Purify Your Bride

I found a website from a guy named Mike Gendron that has some questions for Catholics. Here are some replies. My words are in purple, Mike’s are in green. 

One of the most effective ways to communicate the Gospel of Jesus Christ is to ask questions. This method is highly effective because it is biblical! It also shows people that you care for them. Usually people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.

I am not sure asking questions shows you care. I do believe you care. I just don’t see how asking questions proves it. Especially when many of the questions have assertions in them. I do beleive you care. In fact, I think you are probably closer to Jesus than many Catholics.

The Lord Jesus had some hard questions for good Jews. He asked questions, not only to make His Gospel known, but also to expose the errors of religious leaders.

I agree here. Asking questions is what made me Catholic. I think Jesus brought us truth and it should make sense rationally. There are going to be some things we don’t understand but there is not going to be complete logical contradiction. God does not work that way.

Jesus challenged Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, about his knowledge of the Kingdom of God: “Are you the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things?” (John 3:10). He asked the stubborn-hearted Pharisees who were blinded by religious tradition: “If I speak the truth, why do you not believe me?” (John 8:46). Then He exposed how corrupt their religion had become with this hard question: “Why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition?” (Mat. 15:3). Possibly the most important question the Son of God ever asked was addressed to Peter: “Who do you say that I am?” (Mat. 16:15). The response to this question carries eternal consequences because Jesus warned: “if you do not believe that I am [the one I claim to be], you will indeed die in your sins” (John 8:24). These questions must be answered correctly, not only by those lost in religion, but by everyone else. Following are some hard questions to ask good Catholics.

Again you are doing very well. Very important to be able to ask questions. One question I have for you though. Would it not make sense to interact with the answers the church gives to these questions? You seem to play on ignorance. You hope that whoever read this won’t know the answer the church has given many times. Sadly you are often right. Many Catholic do not know their faith. Still if you are really searching for truth you would want to make people aware of the best answers Catholicism can provide and also the best replies Protestantism can provide. Quite frankly this tactic seems like it is meant to trick people who are simply unaware of the holes in your arguments. Maybe I am wrong. Maybe you really have not heard the counter arguments to what you are presenting. If that is the case I am sure you will want to serve the truth by providing better information to your website readers.

Where do you go to find the truth about life’s most critical issues?
There is only one source that will never mislead you, never deceive you or try to control you. It is Christ and His Word (John 14:6; 17:17). Jesus said: “If you abide in My word … you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:31-32).

I still agree. Just not like you think. The word of God is not the same thing as the scriptures. When you equate the two you commit the heresy of Sola Scriptora. The word of God is the best source of truth. We receive it through scripture, through tradition, and through the magesterium. So everything you have said about the word of God is true but you need to correctly understand what that means.

Free from what? Free from the bondage of religious deception. Knowledge of the truth is necessary to escape from the snare of the devil who holds people captive to do his will (2 Tim. 2:25-26). Satan uses deceitful workers who disguise themselves as apostles of Christ to blind people from the truth (2 Cor. 11:13-15).

So how are you going to know Satan’s deceitful workers? How do I know you are not one of them? Your very passage says he can disguise himself as an angel of light. So if there are false teachers who look like true teachers how am I supposed to know? Well, the answer for the Corinthians was obvious. They were to trust Paul. He had received the true gospel from Jesus. So who do we trust? Who has received the true gospel from a reliable source? Is it the scripture? That does not make sense because bible churches contradict each other all over the place. They all claim to be biblical but they can’t possibly all be true. Besides, didn’t Satan quote scripture in Mt 4? So he can twist scripture. There must be more to it than that.

Knowing this, Rome defiantly declares its Bishops to be successors of the “apostles of Christ.” According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), “whoever listens to them is listening to Christ” (CCC, para. 862).

This actually comes from Luke 10:16, “He who listens to you listens to me; he who rejects you rejects me; but he who rejects me rejects him who sent me.” Jesus sent out his disciples with these words. The question is does Jesus still give this same blessing to people on earth?

