Answers from a Catholic

I was challenged, on a web forum of which I am a member, to answer a series of questions about the Catholic faith. I will be doing so in weekly installments, subject to the following rules, and I will likewise be making my answers a part of my weekly blogging schedule.

Format:

  1. Catholic Answers will be posted on Mondays. As answers are given, this leading post will be updated to provide a link to the newly-published Answer. This particular posting will not be where the answers are published, although new questions may always be posed.
  2. Answers will be “stickied” and left open for discussion until the equivalent hour of their being posted on Friday. That is to say, if an Answer is posted at noon on Monday, it will be stickied and open for discussion until noon on Friday.
  3. After the aforementioned “deadline,” the Answer will be unstickied and locked. This is done for two reasons, one of which is that I want to have a restful weekend, and the other of which is that I don’t want us getting distracted from new Answers by ongoing discussions about old ones.
  4. Old Answers will be judiciously moderated, and any new posts added after the locking will be summarily deleted.

Upon further consideration of the discussion below, I will use only three sources in the conduct of these answers:

  1. The Bible (RSV)
  2. The Catechism of the Catholic Church
  3. New Advent, the online Catholic encyclopedia.

I realize the above all sounds very formal and strict, and there’s something of a reason for that. While it is true that every Catholic doctrine has firm basis in the Bible, it is equally true that many out there have very grave misunderstandings of Catholicism, some accidental and some deliberate. As others have noted, “An apologist with a satiric bent might string this clamorous kaffuffle together in some way or other and draft something like an anti-creed, just to see if anyone catches on to the sheer Chestertonian irony and paradox of the complaints against the Faith. I offer the following for education or amusement (whichever comes first):

We, the faithful of the Holy Catholic Church are tritheists who insist on monotheism, while denigrating all that is feminine in the name of a primitive male sky-god and worshiping Mary as a goddess in defiance of the One True God of Israel. We are syncretists who began by stealing all our beliefs from Mithraism and the pagan mystery religions and then, suddenly and inexplicably, turned around (at some undefined point in the first, second, third, fourth or fifth centuries) and began to cruelly forbid all that was tinged with paganism. We are also dogmatists who believe that only Catholics will be saved and yet squishy Universalists who hold that everybody will be saved by works.

For us men and for our salvation, the Enigmatic Sage of Nazareth whom the Jesus Seminar has at last figured out came from no place in particular to say nothing special. For this reason early Catholics became obsessed with worshiping him and were willing to be crucified and burnt alive for his name’s sake. In the process they naturally forgot everything they ever knew about the object of their obsession and, in single-minded devotion to a fanatical purity of faith, taught that we are saved by faith in him alone and that we get our salvation the old-fashioned way (by earning it and by observing Babylon Mystery Religions). Thus, we are obsessed with salvation by works and good deeds done on earth in utter ignorance of the true gift of heavenly grace God offers, but we are so wishful about pie in the sky, angels and saints that our faith in God’s grace blinds us to the reality of the work that needs to be done right here on earth.

We pray to statues, while simultaneously being too spiritual to appreciate the truly earth-affirming nature of non-Christian creation-centered religions (which frequently pray to statues, whereas we only pray to some cloudy disembodied Spirit).

We anxiously buy indulgences to avoid spending eternity in Purgatory, yet we foolishly believe that we can have serene confidence of going to heaven merely because we have received Jesus in the sacraments and practiced holiness. We mindlessly do whatever the Pope tells us and believe in superstition rather than cold reason. Yet we think too much and have theologies, arts, philosophies and histories that are the creation of human wisdom rather than relying on the Spirit who is deeper than mere “head knowledge.”

We ban the Bible for ordinary people but we also produce false, non-King James Version translations which we compel the faithful to read. We loathe sex while having thousands of children. The reason we have so many kids is because, unfortunately, it’s the only way that a patriarchal religion of oppression can keep women down and force them into monotheistic tritheism that worships Mary.

My intent, then, is to try and set at least a few records straignt. I doubt I’ll be as whimsical about it as Mark Shea is, but I’ll do my best.

Current Questions:

Is the confession of sin to a priests and intercession for that sin required?

Does the Roman Catholic Church teaches that the Bible is the sufficient and highest authority on the Word of God?

Does the Roman Catholic Church does not teach that Church traditions have the same authority as the Bible and that they are equally important?

Does the roman catholic Church teach that justification involves being made righteous and holy? That faith in Christ is only the beginning of salvation, and that the individual must build upon that with good works because "man has to merit God’s grace of justification and eternal salvation?"

Does the Roman Catholic church teach that the Pope has the ability to speak "ex cathedra" (with authority on matters of faith and practice), and when he does so his teachings are considered infallible and binding upon all Christians?

Is it the official position of the Roman Catholic Church that all other Christian denominations are not true churches. That other Christian denominations are merely ecclesial communities and therefore did not have the "means of salvation."

Is it the official position of the Roman Catholic Church that the Protestant Churches must submit to Roman Catholic authority and reunite with her under that authority?

According to Pope Paul VI, "The Church’s devotion to the Blessed Virgin is intrinsic to Christian worship" (CCC, no. 971). Catholics view her as a co-mediator of God’s grace and as a collaborator with the salvation of Jesus her Son (CCC, nos. 510, 973). But where in the Bible does it teach that Mary was perfect, without sin, remained a virgin, and is a co-mediator?*

Answered Questions:

Does the Roman Catholic Church teaches that faith alone in Christ is all that is necessary for salvation?

Does the Roman Catholic Church not teach that according to Roman Catholicism, man cannot be saved by faith alone in Christ alone?

Do they not teach that a Christian must rely on faith plus “meritorious works” in order to be saved?

Is it essential to the Roman Catholic doctrine of salvation that one participate in the Seven Sacraments, which are: baptism, confirmation, the Eucharist, Penance, anointing of the sick, Holy Orders, and matrimony?

I’ve only participated in this forum for a couple of days, but it seems evident to me that there is a lot of ignorance here as to what Catholics like me actually believe, and what the Church actually teaches. I’ll try clear that up for people.