My friend, please "Test" the this logic and the words of Sacred Scripture below and please email me with your questions, objections and concerns.
I answer questions and concerns about the Catholic Faith. Contact me at: INRI33AD@aol.com

INSIGHTFUL & CHALLANGING ARTICLES

1. "BIBLE ONLY" CHRISTIAN or "BIBLE BELIEVING" CHRISTIAN?
Click Here: 45+ Practices and Doctrines not found in the Holy Bible.

2. THREE UNEASY QUESTIONS FOR YOUR PASTOR CONCERNING HIS PERSONAL THEOLOGY.

3. THE ORIGINS & AUTHORS OF THE MODERN CHRISTIAN THEOLOGIES.

4."THE 7 STAGES OF CHRISTIAN SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT" What stage are you?

5. FAITH ALONE (SOLA FIDE): IT IS A CATHOLIC POSITION. Has your pastor taught you that Catholics must "work their way to Heaven?"

6. "WHO IS THE "BRIDE OF CHRIST", What does the Holy Bible say?

7. Modern Christians often ask: "WHAT ELSE IS THERE? WHAT ELSE HAS CHRIST'S INFALLIBLE AUTHORITY BESIDES THE HOLY BIBLE?"
Read the verses not underlined in your Bible nor taught in modern Christian seminaries or churches.

8. IS SOLA SCRIPTURA OR THE "BIBLE ONLY" IDEA EVEN BIBLICAL? Where does the Bible teach the "SOLA" or the "ONLY" in Sola Scriptura?

9. DID THE BEREANS "Search the Scriptures" AND THEREBY FOLLOW THE "BIBLE ONLY " IDEA? OR DID THE THESSALONIANS?

10. THE 3RD UNANSWERED CHALLENGE FOR THE NON CATHOLIC THEOLOGIES: Is the Catholic Faith Apostolic? Name just one Catholic doctrine that isn't. Name one doctrine the early Church believed,,,, that the Catholic Faith today *no longer does*. Why can't the modern Christian theologies make the same bold claim?

11. BIBLICALLY, DID THE "OFFICIAL TEACHINGS OR DOCTRINES OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH BECOME CORRUPT OR APOSTATE AS YOUR PASTOR MIGHT TEACH? Are there verses in the Holy Scriptures that forbid this? What does the Holy Bible really say about: "The Church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of truth" 1 Tim :15?

12. IS PRAYING TO SAINTS BIBLICAL? IS THE "HAIL MARY" PRAYER BIBLICAL? Read the verses not underlined in your pastors Bible nor taught in his church.

13. HOW MODERN CHRISTIANS ARE COMPELLED TO USE AND EMBRACE AN UNBIBLICAL AND ANTI-BIBLICAL DEFINITION AND CONCEPT OF CHRIST'S CHURCH

LINKS

Columbia University's: "Frequently Asked Questions about the Catholic Faith"
Intro to the Catholic Faith for Evangelicals
Scriptural Evidence for the Teachings of the Catholic Faith: the Verses not underlined in the Non-Catholic's Bible
"Catholic Answers" Website, with the writing of Your Church Fathers
A must read for serious Christians: "Pillar of Fire, Pillar of Truth"
"Biblical Evidence for Catholicism" Website
My Story
Catechism of the Catholic Faith with search engine. "What the Catholic Faith really teaches"
How to become Catholic
DISCLAIMER and MISSION STATEMENT

What's New?

=> Two irrefutable logic proofs confirming the Apostolic Catholic position http://www.angelfire.com/home/protestantchallenges/#L

=> President of the Evangelical Theological Society returns to the Catholic Faith http://www.catholic.org/national/national_story.php?id=24119

=> "Bible Only Christian" or "Bible Believing Christian?" Click Here: 45+ Non-Catholic Practices and Doctrines not found in the Holy Bible.

=> 7 Reasons Christians Go To Church, Which One Is Yours?