We must tell Catholics their bishops fail the test for apostles given in Acts 1:21-26. There have been only two successors of the apostles – Matthias was chosen by the apostles and Paul was chosen by Christ (Acts 9:1-19).

This is quite misleading. The church does not claim bishops are apostles. Apostles were bishops but they were more than that. They were eye witnesses of the resurrection. They were taught the gospel in a special way by Jesus Himself. Still, in Acts 1 the was an idea that an apostle should be replaced. Peter declared it to be so and nobody objected. You claim they never replaced another apostle after that. That just isn’t in the bible. In fact the passage from 2 Tim 2 you quoted was written to Timothy to instruct him on how to lead. He even talks about laying his hands on Timothy. Look what he says in Chapter 4, “But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry. For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” He sees Timothy as taking his place when he dies.

God warns us: “Do not trust in princes, in mortal man, in whom there is no salvation” (Psalm 146:3). Why the warning? Because “savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them” (Acts 20:29-30). In light of these warnings, the most critical question is this: Will you trust Christ and His Word or man and his religious traditions.

This still does not help me with the key question. Who are the savage wolves and who are the true shepherds? If you read one verse prior, Acts 20:28, “Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you bishops. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.”

Did you know there is only one way to be saved?
God’s Gospel is by grace through faith in one person (Eph. 2:8-9). The gift of eternal life is given freely to those who trust the eternal God. incarnate – Jesus Christ – His virgin birth, His perfect life, His atoning death and His glorious resurrection (1 Cor. 15:1-4). The Lord Jesus is sufficient to save sinners completely and forever.

This is exactly what the Catholic church teaches. “The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. (Gal 5:6)”

Diametrically opposed to God’s Gospel is The Catholic gospel which offers salvation through its sacraments. The Catholic priest replaces the sovereign work of God by administering baptism which “not only purifies from all sins, but also makes the neophyte a new creature, an adopted son of God who has become a partaker of the divine nature, a member of Christ and co-heir with Him and a temple of the Holy Spirit” (CCC,1257,1265). Most baptisms are administered to new born babes who have no capacity to put their faith in anything.

This is not opposed to faith but a means of grace we submit to in faith. Jesus says in John 3:5, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.” It is not about water or the spirit but it must be both. We receive salvation from God by grace through faith. Still we must cooperate with that grace and let it transform our lives. We start by submitting to baptism. Does baptizing an infant make sense? Yes, because God can pour out His grace without our help. We cooperate to the extent we are able. For a baby that isn’t very much but as they grow older they are called to live it out.

Did you know those who distort the Gospel are condemned?
This includes apostles, priests, popes, pastors or angels (apparitions of Mary) from heaven. The apostle Paul warned: “there are some who … want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we have preached to you, let him be accursed (Gal. 1:7-8). Catholics need to be warned that their clergy is under divine condemnation for adding works and sacraments to God’s Gospel (CCC, 1129).

Again you ignore the real question. Are you distorting the gospel or are they? Did Jesus not care about works or sacraments? Read Mt 25:31-46, the discourse about the sheep and the goats, that gives you an idea what Jesus felt about works. He even relates it directly to salvation without mentioning faith at all. Do you believe Jesus never instituted sacraments? I am not sure because I don’t know what form of Protestantism you follow. Most protestants feel sacraments are part of the gospel. What was the last supper about? What was the great commission about?

Did you know that Jesus put an end to the ordained priesthood?
God’s Word reveals that the veil of the temple that separated the Holy of Holies from sinful man was tom open by God (Mat. 27:51). Man can now come directly to God through faith in the shed blood of the Savior (Rom. 3:2326). Priests are no longer needed to offer sacrifices for sin (Heb. 10:18). The only legitimate priesthood which remains on earth is the royal priesthood of all believers. They offer sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving for being called out of darkness into the marvelous light of the Son (1 Pet. 2:9).

