The ultimate challenge for the Bible Christian set out to convert Catholics

Catholics have grown used to being questioned about their faith and beliefs. We hear all sorts of pre-conceived ideas posed on to us in question format, such as ‘Do you worship statues?’  or ‘Why confess to a priest?’ and so on…  And as many of us know, should one fail to reply to any such questions convincently enough, one better be prepared to be bombarded with bible verses and rhetoric that ‘prove’ our ‘errors’…

Below is a challenged designed for bible Christians that every Catholic should be familiar with:

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Where did the Bible come from? When was it codified? What books were first listed as belonging in the Christian canon? How has the canon changed over time in various groups? What books were included in the first edition of the King James Bible? When did the Council of Jamnia take place, who were its members, and what did it do?

Before the Books of the Bible were canonized, how was the Gospel spread? Before the printing press was invented some one-thousand and five hundred years after Christ, how was the Gospel spread? How do the answers to these questions apply to the concept of “sola scriptura,” or the “Bible alone” as the rule of faith? What does 2 Peter 3:16 warn against? 2 Peter 1:20-21 says Scripture is of ___ ____________ _____________? What does the word “profitable” mean? In 2 Timothy 3:16-17, what does the word “profitable” mean? Does “profitable” mean “is sufficient for” in any dictionary? Was there a New Testament canon at the time Paul wrote that verse? If not, then what Scripture was he referring to?

What do 2 Thessalonians 2:15, 2 Thessalonians 3:6 and 1 Corinthians 11:2 say about Tradition? When did this Tradition stop being in effect? What did Jesus mean when He told his followers to heed those who sat on the Chair of Moses in Matthew 23:2? What does that say about Jesus’ expectations for his followers to obey earthly authority?

What does 1 Timothy 3:15 indicate is the rule of faith? What do you believe is the rule of faith, and why?

The man to whom Jesus is speaking in Matthew 16:18-19: what was his name before those verses? What was his name after those verses? What does that name mean? What language did Jesus speak? What is the name given to this man in Jesus’ original language? What does that word mean? What other people in the Bible were given name changes? What did name changes signify in Hebrew life? What metaphoric object does Jesus give the man in Matthew 16:18-19? What does this symbolize? What did they symbolize in Isaiah 22? What are “binding and loosing”?

If Christ is a High Priest, and we are members of His royal priesthood, what are the offerings of each? If Christ is a High Priest forever, can his offerings have stopped? Did the fact that the Israelites were members of the royal priesthood negate the ordained Levite priesthood? Did the New Testament Church have bishops, elders (presbyteros, priests), and deacons or was it non-hierarchical? What is the rebellion of Korah mentioned in Jude 1:11? (hint: see Numbers 16:3) What does it mean that Jesus is a “High Priest after the order of Melchizedek”? In John 6:52-58, what is the meaning of the word “is”? In I Corinthians 11:23-30, why does Paul say some people become sick — and what does that indicate to you? Since Messiah has come, where today are the incense and “pure offering” offered up as predicted in Malachi 1:10-11? What is the root word of the word “priest”? What is the root word of the word “presbyter”?

How does Paul refer to himself in 1 Corinthians 4:14-15? In what way do the Apostles treat new Christians according to 1 Thessalonians 2:11? How does Paul refer to Isaac in Romans 9:10? How does John address his audience in 1 John 2:13?

What does I Peter 3:18-21 say baptism does? Whom does Acts 2:38-39 say that baptism is for? Whom does it indicate the promise of baptism is for? What does Colossians 2:11-12 compare baptism with? When were people circumcised to enter into the Old Covenant (i.e., at what age)? Did or did not Paul baptize entire households? In John 3:1-7, it says we are to be baptized in the Spirit and _______? In Whose name are we to be baptized according to Matthew 28:19? Do you believe something different about Baptism than what these verses teach? If so, why? How did the earliest Christians baptize according to the non-canonical writings of the earliest Christians (e.g., the Didache, written in about 50 AD)?

According to Acts 8:14-17 and Acts 19:5-6, what did Peter, Paul and John do in addition to baptizing? Do you believe that what they did is unimportant? If so, why?

What do Proverbs 28:13 and 1 John 1:9 say we should do with our sins? What authority was given to the twelve who were with Jesus in the Upper Room in John 20:21-23? What power was given specifically to Simon Peter in Matthew 16:19? What sort of ministry is described in 2 Corinthians 5:18? Do you believe something different than what these verses teach? If so, why?

How does James 5:14 describe how the elders (presbyters, priests) dealt with the sick? What did they use to help the sick? Does the faith community you’re involved with do this? If not, why not?

