Penny thoughts

by Michael Shackleton · May 12, 2009

PENNY THOUGHTS: Reflections on the Riches of Catholic Tradition, by Patrick Quinton Gonsalves. Melrose Books, London. 2008. 86pp.

Reviewed by Michael Shackleton

Who interprets the texts of the Bible? Who can say that their own understanding of the Word of God is the only correct one? Who has the authority to declare that much of Catholic doctrine is unbiblical and therefore false?

This book in large measure reflects an exchange of e-mails between Gonsalves and his brother who had given up his Catholic faith. But it is a pity that only the author’s letters are aired, leaving the brother’s side of the altercation out in the cold. As a result, the reader is unable to judge the full thrust of the matter that divided them or how their arguments measure up to each other. Moreover, this one-sided approach leads to repetition and non-sequiturs that would be less obscure if both sides of the debate were provided for our assessment.

The brother, who apparently joined a Bible study group, urges the author to embrace a similar outfit to learn that what the Church teaches contradicts the pure Word of God. Gonsalves responds with reasoned coolness that the private interpretation of scripture is not free from error and that every such interpretation must be checked against the traditional teaching of the Church.

Boiled down to its essence, the difference between Catholics and other Christians is the question of a final authority in interpreting what God is telling us in the Scriptures. Catholicism regards the Church as the new People of God, a natural continuation of the old People of God, the Israelites. So, it claims to have the authority of Christ and the experience of centuries to declare authentically how to understand God’s revelation of himself and his will for humanity.

As an exercise in Christian apologetics for today, this modest book could fill a need, providing Catholics who are bewildered by the attacks on our faith, with a new slant on how to get back to the basics. Defending the Church with our backs to the wall is futile. Rather, we should show how the traditional Church is not blown by the winds of doctrinal change, but rooted in a traceable past of fidelity to God’s Word.

Gonsalves has made a start but, if he wants to continue along this admirable path and attempt a similar book, he will need to bolster his reasoning with appropriate scriptural, patristic and doctrinal references, and not simply name his sources in a generalised way.