Apologetics for the Masses #423: Refuting GotQuestions.org (Part 9)

Unsubscribe/Subscribe

http://www.biblechristiansociety.com/newsletter/unsubscribe - to unsubscribe from this newsletter

http://www.biblechristiansociety.com/newsletter - to subscribe to this newsletter

Topic

The Protestant website - GotQuestions.org - and John 6:51 (Part 9)

General Comments

Hey folks,

I'm back. Every now and then I need to take a break from writing for several weeks to rejuvenate, refresh, reinvigorate, etc. And, now that I have, lets have at it!

Okay, a few things first:

1) Please keep my daughter McKenna in your prayers. Her 2002 Honda Civic got into a tussle with a Publix 18-wheeler on the interstate a couple of weeks ago and, even though the car is toast, she "only" suffered a concussion. If you could pray for her healing from that concussion, I would greatly appreciate it, and she would as well.

I don't usually share personal stuff here, but I wanted to share something about her accident with you. The truck came into her lane and clipped her back end, which sent her car spinning across 3 lanes of the interstate, and just as it was about to hit the median barrier, it kept spinning and went back across the same 3 lanes of the interstate and slammed into the guard rail on the shoulder of the highway. As the car was spinning, she was trying to get control of the wheel, but she said she heard a voice, in an audible whisper, say, "Just relax." So, she let go of the wheel, put her arms down, and just relaxed...right before she slammed into the guardrail. She got the concussion when her head hit the side window. And, another thing - I talked to a witness at the scene and he said he was right behind the truck and saw the whole thing and that as she was spinning first one way across the interstate and then back the other way, about 10 cars - going around 70 mph - all missed her. He looked at me with absolute amazement on his face and said, "I don't know how any one of those cars missed her, much less all 10 of them." And then he just pointed his finger skyward. To which I said, "Amen!" Anyway, again, please pray for her as she is having some concussion symptoms that are affecting her at work.

2) Is there something you would like to see in these newsletters that you haven't seen before? Maybe some questions you would like to have answered? Maybe a particular Protestant apologist you would like to see me engage with? A particular topic you would like to see addressed? Or...? Just let me know and I'll see what I can do. And, what do you think about me possibly doing a podcast? Actually, let me ask you this: What do you think is a good length for a podcast? 20 minutes? 30? 45? Or...?

3) For those of you in the Birmingham diocese, we will be having one of our Catholic quarterly luncheons coming up on Thursday, August 25th, 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM, at the Vestavia Country Club. Dr. Peter Kreeft, Professor of Philosophy, author of dozens of books, and one of the premiere Catholic philosophers in the country will be our speaker. You can register here: https://cbapn24.wildapricot.org/event-4892296 $25/person for the lunch, for members of the Catholic Business and Professional Network, the cost is $15/person. Seating is limited so register sooner rather than later.

Introduction

This week I will be continuing my conversation with Sally from GotQuestions.org regarding John 6:51. In the last issue of the newsletter, I was countering the last 3 of Sally's "Seven Convincing Reasons" for why, in her mind, the passage from John 6:51-59 "must be taken figuratively" (read that issue here: https://www.biblechristiansociety.com/newsletter/602-apologetics-for-the-masses-422-refuting-gotquestions-org-part-3.)

I keep thinking, "There's no way she's going to respond this time," and then she responds. Well, below is the "question" that I sent her this last time. It doesn't have my responses to her "7 Convincing Reasons" in it directly because they don't give you enough space for that much verbiage, so I linked to the two newsletters that contained my responses and asked her to read them. She either did not read my responses or she read them and decided not to engage with my arguments. Instead, she responded with a classic example of the "doctrinal dance". She was all over the place. To be honest, I didn't even read most of her response...just sort of skimmed through it.

So, below is what I sent her, and then her very lengthy response. If you want to read it all, be my guest. You could probably offer it up and get some souls out of Purgatory by doing so. If you don't want to read the entire thing, I would suggest just skimming through and maybe reading a paragraph here and there or maybe at least the first sentence of every paragraph to get a feel for what she's saying.