What does Matthew 19:6 say about marriages that are put together by God? Does your faith community teach something different? If so, why?

Mark 12:26-27 says that God is the God of what three people? What does it say about these three people (i.e., what condition are they in)? Is God the God of Abraham? Is God the God of the dead? How can he be both the God of Abraham but not the God of the dead but the living? What does Revelation 6:9-10 say about what the “souls of them that were slain” are doing? Where are those souls? What does Hebrews 12:1 say we are surrounded by? Who are they? What does this say about those who die in Christ? Does your faith community teach something different? If so, why?

What woman in Scripture gave birth to the man who was to rule all nations? Where does Revelation 12 say this woman is? What does the word “magnify” mean? In Luke 1:46-49, what does “magnify” mean? Who is the “Queen in Gold” of Psalm 45:10-17? In what ways does this Psalm make Luke 1:48 clear?

If Christ is the New Adam Christ (Romans 5:14-15, 1 Corinthians 15:22, 1 Corinthians 15:45), who is the New Eve? Who are the only two people in the Old Testament to have been without original sin from their first moments?

What three things did the Ark of the Covenant have within it (hint: see Hebrews 9:4)? What did Mary carry within her and in what ways are the contents of the Ark similar? Compare Luke 1:39-56 and 2 Samuel 6:2-16: in what ways are the Ark of the Covenant and Mary similar?

What is the Jewish “Mourner’s Kaddish” (or “Quaddish”) and why is it prayed? What is the meaning of 1 Corinthians 3:13-15? What does Revelation 21:27 say about the unclean? If you were to die right now, today, would you be clean enough to stand before Almighty God? For whom was Paul praying in 2 Timothy 1:16-18 and what was his condition at that time?

What does James 2:24 say about how we are justified? What kind of faith is mentioned in Galatians 5:6? Whom does Jesus say will enter the Kingdom of Heaven in Matthew 7:21? What does Ephesians 2:8-9 say about the possibility of saving ourselves through works? What does that verse say we are saved by? Does your faith community teach either salvation by faith alone or by works alone? If so, why?

What does Hebrews 3:12-14 indicate about the possibility of departing from God? Under what conditions does it say we can be “partakers of Christ”? In what way does Philippians 2:12 say we should approach salvation? Do you approach salvation in this way? If not, why not? Are babies saved? Are 5 year olds saved? 19 year olds? At what point, if any, do the conditions for salvation change and how do your answers affect the concept of “once saved, always saved”?

What does Acts 7:51 say about the ability to resist the Holy Spirit? What does this mean in terms of the existence of free will? Does your faith community teach something different about free will? If so, why?

What does Luke 23:34 indicate about those who act in ignorance? What does Romans 9:15 indicate about the ultimate sovereignty of God?

Revelation 17:15-18 speaks of a whore which is “that great city.” What is this city according to Revelation 11:8? Where was Christ crucified?

How did the Jewish historian, Josephus, describe the Temple in Jerusalem that was destroyed in A.D. 70?

Why does Jesus say He came according to John 12:25-27? What is the nature of the Kingdom according to John 18:36? How long has this been the nature of the Kingdom according to Matthew 25:34? What do those three verses say to those who might believe Jesus came (and will come again) to set up an earthly kingdom? Does Galatians 3:7-29 differentiate between the “seed of Abraham” and the Church? Who is a Jew according to Romans 2:28-29? With whom is the New Covenant made according to Jeremiah 31:31-34? Are there people who say they are Jews but are not according to Revelation 2:9 and 3:9? Given these verses, are people properly referred to as “Gentiles” when they enter the New Covenant? Did God keep His promises to the ancient Israelites concerning the Holy Land according to Joshua 21: 43-45, 1 Kings 8: 56, Nehemiah 9: 7-8? Why did they lose their rights to the Holy Land according to Deuteronomy 28: 58-68?

What are the Talmud and Kabbalah? What does the Talmud say about Jesus Christ and Mary? How is modern Judaism different from the religion of the Old Testament?

What objects are described in 1 Kings 6:29? What about in Ezekiel 41:17-19? What does this mean in light of Exodus 20:4?

