| If it is true that only those who have truly delved into and assimilated a subject are capable of writing an introduction to it, this book confirms it. It is an introduction to Roman Catholicism written by one of the best-known and most profound contemporary Catholic theologians in the Anglo-American world. As rector of the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, Thomas J. White is a Dominican theologian who has authored important works on the Trinity and Christology, in which he reinterprets the intellectual tradition of Thomas Aquinas and Thomism in a modern context. Because of this organic connection to Thomas, White has also garnered some interest in North American Evangelical theological circles, which are particularly interested in the “retrieval” of the “great tradition.” In the book The Light of Christ. An Introduction to Catholicism (Washington, DC: Catholic University of America, 2017), White sets out to reconnect the general public with the intellectual and spiritual richness of Roman Catholicism. He does so through an apologetic work in which the Catholic faith is presented in a catechetical manner, highlighting its internal connections and engaging in dialogue with various currents of modern thought. In the author’s words, “my goal is to outline in a few broad strokes the form of Catholicism,” highlighting “its intrinsic intelligibility or form, as a mystery that is at once visible and invisible, ancient and contemporary, mystical and rational” (23). In all of this, the Roman Catholic Church is seen as “the trusted teacher of human and divine truths” (23). In the Anglo-American world, the book has circulated among well-educated people engaged in scholarly inquiry, helping to present Roman Catholicism as an intellectually sound and attractive option. It is interesting that it is now also being published in Italian,[1] perhaps in the hope that it will serve to attract the attention of students and intellectuals who no longer practice the Catholicism imposed by tradition, but whose journey of inquiry leads them to return to religion after experiencing the emptiness of secularization. Thus, the book is a reasoned presentation of the Roman Catholic faith. The table of contents gives an idea of its catechetical structure and the breadth of the topics covered: faith and reason, God and the Trinity, creation and the human person, the Incarnation and atonement, the Church, its social doctrine, and the last things. The discussion of faith and reason begins with one of the cornerstones of Thomistic thought: faith surpasses reason, but does not oppose it. In line with Vatican II, Scripture is believed to be inspired “for our salvation” (42) and therefore not in a plenary sense. Furthermore, White maintains that the Bible and Tradition are in harmony and mutually interdependent. In this fluid vision, the authority to teach lies with the ecclesiastical magisterium. For the Catholicism presented in the book, Scripture is “merely” (46) a book that is programmatically open to the “vital flow of apostolic tradition” (48), which is found in the Church’s tradition and which requires “a concrete structure of governance dating back to the time of Christ and his apostles” (49)—that is, the bishops and the pope. The guidance of the Holy Spirit is said to manifest itself within this structure. Here, the author caricatures the Protestant position (without actually citing it, even though he mentions John Calvin a few lines later) when he claims that it rejects tradition. For the Evangelical faith, it is not a matter of rejecting tradition, but rather of subjecting it to Scripture while recognizing its ministerial—rather than magisterial—role. |
Regarding the doctrine of God, White addresses the question of the “proofs” of God’s existence, consistently drawing on the teachings of Thomas Aquinas. Appropriately, White states that the aim of this inquiry is “to establish that God exists,” even if this does not allow us to say much about what God is in Himself (75). At this point, the Trinity is introduced, and its doctrinal presentation is interwoven with the contribution of the tradition of Roman Catholic mysticism.
In the chapter on creation, while acknowledging that God confers being upon all existing things, White echoes the Aristotelian doctrine of the hierarchy of natures (vegetal, animal, human), remaining wedded to a theory of the scale of being that owes more to paganism than to the differentiated creation described in Scripture. Regarding the interpretation of the first chapters of Genesis, the author argues that the purpose of the narrative is to establish a metaphysics of reality, without any historical or scientific intent.
