This is a polemical work. There are many times where Guettée engages in snide digs, which in this writer's opinion, detract from the overall work. It would be better, in this writer's opinion, to demonstrate that the papal claims consistently contradict historical facts and allow the reader to conclude that the supporters of papal pretensions are dishonest than to baldly state it.
The reader should bear in mind that this book was written in the mid-nineteenth century. Some of Guettée's facts have been slightly altered by modern scholarship, although not substantially. Some have expressed resentment that, in the introduction, Guettée writes "The Pope is a king . . .". Although the statement may seem harsh to contemporary ears, it is much more understandable if the readers considers that in the mid-nineteenth century, the pope of Old Rome was the sovereign of the Papal States, the Vatican functioned as a palace, and standard protocol required people to kowtow to the pope (and even kiss his feet).
The Editor's comments from the published edition have been retained, despite misgivings. These comments demonstrate a pronounced Protestant bias. It seems obvious to this writer that Editor wanted Guettée's work only for its evidence against the Latin papacy, being unwilling and/or unable to accept all the historical facts. This should not be too surprising since historical facts, although they disprove the claims of the papacy, are even less kind to Protestantism. Taking on Protestantism with history is like "shooting fish in a barrel". A very small barrel. With very large fish. And with a large piece of artillery. For a Protestant to use history against the papacy is ironic and requires a great deal of selectivity. This selectivity seems to the present writer as fundamentally dishonest. Nevertheless, the Editor's comments have been retained so as to present the book as it was originally published.
Those who accept the papal claims will regard Guettée's book as "anti-Catholic". It is not. Those who accept papal claims seem to reflexively label anything which challenges the view with which they have been indoctrinated as "anti-Catholic". This is unfortunate because it prevents them from seeing the truth. It is no kindness to not speak the truth as Guettée has done.
To this writer's knowledge, no defender of the papacy has composed a rebuttal to Guettée's work. Denunciations, yes. Rebuttals, no. That alone speaks volumes.
