Our Reviews

In this brilliant new book about the deuterocanon (aka "Apocrypha"), Matthew McWhorter utilizes his skills as an attorney to make a compelling case for the larger biblical canon, by demonstrating, through comprehensive historical / patristic analysis, that the arguments Protestants make in favor of their smaller canon also apply in equal measure to the disputed deuterocanonical books. Conversely, he shows how rejecting the deuterocanon would logically require a rejection of the other canonical books, implicating the truth or falsity of Christianity itself. In sum, they stand or fall together. We Catholic apologists have always known that there was a double standard running through the Protestant arguments regarding canonicity. But it takes many many hours of painstaking labor to prove this, and to examine and document the many hundreds of relevant details which -- considered together -- reveal the glaring Protestant inconsistency.

McWhorter has, therefore, done everyone interested in the topic a great service by compiling these arguments in this tour de force work of more than 500 pages. He even appears to have -- Cardinal Newman-like -- "argued himself" from skepticism into the Catholic Church as a result of this volume. But Catholic presuppositions aren't required for anyone to grasp or be convinced by the arguments in this book, because it's first and foremost a logical analysis of historical Christian theology and objectively determined facts. Canon Crossfire is an indispensable, insightful addition to the literature devoted to canonicity. I know that I will be consulting it often, and I enthusiastically give it my very highest recommendation.

Dave Armstrong -- author of the bestsellers, A Biblical Defense of Catholicism, The One-Minute Apologist, The Catholic Verses (Sophia Institute Press), and fifty-three additional books of Catholic and general Christian apologetics.

 McWhorter, a former skeptic, has written a work of detailed and robust apologetics about the canon and the early Church that will benefit and educate both Protestant and Catholic readers. — Carl E. Olson, author of Did Jesus Really Rise from the Dead? 

The issue of the canon of Scripture is perhaps the most important issue that separates Catholics and Protestants. Did the Catholic Church add books to the Bible or did Protestants remove seven Old Testament books. Answering this question isn't easy. It involves a lot of details and background information. Fortunately, Matthew McWhorter has done us all a favor by distilling this complex issue into a well-organized and easy-to-read book that is accessible to all. I recommend this book to anyone who wishes to gain a better appreciation for how we got the Bible or wishes to learn how to explain to non-Catholics why their Protestant Bible needs to have more books.

Gary Michuta

Author of Why Catholic Bibles Are Bigger.