the Bible forbid us to honor Mary? (Or does it explicitly call us to venerate her, as Catholics do?)
• Does the Bible clearly teach, as Catholics claim, that at the Last Supper (and in the Mass) bread and wine literally become the body and blood of Jesus? Or do they remain just symbols?
• Does the Bible forbid (or encourage) prayer to saints?
• Is Purgatory a fiction created by the Catholic Church, or a doctrine taught throughout the Old and New Testaments?
• Is confession necessary for our salvation, or should we, as Protestants teach, confess directly to God?
• Does the Pope have infallible authority over all Christians, or is he just the head of another Christian denomination?

Dave Armstrong is a Catholic apologist and evangelist who has proclaimed Christianity for more than twenty years. Formerly a Protestant campus missionary, Armstrong entered the Catholic Church in 1991. He has written six books on Catholicism as well as articles for many Catholic periodicals.

"I highly recommend A Biblical Defense of Catholicism, which I find to be thoroughly orthodox, well written, and effective in making Catholic truth more understandable and accessible to the public at large."

Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J.
The Catholic Catechism