Expert: Marco - 8/30/2008

Question
Hello,I'm a 23 year old catholic male who is kind of lost because of an issue. My girlfriend is adventist and we both love each other. She says that her religion (Adventist)is the correct one because her bible tells that truth. I would love to receive some advice from you because I don't know what to do. I fear that our relationship could end. Thank you.

Answer
Dear Rigo,

I think that believing in different religions is a dangerous situation.
The most difficult problems arise with the birth of children, because parents has the duty to give them a proper religious education.
When the two parents taught different doctrines, the children may become confused, and parents often begin to quarel.

I firmly believe that adventists' teachings are false.

Here are some historical information about aventists.

The sects of Adventists are the outcome of a religious agitation begun by William Miller (1781-1849) in 1831, after a minute study of the prophecies of the Bible. Testing the mysterious pronouncements concerning the Messias by a method exclusively historical, he looked for the fulfillment of every prophecy in its obvious surface reading. Every prophecy which had not been literally accomplished in the first coming of Christ must needs be accomplished in His second coming. Christ, therefore, should return at the end of the world in the clouds of heaven to possess the land of Canaan, and to reign in an earthly triumph on the throne of David for a thousand years. Moreover, taking the 2,300 days of the Prophet Daniel for so many years, and computing from 457 B.C. -- that is, from the commencement of the seventy weeks before the first coming, Miller concluded that the world would come to an end, and Christ would return, in A.D. 1843. He gave wide circulation to his views and gained a considerable following in a few years. When the year 1843 had passed as any other, and the prediction had failed, Snow, one of his disciples, set himself to correct Miller's calculations, and in his turn announced the end of the world for 22 October, 1844. As the day drew near groups of Millerites here and there throughout the United States, putting aside all worldly occupations, awaited, in a fever of expectancy the promised coming of Christ, but were again doomed to disappointment. The faithful followers of Miller next met in conference at Albany, N.Y., in 1845, and professed their unshaken faith in the near personal coming of the Son of God. And this has remained the fundamental point of the Adventist creed.

Maybe the most fundamental error of SDA and of all protestant is the following:

Who has the authority to interpret correctly the Bible and to teach correctly Jesus' teachings?

Only a person who knows and understands what Jesus taught can teach what Jesus taught.
So, who are the persons who really know Jesus' teachings?
Many think they are teaching what Jesus taught, but they teach different doctrines, therefore it is evident that they are teaching only their opinions, because Jesus cannot contradicts Himself.

Jesus gave the commandment to teach the Gospel ONLY to His disciples and He NEVER gave this commandment to the crowds; this clearly proves that not all can teach the Gospel, but only those who have been taught and sent (directly or indirectly) by Jesus.

How did the Church's mission  pass to each generation?
The Bible explains this to us.

Acts 6:2 Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples to them, and said, It is not right that we should neglect the word of God to serve tables.
6:3 Therefore, brethren, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.
6:4 But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.
6:5 And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch.
6:6 These they set before the apostles: and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them.

The apostolic mission is passed to other people directly from the apostoles.

Acts 14:19 And certain Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, who, having persuaded the people, stoned Paul, and dragged him out of the city, supposing he was dead.
14:20 Yet, as the disciples stood around him, he rose up, and came into the city: and the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe.
14:21 And when they had preached the gospel to that city, and had made disciples of many, they returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and Antioch,
14:22 Strengthening the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying that through much tribulation we must enter the kingdom of God.
14:23 And when they had appointed elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they committed them to the Lord, in whom they believed.

Again it is Paul (who in his turn received the apostolic mission with the laying of hands, see Acts 9:15-19) who appoints the elders.

1 Timothy 4:14 Do not neglect the gift you have, which was conferred on you through the prophetic word with the imposition of hands of the presbyterate.
2 Timothy 1:6 For this reason, I remind you to stir into flame the gift of God that you have through the imposition of my hands.

Paul writes clearly that the presbyterate is received with the imposition of hands.

The prespityters in their turn, appointed other people:

2 Timothy 2:2 And what you heard from me through many witnesses entrust to faithful people who will have the ability to teach others as well.

Christ founded His Church 2000 years ago; He ordered the apostoles to teach His Word, and they appointed other people, who in their turn appointed other people, etc.  so that the apostolic mission has lasted until our days.
This is the catholic Church, which receives its apostolic mission form Christ and teach the true teachings of Christ, as they were given to the apostoles.
There is an historical connection between the present catholic church and the church founded by Christ 2000 years ago, while there is no historical connection between the many protestant denominations and the church of Christ.
In fact Christ never appeared to Luther or Calvin, etc.; Christ never authorized Luther to found a new church and to teach his opinions as if they were inspired by the Holy Spirit.
All the apostoles did many powerful miracles which proved that they were really sent by Christ, but Luther did no miracle in order to prove that his interpretations were really inspired by the Holy Spirit.

The protestant churches teaches many sinful doctrines, for example that divorce and remarriage are permissible, that abortion is permissible (some denominations), etc.

Mt 16:18 And I say also to you, That you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
16:19 And I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

Christ founded His church 2000 years ago and He assured us that the gates of Hell  shall not prevail against His Church.
If the protestant churches were the church of Christ (which one among thousends of different denominations?), it would mean that Jesus lied when He said that the gates of Hell would have not prevail against His church.
In fact, before 1500 dC there were only the catholic church and the eastern orthodox church.
Since both the catholic church and the orthodox church teach  doctrines such as prayer for the dead, prayers to saints, etc. if protestants were right, this would imply that the church founded by Jesus 2000 years ago had been defeated by Satan for about 1500 years.
Christ spent more than three years with His disciples and taught them; How is it possible that Jesus' teachings were forgotten and replaced with sinful teachings for about 1500 years?
All the people who lived during those centuries would have been induced to sin by the church founded by Christ; it is absurd that a loving Father would have allowed this to happen, and this would have certainly meant that the gates of Hell had prevaled against the church of Christ, in contradiction with His own words.
Christ cannot contradict Himself; if Christ has taught through His Church certain doctrines for 1500 years, these doctrines cannot be considered sinful.

