The Eternal City: Rome & the Origins of Catholic Christianity
By Dr. Taylor Marshall

Why is the Roman Catholic Church “Roman”? Is it simply an historical accident? Or was the Church in Rome an integral part of God’s design from the beginning? Dr. Taylor Marshall believes that Rome is part of the eternal Divine plan, and he backs it that claim, working from the Book of Daniel, the Gospels, Revelation, and the records of the life of the early church.

Along the way he addresses standard anti-Rome arguments such as the claim that St. Peter was bishop of Antioch first, that St. Paul knew nothing of St. Peter’s presence in Rome, and the tired petros/petra argument.

I am not entirely on board with his exegesis of Daniel and Revelation (with respect to the latter, I am not settled on preterism as the right way to go), but he gives good reasons for his conclusions in an appendix and in some of the footnotes. Since his intended audience isn’t academic, my quibbles are satisfied.

This book is the third in a trilogy. I’ve read the first, The Crucified Rabbi: Judaism and the Origins of Catholic Christianity (The Origins of Catholicism), and found it well worth reading too. I didn’t realize that Catholic Perspective on Paul was in the series until I read the book on Rome, but I’m going to add it to my “to-read” list.

Minor problems: Either he uses voice dictation software or he thinks aurally, but either way there are a few minor errors such as “site” for “cite.” (I see similar things on his web cite site from time to time.) In the Kindle edition, a few illustrations are missing and display only as an X in a box.

Summary: If you want to know why the word “Roman” is not an accidental part of the title of the “Roman Catholic Church,” then this book is well worth your time and money. 5/5

Nothing Short of a Miracle

Nothing Short of a Miracle: God's Healing Power in Modern Saints

I picked up this book at our local Catholic bookstore on something of a whim. Those who know me well know that I'm always interested in learning more about saints, so maybe that was the reason.

The book covers miracles attributed to the saints and prospective saints listed below. (Since not all of them are saints and not all of them are modern, the subtitle of the book is not entirely accurate.)

• St. André Bessette (listed in the book as a blessed, which is odd since this edition of the book was published in 2013 and St. André was canonized in 2010)
• St. John Bosco
• Bld. Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa)
• St. Francis Xavier Cabrini (Mother Cabrini)
• Ven. Solanus Casey
• St. Pio of Pietrelcina (Padre Pio)
• Bld. (but soon St.) John Paul II
• St. John Neumann
• Blessed Stanislaus Papczyński
• St. Luigi Scrosoppi
• Bld. Francis X. Seelos
• St. Elizabeth Seton
• Ven. Fulton Sheen
• Bld. Maria Troncatti

That's from a list in the back of the book giving contact information for those who wish to report healings; there may well be a few others mentioned in the text itself.

Although the saints themselves are not all from particularly modern times, most of the miracles described are from the 20th Century or later. For many of the saints, the book gives the story of the beatification and canonization miracles. It also gives stories of each saint's intercession in much more recent times, up to almost the present day.

The book is readable, interesting, and well-suited in its purpose of showing how God's healing activity continues through the work of His saints. The author said that in addition to showing the present existence of miracles, she also wanted to show how miracles affect those who receive them and their families. She showed some of that, and I'd have been interested to see more.

I do have a few minor complaints about the book. It's in its third edition and the material added to this edition (including the material on John Paul II and Fulton Sheen) could have used more careful editing—some of the prose is awkwardly written. The occasional pitching of books by the same author is a bit annoying. And perhaps there are a few too many reminders that the saints work miracles by the power of God—that's important to know, but the reminders break up the flow of the book.

As I said, those are minor complaints, and I found the book well worth my time and money.

The book is also available in electronic format.