Did the religion of the Old Testament have a sense of sacred time, sacred space, and sacred objects? Is there anything in the New Testament that indicates the concept of consecrated things/places/times has changed? What media does God use to effect miracles in:

Joshua 3:15; 1 Samuel 4-6; and 2 Samuel 11-1?______________

Numbers 21:9?______________

2nd Kings 13:21?______________

Mark 5:25?______________

Acts 5:15?______________

Acts 19:12?______________

What is the true relationship of the people described as “brothers” in: Genesis 11:26-28 and Genesis 14:14? In Genesis 29:15? In 1 Chronicles 23:21-22? In 2 Kings 10:13-14? In Deuteronomy 23:7 and Jeremiah 34:9? In Matthew 23:8? In John 20:17-18 and Matthew 12:49? In 1 Corinthians 15:6? Who is the real mother of “James, the brother of Jesus” according to your view of these verses: Matthew 27: 55-56, Mark 3:18, Mark 15:40, John 19:25, and Jude 1? What does “firstborn” mean (hint: see Exodus 13:2, Exodus 13:14-15, Numbers 18:15)?

What is “Easter” called in Latin? In Italy, France and Spain, Portugal or Brazil? What is it called in Germany, Sweden, and Denmark? What do Byzantine Catholics call it? What is the common root word for all these names? What does that root word indicate about the origins of the holy day known in English speaking countries as “Easter”?

Everyone wants to be part of a “New Testament-style Church” — but few are the people who read what the earliest Christians wrote! If worshipping and believing like the Apostles did are, indeed, what you want, then why haven’t you read thoroughly Sacred Scripture, the Didache (the first century “Teachings of the Twelve Apostles”), Ignatius of Antioch, Clement of Rome, Irenaeus, Justin Martyr, John Chrysostom, Augustine (all of him, not just the parts that, pulled out of context, seem to support various modern positions!), Hippolytus, etc. Even Origen and Tertullian give witness to what the early Christians believed… How can you know what the earliest Church was like if you don’t look? What is holding you back? If you read these Early Christian Writings, ask yourself: what Church today is like the Church they described? What Church today teaches Bible-based answers to the questions above?

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Catholics don’t follow Christ?

This entry is my response to the blog post: We are Christians, not Catholics because we choose to follow Christ

The article above ( unfortunately, the link to it has been broken) is full of misconceived ideas. A sad problem that I see in a lot of former Catholics, specially in America. But this problem has deep roots, as most former Catholics had never really known their Catholic faith as they decide to leave the Church. In my experience, this is true in 99% of the cases, more often then not their opinions on Catholicism are not based on facts, but on their personal (mis) perceptions and experiences.

It is interesting when someone says: “As a Catholic I didn’t know Jesus and the Bible”, as though it was the Church’s fault they didn’t! No Christian person should feel they can blame others for their own failure in building a relationship with the Lord. 

I always try to prompt former Catholics and critics of Catholicism to ponder on the fact that although we have the Liturgy of the Word at daily Mass, the Catholic worship is not a Bible study assembly. Mass is a thanksgiving celebration to God the Father that includes the Liturgy of the Word, along with the Eucharist (thanksgiving in Greek).  However, to deny that the study of the Scripture is an important part of the Catholic faith is to declare  that one doesn’t know what takes place at Mass.  The Church goes through the entire Bible in the course of two years, with no repeating passages read each day. Every Sunday the readings include at least one passage from the OT, plus the Psalms, which are carefully selected to shed light on the NT readings.  At daily Mass two NT passages are read and explained in the homily.

Everyday many millions of Catholics listen to the readings at Mass and then come home and open their own Bibles to reflect on the teachings that they have read in Church. I guess what I mean is that it takes a personal commitment to follow Jesus. Unfortunately,  these days people have grown more and more comfortable with the notion of pointing fingers, rather than taking responsibility for their actions or inactions.

On the other hand, I have seen numerous protestant Christians who, in their search for the truth, have joined the Catholic Church either because they could no longer bear the weight of division within Protestantism, the diversity of scriptural interpretations accepted and professed by the different churches, or simply because when they learn what Catholic Christianity actually teaches  they are taken by surprise by the richness of the Church’s Scriptural foundations.

The article I am debating here, at a first glance, seems to be calling people to be true followers of Christ, which is great and clashes in NO shape or form with what the Catholic faith teaches.  However, a closer look tell us that in fact the poster has an agenda and his  focus is not simply to promote discipleship of Jesus, but to incriminate the Catholic Church and indirectly discriminate her members.

Christ is the centre of the Catholic Faith. We believe that salvation is a free gift of God, and that faith in Jesus is necessary for salvation. Therefore, imitation of Christ is a core belief of Catholicism. Obedience to His teachings and the keeping of God’s commandments are the fruits of our faith. In other words, Catholics are called to be true disciples of Christ not only through their faith but also in their actions.