As far as anthropology is concerned, the doctrine of the “imago Dei” is affirmed, and an essential part of it is the original justice received. With the fall into sin, this original grace was lost, and human nature was consequently “impoverished” (116). A disharmony has crept into life in the form of ignorance, malice, weakness, and concupiscence (118). Despite the Fall, there remains “good in our nature” (121), and human beings remain “fundamentally good” (122)—fundamentally inclined toward the good and therefore open to salvation (201). At this point, White falls back into the caricature of Protestantism he had already slipped into earlier when he says that the “total depravity” upheld by the Reformers meant the complete loss of the image of God (121). False. The Reformation never taught that humanity had lost the “imago Dei.” By sinning, Adam and Eve irreversibly broke their covenant with God and placed themselves under God’s righteous judgment. Here again, it is regrettable that a theologian of White’s caliber should resort to a falsehood to attribute to the Reformation something that does not belong to it.
According to the Roman Catholicism presented in the work, sin has taken away original grace, but not the inclination toward the good. The latter is merely weakened and wounded by sin. Only an additional gift of grace can “complete and fulfill the human person” (122). Here we are immersed in the Thomist view of the relationship between nature and grace, but far removed from the Gospel’s perspective on the irreparable tragedy of sin. Later on, justification is viewed as an “infusion” of grace, but without any recognition of its legal significance (193–194). The relationship between nature and grace is one of the key interpretive frameworks of Roman Catholicism: a nature that is weakened but still good corresponds to the conception of grace as uplifting, with the Church mediating grace through the sacraments. This is the foundation of the type of Christianity defended in the book.
Regarding Christology, while White upholds the Nicene account of the person of Christ, with regard to His work he rejects the understanding of atonement as penal substitution, this time rightly associated with John Calvin (167). As for the presence of Christ, it is associated with sacramental activity, holy ministers, and the mystical body that is the Church (174–175), but not with His Word.
In outlining the Roman Catholic vision of the Church, the author places great emphasis on the “apostolic hierarchy” (179) and the “Petrine ministry,” which he claims was established directly by Christ (181). Once again, at this point, White takes a jab at Protestantism, claiming it has experienced many doctrinal divisions because it rejected the primacy of the pope (182). This, too, is a specious argument. Protestantism, though internally diverse, has maintained a degree of doctrinal unity regarding the fundamentals of the faith in the absence of the papacy, testifying to the fact that the Church is guided not by a human leader but by the Holy Spirit through the written Word.
Regarding the sacraments, White admits that their institution cannot be empirically proven (183), even though the Council of Trent states that all seven were instituted by Christ Himself.
As for purgatory, White admits that prayer for the dead is a “pre-Christian” practice (256), but then places it within church tradition, according to which we can pray for the souls in purgatory just as they can intercede for us (264).
It is in the concluding pages that we find a reference to the other axiom of Roman Catholicism, in addition to the aforementioned relationship between nature and grace. Reflecting further on the Church and quoting the 17th-century French Catholic and anti-Protestant apologist J.-B. Bossuet, White writes: “The Church is Jesus Christ extended and transmitted…Ultimately, the light of the Church is precisely the light of Christ” (271). This is a way of summarizing the heart of Roman Catholicism: the interconnection between Christ and the Church, in that the latter prolongs the Incarnation—no longer in physical form, but sacramentally.
One final note. Among the recommended readings listed at the end, there are several that belong to the realm of Roman Catholic polemical apologetics (Bellarmine, Bossuet, Francis de Sales, the Tridentine Catechism) directed against Protestants, demonstrating that this introduction to Roman Catholicism, despite its gentle and ecumenical tone, also carries anti-Evangelical polemics in its very DNA. This is to say that the Roman Catholicism skillfully presented here is distinct and distant from the Evangelical faith, not merely in some secondary doctrines, but in the overall framework of doctrine and life.
[1]La luce di Cristo. Un’introduzione al cattolicesimo (Roma: Città Nuova, 2026). I have actually read the book in Italian and the page numbers will refer to this edition.