Some Popular Catholic Myths Part 4

The Church is against Science

Really?  Tell that to Monseigneur Georges Henri Joseph Édouard Lemaître, the Catholic Priest who first proposed the Big Bang Theory.  We must remember that it was the Catholic Church that founded the first University system.  The Church is also responsible for the first hospitals. 

Since the Middle Ages, Catholics – clergy and laity - have been responsible for some of history’s most significant scientific contributions, such as:

• William of Ockham (c.1288–c.1348) – Franciscan Friar known for the mathematical principle, Ockham's Razor
• Thomas Bradwardine (c.1290–1349) – Archbishop and one of the discoverers of the Mean Speed Theorem.
• Jean Buridan (c.1300–after 1358) – French priest who developed the Theory of Impetus.
• Nicole Oresme (c.1320–1382) – 14th century bishop who theorized the daily rotation of the earth on its axis differentiation, the concept of infinity, and the Binomial Theorem.
• Nicolaus Copernicus (1473–1543) – First person to formulate a comprehensive heliocentric Cosmology.
• Christopher Clavius (1538–1612) – Jesuit who was the main architect of the Gregorian Clendar.
• Galileo Galilei (1564–1642) – Father of Modern Science
• Francesco Lana de Terzi (1631–1687) – Jesuit priest who has been called the Father of Aeronautics.
• Jean Picard (1620–1682) – French priest and Father of Modern Astronomy in France
• Louis Pasteur (1822–1895) – Father of Bacteriology.
• Mary Celine Fasenmyer (1906–1996) – Roman Catholic sister and mathematician, founder of Sister Celine's Polynomials.
• Gerty Cori (1896–1957) – Biochemist who was the first American woman to win a Nobel Prize in science (1947)  

All Non-Catholics are going to Hell
Not according to the Catechism:  847 This affirmation is not aimed at those who, through no fault of their own, do not know Christ and his Church: Those who, through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ or his Church, but who nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart, and, moved by grace, try in their actions to do his will as they know it through the dictates of their conscience - those too may achieve eternal salvation.The bottom line is that we are saved by God’s grace alone.  However, we are saved through His Church.  As the Catechism states, those who are ignorant of Gospel and the Church may also be saved.  We leave such souls to the mercy of God.

Some Popular Catholic Myths Part 3

We are Saved by our Works

Not exactly.  The Church teaches – and has always taught that we are saved by God’s grace.  The Scriptures assure us that we as Christians are ALREADY SAVED (Rom. 5:1, 8:24, Eph. 2:5–8).  This is Initial Salvation – God give us the initial grace to believe.

However, because Salvation is a lifelong process – it also says that I am BEING SAVED (1 Cor. 1:8, 2 Cor. 2:15, 7:1, Phil. 2:12, Heb 12:14). This is Ongoing Sanctification – God is sanctifying us throughout our life as we cooperate with his grace.

Because of this, I have the hope that I WILL BE SAVED (Matt. 24:13, Rom. 5:9–10, 1 Cor. 3:12–15). This is Final Sanctification/Salvation – We die and go to heaven having endured to the end.

This cooperation and endurance is based on our DOING the will of God (Matt. 7:21-23, Matt. 25:31–46).  Faith is not simply “believing” in God.  James 2:19 states that even the demons believe and tremble.  Our cooperative works are part of our faith – not merely an addendum to it.

The Catholic Church hates homosexuals
On the contrary – the exact opposite is true. While it is true that the Catholic Church condemns the homosexual act, as we read in Scripture (Lev. 18:22, 20:13, Rom. 1:26-7), homosexuals themselves are our fellow human beings deserving of the same dignity that is given to all people.

However, simply because every human is to be respected as a person, this does not mean that we are to condone their sin any more than we would condone the actions of bank robbery or rape or murder.

Catholics believe that sex is only for procreation

That’s not what the Church teaches.

Whereas, the Church does teach that sex is only for those who are married, as does Scripture (Gen 2:24, Acts 15:20, 1 Cor. 5:1, 6:13, 18, 7:1-5, 7:36, 10:8, 2 Cor. 12:21, Gal. 5:19, Eph. 5:3, Heb. 13:4, Col. 3:5, 1 Thess. 4:3, Jude 7) – its purpose is twofold:  It is both Unitive and Procreative. 