=> How Modern Christians are compelled to use and embrace an unbiblical and anti-biblical definition and concept of Christ's Church

=> 3 Questions for your Pastor

=> Is Praying to Saints Biblical? (Is the "Hail Mary" prayer Biblical? Read the verses not underlined in your Bible.)

=> 14 SOBERING QUESTIONS FOR THE ERNEST BELIEVER: Discover the verses most likely not underlined in your Bible and often overlooked in non-Catholic* churches and seminaries

=> Mormons Click Here: 13 Mormon doctrines not taught by Christ's Apostles nor anyone else before Joseph Smith in the 1830's. How can Mormons claim these ideas are "Biblical" if the Apostles didn't teach them nor anyone else before Joseph Smith invented them?

"There are not over a hundred people in the United States who hate the Catholic Church. There are millions, however, who hate what they wrongly believe to be the Catholic Church, which is, of course, quite a different thing." Bishop Fulton J. Sheen

_____________________________________________________________

 

Fellow Christian,
"I just want to believe as the Apostles taught Christ's early Church, no matter where it leads me and no matter what it costs me." Do you feel the same way? Are you a Bible Believing Christian? (BBC) Do you embrace what the Holy Bible says, no matter how much of a “hard saying” it is? (E.g., John 6:60). All Christians should desire to believe as the Apostles taught Christ's early Church, no matter where it leads them and no matter what it costs them. Do you sincerely feel this way? If not, your motives for attending church are most likely one of the first 6 out of 7 reasons Christians go to church. Reasons centered primarily on oneself, verse primarily on the worship of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Below is a Biblical Case for the Catholic Faith, the only Christian faith for the first 1000+ years of Christianity. The Holy Bible tells us that there is but ONE Faith. "There is One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism, One God." (Eph 4:5-6) A BBC believes what the Holy Bible tells us and concurs that there really is but ONE faith, not 1000s. (Look up "church" in your yellow pages for an illustration of the 1000s of competing and conflicting modern Christian churches all teaching separate gospels). Conversely, Christ started but One Church 2000 years ago and it was the only Christian Faith of the first 1000+ years of Christianity. This Faith was the Universal (Katholikos in Greek) Faith. It was called the Catholic Faith as early as 110AD. The Holy Bible tells us that the Church Christ himself founded would never succumb to the "Gates of Hell." For Christ said:

"And I say that thou art Peter, and on this rock I will build my church and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it, I give you the keys to kingdom of Heaven, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in Heaven and what ever you loosen on earth will be loosened in Heaven." Matt 16:16-19.

Either the "Gates of Hell" overcame Christ's Church in the first millennium or they didn't. A BBC believes they didn't. Before Our Lord ascended into Heaven He promised to be with His Church until the "end of the world." Since the Apostles would not live until the end of the world, this promise was for the Church He commissioned:

"Teach them to observe all I have taught you and behold I am with you always until the end of the world" Matt 28:20.

Either Christ is with His Church until the end of the World or He is not. A BBC believes He is with, (until the "end of the world") the Church the Holy Bible calls:

"The church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of truth" 1 Tim 3:15 .

In the first millennium there were no denominations. There was THE Church, One universal Faith. The Church of Corinth did not differ in beliefs from the Church of Ephesus or the Church in Rome. It was truly a Universal Faith and there existed but One Christian faith for the next 1000+ years. Either this Church is the "Church of the Living God, the pillar and foundation of truth," (1 Tim 3:15) or it isn't. A BBC believes it is for there WAS no other faith. Just as the Holy Spirit guides the Bible from error, the same Spirit guides His Church from error (in matters of faith or morals). Christ said he would send the "the spirit of truth to guide you into all the truth" (John 16:13) and as Christ told his disciples: "He who hears you hears me, and he who rejects you rejects me, and he who rejects me rejects him who sent me" (Luke 10:16).

 

7 Reasons Christians go to church

 

1.  Many go "primarily" because it is all about them. They go to be entertained or to get a spiritual warm fuzzy feeling, to be "fed" or to feel good about themselves.  And if the church does not entertain them or is "boring" they shop for a more entertaining one.