Again you are asking me to take your word that you are right and the Catholic church is wrong. There is just no reason to do that. 1 Pet 2:9 is a quote from Ex 19:6. In Exodus it did not mean the end of the ordained priesthood. Why would it mean that in Peter?   

Do you really believe Catholic priests have the power to call the Lord Jesus down from heaven every day?
According to Roman Catholic priest John O’Brien in his book Faith of Millions, “The priest … reaches up into the heavens, brings Christ down from His throne, and places Him upon our altar to be offered up again as the Victim for the sins of man… Christ, the eternal and omnipotent God, bows his head in humble obedience to the priest’s command.” Over 200,000 times each day, priests throughout the world believe they re-present Jesus on their altars as an offering for sins of the living and the dead (CCC, 1371-1374). Again Catholics ignore God’s Word which declares that Jesus “having been offered once to bear the sins of many, shall appear a second time for salvation not to bear sin” (Hebrews 9:28). The Bible also tells us how and when Jesus will appear. He will return the same way he left, immediately after the tribulation with power and great glory (Mat. 24:27-30; Acts 1:11). By the authority of God’s Word we must conclude that the Eucharist is a false Christ.

The authority of God’s word? Mostly it is just your opinion. Your authority or lack thereof. Catholics do not ignore God’s word. They have been studying God’s word for centuries without anyone finding the interpretation you suggest. That is not ignoring God’s word. It is simply not twisting it out of shape to avoid the plain teaching. Jesus was sacrificed once but we have access to that sacrifice over and over. We can offer it to God as a perfect form of the old testament animal sacrifices. Then we eat it, as they did, because Jesus is the only way we can become holy. The second coming is a separate thing.

Why do Catholic priests continue to offer Jesus as a sacrificial victim when He said “It is finished” (John 19:30)?
God’s Word says: Jesus appeared once and offered Himself once to bear sins. His offering is not to be done again (Heb. 9:25-28). When Jesus “offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, [He] sat down at the right hand of God” (Heb. 10:12). Disregarding the infallible Word of God, Catholicism teaches: “the sacrifice of Christ and the sacrifice of the Eucharist are one single sacrifice. The victim is one and the same. In this divine sacrifice, the same Christ who offered himself once … is contained and offered in an unbloody manner” (1367).

So what was finished? There is one theory here( http://zuserver2.star.ucl.ac.uk/~vgg/rc/aplgtc/hahn/m4/4cp.h tml ).

Did you know Jesus has already obtained redemption for believers?
Catholicism denies this by teaching: “The work of our redemption is carried on” every time the Eucharist is celebrated (CCC, 1405) God’s Word declares: “He [Jesus] entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption” (Heb. 9:12). “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace” (Eph. 1:7).

Yes and no. Paul says in Col 1:24, “Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church.” Jesus suffering was enough. St Thomas Aquinas calls it superabundant. It just needs to be applied. God uses us to accomplish that.   

Why do you call Jesus the Savior when you have to save yourself?
Catholicism teaches the sinner must “make satisfaction for” or “expiate” his sins. This satisfaction is also called “penance.” (1459; “In this way they attained their own salvation and cooperated in saving their brothers” (1477). God’s Word proclaims “There is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven given among men, b; which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

There are eternal consequences to sin that will, if we persevere in the faith, be wiped out completely by God’s grace. God’s grace is bigger than that though. He also provides us with helps for making ourselves holy. One such method is a temporal consequence for sin. This is similar to a parent rewarding good behaviour and punishing bad.  

Why do you believe a place caller Purgatory can purify your sins?
God’s Word says “when He [Jesus] had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high (Hebrews 1:3). “He gave Himself for us to… purify for Himself a people for His own possession” (Titus 2:14). “The blood of Jesus… cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). These verses destroy the myth of Purgatory. Yet the Vatican continues to deceive Catholics by teaching they “must undergo purification [in Purgatory] to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven” (CCC, 1030).

