Apologetics for the Masses #398 - Gendron Responds!

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Topic

Mike Gendron "responds," sort of, to my newsletter.

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General Comments

Hey folks,

If you haven't been to the Bible Christian Society website lately, you might want to go and take a look. We're not quite finished yet, but we've done some major upgrades. In particular, we've added some doctrinal pages - Mary and Purgatory, so far, but more to come - so as to make it easier for you, or anyone you might recommend the site to - to find information on a particular doctrine or doctrines and share it with others. We'll be adding some things to the "2-Minute Apologetics" page soon to make it easier to navigate through all of the various and sundry questions and answers found there. And a few more upgrades in the near future, so check it out.

Also, please note the "Donate Your Vehicle" button on the right hand side of the homepage. If you have a car that you are thinking, "Should I try to sell this thing, or what?" about it, then maybe consider donating it to the Bible Christian Society? You get a tax writeoff for the value of the vehicle and you get to help your favorite Catholic apologetics apostolate at the same time. Just something to think about.

Introduction

Okay, this week I am going to interrupt the regularly scheduled newsletter. I had planned, with this newsletter, to finish responding to the last part of Mike Gendron's anti-Catholic tract, Which Jesus Do You Trust? that I've been going through and responding to the last couple of weeks. However, thanks to those of you who forwarded last week's newsletter to him and his wife, Mr. Gendron sent me a response, of sorts, to what I've been saying about his anti-Catholic tract. I am going to print what he said in its entirety, without any in-depth analysis and commentary from me, and give you guys a week to think about how you would respond to what he has to say.

So, below is Gendron's response. I will preface it with four general points and then say no more until next week:

1) He did not respond to any of the arguments I made, or should I say to any of the evidence I presented, which clearly demonstrate that he is deliberately distorting (aka lying about) Catholic teaching in his pamphlet, Which Jesus Do You Trust? How, you might ask, is he distorting Catholic teaching? He does so by selectively quoting bits and pieces from the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) to make it seem as if the Catholic Church teaches something that it does not teach. He will quote portions of a paragraph to make his point about some Catholic teaching, but he does not quote the paragraph in its full context. He deliberately leaves out portions of sentences, or even entire sentences, of that very same paragraph - not to mention the teachings from other paragraphs of the CCC - that directly contradict his false narrative about Catholic teaching.

Through his strategic deletions of what the CCC actually says, Gendron comes up with the Mike Gendron version of Catholic teaching, and then proceeds to show how the Mike Gendron version of Catholic teaching is contrary to the Bible. But, again, the Mike Gendron version of Catholic teaching is an utterly false version of Catholic teaching. It is a lie. As I have previously said, I find what he is doing despicable. There is no excuse for it and no defense for it, which is probably why he did not address the issue in his response below...at all. In his once saved always saved theology, lying doesn't get you sent to Hell, so why not do it? Especially if it's for a good cause, right? And what better cause than pulling Catholics out of the Whore of Babylon? Kind of ironic that the title of his tract has the word "trust" in it, when you can't trust him to give an accurate picture of what the Catholic Church actually teaches.

2) Nor did he respond to my pointing out how he contradicts himself in his pamphlet, or to my argument that his "assurance" of salvation, since it is based on his fallible interpretation of Scripture, is actually no assurance at all. I will get into those a bit more when I start my analysis of his response next week.

3) Please note that I am doing something here that he would never do in return. I am giving him unedited access to every single one of my subscribers - more than 41,000 people all over the world - to present his arguments for what he believes to be true. Do you think he would ever do the same for me with every one of the contacts on his email list for proclaimingthegospel.org? Not a chance. In fact, I doubt he would even mention my website, much less send out a message from me. I will do such a thing, he won't. Why? Because truth does not fear error; error fears truth.

4) Next week I will start going through his response and taking apart what he has said below and examining it in the light of the truth of the Word of God, as well as in the light of good ol' common sense and simple logic. In the meantime, think about how you would respond. Do you see any issues with anything he has said? How would you answer his questions? Think about it...and stay tuned.

Challenge/Response/Strategy

Mike Gendron's Response to my "Analysis" of his Which Jesus Do You Trust? Pamphlet
Good Morning John,

It is my prayer that you consider the ministry God has entrusted to me is motivated by my love for Jesus and for Roman Catholics. We can be wrong about a lot of thins in this life and still survive, but if we are wrong about what/who we are trusting for eternal life we will pay for that mistake forever and ever!

Since you said you would print every word in my response to you I will take you at your word.

When Jesus said “It is finished” He was referring to His perfect, finished, all-sufficient work of redemption. Look at the verb tense. “...through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption” (Heb. 9:12).

Regarding the promise eternal life please consider the following.

Whenever man is involved in attaining and/or preserving his salvation, there can never be assurance. However, when one believes Jesus and His all-sufficient, finished work of redemption, he will be more certain of living eternally in heaven than one more day on earth.

Consider the following promises from God… (By the way, I am not interpreting these Scriptures).

I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life (1 John 5:13).

"I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes Him who sent me
has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life (John 5:24).

God's gifts and his calling are irrevocable (Rom. 11:29).

God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the
Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life (1 John 5:11-12).

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:1)

My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if
anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense--Jesus
Christ, the Righteous One (1 John 2:1).

Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him,
because he always lives to intercede for them (Hebrews 7:25).

I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch
them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than
all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are
one (John 10:28-30).

And those He predestined, He also called; those He called, He also
justified; those He justified, He also glorified (Rom. 8:30).

To Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before His
glorious presence without fault and with great joy (Jude v.24).

And this is the will of Him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that
He has given me, but raise them up at the last day (John 6:39).

John, Do you believe these promises of God? If you do please answer these questions...

How can those who have been redeemed from the curse of the law be placed back under the curse? (Gal. 3:13; 4:5).
How can one, who has been born again of incorruptible seed, die again? (1 Pet. 1:23).
How can a new creation return to what has passed away? (2 Cor. 5:17).
How can one who has been perfected forever be found imperfect? (Heb. 10:14).
How can God‚s irrevocable gift of eternal life be taken back (Rom. 11:29)
How can the Good Shepherd who gave His life for His sheep fail to protect and keep them? (John 10:1-30)
How can the perpetual intercession of Jesus be denied? (Heb. 7:25)
How can those God predestined not be glorified? (Rom. 8:29-30)
How can the proof of God‚s unconditional love be invalidated? (Rom. 8:31-39)
How can those God delivered from the power of darkness be sent back? (Col. 1:13).
How can those made complete in Christ become incomplete? (Col. 2:10).
How can those who were saved without human effort or merit be condemned again because of demerits or failure? (Eph. 2:8-9).
How can any man undo a sovereign act of Almighty God? (John 1:12-13).
How can God, who is holy and cannot lie, break His promise? (Titus 1:2).

I pray you will repent of your conditional life through the RCC and trust the promises of God for eternal life.

Closing Comments

Have a great week, a wonderful holiday, and please pray for the repose of the souls of all those who have given all they had to give in defense of their country.

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