FREE ESSAY ON CATHOLIC APOLOGETICS

CATHOLIC APOLOGETICS

The Apocrypha: Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, Baruch, 1 and 2 Maccabees
The Protestant argument is that the Catholic Church added the 7 books known as the
Apocrypha to the Canon Bible at the Council of Trent in the mid-16th century (after the
reformation) to back up things the Church taught 
Reformation: 1517 Martin Luther
Council of Trent: 1545-48, 51-52, 62-63
The truth is that these books were part of the original Canon. They were there in 1442 at
the Council of Florence. These books had beed a part of the Christian Canon dating back
to the first Canon developed at the Synod of Hippo in 393.
The Reformers adopted the Jewish Canon and rejected the Christian Canon...the problem now
is that the spiritual decendants of the Reformers think that the Jewish Canon IS the
Christian Canon.
Celibacy for Priests:
Many Protestants feel it is wrong, and inherently evil, to forbid anyone from marrying
and having sex. A refrence is made to 1 Timothy 4:1-3 saying that forbidding marriage is
a thing taught by demons.
1 Cor 7:32-38--An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord's affairs--how he can please
the Lord. But a married man is concerned about the affairs of this world--how he can
please his wife--and his interests are divided. I would like you be free from concern. I
am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but that you may live in a right
way in undivided devotion to the Lord. If anyone thinks he is acting improperly toward
the virgin he is engaged to, and if she is getting along in years and feels he ought to
marry, let him do as he wishes. He is commiting no sin; let them get married. THe one who
stands firm in his resolve, however, who is not under compulsion but has power over his
own will, and has made up his mind to keep his virgin, will be doing well. So then, the
one who marries does well; the one who does not marry will do better 
Matt 19:12 the words of Christ himself -there were some who have renounced marriage
because of the kingdom of heaven. And, significantly, He added, The one who can accept
this should accept it
It appears that here the Bible has contradicted itself. This, however, is not the case.
The passage from 1 Timothy is refering to the Gnostic heresy which regarded matter as
intrinsically evil. Gnostic's believe that marriage is evil because matter is evil,
therefore sex is evil. So really Paul is denouncing heresies, not the idea of remaining
celebate.
Call no Man Father:
Protestants make refrence to Matt 23:9 which clearly states And do not call anyone on
earth father, for you have one Father, and he is in heaven
The very next verse Matt 23:10 says Nor are you to be called 'teacher,' for you have one
Teacher, the Christ
Countless times the Apostles refer to themselves as spiritual fathers and the faithful as
spiritual children...Abraham is refered to as the father of all who believe (Rom
4:11)...
Paul writes for in Jesus Christ I became your father through the gospel (1 Cor 4:15)
The point Jesus was making is that no man is to take the place of God in our lives.
The Protestant International Standard Bible Encyclopedia acknowledges that this is the
true meaning of the text: Christ's condemnation is clearly of the praise-seeking or
obsequious spirit, rather than of a particular custom.
Catholics are not being disobeditent to Jesus, rather following the apostolic example
established be Paul and John.
Bible in Vernacular
The common misconception is that the Protestants were the ones who started to translate
the Bible and before that the Catholic Church would not allow it to be written in any
lanuage other than Latin.
First, the Bible was written in Latin for so long because Latin was the lanuage of
Eurpoe. If a person in Europe could read at all they could read Latin.
Second, the Catholic Church promoted the translation of the Bible into many lanuages well
before the Reformation including High and Low German, Italian, French, Bohemian, Belgian,
Russian, Danish, Norwegian, Polish, Hungarian, and many versions of Spanish.
The preface to the 1611 King James Version of the Bible (written by Protestants) states
(reluctantly) that translating the Bible into the common lanuage dated back to centuries
before the Reformation.
The Catholic Church does not respect the Bible as divinely inspired
Job . . . is merely the argument of a fable.
The book of Esther I toss into the Elbe. I am such an enemy to the book of Esther that I
wish it did not exist, for it Judaizes too much and has in it a great deal of heathenish
naughtiness.
The history of Jonah is so monstrous that it is absolutely incredible.
There are many things objectionable in this book [Revelation]. To my mind it bears upon
it no marks of an apostolic or prophetic character.
All of the above judgments were made by Martin Luther
The Catholic Church's opinion on Scripture:
Therefore since everything asserted by the inspired authors or sacred writers must be
held to be asserted by the Holy Spirit, it follows that the books of Scripture must be
acknowledged as teaching solidly, faithfully and without error that truth which God
wanted put into the sacred writings for the sake of our salvation.
Protestant Writer on Luther's view:
Luther . . . freely charges the sacred writers with inaccurate statements, unsound
reasonings, the use of imperfect materials and even urges the authority of Christ against
that of Holy Writ. In a word, as is admitted by a recent Protestant writer: Luther has no
fixed theory of inspiration: if all his works suppose the inspiration of the Sacred
Writings, all his conduct shows that he makes himself the supreme judge of it
When Scripture Scholars showed Luther he improperly added the word alone to his
translation of Romans 3:28 he replied You tell me what a great fuss the Papists are
making because the word 'alone' is not in the text of Paul. If your Papist makes such an
unnecessary row about the word 'alone,' say right out to him: 'Dr. Martin Luther will
have it so,' and say: 'Papists and asses are one and the same thing.' I will have it so,
and I order it to be so, and my will is reason enough.