These verses destroy the myth of Purgatory? Really? They seem pretty weak. The truth is there is no biblical problem with purgatory. It is more a problem with the temporal and eternal distinction made above. Still there are many passages that talk about rewards and being saved through fire. Look at Mt 12:32, “Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.” So there are some sins that will be forgiven in this age and some that will be forgiven in the age to come.

Why do you pray to Mary?
Nowhere in the Bible do we see believers praying to anyone except God. Jesus taught us how to pray in the Sermon on the Mount. He instructed us to pray to the Father and not to use meaningless repetition (Mat. 6:713). Yet Catholics are taught to pray the rosary which is made up of over 50 repetitious prayers to Mary.

The idea is asking for Mary’s intercession. “Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.” So i would not call that praying to Mary any more than I would say I was praying to you if I asked you to pray for me. We do pray the “Our Father”. You don’t need to pray the “Hail Mary”. If you find the repetition to be meaningless then don’t do it. Still not all repetition is wrong. You can find it in the Psalms and in pretty much everybody’s prayer and praise life.

Why aren’t these Catholic traditions found in the 1st century Church?

• Priests offering sacrifices for sins
• Indulgences remitting sin’s punishment
• Church leaders forbidden to marry
• Infallible men

How do you know they were not in the first century? There was a deposit of faith that went beyond the written word. Some may have existed and been poorly understood. There is a deepening of understanding over time. Still we know the overall character of the early church was very Catholic. Bishops and Popes, baptismal regeneration, the real presence in the Eucharist, etc. were all there in a very Catholic manner during the first 3 centuries.

Did you Know that whenever you believe a doctrine, you must also for sake that which opposes it?
Scripture reveals that Jesus saves…

• by faith in Him, not baptism + His grace, not our merit
• by His finished work, not our works + by His righteousness, not ours
• by His one offering for sin, not the Mass + by His blood, not purgatory + by His obedience, not ours
• by His Gospel, not our perversion of it

Do you know that God is complex and does not abide by you ultimatums? The trinity says God in one and God is three. Can we accept both? Yes. One God in three persons. These are similar false choices. There is a coherent theology that embraces both.  

Which Jesus will you trust?
The Jesus of the Bible promises eternal life, the complete forgiveness of sins, a permanent right standing with God and the power to live a victorious life. The Catholic Jesus is a Jesus that was never preached by the Apostles (2 Cor. 11:4). This counterfeit Christ provides only conditional life, partial forgiveness of sins, an ongoing need for priests and mediators, uncertainty, fear and doubt. Those who reject the true Jesus, who is clearly and conclusively revealed in His Word, will be judged accordingly. The Lord Jesus Christ said, “The word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day” (John 12:48).

You still haven’t addressed the real question. Why should anyone believe the Jesus you present is the biblical Jesus and the one the Catholic church presents is not. You fire a bunch of insults at the church. You declare your opinion to be right because it is yours. You assume the church is ignoring scripture.

If you think about it for a moment who are you insulting. You are insulting every faithful Catholic who has every lived. You are declaring them all to be defective. After all they were unable to find the clear teaching of scripture that you find. St Athanasius, St Augustine, St Francis of Assisi, St Patrick, St Thomas Aquinas, the list goes on and on. You are literally repudiating the bulk of historical Christianity.

That creates huge problems in this relativist world. How can something be taught as God’s revelation by virtually all Christians for many centuries in many cultures and then be declared to be false or even evil? What does that mean about the knowability of truth? This is all done in the context of affirming scripture as God’s word. So scripture can be so misinterpeted that every christian can say it means X and yet X can be very wrong. How do we know what we are teaching now is right? How can we tell the world we know anything at all about God’s truth? We may as well admit we havn’t got a clue.

Or we can choose to believe that God has been protecting His gospel all along. We can accept that the way the early church understood the offices of pope and bishop is correct. That we really do have a legitimate family of God on earth. Sure that means you have to go over every one of these topics and compare the Catholic view of scripture to the Protestant view. In you are fair and open minded you will have to admit that the Catholic position makes at least as much sense in every case.