Expert: Sal - 10/23/2007

Question
Dear Sal,

              I got a new bible from my aunt Rosie she is a true believer of the bible and Jesus I got the New King James version is this good is it catholic? I just want to make sure? Also your right about the catholic church Only the Catholic Church was founded by Jesus, and only it has been able to preserve all Christian truth without any error. We are the spiritual Israel!

I tell other christians my faith and say WHETHER or not you are Catholic, you may have questions about the Catholic faith. You may have heard challenges to the Catholic Church’s claim to be the interpreter and safeguard of the teachings of Jesus Christ.

By all means I get Such challenges come from door-to-door missionaries who ask, "Are you saved?", from peer pressure that urges you to ignore the Church’s teachings, from a secular culture that whispers "There is no God." I get LDS and Jehovah's Witnesses at my door and ask me this? You can’t deal with these challenges unless you understand the basics of the Catholic faith am I right. In Catholicism you will find answers to life’s most troubling questions: Why am I here? Who made me? What must I believe? How must I act? All these can be answered to your satisfaction, if only you will open yourself to God’s grace, turn to the Church he established, and follow his plan for you (John 7:17). I recieve mixed interpetations about the pope and the faith I am in and they say false things I get somewhat confused but I ask God for guidence. Jesus said his Church would be "the light of the world." He then noted that "a city set on a hill cannot be hidden" (Matt. 5:14). This means his Church is a visible organization. It must have characteristics that clearly identify it and that distinguish it from other churches some non catholic or anti catholic call the pope the false prophet or evil even the antichrist I get so hurt by this. Jesus promised, "I will build my Church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it" (Matt. 16:18). This means that his Church will never be destroyed and will never fall away from him. His Church will survive until his return.

Among the Christian churches, only the Catholic Church has existed since the time of Jesus before we were called christians before catholic. Every other Christian church is an offshoot of the Catholic Church interpreted in a different way. The Eastern Orthodox churches broke away from unity with the pope in 1054. The Protestant churches were established during the Reformation period, which began in 1517. (Most of today’s Protestant churches are actually offshoots of the original Protestant offshoots.) Only the Catholic Church existed in the tenth century, in the fifth century, and in the first century, faithfully teaching the doctrines given by Christ to the apostles, omitting nothing. The line of popes can be traced back, in unbroken succession, to Peter himself. This is unequaled by any institution in history. Even the oldest government is new compared to the papacy, and the churches that send out door-to-door missionaries are young compared to the Catholic Church. Many of these churches began as recently as the nineteenth or twentieth centuries. Some even began during your own lifetime. None of them can claim to be the Church Jesus established baptist and mormons even other non catholic churches are right. Some churches such as Judaism and Messianic Jewish say there church is right why?Any merely human organization with such members would have collapsed early on. The Catholic Church is today the most vigorous church in the world (and the largest, with a billion members and more entering the church or converting from there previous one: one sixth of the human race is catholic and still growing), and that is a testimony not to the cleverness of the Church’s leaders, but to the protection of the Holy Spirit.

The Catholic Church has existed for nearly 2,000 years, despite constant opposition from the world. This is testimony to the Church’s divine origin. It must be more than a merely human organization, especially considering that its human members— even some of its leaders—have been unwise, corrupt, or prone to heresy. If we wish to locate the Church founded by Jesus, we need to locate the one that has the four chief marks or qualities of his Church. The Church we seek must be one, holy, catholic, and apostolic.

The Church Is One (Rom. 12:5, 1 Cor. 10:17, 12:13, CCC 813–822)
Jesus established only one Church, not a collection of differing churches (Lutheran, Baptist, Anglican, and so on). The Bible says the Church is the bride of Christ (Eph. 5:23–32). Jesus can have but one spouse, and his spouse is the Catholic Church.

His Church also teaches just one set of doctrines, which must be the same as those taught by the apostles (Jude 3). This is the unity of belief to which Scripture calls us (Phil. 1:27, 2:2).

Although some Catholics dissent from officially-taught doctrines, the Church’s official teachers—the pope and the bishops united with him—have never changed any doctrine. Over the centuries, as doctrines are examined more fully, the Church comes to understand them more deeply (John 16:12–13), but it never understands them to mean the opposite of what they once meant. The Church Is Catholic (Matt. 28:19–20, Rev. 5:9–10,Jesus’ Church is called catholic ("universal" in Greek) because it is his gift to all people. He told his apostles to go throughout the world and make disciples of "all nations" (Matt. 28:19–20). For 2,000 years the Catholic Church has carried out this mission, preaching the good news that Christ died for all men and that he wants all of us to be members of his universal family (Gal. 3:28).

Nowadays the Catholic Church is found in every country of the world and is still sending out missionaries to "make disciples of all nations" (Matt. 28:19).Jesus gave Peter special authority among the apostles (John 21:15–17) and signified this by changing his name from Simon to Peter, which means "rock" (John 1:42). He said Peter was to be the rock on which he would build his Church (Matt. 16:18).

In Aramaic, the language Jesus spoke, Simon’s new name was Kepha (which means a massive rock). Later this name was translated into Greek as Petros (John 1:42) and into English as Peter. Christ gave Peter alone the "keys of the kingdom" (Matt. 16:19) and promised that Peter’s decisions would be binding in heaven. He also gave similar power to the other apostles (Matt. 18:18), but only Peter was given the keys, symbols of his authority to rule the Church on earth in Jesus’ absence.

Christ, the Good Shepherd, called Peter to be the chief shepherd of his Church (John 21:15–17). He gave Peter the task of strengthening the other apostles in their faith, ensuring that they taught only what was true (Luke 22:31–32). Peter led the Church in proclaiming the gospel and making decisions (Acts 2:1– 41, 15:7–12). This is from what I learned from my pastor Fr. Peter Palmisano. Sacred Tradition should not be confused with customs and disciplines, such as the rosary, priestly celibacy, and not eating meat on Fridays in Lent. These are good and helpful things, but they are not doctrines. Sacred Tradition preserves doctrines first taught by Jesus to the apostles and later passed down to us through the apostles’ successors, the bishops.


And also is it essential to date a Catholic a devote catholic? And to raise your children catholic I feel like my path in life changed again like a circle but for good I feel like I am ment to be married and have a family one day. How can I be a good catholic parent and family? Do you think also I dont mean to Judge others but Is Criss angel the antichrist he creeps me out and stuff I get this satanic vibe from him a lot. His real name is Christopher and he has a nick name called Angel. Doesnt that seem odd?  

Answer
Dear Jacqueline:

The New King James Bible is not a good Bible for Catholics to read. It is a Protestant Bible and so is missing 7 Old Testament books. If this Bible has footnotes they are in all likelihood anti-Catholic or at least in error. I would suggest getting a Bible that says that it is a Catholic Bible. Such as "Revised Standard Version For Catholics" of "New American Bible For Catholics".

Good Luck and God Bless,
Sal