Church history made me a Catholic. Specifically, the early Church and its doctrine of salvation made me a Catholic. I grew up an evangelical Protestant in Birmingham, Alabama. I “prayed to receive Jesus” at an early age, trusting Christ, and Christ alone, to get me to Heaven. I understood that faith alone could settle the […]
Continue readingWhy Can’t I Go to Communion?
Last week I spoke to a Protestant woman who wanted to know why she could not receive the sacrament of reconciliation from a Catholic priest. Similarly, I hear sometimes from Protestants who want to know why they cannot receive communion in a Catholic Church. I think these kinds of questions are usually sincere and evidence […]
Continue readingTwo Words Commonly Misunderstood
There are two words in Catholic tradition that are very often misunderstood. These words are mystical and contemplative. They are misunderstood because they are frequently used in common English to mean something different, but only subtly different, from the Catholic sense. The confusion is important because it obscures important Catholic truths. In common English, mystical, […]
Continue readingWhat is Catholicism?
In my apostolate, I have the great blessing of routinely answering questions about the Catholic faith. People call or write me with questions, and I do my best to answer. Usually, I get the same ten or twenty questions over and over again. Sometimes I get a question out of left field. (I got a […]
Continue readingThe Witness of “The Lost Christianities”
Most Americans probably think of Christianity as either Protestant or Latin Rite Roman Catholic. They may have a vague understanding of “Orthodoxy,” which they identify with the Greeks, Russians, or other Eastern Europeans. But, by and large, “Christianity” means the Latin West or, to a lesser extent, the Greek (and Cyrillic) East. As generalizations go, […]
Continue readingDo you know for sure?
When I was growing up Protestant, we learned to do evangelism by asking, “Do you know for sure you’re going to heaven?” If the target answered, “No,” or “I hope so,” or “I try to do my best,” then we pounced. Obviously, this person didn’t know “the real gospel.” We were quick to explain that […]
Continue readingWorld Vision and the Elusive Quest for Protestant Unity
Protestant Charity World Vision announced a few weeks ago that they would now employ same sex “married” couples. World Vision president Richard Stearns explained that the decision was meant to serve Church unity. Since Protestant denominations disagree on the morality of homosexual unions, World Vision decided (allegedly) not take a stand either way. World Vision […]
Continue readingWhy Did Christ Die?
The late atheist Christopher Hitchens once complained that the Christian God was a kind of celestial dictator, “Greedy, exigent . . . and swift to punish the original sins.” I have known others to reject Christianity on similar terms. For such skeptics, nothing is a greater obstacle to Christian faith than the doctrine of the […]
Continue readingWhy Would Anyone Want to be Catholic?
I heard from a woman last week who watched a PBS documentary on the Vatican. The show was little more than a sensationalistic “hit piece,” meant to defame the Church as much as possible. Propaganda, pure and simple. But it was effective propaganda. After watching, the woman asked me, “Who, on earth, would ever want […]
Continue readingDo the Saints Pray for Us?
Last week (February 14, 2014), my local paper – The Birmingham News – published an article critical of Catholics and their devotion to the saints. The article suggested that we don’t really need the saints. It argued that Christians should pray to God on their own and not ask the saints for prayer. As a convert […]
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