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THE PROTESTANT CHALLENGE: How can the Catholic Church teach that some Christians have more authority than others when Scripture says that we’re all one in Christ?  The Catechism teaches that in the Church there are “hierarchy and laity” (873), and that the Lord wills such differences between the members of his body. Paragraphs 874 and 877 speak of the Church as having a “variety of offices” and being …

Spiritual or Religious?  Challenge: I consider myself spiritual rather than religious. Why isn’t that enough?  Defense: Because God loves you and wants even better things for you.  When people say they are spiritual rather than religious, they frequently mean that, although they don’t practice a specific religion, they recognize there is more to the world than matter, that it has a spiritual dimension. This is good! But it doesn’t go very far. Wouldn’t it …

Why Catholics Call Mary the Mother of God? This excerpt from Meeting the Protestant Response explains why Luke 1:43 supports Mary’s title “Mother of God.” Broussard answers the objection that Elizabeth’s phrase “mother of my Lord” refers only to Jesus as Messiah, showing instead how Luke presents Mary as the new Ark of the Covenant. The excerpt also explains why biblical typology does not require every detail of the Old Testament ark to apply to Mary. Mother …

Early Christians are a wonderful example of the unity for which Christ prayed at the Last Supper: And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. . . . And all who believed were together and had all things in common (Acts 2:42-44). Their unity grew from reading the Old Testament and receiving the teachings of those in authority. It was expressed in their fellowship—“those who believed were of one heart and soul&rd …

One of the more common arguments to the Resurrection is that Jesus passed out or “swooned” on the cross. Unless you broke the legs of the victims, it could take days for a person to die, but the Gospels report that Jesus died unusually quickly: Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the council, who was also himself looking for the kingdom of God, took courage and went to Pilate, and asked for the body of Jesus. And Pilate wondered if he were already dead; and summoning the cent …