Apologetics for the Masses #267

Topic

What is the Gospel? The beginning of a conversation...

Unsubscribe/Subscribe

If you did not sign up for this newsletter and you would like to be removed from our distribution list, just click on this link: http://www.biblechristiansociety.com/newsletter/unsubscribe, then enter the email address that this newsletter comes to and click "Unsubscribe." If this newsletter was forwarded to you by a friend, and you would like to be added to our distribution list, all you have to do is go to http://www.biblechristiansociety.com/newsletter and put your email address in the box at the top of the page. Either way, it will take you about 10 seconds.

General Comments

Hey folks,

2 things:

1) Just so you know, if you don't already, you can go to the "Newsletter" page of our website (www.biblechristiansociety.com) and email a copy of any past newsletter to yourself or to anyone else. All you have to do is click on a particular issue, scroll to the bottom, and then click: "Forward this Issue." You then fill in the email address you want it sent to and it will be so.

2) Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers has an awesome booklet out entitled: "The Mass in Sacred Scripture," that goes line-by-line through the Mass and shows where it is directly or indirectly in the Bible. Well worth the $4.99 cost. You can order it here: http://deaconharold.com/product/the-mass-in-sacred-scripture-booklet/

Introduction

I receive emails from various Protestants on a weekly, if not almost daily, basis. Some of them have no name and no email address on them (or they have a fake email address). These are sent to tell me what a horrible church the Catholic Church is and/or what a horrible person I am. Once I see that there is no name, and no email address, I delete them, unread for the most part. Others wish to spout off some ridiculous and nonsensical and sometimes outright bizarre response to something they've read in one of my newsletters or seen on the Bible Christian Society website. The things some of these folks say would be comical, if they weren't so sad. I will often respond to these emails by asking some simple question to see if they are capable of having any sort of rational and coherent conversation. I have yet to have a response to my questions to these folks that fails to live up to my expectations. Then, there are those who ask relatively decent questions and who "seem" to be interested in an honest and legitimate conversation. I will sometimes go a little extra with folks like this, as my limited time and schedule permit. I would love to be able to engage all the folks like this who write to me, but it is physically impossible to do so, so I have to pick and choose which to engage and not engage. And, sometimes, as is the case today, I will occasionally use one of these emails as the basis for this newsletter.

So, today, you will see an email from one Don Jackson, and my response to, and analysis of, his email. Don's big thing is "the gospel by which one is saved." There is obviously a particular verse of passage of Scripture that he believes THE key to salvation, and he is putting me to the test to see if I know what it is. This verse or passage will undoubtedly trump all other verses and passages. So, I'll respond and we'll see where it goes...

Challenge/Response/Strategy

Don Jackson

Hi John:

Greetings to you in the exalted name of my Savior and Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ. I pray that you and family are well and happy in Him, as I am.

John, I have asked many Catholics, “What is the gospel by which one is saved?” The answers are startling.

Many told me to “Keep the ten commandments.” They couldn’t tell me what they are.

Some told me to be baptized.

Others told me that I should pray a lot.

A priest told me, “Everyone is saved. I just returned from attending the funeral of a Jewish Rabbi, he was such a good man I just know he is in heaven.”

A Monsignor told me, “You much pray three times a day, it doesn’t matter how long or short your prayers and it doesn’t matter what you pray, but you must pray three times a day.”

A friend who teaches “religion” in the local Catholic Church told me, “Do the best you can and pray a lot.”

Catholics leaving a large Catholic church in New York were asked how to get to heaven. Most replied that they hope that their good works get them to heaven.

What is missing in all of the above? No mention of the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ by any of the clergy or the laity.

I recall listening to a woman teaching the Bible over a radio station in Evansville, IN. She was excellent and I wrote to her and asked about her background. She wrote back: “I have been a member of the Catholic Church all my life and have never heard the gospel in that church. I stay in it to try to reach others for the Lord Jesus Christ.

Dr. Peter Kreeft told me, in an e-mail, “[Many] Catholics don’t know what the gospel is.”

