Separated Brethren: A Review of Protestant, Anglican, Eastern Orthodox and Other Religions in the United States

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 287 pages
• Published by: Our Sunday Visitor
• Edition: Revised Edition September 2002
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 193170905X
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-1931709057
• Book Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Weighs: 1 pounds

Reader Reviews
Separated Brethren is a nice compendium of information on the wide range of Faiths outside of the Roman Catholic Church. William Whalen is to be commended on his efforts to be matter-of-fact, and in most cases, succeeds at tempering bias. The book is an engaging read, full of information, well balanced, and broad in scope. There are a few instances where the text contains implied judgement. Particular scorn is reserved for the Mormans (as would, of course, be fitting for such a religion that has the gall to call itself Christian). Whalen cannot resist the occasional contrast against Roman Catholicism, and I got the impression that apologists for the various Faiths described would not have focussed quite so much on certain aspects. Nevertheless, it must be recognized that this is a book written to assist Catholics in ecumenical and interfaith understanding, rather than a purportedly unbiased review of religions. As such, it is perfectly acceptable to feel the loss of critical aspects of the Catholic Faith within those religions that derive from the Mother Church. As a side note, since some Baptists claim their church "pre-dates Christ," I suspect they would be quite offended by their place on the "Christian Family Tree" in Whalen's book. I also suspect that when even the Pope recognizes Eastern Orthodoxy as "the second lung" of The Church, the placement of the Eastern Orthodox church on a branch would cause significant resentment. Finally, most notably lacking in the book was treatment of the Traditionalist Catholics. Their claim is that the second largest denomination in America is "Catholics who left after Vatican II." While SSPX might be relatively small in America, I would consider their presence at least as worthy of note as "The Old Catholics."