Dave Armstrong - The Catholic Verses: 95 Bible Passages That Confound Protestants

from Sophia Institute Press': A Biblical Defense of Catholicism

For further related reading, see the author's award-winning website: Biblical Evidence for Catholicism (http://www.biblicalcatholic.com), and particularly the web pages:

Protestantism: http://ic.net/-erasmus/RAZ387.HTM

Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition: http://ic.net/-erasmus/ERASMUS3.HTM

The Church: http://ic.net/-erasmus/RAZI 2.HTM

95 Bible Passages

That Confound Protestants

who have converted from Protestantism to Catholicism, especially the ones whose primary reason was study of the Holy Scriptures

"First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation."

......................... xi

.......................... 3

The Church Is the "Pillar of the Truth" The Binding Authority of Councils, Led by the Holy Spirit The Authority of Oral Tradition Sinners in the Church

............ 21

Christians Ought to Be One as Jesus and His Father Are One A Multiplicity of Divisions Is a Bad Thing . Dissensions and Denominationalism Forbidden by St. Paul

..................... 31

The Necessity of Authoritative Interpretation The Binding Authority of Tradition, According to St. Paul Oral and Extrabiblical Tradition in the New Testament

St. Peter as the Rock and Possessor of the Keys of the Kingdom

................ 63

Faith and Works: Two Sides of One Coin The Rich Young Ruler's Question About Salvation God's Fellow Workers? St. Paul's Plea: "Work Out Your Salvation" Obedience Necessary for Salvation . Disobedience Led to Death, Obedience to justification . St. Paul on Falling Away from the Faith and Salvation . Other Biblical Writers on Apostasy

................ 87

The Crucial Rote of Works (and Absence of Faith) in Judgment Day Accounts St. Paul: "Doers of the Law" Will Be Justified

Baptism of Entire Households (Implying the Baptism of Children) . Baptismal Regeneration

....................... 113

The Last Supper: "This Is My Body" "He Who Eats My Flesh and Drinks My Blood Has Eternal Life" "Participation" in the Body and Blood of Christ Profaning the Body and Blood of the Lord

.......................... 127

Sharing in Christ's Sufferings Carrying Christ's Afflictions in Our Bodies

................ 133

The Imitation of Paul and the Veneration of Saints Saints in Heaven as a "Cloud of Witnesses" Watching Those on Earth . The Intercession of the Saints and Their Connection with the Earth

................. 147

Elisha's Bones Raise a Man from the Dead More Biblical Relics: Elijah's Mantle, Peter's Shadow, and Paul's Handkerchief

A Fairly Explicit Biblical Argument for Purgatory . Baptism for the Dead: the Most "Un-Protestant" Verse in the Bible The Case of Onesiphorus: Did St. Paul Pray fora Dead Man? . Prayers for the Dead When the Dead Are Raised

................. 181

Full of Grace: The Blessed Virgin Mary's Sinlessness and Immaculate Conception

...................... 191

Voluntary Eunuchs for the Sake of the Kingdom of Heaven . "Each Has His Own Special Gift"; "Undivided Devotion to the Lord"

........................... 205

Our Lord Jesus' "Strict" Stance on Divorce

....................... 215

The Sin of Onan

........................... 223

.......................... 227

The total of ninety-five Bible passages presented in this book - as many readers no doubt suspect - subtly makes reference to the famous Ninety-Five Theses of Martin Luther, tacked on the door of a church in Wittenberg, Germany, on October 31, 1517, in protest against certain doctrines and practices of the Catholic Church. That act is considered the beginning of what is called the Protestant Reformation.

The Catholic Church is often attacked (to use a prominent, cynical example) with the claim that it has allowed "traditions of men" to obscure the pure word of God found in Holy Scripture and substituted for it a Pharisee-like tradition by which it diabolically holds souls in bondage, woefully ignorant of the Bible and God's grace and mercy alike.

Be that as it may (of course, Catholics completely disagree with this assessment), when it comes to Scripture, Protestantism is not without its own serious internal inconsistencies, shortcomings, and problems. Since Protestants almost casually assume that the Bible is their book - that they have a virtual monopoly on correct Bible interpretation - and that it always supports their positions and disproves Catholic ones, it is good once in a while to turn the tables and closely examine and scrutinize Protestant traditions.

No one comes to the Bible as a completely impartial and objective observer or reader. We all approach it, whether consciously or unconsciously, with some sort of preexisting theology, or at least a disposition toward a certain viewpoint. It is impossible not to do this. It is part of the very nature of the thinking process.

Protestants are no exception. They claim that the Bible is clear ("perspicuous") for almost anyone to understand in its main outlines (and indeed, Catholics agree that it is in many important respects), yet they have been unable, in nearly five hundred years, to come to agreement in many significant areas of theology, and they remain institutionally divided (something repeatedly condemned in no uncertain terms by the Bible).

I shall contend throughout this book that, far too often, Protestants do not take all of Scripture into account and that they are guilty of eisegesis (reading into Scripture one's own presuppositions) at least as often as Catholics are, if not more often. Protestants, especially on a popular level, often emphasize relatively few "proof texts" to the exclusion of a great deal of relevant biblical data.

Moreover, only rarely do they seriously engage the biblical texts utilized by Catholics to support their positions through the centuries. In probably most cases, they are not even aware of any passages that a Catholic might use to prove anything that would be contrary to Protestantism. Habitually they do not even entertain the possibility. For many Protestants, such a state of affairs is literally impossible. It is not supposed to happen. When Catholics and Protestants grapple over the Bible and its interpretation, Protestants must always win (so they casually assume).