Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Catholic
History and Religion
Anti-Catholic Double Standards on Self-Published Books

Anti-Catholic Double Standards on Self-Published Books

Last updated on: June 6, 2026 at 12:42 am by Dave Armstrong

Anti-Catholic Double Standards on Self-Published Books 2026-06-06T00:42:05-04:00 Dave Armstrong

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

James Swan and His Love of the Ridiculous Self-Published Books of David T. King and William Webster

My best-selling book (one of four) with Sophia Institute Press (2007). See book and purchase information.

*****

James Swan is a Reformed Protestant anti-Catholic polemicist, who runs a website called (well, at least affectionately by myself and some of my readers) Boors All. I won’t tax the patience of readers with our past history. Suffice it to say that the man despises me. He plays games with my papers and books; for example, writing “book reviews” without mentioning that I am the author of the book.

His goal is always to put me down as someone not to be taken seriously, and as an utterly incompetent researcher (and he has also often classified me as mentally ill, just for the record). It’s all personal attack. I long ago tired of documenting in any systematic way his 1001 lies about myself personally or my research, but in this paper I would like to simply document one particular double standard that often occurs on his blog. Double standards often typify anti-Catholic treatments of Catholics.

In a recent paper Swan (words in blue below) noted one of my books, without mentioning my name as the author (pretty odd stuff):

As far as I can tell, the quote was taken from the self-published Lulu book, Martin Luther: Catholic Critical Analysis and Praise, page 44*. . . .* If the person using this quote actually checked the documentation given in this self-published book, he would’ve realized “Ibid., from: O’Connor, 15” was barely helpful as a reference. Even the “O’Connor, 15” part was wrong.

Well, folks, I must confess to an outrageous error that Swan managed to identify: I incorrectly listed a page 15 in my source, when in fact, the material in question was actually on page 20 (as in my original 1991 handwritten research notes: I just checked). I repent in dust and ashes and renounce my entire corpus of apologetics books, since this horrific, inexcusable error has destroyed my competence. It was a nice run, but it’s over now . . .

Seriously, though, I want to concentrate on Swan’s cynical practice of identifying my books as “self-published.” Never mind that I have six books “officially” published by three different Catholic publishers, with a fourth (100 Biblical Arguments Against Sola Scriptura) to be published soon by a fourth major Catholic publisher: Catholic Answers [note: the total as of April 2020 is twenty-two books with five Catholic publishers and two Protestant ones]. Several of my books, for that matter, are also carried in important theological and municipal libraries (including many Protestant ones). None of that matters in Swan’s mind. He only wants to note others of my books that I put out on my own, and never misses a chance to describe them as “self-published.”

He makes a big deal about that, as an indication that my work is of no significance whatever, because it is merely “self-published.” He also fails to see the highly amusing hyper-irony that every time he states this, it is on his own “self-published” and non-supervised blog [and to my knowledge has never had a book published by a publisher]. The man couldn’t get anything officially published to save his life, yet he mocks me as “self-published” when he knows full well that I have several books (six) published by real live publishers, with real live, breathing editors, managing boards of real people, etc. Here is a second example:

On page 122 of a self-published book, Martin Luther: Catholic Critical Analysis and Praise (2008), a Catholic apologist documents the quote as: . . . In the Catholic apologist’s case, his book on Luther is self-published, . . . (10-12-08)

He does the same to other authors: several of them Protestant, but not Calvinist, and so subject to his belittling (examples: one / two / three / four / five). Oddly enough, however, Swan has an extremely high opinion of a three-volume work by anti-Catholic comrades William Webster and David T. King:

Holy Scripture: The Ground and Pillar of Our Faith, Volume I: A Biblical Defense of the Reformation Principle of Sola Scriptura (King)

Holy Scripture: The Ground and Pillar of Our Faith, Volume II: An Historical Defense of the Reformation Principle of Sola Scriptura (Webster)

Holy Scripture: The Ground and Pillar of Our Faith, Volume III: The Writings of the Church Fathers Affirming the Reformation Principle of Sola Scriptura (Webster and King)

I say “oddly enough” because these were put out by “Christian Resources, Inc.” Ever heard of that outfit? I didn’t think so. I demonstrated in a paper over two years ago that this “publisher” was run by Webster himself. It’s self-publishing, folks. Anyone can print their own book if they like and put it out. It’s easy to do today.

Knowing this, why is it, then, that when Swan exalts these works (as he often has and continues to do) he never ever ever (far as I can tell from searching his site) mentions that they are “self-published”? Why in the world would that be? Maybe you can write to him and ask. I can’t, because he has told me he blocks my e-mails, and I’m banned from his blog as well. Here are examples:

As a token of appreciation for your comments on this blog, i’d like to send you David King’s book: Holy Scripture: The Ground and Pillar of Our Faith (Volume I) (9-7-06)

I cited this quote from David T. King, Holy Scripture: The Ground And Pillar Of Our Faith Volume 1 (WA: Christian Resources Inc, 2001), 224]. (10-23-06)

[two citations] (10-24-06)

As David King points out in his book Holy Scripture: The Ground and Pillar of Our Faith, . . . (7-26-07)

For a detailed look at this argument see: David King, Holy Scripture: The Ground and Pillar of Our Faith (WA: Christian Resources inc, 2001) p.130-136. (7-31-07)