As we read in the Catechism: 2366 "This particular doctrine, expounded on numerous occasions by the Magisterium, is based on the inseparable connection, established by God, which man on his own initiative may not break, between the unitive significance and the procreative significance which are both inherent to the marriage act."¹⁵³

Because the marital act is holy, to be shared only by those who have been indissolubly made “one flesh” in the Lord in matrimony and is a gift from God - it must be open to life as well as being unitive.  Therefore, it is not solely unitive or procreative.

Some Popular Catholic Myths Part 2

Catholics Worship Mary

Nothing could be further from the truth.  This is simply a case of anti-Catholics bearing false witness.

While Latria means worship that is given to God alone - Dulia is theological term signifying the honor paid to the saints.  We honor them because of their earthly examples of faith and endurance as member of the Body of Christ. Hyperdulia is the veneration offered to the Blessed Virgin Mary – who is also a member of the Body of Christ - because of her special role in salvation history as Mother of God.

The word Dulia is from the Greek douleia meaning “slavery”.  Its root word is doulos which means slave - in the sense that we are all slaves of God.  Hyper is defined as “above”, “beyond” or “super”.  When we talk about paying hyperdulia to Mary, it is in this sense that the term is used.  Beyond mere dulia that is paid to the saints in heaven, but not worship.

The Bible Condemns Repetitious Prayer such as the Rosary
Not true.  Despite what our non-Catholic friends may say, the Scriptures do not speak out against repetitious prayers to God.  When Jesus condemned repetitious prayer in Matt. 6:7, he was speaking about the nonsensical babbling of pagans to their gods – not the sincere prayers of the faithful. We read about them in 1 Kings 18:26-29, where the pagan prophets on Mount Carmel tried to invoke Baal all day long, repeatedly calling on his name and performing ritual dances.

In Matt. 26:44, Jesus himself prayed the exact same prayer three times in the Garden of Gethsemane after the Last Supper.  In the Parable of the Determined Widow in Luke 18:-87, Jesus emphatically states that God hears those who keep petitioning him in sincere faith:  “Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night? Will he be slow to answer them? I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily.” In Luke 18:13, the tax collector kept beating his breast and praying, “God be merciful to me, a sinner.”  This was pleasing to God.

In Rev. 4:8 the angels pray the same prayer day and night in the presence of almighty God, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty.”  Psalm 136 goes on for 26 verses in a row, repeating the exact same prayer, “God's love endures forever”.  Similarly, in Dan. 3:56-88 we read the exact same prayer for 32 verses, which is “bless the Lord; praise and exalt him above all forever.”  This is far more repetitious than a decade of the Rosary.

The Pro-Choice Lie

Everybody likes to have choices in life, whether they are financial, personal or business-related.  Having a choice is a good thing – and this is precisely what the pro-death faction plays upon when promoting their agenda of death.  The one thing you’ll never hear from them is exactly what that “choice” means.  Choice means having to make the decision as to whether you will put your child to death - or accepting that gift from God and choosing to let the child live.

Abstinence, chastity and adoption are valid choices that never seem to be promulgated by organizations such as Planned Parenthood, whose founder, Margaret Sanger was not only an avowed atheist, but also an avid believer that certain people like the poor, physically challenged or ethnic minority groups had no reproductive rights.  Over the years her ideas have morphed into slick, non-offensive slogans such as “Reproductive Rights” or “Clean and Safe Abortion”.  There is nothing clean or safe for the child who is murdered by people who had no right to kill him or her.

Unfortunately, in this culture of death, you will find more sympathy from the mainstream media for rescuing cats and dogs than unborn children - who are really the most defenseless members of society. Abortion is an abomination before God because it is a wanton act of murder against a defenseless, innocent victim as well as a refusal of his gift of love.

According to the World Health Organization, the annual worldwide number of abortions is somewhere between 35-50 million.  This is an unprecedented genocide that dwarfs the numbers of victims who were butchered at the hands of Hitler, Stalin, Mao Tse Tung and every other mass-murderer in the history of the world – against victims who never had a chance – OR a choice.

Contraception

It’s interesting to note that virtually every Protestant denomination held the same position on contraception as the Catholic Church before 1930.  That was the year the Anglican Church parted with the rest of the Christian world at their Lambeth Conference, declaring that contraception was acceptable in some circumstances. Soon afterward, they caved in completely and in the years that followed, virtually every Protestant denomination also accepted this practice.