2. Some go for primarily social reasons.  A chance to talk to old friends and to meet new, or just to be seen as a "Christian."

3. For others it is primarily to gain business contacts and network, or because their job is somehow associated with the church.

4.  Still others because of the kids programs.  And if these programs disappeared, they would "church shop" to find a parish with comparable or better programs.

5.  Many go primarily because they like the pastor, or because he is charismatic, or a good speaker, and if the pastor left so would they, to church shop again.

6.  And others still, because they are new Christians and have never been anywhere else and do not know the difference.

 

Are any of these reasons the "primary" reason you attend a specific church?

 Yet none of the above reasons for going to a specific church have anything to do with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  They are self-centered reasons not Christ-centered reasons.

7. And finally there are those who attend a church or "The Church" because in their heart of hearts, they are convinced it, and only it, is teaching the One Faith, the One Gospel of Jesus Christ as taught by the Apostles to Christ's infant Church.  And it is in this Church that they worship God as they are commanded to do. "There is One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism, One God." (Eph 4:4) They attend Church "primarily" to worship God, not to worship themselves or entertain their kids. Again, the primary focus is on Christ, not on themselves.

 

The Old Testament Jews went to the Temple first and foremost to worship God, not primarily to feel good about themselves.  It was not about them, it was about worshipping Almighty God.  1st century Christians gathered also to worship and praise Christ.  It was not about being entertained, or about skits or kids programs or live bands with jumbo-tron screens, or even walking out with a warm fuzzy.  It was about worshiping Christ. For 1st century Christians, the Church was not a mere inspirational social club. It was Christ centered not self-centered.    

As CS Lewis stated over 50 years ago in his classic book Mere Christianity, The only reason one should embrace a particular church is if it is True.  Not because of the 6 reasons above.  If one desires to be true to our Lord Jesus Christ, the only reason to attend any church is if it is what his Apostles taught. I hope you agree.  If you don't, then you are free to do and believe anything and everything under the sun for truth does not matter.  Or more conveniently, your truth differs from everyone else's truth, and truth is a private matter.  In essence Truth is relative. This is not a Christian Gospel, it is the human secularist gospel.

 

The modern churches of today have become mere inspirational social clubs with a watered down Christianity that does not accurately reflect the teachings of the Apostles to Christ's early Church.  And if you examine them closely, modern Protestantism does not even reflect the teachings of their own first Protestants in the 16th century, the men who were supposed to reform the Church of God.  How could the Apostles have taught your church's distinctive teachings if the first Protestants didn't even teach them 400+ years ago?  Did Christ's Gospel change?  Did Christ change?  Doesn't Scripture tell us that: "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings."Hebrews 13:8-9 How did Christ's Gospel change then for your church?  For it teaches a gospel not taught before the last few hundred years?  How do you rationalize this?  Have you tested this conundrum? “Test everything. Hold on to the good.”  1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 It is on this point that I would like to speak with you.  If you attend church for any of the above 6 reasons, this letter will most likely be meaningless for your motives for attending church in the first place are not primarily focused on the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  But if your motives are sincere and you do desire to embrace the One true Gospel of Jesus Christ, no matter where it leads you and no matter what it costs you, then perhaps the following will be of interest to you. "There is One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism, One God." (Eph 4:4)  

What was the Christian Faith called in the early Church?  The Holy Bible tells us the people were called "Christians" and history tells us the Faith was called the "Universal" Faith or the "Catholic" Faith which in Greek means universal.  It was called the Catholic or Katholikos Church in Greek.   As early a 110 AD, in the same city where the term "Christian" was coined (Antioch), we find written example of it being called the "Universal" or "Catholic" Church by one of St. John's students.

"Wherever the bishop appears, let the people be there; just as wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church"
(by Ignatius of Antioch, Second Bishop of Antioch and disciple of John the Apostle, Letter to the Smyrneans 8:2 [A.D. 110]).

