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The true church of Jesus Christ "subsists in (subsistit in) the Catholic Church, which is governed by the successor of Peter and by the bishops in communion with him" (CC, 816). This is because: "it is through Christ's Catholic Church alone, which is the universal help toward salvation, that the fullness of the means of salvation can be obtained. It was to the apostolic college alone, of which Peter is the head, that we believe that our Lord ...Read More

The Historical Development of Roman Catholicism: The Emergence of Roman Catholicism in the Patristic Church (a.d. 95-590) Part OneRead More

The Historical Development of Roman Catholicism: The Emergence of Roman Catholicism in the Patristic Church (a.d. 95-590) Part TwoRead More

The Historical Development of Roman Catholicism: Medieval Developments and the Growth of Papal Power (590 a.d.-1517)Read More

The Historical Development of Roman Catholicism: Roman Catholicism & the Reformation: The Catholic Counter-Reformation & the Council of TrentRead More

The Historical Development of Roman Catholicism: Post-Tridentine Catholicism Catholicism in the Modern WorldRead More

Airline magazines typically have at least one list of "Top Ten Steak Houses" in America. Each of these claims to serve the best, most delicious, most tender, most nutritious steak in the land. Let's consider and compare a few of them. (1) Martin's Protestant Steak Joint is a simple restaurant but with high standards. It serves a variety of steaks, but all come from the finest cows in America. All beef is prepared medium rare. The atmosphere is simple and rugged. You get...Read More

The Authority of Roman Catholic Church DocumentsRead More

Miscellaneous Observations on Roman Catholic DoctrineRead More

Observations on the Relationship between Catholics and ProtestantsRead More

Foundational to the Roman Catholic doctrine of purgatory is their understanding of the double-effect of sin: “Grave sin deprives us of communion with God and therefore makes us incapable of eternal life, the privation of which is called the ‘eternal punishment’ of sin. On the other hand every sin, even venial, entails an unhealthy attachment to creatures, which must be purified either here on earth, or after death in the state called Purgatory. This pu...Read More

Introduction "The significance of the sacraments for the life of the Christians of the Middle Ages is impossible to exaggerate. They were not mere isolated rites; they were bound together by their common quality as signs and vehicles of divine grace. They constituted the very heart of Christianity. By means of them the channel of communication between God and man and man and God was kept open constantly. Where the sacraments were there was life and salvation; where th...Read More

The Eucharist The word “mass” is of uncertain origin, but may be a derivative of the Latin verb mitto, mittere = to send, dispatch, release, or the noun missio, -onis (f) = a sending off, letting go, discharge. The idea was either that when the Lord’s Supper was to be observed, those of the congregation not participating were to withdraw or leave, or that after the Eucharist the faithful were “dismissed” or sent forth into the world. A...Read More

Penance Penance is that sacrament designed to address the problem of post-baptismal sins. According to the CC, the new life received in baptism "has not abolished the frailty and weakness of human nature, nor the inclination to sin that tradition calls concupiscence, which remains in the baptized such that with the help of the grace of Christ they may prove themselves in the struggle of Christian life" (CC, 1426). This sacrament exists for those "who, since Baptism, ha...Read More

A.        The Roman Catholic Doctrine of Scripture 1.         The Extent of Scripture - What actually constitutes inspired Scripture, says Rome, is determined by the conciliar consensus of the church or by papal edict. Thus, the apocrypha was officially introduced into the canon by the Council of Trent in the mid-16th century. In addition to the 66 books of the Protestant canon, Rome include...Read More

A.        The Prominence of Peter in the NT Evangelical Protestants must get over their aversion to Peter. There is no escaping the fact that he played a dominant role in the gospels and in the early development of the church in Acts. (1)       Every list of the twelve apostles has Peter placed at the top (Judas is always listed last; see Mt. 10:2; Luke 6:13-16; Acts 1:13). (2)    &nb...Read More

Mariology: The Dogma of the Immaculate ConceptionRead More

The news has been filled of late with the story of John Paul II’s respiratory illness. This wouldn’t necessarily be significant news if it weren’t for the fact that John Paul’s health has been poor for some time. Given his age, one can only imagine that there is a flurry of activity, hidden from public view, in preparation for the selection of the next Pope should John Paul’s illness turn fatal. Few Protestants are aware of the elaborate pr...Read More