But, below her response, is my latest "question" - actually 3 questions - back to Sally at GotQuestions.org. This is a lesson in not taking the bait.

As always, the other guy's response is in italics.

Challenge/Response/Strategy

Question 1153655 (from John Martignoni):

Dear Sally, a couple of things:

1) You stated: "I would love for you to identify the places where I ‘seriously misrepresented Catholic teaching’ in my previous answer, because I try to refer to their Catechism, as well as to the Bible, as guides for answering Catholic questions." I appreciate you wanting to know, but this format does not allow me to give a full answer, so I will refer you to my e-newsletter where I show how you have indeed "seriously misrepresented Catholic teaching". I hope you will read and prayerfully consider what I have written so that such misrepresentations of Catholic teaching will not occur again: https://www.biblechristiansociety.com/newsletter/6 00-apologetics-for-the-masses-420-refuting- gotquestions-org

2) In my e-newsletter, which goes out to more than 50,000 Catholics in all 50 states and some 80+ countries, I also responded to your "7 Convincing Reasons" why John 6:51-58 "must be taken figuratively." They actually are not at all convincing, and some of those reasons actually work against your argument. I answered the first of the 7 reasons in the newsletter mentioned above in #2. I answered reasons #2 - #4 here: https://www.biblechristiansociety.com/newsletter/6 01-apologetics-for-the-masses-421-refuting- gotquestions-org-part-2 and I answered reasons #5-#7 here: https://www.biblechristiansociety.com/newsletter/6 02-apologetics-for-the-masses-422-refuting- gotquestions-org-part-3.

Again, I hope you will read my responses to your arguments carefully and prayerfully. I hope that, as a Christian, you are open to considering that your interpretations of Scripture could be wrong and thus your arguments and understanding skewed. Should you wish to respond, I would be happy to print the entire response in my e-newsletter, which would give you the chance to evangelize over 50,000 Catholics.

In Christ,

John Martignoni

-----------------------------------------------------------

Answered by: Sally

Dear John,

I am always ‘open’ to considering other people’s interpretations of Scripture; however, having been born into an Irish Catholic family; educated in private Catholic schools for 13 years, and having studied Catholicism and its doctrines and dogmas for years, in an effort to discern the truth, I came to the conclusion that it is a man-created religion, steeped in, and filled with non-biblical ideas and teachings, and ultimately, the Jesus of Catholicism is the one warned about by Paul, in 2 Corinthians 11:4: “For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or [if] you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted--you may well put up with it!”

In this passage of Scripture, Paul warned the Corinthian believers about tolerating false teaching, which included a counterfeit (another) Jesus, one who had the same name and the same story, but was not the same as the true Jesus, and was; therefore, not able, or qualified to dispense salvation. Only the true Jesus, the Jesus about whom the Scriptures are written (John 5:46); the Jesus who came to make full payment for sin by His death on the cross, and His resurrection from the dead (Romans 10:9-10), and the only one through whom salvation is available, according to the following passages:

John 14:6: “Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

Revelation 7:10: “and crying out with a loud voice, saying, "Salvation [belongs] to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!"

Catholicism teaches the doctrine of Purgatory, which is a direct denial of the sufficiency of Jesus’ sacrifice, and is a “doctrine of demons” (1 Timothy 4:1), because it not only denies the sufficiency of Jesus’ sacrifice, but calls God a liar. It is based on nothing more than a man-made idea, inspired by Satan, to serve the purpose of blinding people with falsehood, to keep them from discovering the truth as found in God’s word - the Bible. It is defined in the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

"1031 The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned. The Church formulated her doctrine of faith on Purgatory especially at the Councils of Florence and Trent. The tradition of the Church, by reference to certain texts of Scripture, speaks of a cleansing fire."

"As for certain lesser faults, we must believe that, before the Final Judgment, there is a purifying fire. He who is truth says that whoever utters blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will be pardoned neither in this age nor in the age to come. From this sentence we understand that certain offenses can be forgiven in this age, but certain others in the age to come."

