Expert: Rev. Robert Woods - 3/20/2006

Question
Dear Rev. Woods,
  Greetings from another Pennsylvanian!  Your answer, dated 1/12/2005 has astonished me.  I really cannot understand how an expert would hold such misleading beliefs regarding the Catholic Church.  I'll make my points in the manner you did, by numbering them, OK?
1. Of course we will continue to disagree on the need for a splitting apart of the Church.  It indeed needed reforming in some of its practices, but did NOT need to be torn apart!  2. You said that anything that disagrees with what a pope said is taken out of the Catholic Bible...NO WAY!
We DO disagree that Mary had other children, (the old "cousin" arguement)...but IT still SAYS brothers in my CATHOLIC BIBLE!  3. PURGATORY is NOT HELL!  Never was, never will be. Once in Hell, you remain in Hell!  We base our belief on several BIBLICAL quotes...such as: If a man's works burn, yet he shall be saved, so as by fire.  And: You will not be released till you have paid the last penny.  Purgatory is for those who have BEEN FORGIVEN of their sins, but have not paid off the "debt" Christ spoke of.  Surely you KNOW that Purgatory is NOT a place where someone who dies in sin can "wait out" till the Lord forgives them!  You are better educated than that!  4. I have NEVER been taught that I MUST "go through a priest, a dead saint, or Mary" to pray to God!  I CAN ask a priest, a saint--dead or alive--or Mary, to PRAY FOR ME!  Just as I can ask YOU to pray for me or you can ask ME to pray for you. That's what "the communion of the saints" means in our Creed. 5. You say Catholics believe that if we're Baptised, we must go to Purgatory to be saved.  NO!  We also believe, along with out Baptist brothers and sisters, that we MUST BE SAVED to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.  Our whole religion is based on the fact that Jesus is OUR LORD AND SAVIOUR!  6. Salvation--same answer as before...YES we believe you must be Baptised as Jesus said, YES we believe in being Confirmed...which is renewing our Baptismal vows and making an "informed" decision to accept and acknowledge that Jesus IS OUR LORD, and HE IS OUR SALVATION!  7. The Catholic Church DOES NOT teach that "all sex is sin"!  Original Sin has nothing to do with sex.  It has to do with Adam and Eve eating of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.  They wanted to eat the fruit to become un-innocent, it I may use that term...and wanting that knowledge had nothing whatsoever to do with sex, procreation, etc.  "LET THEM BE FRUITFUL AND MULTIPLY."  That's in my Catholic Bible, too!  So you see, what I was taught MANY years ago, is exactly what you state in your expanded reply as to what Baptists believe.  This is NOT a "new" Catholic teaching.  I disagree that babies and young children do not "need" to be Baptised.  Whole families were Baptised in the New Testament, and I'm SURE that would include the babies and young children, not just the adults.  You are a well-educated man.  I'm just a Sunday catechism educated Catholic.  Can we agree that you kind of flubbed these answers?  If not, I really must doubt your claim of being an "Expert" at least on the topics discussed.
Yours in Christ...Who lives and reigns, forever and ever.  AMEN!  Sincerely, Marika Mem  

Answer
Greetings in the Name of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,

1.  I too would have hoped that the Church would have reformed not split.  But it was the Catholic Church that excommunicated Luther without answering the questions of reforms he put forth on indulgences.  So what was being sold?  If you read church history, you will find the exact words of the sellers,   01a.21 Friedrich Myconius: Description of Indulgence Peddling ©

"At that time a Dominican monk named Johann Tetzel was the great mouthpiece, commissioner, and preacher of indulgences in Germany. His preaching raised enormous amounts of money which were sent to Rome. This was particularly the case in the new mining town St Annaberg, where I, Friedrich Myconius, listened to him for over two years. The claims of this uneducated and shameful monk were unbelievable. Thus he said that even if someone had slept with Christ's dear Mother, the Pope had power in heaven and on earth to forgive as long as money was put into the indulgence coffer. And if the Pope would forgive, God also had to forgive. He furthermore said if they would put money quickly into the coffer to obtain grace and indulgence, all the mountains near St Annaberg would turn into pure silver. He claimed that in the very moment the coin rang in the coffer, the soul rose up to heaven. Such a marvellous thing was his indulgence! In sum and substance God was no longer God, as he had bestowed all divine power to the Pope: ‘Tu es Petrus tibi daho claves quodcunque ligaveritis.' And then there were the masters of the Inquisition, who banished and burned those saying conflicting words.

This indulgence was highly respected. When the commissioner was welcomed to town, the papal bull was carried on velvet or gold cloth. All the priests, monks, councilmen, teachers, pupils, men, women, maids, and children went to meet him singing in solemn procession with flags and candles. The bells tolled and when he entered the church the organ played. A red Cross was put up in the middle of the church to which the Pope's banner was affixed. In short: even God himself could not have been welcomed and received more beautifully."

Friedrich Myconius, Historia reformationis, p. 14.

This idea of Indulgences troubled Luther greatly.  He saw the indulgences for what they were and saw were this evil was headed.  While the Catholic Church never admitted that it was wrong, on November 8, 1518 Pope Leo X redifined indulgences taking Luther's arguements into account.  


Now for the rest of your arguments.  First, I did not want this to be an arguement between to brothers in Christ.  I have my few (based only on Scripture) and you have your views.  If you are willing to argue on nothing more than Scripture then I will be willing to continue this dialogue.  If not, go with the Blessings of the Lord.