The Catholic Church

Common
Trinity
Soul
Heaven
Hell
Satan/Demons
"Saved"
Baptism
Resurrection
Antichrist

Science
Miracles
Evolution
Creation
Carbon Dating

Inspiration
Partial
Contradictions
& Inaccuracies

Preliminary Points

In a Roman Catholic publication bearing the imprimatur ¹ of the Bishop of Fort Wayne, U.S.A., the priest says: "I'll show you why you can't appeal to the Bible against the Church . . . In fact, I'll show you why the Bible is an authority only as long as the authority of the Church is admitted . . . Reject that authority . . . and the authority of the Bible as the inspired word of God falls to the ground." ²

Sooner or later in his discussion with a R.C. one must settle the fundamental question of "authority" (i.e. as to whether or not the papal claim of infallibility is a valid one). The following dialogue illustrates this point.

Question: "Mr. Roman Catholic, how do you know that purgatory really exists?"

Roman Catholic: "Because my Church teaches that it does."

Question: "But how do you know that what your Church teaches is right?

Roman Catholic: "Because my Church has the Pope who is infallible on matters like this."

Question: "But how do you know that he is infallible? (The discussion often terminates here if the R.C. insists that this must be accepted on "faith"). The discussion may, however, continue . . .

Roman Catholic: "Because Jesus gave this infallible authority to Peter and his successors, the bishops of Rome, as recorded in Matt. 16:18; Luke 22:32, and John 21:15-17.

Footnotes:

1. "Imprimatur" is an official license to print granted by the Roman Catholic Church. The reason for its use here is to indicate that the quotation cited has been officially sanctioned by the Roman Catholic Church. Return
   
2. John A. Obrien, What's the Truth About Catholics? An Exposition of Catholic Belief and Practice, (Indiana: Our Sunday Visitor Press, 1950) p. 90. Return