"1032 This teaching is also based on the practice of prayer for the dead, already mentioned in Sacred Scripture: “Therefore [Judas Maccabeus] made atonement for the dead that they might be delivered from their sin.” From the beginning the Church has honored the memory of the dead and offered prayers in suffrage for them, above all the Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus purified, they may attain the beatific vision of God. The Church also commends almsgiving, indulgences, and works of penance undertaken on behalf of the dead."

"Let us help and commemorate them. If Job’s sons were purified by their father’s sacrifice, why would we doubt that our offerings for the dead bring them some consolation? Let us not hesitate to help those who have died and to offer our prayers for them."

In their own words, the doctrine of Purgatory was an idea, formed by men at the Council of Florence, in 1431 A.D., convened by Pope Martin V. There have been, to this date, 21 councils within the hierarchy of the Catholic Church, and the Council of Florence was the 17th of these councils. The Council of Trent, in 1545 A.D., convened by Pope Clement XII , with the support of Emperor Charles V, of Germany. Both of these councils determined the outlined the doctrinal position and beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church, in opposition to what they determined was the heresy of Protestantism. The biblical basis for this doctrine is loosely found in the apocryphal books of 1 and 2 Maccabees, which are not included in the canon of the King James, or any bibles, other than approved versions of the Catholic bible. The doctrine of Purgatory is a direct denial of the sufficiency of Jesus’ sacrifice to make full and complete payment for the penalty owed for sin, as declared in 1 Peter 3:18: “For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit;”

In addition to the Purgatory, The Roman Catholic Church has many man-made, man-centered doctrines and dogmas, that are contrary and contradictory to, and a denial of the truth of God’s word - the Bible. Even their beginning is based on the lie that Jesus anointed the Apostle Peter to be the ‘first Pope’, because the foundation of this massive religious system actually began in about 325 A.D., with the Emperor Constantine, and not with the Apostle Peter, who they claim was appointed to be the first Pope, by their gross misinterpretation and twisting of the passage in Matthew 16:18-19: “18 "I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. 19 "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven."

Constantine was an astute politician, and though the emperors before him had spent their reigns persecuting those who claimed belief in Jesus Christ as Lord, the group continued to thrive. Constantine realized that nothing had stopped the growth of this movement, so he decided to neutralize them by merging them into the pagan religion of Rome. He began his task by claiming to have had a vision of the cross of Christ, just before the Battle of the Milvian Bridge. After this, it became his quest to merge burgeoning Christianity with the pagan practices of the religion of Rome. In 381 A.D., the Emperor Theodsius named this newfound entity the Roman Catholic (meaning universal) Church - the state religion of Rome.

Constantine organized the first ecumenical council of Nicea, in which 20 canons were created, and the time of celebrating Easter was set; the combination of the pagan festival to the goddess Eostre - the Greek goddess of Spring, but Christianized by changing the meaning of this feast to the remembrance of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, though many of the pagan traditions remained the same, such as the use of eggs and rabbits (symbols of fertility).

From the mingling of paganism and Christianity, the foundation for mixing apostasy with truth flourished and began to spread far and wide, exactly like Jesus said it would, in Matthew 13:31-32: “31 He presented another parable to them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field; 32 and this is smaller than all other seeds, but when it is full grown, it is larger than the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that THE BIRDS OF THE AIR come and NEST IN ITS BRANCHES." This massive tree represents Christendom - all of it - made up of those professing to know Jesus Christ as Lord; however, it is obvious from this parable, that there is a problem, because birds are a picture of demonic activity and they are seen nesting within the branches of the tree (the church - the body of professing believers). The picture God is painting here is the fact that the church, as it grows, will be made up of those professing Christ, and those who truly possess Christ - the false and the true; the lost and the born again, exactly how it is today.