It should be noted that the current secular view of contraception was born of racism and intolerance.  Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood and an avowed atheist, was the mother of the artificial birth control movement who embraced the Eugenics movement, a doctrine that some people (including the poor, physically challenged, ethnic minority groups) had no reproductive rights.  It is from this movement that Sanger proliferated the practice of artificial birth control as a means of controlling the population of these groups.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC 2370, 2399) deems any practice that “renders procreation impossible” as intrinsically evil. Early Protestant leaders such as John Calvin and John Wesley also spoke out against this practice.

We must remember that God is the author of life. We must put our complete faith and trust in God, who knows our needs even before we do (Matt. 6:8, Ephesians 3:20). Children are gifts from God – not punishments as some of our political leaders would have us believe.

Our Sunday Obligation

In accordance with the Third Commandment, the Catechism of the Catholic Church (2168-2195) deems it our obligation to attend mass on Sunday – unless there is a serious excuse for missing (for example, illness, the care of child, etc).  Deliberate failure to fulfill this obligation is to commit a grave sin. This, coupled with full knowledge and deliberate consent, constitutes mortal sin.

There are groups known as “Sabbatarians” who reject the idea of observing the Lord’s Day on Sunday.  They claim that the 3^rd Commandment is very clear that the day of rest and observance is to be on Saturday.  Saturday was the day for observing the commandment I the Mosaic Law.  However, as Christians, we realize that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Law.

For the Jews in the Old Testament, the Sabbath was the seventh day on which the Lord rested after the Creation of the Heavens and the Earth.  In Col. 2:16, we read where St. Paul tells us, “Let no one, then, pass judgment on you in matters of food and drink or with regard to a festival or new moon or sabbath.”  Furthermore, in the New Testament, we find that the Apostles and the early Christians worshipped and broke bread (celebrated the Mass) on the first day of the week, Sunday (Acts 20:7, 1 Cor. 16:2, Rev. 1:10).

Sunday became our day for observing the Third Commandment because it symbolizes the new creation that was ushered in by Christ's Resurrection. For Christians it is the first of all days, the first of all feasts, the Lord's Day.

Catholic or Christian?

Have you ever heard a non-Catholic tell you, “I’m Christian and you’re Catholic?”

You might be told that since the term, “Christian” is in scripture and “Catholic” isn’t.  This is usually presented as proof that the name “Catholic” came along centuries later, which is not the case.  That’s like asking a man whether he is a man or a human.  The plain fact is that Catholics were the very first Christians.

Believers were first called Christians in Antioch (Acts 11:26).  It is interesting to note that the 1^st century bishop of Antioch (St. Ignatius) referred to the “Catholic Church” in a letter to the Smyrnaeans while on the way to his death by martyrdom just a few decades later.  His use of the term makes it clear that the Church was being called the “Catholic Church” for some time.  The word, “Catholic” is derived from the Greek word, katholikos or kath olos, which means, universal or whole.  The Greek manuscripts of Acts 9:31 speak of ekklesia (church) kath olos (catholic). 

The writings of the Early Church Fathers illustrate that they had the very same beliefs that we Catholics of the 21^st century have, including:  the Holy Eucharist, the Real Presence, Sunday worship, the Perpetual Virginity of the Blessed Mother, Infant Baptism, Confession, Church Authority, etc.

Our “Bible-only” friends might also be reminded of the fact that simply because something isn’t explicitly mentioned in Scripture doesn’t mean that it is invalid.  For instance, the word “Trinity” is not explicitly named in the Bible but it is implicitly taught and is an essential belief of the Christian faith.  A list of the books that should be in the Bible is not in the Bible - for that matter, the word “Bible” isn’t in the Bible.  It was the Catholic Church who coined these words and declared the canon of Scripture under the guidance of the Holy Spirit (John 16:12-15).  The Catholic Church was founded by Christ and grew under the leadership of the Apostles and their successors who were led to all truth under the guidance of the Holy Spirit (John 16:12-15).  Our non-Catholic friends can only trace their respective denominations back to the 16^th century or later.

Whereas, every single Protestant denomination was started by a fallible human being, the Catholic Church was built by Jesus, the son of God – God himself.

Are we Catholic - or Christian?  We’re both.