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Controversy Over Fr. James Martin's Comments Have you ever met someone who says something controversial and then acts as though he had said something mundane and wonders why everyone is getting so upset? If not, just follow the work of Fr. James Martin, and you’ll have many opportunities to become acquainted with this routine. For example, on January 21, 2023, the Catholic League tweeted about transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg, widely recognized as married to another man named Chasten, …

Fulfilling Our Deepest LongingI still remember feeling betrayed by the Catholic Church.I became a Catholic in 2012 because I was convinced that the Church checked out on paper. I was able to see the biblical, historical, and rational reasons for its claims. However, I soon began to notice a wide chasm between the Catholic Church as described in theory and the Church as seen in action. I came to call it a conflict between “paper Catholicism” and “experiential Catholicism.” The cognitive dissonanc …

The Question of "Where is that in the Bible?" “Where is that in the Bible?” This is the most common question I receive when I discuss the Catholic faith with Protestants. They ask me questions like: “Where is purgatory in the Bible? Or the Mass? Or the pope? Or the rosary?” These questions assume that Christians should only believe a doctrine if it is explicitly taught in Scripture—what is called sola scriptura (“by Scripture alone”). The 1647 Protestant Westminster Confession of Faith expr …

How can the Catholic Church teach that it’s possible for us to lose our salvation when Jesus says that his sheep always hear his voice and that no one can snatch us out of his hand?Recall that the Catechism warns of “offending God’s love” and “incurring punishment” (2090). To fear incurring the punishment of hell implies that a person can’t have absolute assurance of his salvation. There is a Bible passage that some Protestants use to mount a challenge—John 10:27-29: My sheep hear my voice, and …

Catholicism teaches that the doctrines contained in Sacred Scripture (the Bible) and Sacred Tradition (the Church) are authoritative because God’s revelation is the source of both. The Catechism puts it this way: “Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture make up a single sacred deposit of the word of God” (97).This means that “both Scripture and Tradition must be accepted and honored with equal sentiments of devotion and reverence” (82).To some Protestants, this might sound blasphemous. The idea th …