Within the framework of Christendom, there are various denominational divisions, such as Mormonism, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Roman Catholics; Baptists, Adventists, Orthodox, and a myriad of others; however, though all claim to be believers and followers of Jesus Christ, all do not espouse, teach, or preach the truth according to Scripture. Many actually believe in and worship “another Jesus” (2 Corinthians 11:4) - a counterfeit; one who does not hold the ability to dispense salvation. God used 40 men, inspired by His Holy Spirit, to write His words, and eventually, to have these writings complied together in a book - the Bible.

This book - the Bible - is God’s manual for living in His creation; it is His love letter to His children, and it is the means through which man can draw closer to God, as he/she learns more about Him and His ways and His thoughts; developing an intimate, personal relationship with Him. It is a living work, and it is vital to understanding and knowing Jesus as Lord and Savior. Anything other than the gospel, as presented by Jesus, is a counterfeit, and any Jesus, whose characteristics and attributes differ from those of the Jesus of the Bible is not the true Jesus, but is also a counterfeit.

The Bible - God’s holy and inerrant word - is the absolute truth and the absolute authority for truth; without it, man would have no way of understanding sin and the need for repentance unto salvation through Jesus Christ, so many of those who proclaim to know Jesus, but are actually worshipping a counterfeit. Catholicism has even elevated their man-made rules, rites, and rituals to a level of equal importance as Scripture, as explained in the Catechism, #80-81:

"80: Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition , then, are bound closely together and communicate one with the other. For both of them, flowing out from the same divine well-spring, come together in some fashion to form one thing and more towards the same goal. Each of them makes present and fruitful in the Church the mystery of Christ, who promised to remain with his own ‘always, to the close of the age’.

…two distinct modes of transmission:"

"81:“Sacred Scripture is the speech of God as it is put down in writing under the breath of the Holy Spirit, and Holy Tradition transmits in its entirety the Word of God which has been entrusted to the apostles by Christ the Lord and the Holy Spirit. It transmits it to the successors of the apostles, so that, enlightened by the Spirit of truth, they may faithfully preserve, expound, and spread it abroad by their preaching.”

One sign of an apostate religion is their misuse and abuse of Scripture; making tradition equal is certainly an intentional way of leading people away from the truth, an event that God warned about in Colossians 2:6-8: “6 Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7 having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude. 8 See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.”

Catholic bibles include an additional 7 books, known as the apocrypha. These include the books of Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch, 1 and 2 Maccabees, plus additional sections in the books of Esther (10:4-16, 16:24) and Daniel (3:24-90, 13:1, 14:42). The Catholic Church claims that these books were accepted as part of the original canon, until the Protestant Reformation; however, this claim is based upon the approval by the Councils of Trent; the Synod of Rome, and the Councils of Hippo and Carthage; all Catholic meetings, attended by Catholic priests, and overseen by the papacy. The Church of Latter-Day Saints (the Mormons) also use an additional book to the Bible, known as The Book of Mormon; the Jehovah’s Witnesses have translated their own version of Scripture, known as The New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures, and so it goes - additions to God’s word, written by men not inspired by the Holy Spirit. Long ago, God addressed the issue of tampering with His word, when He inspired John to write, in Revelation 22:18-19: “18 I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book; 19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book.”

The Sacraments of the Catholic Church are another man-made idea that is not found in the Bible. The Latin word sacramentum means "a sign of the sacred." There are 7 Sacraments (ceremonies) that are believed to be sacred and vital for Catholics, and “instruments of God’s grace”, as dispensed through the auspices of the Catholic Church; therefore, the Catholic Church has placed itself in the position of Mediator between God and man, a position held solely and exclusively by Jesus Christ, according to 1 Timothy 2:5: “For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,”

The Sacraments include Baptism, which in the Catholic Church is not the same as the biblical standard. The Catholic Church teaches infant baptism (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1250-1252), which is in direct contradiction to the standard set by God, in Scripture, according to Acts 2:38: “Peter said to them, "Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” An infant has no ability to realize their sinfulness, repent, and understand the meaning of being buried with Christ in baptism.