Clearly,  prejudice against Catholicism is a problem that cannot be tackled only through ‘apologetic efforts’.  I suspect that giving a true witness of the Gospels would be considerably  more effective. However it may be,  I am a follower of Christ and a proud Catholic. Amen!

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Letter to an anti-Catholic Christian

In the past few months I have been somewhat engaged in defending the Catholic faith whenever there is an opportunity. This is not because I find that other Christian churches are not good, but because I believe it is wrong that Catholics should be discriminated and even attacked in such a relentless and unfair way. 

Here is a letter that I posted recently on an online Christian Social-Network, in response to an extremely resentful and anti-Catholic article.

I must admit I find it somewhat difficult to debate the Catholic Church with most non-Catholics, especially fundamentalist Christians and Evangelicals. Not because I don’t have the answers to their arguments and, sometimes, their accusations, because I do have. In fact, the more I study my faith to reply to such arguments, the more I become convinced that I don’t want leave the Catholic Church. The problem is anti-Catholics are never  prepared to listen with an open heart and mind, because they are fuelled with prejudice and misconceived ideas.

I am not sure of what some protestants mean with ‘man-made laws that have been mixed into the Church’s teachings’, but this is just one example of the accusations that are thrown at Catholics. Obviously, the Catholic Church cherishes the Sacred Traditions passed onto to us by the Apostles of Our Lord, but these are certainly not  man-made or conflicting with Jesus’ teachings. 

For instance, this abusive letter I received talked about many misinterpreted ideas about Catholicism and in my response I tried to cover them to the best of my ability, as it follows:

According to the Catholic Church, worship and adoration in due to GOD only and no-one else. God commands that we should have NO idols and only He can be Adored and worshiped. However, the understanding that God forbids any representation of ‘heavenly beings’ is inaccurate; otherwise God would be contradicting Himself when  he commanded Moses to decorate the Tabernacle with Cherubim ‘skilfully worked into them’ or place two 5ft tall pure gold angle statues in His holy temple (Ex. 25: 18-22 ; 36:8 ).  

Regarding our reverence to Sacred symbols and objects, it is important to say that, for instance, when a priest kisses the Sacred Scripture or the Sacrificial Table at Mass, he is not kissing the matter which those objects are made of, but what they represent. Namely,  Jesus’ Sacrifice and the Word of God.

The same is true for when a Catholic venerates a Sacred Icon of the Blessed Virgin – the Mother of God, for example, he/she is not venerating the wood or marble of the statue, but who and what the object represents, namely her example of loyalty and obedience to God, her meekness and discipleship. When a marble Icon of Jesus is made and blessed for veneration ( NOT worship), it is NOT to represent God, who is invisible and Divine, therefore Impossible to be represented (and who we are forbidden to represent, anyways) but to honour the humanity of Christ, God in His human form, as well as his gentle act of love in humbling Himself as a mere human being, who although was Divine was also true man, for the love of us!

The use of Sacred Icons was an efficient way found by the early Christians to evangelize, by depicting passages of the Gospel in order to spread the teachings of the Lord even to those illiterate people in the end of the world, as Jesus commanded.

After Jesus was resurrected it took about 365 years for a Bible to be compiled. Furthermore, before the Bible came about as we know it today, only an extremely small percentage of the population of the world could actually read and write. And even after the Bible was compiled, because there was no printing press, which only happened in the 1500’s, Christians did not have access to the Holy Scriptures as we do today. Therefore, they HAD to rely on the oral teachings passed on by the leaders of the Early Christian Church! Thus, the Church’s Apostolic heritage.

Some non-Catholics claim that they have ‘studied’ the Church’s history. The problem is that they never go to the Church’s owns sources in order to learn what she actually teaches. Instead, they ‘study’ anti-Catholic literature which is widely available both on the internet or any book store. The problem is, these materials are, with very rare exceptions, full of errors and by no means provide an accurate understanding of the Catholic Church and faith. 

I wish those who are really interested in learning the truth, would refer to the writings of the Early Christians of the first and second century, or records such as The Didache (also known as the Teachings of the Twelve), which is the oldest existing Christian document (50AD), as well as Scholars such as St. Ignatius of Antioch (35AD), St. Thomas Aquinas, Justin Martyr (100AD) and so on. For if that’s what you mean, I am happy to inform you that I am hard at work on those…

In reponse to the notion that the Catholic Church discourages Bible reading, it is important to point out that Liturgy of the Mass is composed of two parts. The Liturgy of the Word & the Liturgy of the Eucharist. This has been the same for 2000 years. Everyday we hear three passages, two from the NT and one from the OT and then a homily based on the readings. But the point is, although the Church has always encouraged private reading of the Scriptures, the Holy Mass is not a Bible study assembly. We congregate to worship the Lord in thanksgiving and praise, but it is our duty as Christians to read the word at home, to reflect on the aily readings heard at Mass, and to study them at home. 