Besides, only to Peter Jesus gave the keys of the kingdom of heaven; this proves that Jesus gave Peter a special role in the Church. This special role still exist in the Church of Christ, and it is the role of Peter's successor, the Pope. This special role allow christians to identify with certainty the only true Church of Christ. There is in fact an historical continuity between Peter and the present Pope, the apostolic succession.

Protestants usually think that their interpretations are inspired by the Holy Spirit ; but they are divided in  thousends of different denominations and they have different interpretations.
Since the Holy Spirit cannot contradicts Himself, it is evident that their interpretations are only fallible human opinions.
In fact, when Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit, He was speaking directly to the apostoles only, and NOT to the crowds. John 16 :12-13"I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.
When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.”
It is then illogical to use this verse to claim that Jesus has promised the Holy Spirit to everybody, because He was speaking only to the apostoles, united with Peter, whom Jesus gave the keys of the kingdom of heaven.
I believe that God loves us; it follows that God has not abandoned us to our fallible human interpretations and opinions.
Through the prophets, God prepared the Jews (even if only some of them) to receive Christ; Christ remained with His disciples for about three years and half and taught them all the necessary moral and spirital knowledges for our salvation, so that in their turn they could teach others, who in their turn could teach others, etc.
In this way the teachings of Christ has spread throughout the world and the centuries through His Church, the catholic Church.
A loving Father would never abandon His children to their human and fallible opinions.
A loving Father would certainly give His children a “guide” so that they could receive His holy and good teachings.
This “guide” is the Catholic Church, the Church founded by Christ 2000 years ago.


Usually prtestants say that the catholic church has been corrupted :
If this were true, it would mean that Jesus was a lier, because He said that the gates of Hell would have not prevailed agaisnt His church.
The truth is that corrupted men have been present within the church since the very beginning (Judas was one of the apostoles), but the church was never corrupted because its teachings were always good.
Judas was sent by Jesus to teach the Gospel, to heal the sick, to cast demons (see Mt 10 :1-8)
The fact that there were men within the church who commited grave sins, does not mean that the church is corrupted.
Every man is responsible of his own sins, but the church is a divine institution and is above its human members and its doctrine is divine.
The fact that Judas was corrupted does not mean that church of Christ was corrupted.

Usually protestants believe in the Sola Scriptura principle, but there is  in this case no verse in the Bible which establishes this principle. This is then a striking contradiction of protestantism.
The Bible did not come down from the sky one day.
The biblical canon was established by a Concilium of catholic bishops three centuries after Christ, and so the christian communities lived for three centuries without the New Testament.
Jesus never wrote anything, which clearly proves that the christian faith cannot be founded on a book.
Jesus founded a Church , and NOT a book.
Jesus chose to found a living Church, a living and visible guide for all christians, to help them to understand the Truth.
Jesus is still the head of the Church and He still leads His Church.
Jesus still teaches and guides us through His living Church, the Catholic Church.
The Bible says that “The Church is the pillar and  bulwark of the truth” (1Timothy 3 :15).
Jesus gave the Church the authority of binding and loosing (Mt. 18 :17-18).
Jesus never wrote anything ; the New Testament has been produced by the Church, and the Church still produces writings to teach us the spirital and moral Truth.
The same Holy Spirit Who inspired the authors of the Bible, still leads the Magisterium of the Church in its apostolic mission.
The Cathechism contains the official teachings of the Church, and it is to be considered inspired by the Holy Spirit.
You can find the Cathechism on line at

www.christusrex.org/www1/CDHN/ccc.html


I hope this may help you.
If you should need some clarifications, please ask again.
You can find some information about catholicism also on these links:

catholicism.about.com/religion/catholicism

ic.net/~erasmus/erasmus.htm


Yours in Christ,

Marco

PS I think that faith cannot come only from logic, because to have faith in God means to trust and love God.
I think however that logics and science prove the existence of our soul and the existence of  God and that there are many rational arguments strongly supporting the christian faith.
The explanation of these aguments is rather long and Allexperts allows only to give short answers. You can find such arguments  the following site

http://xoomer.alice.it/fedeescienza/englishnf.html

where  I analyse the incongruencies of the materialistic conception of the mind, on the basis of our present scientific knowledges about brain and matter.
This analysis points out how the laws of physics  prove that the   brain cannot generate consciousness, which existence implies  the presence in man of a unbiological/unmaterial element. The problem of consciousness is then strictly connected to the one of the existence of the soul and, consequently, the existence of God.
In the first article entitled “Mind and brain...” you can find a general discussion of the mind and brain problem from a scientific point of view.
In the second article entitled “Scientific contraddictions in materialism”
you  can find an explanation of the fundamental inconsistencies of  the  typical arguments used by materialists, such as the concept of emergent, macroscopic or holist property, complexity, information, etc.
In the section called “FAQ: answers to  visitors' questions” you can find the answer to many typical questions, such as "Are there any scientifically proved miracles?", "Does the existence of the universe imply the existence of God?", "Can science explain God?", "Can science establish which is the true religion?", "Can science explain consciousness in the future?", and many others.