The Sacrament of Confirmation (Chrismation) is the second, and it is the act of invoking the Holy Spirit to come into the person receiving the Sacrament (the confirmand); sealing them through the anointing with oil at the hands of the Bishop. Again, this is contradictory to what is taught in Scripture regarding the indwelling and sealing of the Holy Spirit, which comes with and at the moment of salvation, as explained in Ephesians 1:13: “In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation--having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise,”

The Sacrament of the Eucharist (Communion) is the third of these foundational teachings of the Catholic Church. It differs from the Lord’s Supper, shared in most Protestant denominations; in fact, it too is contradictory to that which Jesus instituted. In Catholicism, the Eucharist is considered to be the actual body of Jesus. This is known as transubstantiation, and when the priest holds up the “host” (wafer of bread), he commands Jesus to leave His seat at the right hand of the Father, to become a piece of bread; to be consumed by the faithful Catholic communicants. This act is performed approximately 250,000 times per day around the world, during Mass, which is yet another non-biblical offense to God - a violation of Scripture, as attested to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, #1414: the Eucharist is offered repeatedly "in reparation for the sins of the living and the dead", it is considered a sacrifice, but God declares the Lord’s Supper to be a memorial - a remembrance, in Luke 22:19: “And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me."

The Catechism of the Catholic Church claims, in #1405, that every time the Mass is celebrated, the work of redemption is carried on, and in #1366-1367; 1374: "the sacrifice of Jesus and the sacrifice of the Eucharist are one single sacrifice. The same Christ who offered Himself once in a bloody manner on the cross is contained and offered in an unbloody manner on church altars. It is truly propitiatory, which means it satisfies divine wrath. The Eucharist is thus a sacrifice because it re-presents (makes present) the sacrifice of the cross and is actually the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

All of these non-biblical teachings, plus the doctrine of celibacy for those serving in the priesthood, are exactly what Paul warned about in 1 Timothy 4:1-3: “1 But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, 2 by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, 3 men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth.”

There are still other Sacraments, such as Penance (Reconciliation), which places the priest in the position reserved solely for Jesus Christ; that of mediator between God and man, as stated in 1 Timothy 2:5 (quoted above). The Anointing of the Sick (formerly Extreme Unction), Marriage, and Holy Orders, which is the act of taking vows to become a priest of the Catholic Church, with marriage being the only one ordained by God.

Satan is “a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44). It is his mission to cause people to believe anything other than the truth. Soon, a man will appear on the world stage, known as the antichrist. Those whose minds have been blinded by a false gospel, and their hearts dulled by worshipping a counterfeit Jesus, will readily accept him, unto their own eternal destruction, as prophesied in 2 Thessalonians 2:8-12: “8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: 9 [Even him], whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”

The time is growing shorter every single day; the time for making the decision about your eternal destination is now, and there are only 2 choices - heaven or hell. There is no time to waste, because nobody knows what the next moment might bring. Being caught up in a false religious system, believing in that which is unable to dispense salvation (eternal life in the presence of God), does not qualify the person to have their name written in God’s book of life, and He declares their destiny, in Revelation 20:15: “And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”

Seek for God and you will find Him - the true God, the God Who wrote the Bible - He has promised to respond to those who sincerely desire to know Him, for He declares, in Luke 19:10: "For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost." Joshua’s words, written thousands of years ago, still stand as a testament and a warning to all who will listen: "If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." (Joshua 24:15).

John's Response

Dear Sally,

First, I would like to note that you did not address a single one of my responses that showed how you were "seriously misrepresenting" Catholic teaching.

Second, I would also like to note how you did not respond to a single one of the arguments I made in response to your "7 Convincing Reasons" why John 6:51-58 should be taken figuratively. Arguments which, by the way, gave "convincing reasons" why your convincing reasons make no sense - biblically or logically.

Third, all you gave me in response were your opinions, your interpretations of Scripture, and your very flawed interpretations of the Catechism. For all of your supposed "study" of Catholic doctrine, it is clear that you have very little actual understanding of Catholic doctrine.