Having said that, the Church does promote many extra-Mass activities, such as prayer groups, Bible study classes, that are designed to deepen our knowledge of the Scriptures. At Mass we celebrate the word of God and receive Jesus in the Holy Communion.

Criticism of the Catholic can be cinical and unfounded. For instance, antagonism to clergy vestiments.  As most Bible reader would know, such  vestments are indeed Biblical and are refered to in OT.  This tradition is in fact so sacred that it was first observed by the Jews themselves, who still keep it, as well as the Orthodox and Anglicans alike….

Some people like to come up with outrageous Biblical interpretations to motivate their antagonism toward the Catholic Church and support the fact their views. For some Catholics have the ‘mark of the beast’ on their forehead, as the Church is the ‘whore of Babylon’. Whenever I hear   nonsensical interpretations, I am obliged to point out that Catholics also have interpretations of their own…

We believe, for instance, that we are the True Church of Christ because Jesus Himself founded her: In Mt 16:18 we read:

“You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church.” Or ‘You are Kepha, and on this kepha I will build my Church. ( Kepha, that’s a transliteration of the Aramaic word (in which the Gospel of Matthew was written) Kepha (rendered as Kephas in its Hellenistic form of Greek).

According to this  Catholic view there is no-way the Church can be the so-called whore of Babylon. Why not? Because if we read on, in Mt 16:19 Jesus promised:

 “And the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven”. (Matt. 16:18-19)

This passage says it all: The Apostolic authority given by Jesus, the founding of His Church and an Eternal Promise, these elements are not compatible with the evil attributed to the Church! Therefore, the Church has got it all covered just as God has!

Catholics have kept the Apostolic Tradition, which can be tracked back to St Peter, our first Bishop and leader – who you stated to be the pagan god Neptune, re-named by the Church – currently called the Pope, as well as everything else that was practiced by our forefathers.

David prophesied about the Catholic Church as being Zion:

Among those who know me I mention Rahab and Babylon, Philistiatoo, and Tyre, with Ethiopia – “This one was born there“, they say. And of Zion it shall be said, “This one and that one were born in IT, for the Most High Himself will establish it. (Psalm 87:5-4).

Such “understandings” Catholics have gives them any right or authority to go about judging other Christian Churches for not uniting with or following the True Church of Christ? Absolutely not!! Because the Scriptures (1Cor 13: 1-7) say:

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Finally, let us not lose sight of what happened as soon as M. Luther broke up with the Church. In the following years of after the Reformation there were many others who disagreed with him, and walked out to found their own “truthful” church. It well documented that before M. Luther’s death there were already 280 sects of Christianity, all of them claiming to be the right one. Nowadays there are 38 thousand, of which not a single one fully agrees with the others. Therefore, to try to argue about who is right and wrong under such circumstances would require an enormous amount of time reading and studying, to say the least.

Therefore, I will not boast about being right nor will I write resentful posts on the internet. I will pray much that the prayer of Jesus in Jn. 17:11 will not be in vain and that one day all followers of Christ will be one in Him, as He and the Father are One.

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The best & The worst things I read today…

A darling friend sent me this uplifting thought:

The best and most beautiful things cannot be seen or touched – they must be felt with the heart ~ Helen Keller 

Then I stumbled onto a ‘Christian’ website, were a Hindu member had posted a message announcing his decision to become a Christian and embracing Catholicism. Here is an excerpt of the post:

Reading the bible brings me inner peace because I am convinced that it is the word of God. Reading the bible, I feel, is a life changing experience. While I was searching I have only encountered positive feelings. Sometimes, I feel like shouting to the rest of the world at the top of my voice that JESUS IS LORD!

As a response, this poor person got this comment from a so-called Christian pastor:

I wish you were accepting Christ as the Savior of your life and not so much the act that He is the only way for a dying world to be save, but I suppose that is a start.
I wish you would embrace Christ and not a religion. Christianity is so much more than embracing a religion because you have friends there. I know God can use all that stuff to work in your heart and I hope He does.

I feel I do not need to make any further comments, except that I think that’s a  pretty sad statement… Will we ever pray in one accord with Jesus (John 17:20-23), for the unity of the flock under one shepherd? I doubt it…

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