Question: I was amazed that under the guise of a free press, Bible believing Christians can choose ...

Question: I was amazed that under the guise of a free press, Bible believing Christians can choose to interpret and misrepresent the largest Christian denomination in the world, the Catholic Church. While it is not surprising that you dislike the Catholic Church (by its very definition Protestantism is the “protesting” of the Catholic Church teachings) it is dismaying to see untruths displayed as fact. Specifically in the article Evolution or God’s Word? Due to the lack of space I cannot comment on everything but will choose two of the most offensive points you make.

You speak of the “infallible” Church hierarchy, the Pope incorrectly. If the Pope spoke of “hating broccoli” for example, that would not be considered an infallible statement. Therefore when he speaks about evolution it is also not an infallible statement. The term infallibility can only be used in doctrines which teach about faith and morals.

I particularly love when you Protestants bring up Galileo’s trial. The Catholic Church was standing up for the Bible as Galileo’s statements were CONTRARY to Scripture. Am I not correct? The fact is that Galileo was correct so does that make the Bible wrong? Of course not. The Catholic Church teaches that Scripture is the Holy Word of God and is free from error no different than the teachings of Protestants. The quote you use from the Knights of Columbus PARAPHRASE version, “It is not necessarily free from error in other matters,” is not the truth as taught by the Catholic Church! Come on you quoted a paraphrase version! Why didn’t you quote the original Vatican II documents? I’ll tell you why, because that sentence “It is not necessarily free from error in other matters,” is NOT in there!

It is one thing to disagree but outright lies, i.e.: infallibility as interpreted by this article is incorrect. Have you read AUTHENTIC Catholic sources such as The Catechism of the Catholic Church to see what it is the Catholic Church really believes or do you stoop to using Loraine Boettner’s Roman Catholicism as your source. Boettner’s anti-Catholic book holds no truth about the real teachings of the Church. The reason I can make this claim is because there are very few footnotes or footnotes from those “experts” who left the Catholic Church. If you want a fair book about what Catholicism teaches read Catholicism and Fundamentalism by Karl Keating. Protestants claim to have the truth, but as you stated in your article there can only be ONE truth as guided by the Holy Spirit. So Dave, which Protestant denomination should I join if leaving the Catholic Church? Which one has the truth?

P.S. I will be amazed and shocked if you print my entire rebuttal. I have the feeling you will selectively (if at all) choose phrases that can be misconstrued as you do everything in your newsletter. [TBC: This is the entire letter, untouched.]

Response: First of all, I am not a Protestant. Neither was the Apostle Paul, yet he opposed the false gospel your Church teaches. In fact, he anathematized those who preach it (Gal:1:8-9 [8] But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. [9] As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.
See All...). In contrast, your Church anathematizes those who preach the biblical gospel! The Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent contain more than 100 anathemas against this true gospel. Vatican II “proposes again” all of those anathemas and contains its own anathema against anyone who does not accept the teaching of purgatory and indulgences. Do you believe that anyone who wears a scapular (commended in Vatican II) “shall not suffer eternal fire,” as the scapular states? That is a false gospel, and you are damned by your Church if you don’t believe it. I oppose the Catholic Church for the same reason Paul gave: the unbiblical gospel it gives its people and the false hope of heaven it offers. How could I not oppose any church that does that?

I have not misrepresented Catholicism. Why is any book written by a Catholic in opposition to evangelicals “fair,” but any book that is critical of Catholicism is biased? We have hundreds of letters from former lifelong Roman Catholics who have read my books and the newsletter and who testify that we are telling the truth. You are concerned to “see untruths displayed as fact.” Are you concerned for the untruths Rome presents?

You ask, “Have you read AUTHENTIC Catholic sources such as The Catechism of the Catholic Church to see what it is the Catholic Church really believes or do you stoop to using Loraine Boettner’s Roman Catholicism as your source?” You would find on my shelves scores of official Roman Catholic books and documents, those you name and many more, all carefully studied and highlighted. My book, A Woman Rides the Beast, contains about 800 footnotes, most of them from the official documents of your Church and from Catholic theologians and historians. Only one was from Boettner, and that was historical, not doctrinal.

I quoted from the Knights of Columbus paraphrase because it clarifies what Vatican II means. The Knights are probably better informed about Catholicism than you or I. Would these highly respected servants of the pope be allowed to put out that edition if the Church objected? Vatican II limits the inerrancy of the Bible to “that truth which God, for the sake of our salvation, wished to see confided to the sacred Scriptures.” Science is outside that limit, having nothing to do with our salvation. I enclose that page from Vatican II. The same is stated in the Catechism (par.107). Vatican II (copy enclosed) and the Catechism (par. 122) also state that the Old Testament “contains matters imperfect and provisional.”

As for papal infallibility, your Church is deliberately unclear in defining that doctrine, leaving an excuse for papal errors. I enclose a copy of a section from Vatican II which states that you must submit intellect and will in matters of faith and morals even when the Pontiff does not speak ex cathedra. To deny what Genesis says about the creation of man also denies what Romans:5:12Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
See All... says about the cause of sin and death and its remedy, and that involves the very heart of the Christian faith. Hating broccoli is an expression of personal taste. It has nothing to do with faith or morals; whereas the Pope’s pronouncement regarding evolution has everything to do with faith and morals.

I don’t follow your statements about Galileo. You say that Galileo was correct, the Bible, which you say he contradicted, was correct, and your Church was correct, which contradicted Galileo. Galileo’s statement was not contrary to Scripture, but it was contrary to a false interpretation of Scripture which your allegedly infallible magisterium had made and in which it persisted. If Galileo’s statement was contrary to Scripture, then why did the Vatican, after 400 years of condemning it, say he was right in 1992? Is the Vatican now on the side of the unbelievers, siding with a theory that contradicts the Bible? No, your Church has finally admitted the truth Galileo taught, that instead of the sun going around the earth, the earth in fact goes around the sun. But your magisterium and pope have been on the side of the atheists and against the Bible in affirming the theory of evolution for the last 100 years. Will it take another 300 before they admit the truth in this case, as they did in Galileo’s?

Yes, there are many Protestant denominations and I don’t defend denominationalism. We recently did an article opposing 
that. However, the differences between the
 various Baptist groups and those belonging 
to the Independent Fundamental Churches 
of America or the Evangelical Free Church,
 etc. are not nearly as great as the differences 
between various groups and individuals
 within the Roman Catholic Church. Surely
 you know that thousands of priests and nuns practice TM or Zen meditation; you have liberation theologians and many priests who, according to the polls, don’t believe in the virgin birth, etc. but they remain within the Catholic Church. Why aren’t these heretics excommunicated?

Denominations developed when groups separated over doctrinal differences, unfortunately some of them not that important. Rome, however, keeps all the heretics under her umbrella so as to keep the appearance of a unity that doesn’t exist.

We are interested in truth and that is all we desire to print. If you can prove otherwise, then please document your objections specifically.