So, here's the thing - since this website is "Got Questions," I have some basic questions for you since you appear either unable or unwilling to answer the arguments I made that thoroughly undermine your anti-Catholic reasoning.

Here are those basic questions, just 3 of them:

1) Are you infallible in your interpretation of Scripture...yes or no? And, if not, will you admit that your interpretations of Scripture vis-a-vis Catholic doctrine could possibly be wrong?

2) You believe the Bible is the inspired inerrant Word of God. Well, what authority do you rely on for that belief? I.e., where in the Bible does it say, for example, that the Gospel of Mark is the "inspired inerrant Word of God"? Or the Book of Hebrews? Or Revelation? Etc.

3) For the Christian, what is the pillar and ground of the truth...is it the Bible?

Strategy

Man, she threw in everything but the kitchen sink in her response. And what kills me is that she keeps claiming - because of her "13 years" of Catholic schooling and her "study" of Catholic doctrine - that she is some kind of expert on the Catholic Church when it is obvious from what she writes that she really has no clue when it comes to Catholic doctrine. Anyway, all I'm doing here is getting back to basics. If she is unwilling to engage, or incapable of engaging, my arguments as presented, that's fine. Let's break it down and make things a little simpler for her. I have seen folks who would be so intent on proving Sally wrong that they would write pages and pages in response to things like this in an effort to counter every single point she brings up. Don't do that. You are merely wasting your time. The trick in conversations with Protestants is, as I always say, to get to the issue of authority. Although, normally, after a non-response response as blatantly elusive as this, I would end this conversation. However, since I'm using her responses as "catechetical moments," I'm going to go another round and see if she responds one more time.

Question #1 is the question I ask of pretty much every Protestant I ever dialogue with. The purpose of the question is to plant a seed with them that maybe, just maybe, they could have gotten something wrong in their interpretation. And, it goes directly to the heart of the question of authority. Whose interpretation gets to count as the correct interpretation...especially if everyone interpreting the Bible is fallible? Most of the people to whom I put this question respond by saying that, "No, they are not infallible," but then they rarely admit that that means they could be wrong when it comes to their interpretations of the Bible and how their fallible interpretations of the Bible in regard to the Catholic Church could be leading them to wrong conclusions about Catholic teaching. I call that being fallible in theory, infallible in practice.

Question #2 is another one of my favorites for our Bible-only separated brethren. You believe the Bible is the inspired, inerrant, Word of God. Why? Who told you? What authority does someone, outside of the Bible, have to tell you authoritatively that the Bible is indeed the inspired, inerrant, Word of God? Planting a seed that Sola Scriptura is, at its core, a logical contradiction. You need an authority outside of the Bible to authoritatively tell you that the Bible is the inspired, inerrant, Word of God. But, if such an authority exists, and you rely on that authority for your belief about the Bible, then you have an inherent contradiction to Sola Scriptura - how can you say you go be the Bible alone when you rely on some authority outside of the Bible to tell you that the Bible is the Word of God?

Question #3 is a question that always puts Protestants in an uncomfortable position. 95% of them, or more, will say, "Yes, the Bible is the pillar and ground of the truth," especially if you hold up the Bible in front of them while you're asking that question. Then, when you point out to them that the Bible...the Word of God...says, in 1 Tim 3:15 (KJV), that the church is the pillar and ground of truth, you have just shown that when it comes to Scripture, their knowledge of basic truths is faulty and thus their interpretations maybe should not be readily trusted. But, even if they know the right answer, and they say that the church is the pillar of ground of the truth, then you've got a situation of a Bible-only Protestant admitting that the church is the pillar and ground of the truth, not the Bible. So, the follow-up question is: "Why do you go by the Bible alone if the Bible says the church is the pillar and ground of the truth?"

We'll see if Sally will answer these questions and, if she does, if she can do so in a way that is scripturally and logically coherent.

Closing Comments

If you haven't already, please read #2 in the General Comments section above and let me know if there is something you would like to see in a future newsletter that you haven't seen before, or maybe haven't seen in a while. I 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!