On the other hand, the modern Christian communities, (comprising 1000s of conflicting and ever evolving faiths) were nonexistent in the 16th century when Martin Luther broke from the Universal Church. Before this time there were no Protestant churches nor any Protestant ideas. Distinctive Protestant ideas in any form were not taught by the Apostles for they were not invented yet. Please "test" this fact of history. Find just one Christian who espoused any distinctly Protestant idea in the first millennium.

The crux of this revelation is what one will do with this knowledge.
It all depends on why one attends church in the first place.

All Christians should desire to believe as the Apostles taught Christ's early Church, no matter where it leads them and no matter what it costs them.
Do you desire this? 

 

For that is what Our Lord demands of us.

``If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.'' (Matt. 16:24).

"and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me." (Matt 10:38).

Is this what you desire? As it is often stated: "Catholic theology comprises the verses not yet underlined in your personal Bible."  It's a big book and one cannot take a single verse and make an entire theology/religion out of it.  One must always look at what ELSE Christ taught or what ELSE the Apostle Paul taught.  Context is the key. The Holy Scriptures must be read and interpreted in the same spirit in which they were written. Do you agree with this last sentence?

 

The following contains many verses from the Holy Scriptures not used at your church that might change your view of what the Apostles actually taught.  Below are 3 powerful Biblical reasons why you should reject the theology of your current church. Please don't take this letter as an attack on your church but instead a letter in accordance with the Holy Scriptures which state:

 

“Now I beseech you brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all say the same thing, and that there be no dissension among you, but that you be perfectly united in one mind and in one judgment.”  (1 Cor 1:10)

 

It is God's intent that Christians be "united in one mind and judgment" on the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  With that verse in mind discover below why you currently attend the church that you do.  Many people go to church, or "a church" for many difference reasons.

The Logic of it all.

No distinctive Protestant idea existed in the 1st millennium. Not one.
Therefore the whole of the Protestant belief system (and its offshoots) lacks apostolicity and Biblicism.

The laws of deductive logic tell us:

If the premises of a valid argument are true, then its conclusion must also be true.
and
It is impossible for the conclusion of a valid argument to be false while its premises are true.

A.  All  boys are human.
B.  Billy is a boy.
C. Therefore Billy is human.

The premises in this case are true, therefore the conclusion: Billy is human is also true.
For a quick review of deductive logic and the laws thereof visit: http://www.philosophypages.com/lg/e01.htm

And likewise:

A.  Distinctive Protestant, Mormon and JW beliefs do not predate the renaissance era.  (1450-1600 A.D.)
B.  The teachings of the Apostles predate the renaissance era by 1000+ years.
C   Therefore logic and historical timelines tell us, that no distinctive Protestant, Mormon or JW belief was taught by the Apostles.
(And subsequently written into the NT Bible).

The fact of the matter, is that in the case of modern Protestantism or its offshoots, their distinctive ideas were not even embraced by their own first Protestants, much less the Apostles. On a linear and sequential timeline, this makes it impossible for these modern ideas to be written into the Holy Bible 2000 years earlier. They didn't exist in that era and would not exist for a 1400+ years to come.
(Click here: Three questions your pastor will not answer concerning his theology. http://www.angelfire.com/home/protestantchallenges/formypastor.html)
Again, please "test" premise A. Reject what logic tells you is impossible for the Apostles to have taught. It is of utmost importance to reconcile this logic truth.  If we ignore this argument or rationalize it without disproving premise A, we are free to believe anything and everything under the Sun, and it really doesn't matter if the Apostles taught it or not.  We are free to call "anything" Biblical, just as the Mormons and the JW's do.

But what of the Protestant idea of SOLA SCRIPTURA (SS) OR THE BIBLE ONLY IDEA?

Do not many Protestants claim that SS was taught by the early Church Fathers such as St. Augustine (5th century) or other Catholic Saints? This line of reasoning is logically impossible for the modern Christian as illustrated below.

So which is it? 
Either the Church Fathers (such as St Augustine) embraced SS,
or he didn't.

1.  Is Catholic Theology, which St Augustine embraced without exception, a produce of Sola Scriptura? If so why do Protestants reject it? 
2.  Or,  can we presume that Augustine embraced SS, but his product of SS was apostate (i.e., Catholic theology).  This in turn renders SS an invalid tool for Bible study for its product is apostasy, and a corruption of the Gospel of Christ.  Therefore SS must be rejected because it is flawed, subjective and inaccurate. It doesn't work every time, if anytime.
3. Or, can we conclude that St Augustine did not embrace SS, even though many modern Protestants illogically claim he did?

So which is the case? 1,2, or 3?  How do you answer this for one cannot have it both ways. Either (name your early Church Father here) embraced SS or he didn't. If he did, answer question 1 or 2. If he didn't answer question 3..

But this is all predicated on one wanting to believe as the Apostles taught Christ's early Church, no matter where it leads him and no matter what it costs him. If this is not your desire, all bets are off and you are free to believe anything and everything whether the Apostles taught it or not. But if this is not the case, then test premise A and find just one Christian in the first millennium who taught outside of the Faith of the Catholic/Universal Church. If you find not a single Christian soul, then accept premise A and conclusion C.
C.   Therefore logic and historical timelines tell us, that no distinctive Protestant belief existed in the first millennium or was taught by the Apostles.
(And subsequently written into the NT Bible).
Logic tells us that this faith, the faith of the Catholic/Universal Church was the faith of the Apostles for there was no other faith. And the same logic tells us that no distinctive Protestant idea was taught by the Apostles for not one predates the renaissance era.

Again
If the premises of a valid argument are true, then its conclusion must also be true.
and
It is impossible for the conclusion of a valid argument to be false while its premises are true.

A.  In the first millennium, there was only one Christian Faith.
B.  The apostles lived in the first millennium.
C.  Therefore the only Christian Faith of the first millennium, was the Faith of the Apostles
(and therefore that of the Holy Bible).  

The Faith of the 1st millennium was the Catholic or Universal Faith for there was no other Christian faith.
(Catholic is Katholikos in Greek which means "universal").
All Bible Believing Christians should "Test” premise A as the Holy Bible commands:

“Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil.”
1 Thessalonians 5:21-22

Test premise A. If one cannot find any of the Protestant theologies predating the renaissance era, nor even the 10th century, why would one erroneously assume the Apostles taught these ideas in the 1st century? No Protestant idea was taught in the first 1000+ years of Christianity. No Protestant idea was taught before the renaissance era. For the invention of Protestantism and the Protestant belief system was born in the middle if not the latter half of the second millennium, 1000+ years after the Apostles wrote the Holy Bible. One cannot find a single Christian who taught Protestant ideas or embraced the Protestant belief system in any shape or form. Please test this logic as the Holy Bible commands. The only Christian Faith of the first millennium was the Catholic Faith for there was no other. It is that faith that should be embraced if one wants to believe as the Apostles believed. Test this. Test Premise A. and accept the results history and logic provides for us.

Below are 3 reasons to reject the distinctive modern theology of your Pastor.

Please test his distinctive theology as the Holy Bible commands.  Test it for Apostolicity, see if it was taught by the Apostles and test it for Biblicism.  If the Apostles didn't teach it, nor any other Christian in the first millennium, how did it get into the NT Bible if it wasn't invented yet? “Test everything. Hold on to the good.”  1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 1. The first reason to reject the modern Christian theologies: The "distinctive" ideas and doctrines taught at your church are not what the Apostles taught Christ's infant Church.  This is a bold claim but it is substantiated by the fact that these same ideas and doctrines were not even taught by Protestantism's first Protestants in the 16th century.  Therefore it is a leap of logic, in fact a logical fallacy to believe they were expressed by the Apostles 1500+ years earlier.  It's like the electric light bulb.  It was invented in the 19th century by Thomas Edison.  For your pastor to claim his theology was taught by the Apostles is akin to saying the Apostles taught scripture by electric lights, which is impossible for both are modern inventions not predating the last few hundred years.  Research this yourself.  Just because someone says something is "Biblical" does not mean the Apostles taught it.  Ask your pastor how his distinctive and modern theology could be what the Apostles taught when it was not even embraced by his own reformers in the 16th century.  Ask him.  He calls his ideas “Biblical,” yet he knows his distinctive ideas are modern inventions, not taught by the Apostles and not even embraced by his own reformers.  And now you know this as well.  How did his ideas become “Biblical” if the Apostles did not teach them, much less his own reformers??  What will you do with this knowledge?
Click here: Three questions your pastor will not answer concerning his theology. http://www.angelfire.com/home/protestantchallenges/formypastor.html