How do you explain this vast ignorance?

Grace and peace,

Don Jackson

My Response:

Dear Don,

Thank you for your well wishes in regards to my family. I would offer the same to you and yours.

Now, regarding your question about the "vast ignorance" of Catholics. I would offer a few thoughts. First of all, I will not deny that many who call themselves Catholic in this country are indeed ignorant of their faith and of the gospel (I would agree with Dr. Kreeft's purported comments to you). I will blame that on the lack of good catechesis within a lot of the Catholic Church during the past 50 years or so. I will also blame it on many within the Catholic school systems who often taught, and teach, a watered-down version of our faith. I will blame it on adults who don't really care to learn the truths of their faith even though there are plenty of opportunities for them to do so. And, I will blame it on the Bishops and priests for allowing the conditions for all of the above to exist in their dioceses and parishes. Such ignorance is one of the reasons I do what I do - teach Catholics about their faith. However, I will also say that there are a good many Catholics, and their numbers are growing, who are indeed well-versed in their faith. So, they could not be said to be ignorant about the basics of Christian teaching and practice.

Secondly, I would also say that Catholics often speak a different language when it comes to matters of faith than do many Protestants. So, it is quite possible that some of what you attribute to ignorance, could very possibly be the result of folks not fully understanding what exactly you were asking.

Thirdly, I would say that ignorance about authentic Christian teaching has existed in the Church since the beginning of the Church, as we see in the Scriptures themselves.

Having said all of that, I would tell you that I have found a "vast ignorance" among Protestants regarding something that is more basic than even the question you have asked of Catholics. And that is ignorance about the Word of God. Where did it come from? How do you know it is what you think it is? I claim these questions are more basic than your question, because most Protestants only accept the Bible as their source for authentic Christian teaching and practice. Yet, they don't know where their Bible - the source of their Christian beliefs - came from! They can't explain why they believe it to be the Word of God. How can you be sure of your beliefs, if you don't even know how the source of your beliefs came to be and that it is indeed what you claim it to be?

I have often asked Protestants, "How do you know the Bible is the Word of God?" or "Do you know where the Bible came from?" I have had a pastor tell me that it doesn't matter where the Bible came from or who actually wrote it, as long as it is the Word of God. When pressed, "Well, how do you know it is indeed the Word of God?" he had no answer. Or, I had another pastor tell me that God Himself had told that pastor that the Bible was the Word of God. Really?! One pastor told me that he knows because of the testimony of the early Christians. When I told him that sounded an awful lot like he was appealing to "tradition," which he had previously said he did not believe in, he had no answer. I have had other Protestants tell me that they "just know" the Bible is the Word of God, while others simply admit to not knowing where the Bible came from. So, my question to you is: How do you account for such vast ignorance among Protestants?

I have a question that I have asked any number of Protestants about the Bible, to which I have never once received a clear, cogent, logically-consistent, and scripturally-consistent answer. Perhaps you would like to take a shot at it: Can you give me the book, chapter, and verse from the Bible that states the Gospel of Mark was written by Mark and that Mark was inspired by the Holy Spirit to write it? If you can't, then can you tell me how you know that the Gospel of Mark is indeed the inspired, inerrant, Word of God?

In Christ,

John Martignoni

Summary

That folks, is called, tit for tat. I have no problem with folks saying many Catholics are ignorant of the faith - in oh so many ways. But, don't think you've got something over on the Catholics when the same can be said of Protestants as well. And, in many respects, since Protestants for the most part reject the teaching authority of the Church, they are ignorant in ways that go beyond the ignorance of Catholics. From a salvation standpoint, they are literally playing with fire.

Hope all of you have a great week!

Donations

The Bible Christian Society is a non-profit organization that relies solely on your support to bring the truths of the Catholic Faith to tens of thousands of people throughout the U.S. and all around the world each year. If you would like to help us do what we do, you can donate online at: http://www.biblechristiansociety.com/donations, or send a check to: Bible Christian Society, PO Box 424, Pleasant Grove, AL 35127. Anything you can do is greatly appreciated!