Catholic Biblical Apologetics

Apologetics without apology!

What does the Roman Catholic Church teach about ...? ... and why?

This website surveys the origin and development of Roman Catholic Christianity from the period of the apostolic church, through the post-apostolic church and into the conciliar movement. Principal attention is paid to the biblical basis of both doctrine and dogma as well as the role of paradosis (i.e. handing on the truth) in the history of the Church. Particular attention is also paid to the hierarchical founding and succession of leadership throughout the centuries.

This is a set of lecture notes used since 1985 to teach the basis for key doctrines and dogmas of the Roman Catholic Church. The objectives of the course were, and are:

To present the biblical basis for the origin and development of the Roman Catholic Church.
To present the development of the canon of Scripture and evolution of biblical teaching in the Church.
To understand the role of paradosis/tradition in the oral transmission of revelation.
To study the Council of Jerusalem, described in the 15^th chapter of The Acts of the Apostles and its role in the development of doctrine in the conciliar movement in the Church.
To understand the revelation, doctrinal development and practice of the sacramental life in the history of the Church.
To study the role of the Holy Spirit as teaching authority in the Church.
To study the revelation and development of hierarchical authority in the Church.
To understand the hierarchy of truths in the Church as well as the role of private devotion and personal growth in holiness.

The course grew out of the need for the authors to continually answer questions about their faith tradition and their work. (Both authors are active members of Catholic parish communities in the Diocese of Richmond, Virginia. Dr. Robert Schihl was a Professor and Associate Dean of the School of Communication and the Arts at Regent University. Paul Flanagan is a consultant specializing in preparing people for technology based changes.) At the time these notes were first prepared, the authors were spending time in their faith community answering questions about their Protestant Evangelical workplaces (Mr. Flanagan was then a senior executive at the Christian Broadcasting Network), and time in their workplaces answering similar questions about their Roman Catholic faith community. These notes are the result of more than a decade of facilitating dialogue among those who wish to learn more about what the Roman Catholic Church teaches and why.

Divine Revelation "By Word of Mouth" (2 Thess 2:15): Handing On

Catholic Christians believe the revealed Word of God is handed on as Paul noted "by word of mouth" in the constant faith of the community of believers, the Church.

The Bible repeatedly affirms the process of handing on the revelation--paradosis, or tradition.

The Bible, the written Word of God, does not claim that it is the only source of revelation. It does name those faithful people who are chosen to hand on the Word of God by word of mouth: episcopoi, presbyteroi, diaconoi.

The Bible offers a decision-making model for determining and handling truth and refuting error--the Conciliar Model of Acts 15: "It is the decision of the Holy Spirit and ours too."

The Catholic Church has faithfully followed that model from Nicaea to Vatican II.

The faithful people entrusted to hand on the Word of God are found among the Apostolic Fathers (1st and 2nd centuries), the Post-Apostolic Fathers (2nd to 8th centuries), and the Doctors of the Church.

The latest expression of the constant faith of the Church, handed on by faithful people in direct succession from the Apostolic Church is found in the documents of Second Vatican Council.

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