For an extended treatment of this quote by Basil, see William Webster, Holy Scripture, the Ground and Pillar of Our Faith (Battle Ground: Christian Resources, 2001), Vol. 2, pp. 142ff. (8-10-07)

For an excellent compilation of quotes of the Church fathers teaching on the primacy, sufficiency and ultimate authority of Scripture, get a copy of Holy Scripture: The Ground and Pillar of Our Faith Vol III – The Writings of the Church Fathers Affirming the Reformation Principle of Sola Scriptura. (12-30-07)

I would also be interested in knowing if you’ve read Dr. White’s Roman Catholic Controversy, Webster/King’s Holy Scripture: The ground and Pillar of Our Faith (3 vols), and Svendsen’s Who is My Mother? If not, you really should get some of these books before making your final decision. (1-19-09)

For an excellent compilation of quotes of the Church fathers teaching on the primacy, sufficiency and ultimate authority of Scripture, get a copy of Holy Scripture:The Ground and Pillar of Our Faith Vol III – The Writings of the Church Fathers Affirming the Reformation Principle of Sola Scriptura. (7-7-09)

Here’s reason number #986 why I keep the book Holy Scripture: The Ground and Pillar of Our Faith Volume One on my desk. (4-5-10)

[three citations] (7-31-10)

You get the idea. Never a word about these volumes being self-published. They’re right up there next to the Bible in importance and near-inspired nature. The original page of the publisher, “Christian Resources” — where I documented that Webster was the director and founder is no longer online. But a current “Contact Info.” page leads right to Webster’s e-mail address. If there is any doubt that this is not a traditional publisher, but a glorified, slickly disguised self-publishing operation, the Book Printing page outlines how anyone can pay to get a book printed:

The price depends on the size of the book. As an example, the price for producing a paperback book, 80 pages in length, 5 1/2″ x 8 1/2″ in size would be approximately $4.50 per book. The customer would be responsible for shipping costs.

If you have interest in having a book printed please contact Bill Webster for an estimate

How Christian and democratic of William: anyone can get a book published at good ol’ Christian Resources. Even Swan could put out a book if he likes, filled with his relentlessly profound pearls of wisdom! Well, anyone but a Catholic, of course . . .

Through the marvel of Internet Archive, it was easy enough to establish that Webster runs this outfit:

Christian Resources is a non-profit teaching, apologetics and publishing ministry dealing with issues related to Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, the Gospel, Church history and the Christian life. The ministry is dedicated to the teaching and proclamation of the Gospel, a biblical and historical defense of the teachings of the Reformation and the discipling of believers in their Christian walk.

The Director and Founder of Christian Resources is William Webster (home page, scanned on 9 February 2005; link now defunct)

Clicking on the category, “Books” on the same page above, we find the “hit” of this self-publishing juggernaut of Christian truth, the three-volume series I have been mentioning above.

Gotta love those incessant anti-Catholic ethical double standards . . .

***

David T. King and William Webster: Out-of-Context or Hyper-Selective Quotations from the Church Fathers on Christian Authority: Introduction to the Series [11-8-13]

David T. King and William Webster: Out-of-Context or Hyper-Selective Quotations from the Church Fathers on Christian Authority: Part I: St. Cyril of Jerusalem [11-9-13]

David T. King and William Webster: Out-of-Context or Hyper-Selective Quotations from the Church Fathers on Christian Authority: Part II: St. Basil the Great [11-11-13]

***

(originally posted on 8-1-11)

***

Previous Post

April 21, 2020

Luther: Death Penalty for Anabaptists & 1525 Peasants’ Revolt

Next Post

April 22, 2020 Apocalypse! Steve Skojec's Pontifications vs. Vatican II

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category & Last Things About Me Anti-Catholicism Atheism & Agnosticism Baptism and Sacramentalism Bible and Tradition Blessed Virgin Mary Books by Dave Armstrong C. S. Lewis Calvinism & General Protestantism Catholic Apologetics Catholic Apologists Catholic conversion Catholic converts Christmas Church (Ecclesiology) Church History Conversion and Converts Development of Doctrine Eastern Orthodoxy Ecumenism & Christian Unity Eucharist & Liturgy Fathers of the Church French Translations G. K. Chesterton Hell Hell & Satan Hell & Satan & Last Things Heresies & Comparative Religion Holistic Health Inquisition & Crusades & Scandals James White Jews & Judaism & Old Testament John Calvin John Henry Newman Liberal / Modernist Theology Life Issues Literary Resume Lutheranism Mariology Martin Luther Music Orthodoxy Papacy & Infallibility Personal Page Philosophy & Science Political & Ethical & Moral Issues Protestant Persecution & Intolerance Protestantism Purgatory Purgatory & Penance Romantic & Imaginative Theology Saints & Purgatory & Penance Salvation Salvation & Justification Satan & Last Things Sexuality and Gender Issues Spanish Translations Traditionalism vs. Radical Catholic Reactionaries Traducciones al español / tradução para português Trinitarianism & Christology Uncategorized Videos

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 April 2010 March 2010 December 2009 October 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 March 2009 February 2009 October 2008 September 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 May 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 October 2005 June 2005 April 2005 February 2005 July 2004 May 2004 April 2004

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz