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