Ask him. When were your church's ideas and doctrines invented?  Most come from the Anabaptist sect, a radical splinter group off the Church of England and mainland Protestantism in the 16th-17th centuries, and some are of a more recent origin.     
See for yourself. Click here: The Origins and Authors of Distinctly Protestant Doctrines http://www.angelfire.com/home/protestantchallenges/dates.html   

2.  The second reason to reject the modern Christian theologies: Your pastor teaches at least 40+ Unbiblical and anti-Biblical ideas and doctrines not found in the Holy Bible.  Your pastor's mantra of "Bible Only" is contradicted by its own theology.  Not all of your pastor's ideas and doctrines are contrary to the Holy Scriptures, yet many are absent from Scripture yes some do contradict Scripture. 
Click here: The Bible Only?  40+ Unbiblical Practices and Doctrines embraced by the modern Christian theologies http://www.angelfire.com/home/protestantchallenges/unbiblical.html
3. The third reason to reject the modern Christian theologies. This is the most surprising reason yet the most important one.  It is because your church's parishioners are compelled to use and embrace an unbiblical and anti-biblical definition and concept of "Christ's Church."  There are 3 Fundamental ways your church departs from the Church of the Holy Bible These are the verses not taught or underlined in the Bibles at your church.
Click here: 3 Fundamental ways your church and the other non-Catholic communities depart from the Church of the Holy Bible http://www.angelfire.com/home/protestantchallenges/onchurch.html

If you are a Bible believing Christian and believing the One and true Gospel of Jesus Christ means anything to you, please write me or investigate the claims of apostolicity and Biblicism by your pastor as the Holy Bible Commands: 

“Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil.”  1 Thessalonians 5:21-22

If by chance you attend church for any of the above 6 reasons, please reflect on your motives and what Our Lord requires of us.  Our Lord not only demands our faith, but also our obedience in that faith: Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.  (Matt 7:21) 
And we are accountable for that faith and the knowledge Christ gives us to live our faith. “If we sin deliberately after receiving knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains sacrifice for sins 27 but a fearful prospect of judgment and a flaming fire that is going to consume the adversaries.” Hebrews  10: 26 My friend, just because you have believed something for years on end, doesn't mean it is true, or even that the Apostles taught it.  It just means someone has told you this or that is "Biblical."  Yet anyone can say anything is "Biblical." The real litmus test is:  "Did the Apostles teach it."  And if Protestantism's own reformers didn't even teach the idea 400+ years ago,,, how on earth did Christ's Apostles teach it 2000 years ago??  My friend, please do not consider this an attack on your faith but only the wishes of unity as expressed by Our Lord Jesus Christ who commanded:  “I have given them [believers] the glory that you gave me, that they may be as one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” (John 17:22,23) 
If we call ourselves Christians, is it not incumbent upon us to believe what Christ actually taught? Or can we believe anything and everything we want, as long as our pastor calls theses ideas "Biblical?" "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven."  (Matt 7:21)

All Christians should want to believe as the Apostles taught Christ's infant Church, no matter where it leads them and no matter what it costs them.  Do you feel this same way? And if so, why then do you embrace a gospel the first Protestants didn't even teach and is impossible for the Apostles to have taught?

"But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have." 
1 Peter 3:15