Answers to a Non-Catholic

I participate in several Catholic pages on Facebook. One of them is the page “Catholic Fundamentalism”. The author, whose name I don’t know, mostly attacks Evangelical Christianity/Protestantism. As a result, of course, the page attracts a lot of attention from non-Catholics as well as some fairly well versed Catholic brothers and sisters.

One of those non-Catholics (who shall remain anonymous) wrote this multipart diatribe against Catholicism. I promised to reply to it, but realized, very quickly, that it was much too involved for a Facebook reply. So I decided instead to make an article out of it in hopes that this will help some of you to be prepared when these sort of things come your way

1. I pray to no one except God, through his Son the second in the Holy Trinity.

I’m sure that by “God” you mean The Father because otherwise you are denying the Deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Doctrine of the Trinity says that The Father is God, the Son is God and the Holy Spirit is God. There is one God eternally existent in three co-equal and co-eternal “Persons” (not to be confused with “people”).

I would also point out that except for the Catholic Church, you wouldn’t have a Doctrine of the Trinity. That word nowhere appears in Scripture and, while the implications are found there, a clear statement of it is not. It was the Catholic Church that formulated it as the best means of accepting everything that the Scriptures say about the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, while denying nothing, as every other theory does.

Worship belongs to God alone… and no Catholic says otherwise. But your definition of “praying” needs a little work. To pray really means “to talk with”. It’s not the same as worship. We talk to the Blessed Mother in the same way that you would talk to your earthly mother. The same is true with the Saints. We ask for them to intercede for us just as we ask a brother or sister in Christ for intercessory prayer. We also talk to God directly, but ask them to “have our back” so to speak. There is abundant evidence in Scripture both that those who have “gone to be with the Lord”, as the term goes, are not only fully conscious of what is going on with them, but also with what is happening on Earth as well. Lazarus and the Rich Man, the souls of the martyrs in Revelation and so on are more than enough proof of this.

2. The only way to heaven is through Jesus the Christ. Try it any other way and you are a liar and thief.

If you know of any Catholic Church document that in any way shape or form denies that there is any other way to the Father but through the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ please produce it. Scripture plainly teaches that there only one way to the Father and that is through the Son. Saint Peter said, “Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name given under heaven among men by which we must be saved.”

But perhaps you are confusing biblical salvation which has a beginning point, an ongoing aspect and a final, future aspect with the “one and done” salvation preached by Evangelical Christians since the days of Martin Luther. The Scriptures know nothing of any such doctrine. No one obeying ALL that the Scripture says about salvation is trying to come in any other way. Protestantism, on the other hand… not so much! They are the “thieves” robbing you of seven books of the Bible and also of the Sacraments that God ordained for you. They are the “liar” when they tell you “once saved always saved” and Sola Scriptura and all the other lies they’ve fed folks on since 1517.

3. When two or more are gathered in my name. That is Jesus. Is his church Catholic, universal, sounds like one world religion, kinda scares me. The appearance of holiness. But denies the power there of

The train of thought here has pretty much jumped the track so I’m not going to spend much time on this. You seem to think that the Lord Jesus didn’t establish anything but a house church or something. But He first told Saint Peter that he would be the rock upon which His CHURCH would be built. He then gave authority to all the Apostles including to forgive sins (John 20). After His Ascension, the Apostles demonstrated Apostolic Succession by electing a replacement among them for Judas Iscariot. Later they established the office of deacon, elders and bishops. That doesn’t sound like “where two or three are gathered” really has much bearing on what constitutes “the Church”. Of course, you ripped that phrase out of its context (prayer)… so why would it?

As for the term “Catholic”, it does indeed mean “universal” but not what you’ve read into it. Universal means that it is not limited to only the Jews or the Greeks but is available to all people everywhere who are willing to obey what the Lord commanded and the Apostles taught. The term was first applied to the Church in the early second century by one of the successors to the Apostles.

Again, the phrase that you use “having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof” is ripped completely out of context. Saint Paul never addressed it to other believers but to the reprobates engaging in homosexuality and lesbianism in Romans 1. You really need to stop using the Bible for a cut and paste Ouija Board.

4. You guys pray manufactured prayers. Don't be like the heathens. Vain repetitions

Again, Scripture taken out of context. There is no prohibition in Scripture against rote prayers… assuming that the person is not just mindlessly reading words or reciting like a mantra. The later term is what the Lord was talking about when He spoke about “vain repetition”. In addition, the word “vain” means “empty or meaningless” The prayers of the Catholic in no way, shape or form should EVER be “empty” or “meaningless”.

There is nothing wrong with praying the same prayer as one of the great men and women of ages past, as long as we understand and pay attention to what we are saying. The prayers of the Rosary, for instance, are completely scriptural since they are direct quotations from the Bible. The Lord taught us the “Our Father”. The “Hail Mary” reflects things that were said to the Blessed Mother by both the Angel Gabriel and by Saint Elizabeth when Mary went to visit her. The “Glory Be” really shouldn’t need any explanation. It is never “empty or meaningless” to agree with Scripture.

I hope this helps to resolve some of your misconceptions about the only Church founded by the Lord Jesus Christ and entrusted to preserve, protect and promote the Gospel message handed down to them by the Apostles. God bless you as you seek Truth.