St. Joseph Religious Education Program at 242 Wall Street, Kingston, NY 12401 US - Apologetics      

Anti-Catholics ask, “Why do Catholics call priest ‘father’?”Since, Matthew 23:9 says, “do not call anyone on earth father.” The Catholic Answer: That verse means not to honor a man like you honor God. Jesus didn’t mean you couldn’t call your dad or priest “father.” St. Paul wasn’t confused either when he wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit:“ I am writing you this not to shame you , but to admonish you as my beloved children.  Even if you should have countless guides to Christ, yet you do not have many fathers, for I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.” (1 Cor 4:14-15)The Church has always considered her priests to be like St. Paul - “spiritual fathers” under the authority of our Heavenly Father.Other verses where one calls another father: Acts 7:2-5, 21:40,22:1 Rom 4:16, 9:10; 1 Tim 1:2, 5:1-2; Tit 1:4; Heb 12:7-9; Lk 14:26 Phlm 10; 1 Jn 2:14; 1 Thess 2:10-11.

Anti-Catholics ask: “Why do you Catholics feel you can work your way into heaven? For St. Paul says in Romans 3:28 that we are saved by faith alone.” “Well,” we say with a smile as we share our faith with kindness and patience, “we cannot work our way into heaven. We are saved by grace alone with a faith that works in charity.” Let’s see what our first Pope had to say about Paul’s writings: “In them (Paul‘s writings) there are some things hard to understand that the ignorant (undiscipled) and unstable distort to their own destruction, just as they do the other scriptures” 2 Pt 3:16.

Now that we see that the scriptures can be distorted, let’s see what the Church, built on the Rock (Peter), has taught for nearly 2,000 years. When St. Paul says, “for we consider that a person is justified by faith apart from works of the law,” he is teaching that the works of the Mosaic law, such as circumcision, could not bring salvation. In the NT, faith does bring salvation, provided it is made alive by charity. Saving faith is active: it is “faith working through love” (Gal 5:6).

In 1 Cor 13:2, St. Paul tells us that faith without love *charity) is nothing (it cannot save). Charity means love of God, and Jesus says that if we love Him, we will keep His commandments (Jn 14:21). When the rich man asks Jesus what he must do to be saved, Jesus answers: “keep the commandments” (Mt 19:16-17). Thus it is clear from Scripture that faith alone is not enough for salvation. We must also have charity and keep God’s commandments.

St James condemns the idea that we are saved by faith apart from good works: “See how a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. ... For just as a body without a spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead” Jam 2:24, 26).

The Catholic Church teaches that we are saved by God’s grace alone. Grace enables us to have the saving faith that works in love (Eph 2:8-10). All good works must be done in the grace of God to have any supernatural value.

You are invited over to your brother-in-law's house for a barbecue. While you are there you get into the usual talk about the kids and all. But here comes Marty, your good host. After small talk, he looks up at you and says, “Why on earth are you Catholic? Don’t you know that the Catholic Church added books to the Bible at the Council of Trent in 1546?” He then quotes Rev 22:18 to you. You look at your wife and she gives you the go ahead nod to set the record straight. “First of all,” you tell Marty, “you know, I find that quite hard to understand. Rev 22:18 applies to the book of Revelation alone, not to the rest of the scriptures. See, we cannot rip a scripture out of its context to make an argument for anything you want it to say. This distorts the intention of the writing. As for adding the books, I would like to share some history with you, my good friend. A long time ago, back in 100, 200 and 300 AD there was no defined canon of scripture. There were many books floating around and some were excellent, some were inspired, and some were written by the Gnostics who applied an Apostle's name to it. To go solely by the Bible was not practiced back then and neither was it for the first 1,500 years. There simply was no Bible back then as we know it today. What Jesus stressed was to submit to your prelates and obey their faith, Heb 13:7,17; Rom 10:15. Why? Well we see in Jude 3 that the faith was once and for all handed down to the holy ones. See, to be a minister, you did not pick up a Bible and open your own ministry with your name all over it. Nope, to be a minister one had to be selected by the Apostles, the first bishops. They would appoint a man, teach him, and lay hands on him to confer the gift of the ministry of ordination. The early Christians went to Church to hear the word proclaimed and they received the Eucharist. Down the road as the Church was growing, the Church convened a council called the Council of Rome in the year 382 AD. At this Council, Pope Damasus I, along with the Catholic Bishops, decided the canon of scripture. They listed 46 books of the Old Testament and 27 books of the New Testament for a total of 73 books that would make up the Bible. These books are the same ones we hold to now. This decision was reaffirmed in many councils, 393 AD, Hippo, 397, Carthage, Pope Innocent I in 405, 1442, Florence. When the Protestant Reformers came along in the 1500‘s, they removed 7 books of the Old Testament. By what authority? Their own is all they had. The books removed were, Tobit, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch, Judith, I & II Maccabees and parts of Daniel and Esther. What the Church did was to reaffirm and make a formal declaration based on the Council of Rome and following, this was done at the Council of Trent, 1546, due to the Reformers heresy of removing those books. So, who added? Not us.” Funny how he did not quote the next verse, Rev 22:19. Note: The Church existed before the Bible and is the pillar and foundation of truth, 1 Tim 3:15, Mt 18:17,18; 16:18,19.

For a deeper understanding click on the following links:

"Defending the Deuterocanonicals" by Jimmy Akin

"5 Myths about 7 Books" by Mark Shea

"The OT Canon (Fathers)" by Jimmy Akin

"Scripture and Tradition" tracts by Catholic Answers

Recommended Web Sites:

Catholic Answers  www.catholic.com

Nazareth Resource Library www.cin.org/users/james

St. Paul Center For Biblical Study www.salvationhistory.com

Family Life Center International  www.familylifecenter.net

The Real Presense Association  www.therealpresence.org

Defenders of the Catholic Faith  www.catholic-convert.com

The Catholic Resource Center  www.catholicresourcecenter.org

Welcome to Catholic Exchange!  www.catholicexchange.com 

Saint Joseph Communications  www.saintjoe.com     (Books and tapes)

New Advent  www.newadvent.org

Women of Grace  www.womenofgrace.com

Recommended Book List: (besides the Holy Bible and the Catholic Catechism of the Catholic Church)

Favorite Catholic Magazines:

This Rock, by Catholic Answers 1-888-291-8000 or www.catholic.com

ENVOY  1-800-55-ENVOY or www.envoymagazine.com