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ROME, SEPT. 26, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Answered by Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy at the Regina Apostolorum university. Q: Where are we commanded to have a sacrifice in our formal worship of God? Protestants, for the most part, worship with singing, some collective prayers and long sermons. Where in the Bible does it say that proper worship contains a sacrifice? Also a review of where in the Bible the Mass parts come from and why we include them in Mass would be useful. Again, it will come down to convincing a "sola scriptura" believer that Scripture says we must do...

About ten years ago I wrote an article on the topic of Sola Scriptura. It was a response to former Protestants Scott and Kimberly Hahn’s book Rome Sweet Home: Our Journey to Catholicism.[1] Since then, the article has made its way around the internet. It was never meant to be a comprehensive study of the subject. Since I had been raised Roman Catholic, I was responding to some of the arguments raised by the Hahns as to why they became Roman Catholic. In the final analysis, it all came down to what would be used to determine the basis of...

Our belief in the real true presence in the Eucharist has a long history of dramatic events. The first apostles were shocked when Jesus gave them His Body and Blood at the Last Supper; many of His followers left Him because He preached the "reality of His Body and Blood as food and drink." (Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J. The History of the Eucharist, Illinois: CMJ Associsates, Inc. 1997, p. 1). St. Paul reminded the Corinthians that the "tradition which I handed on to you came from the Lord Himself" (1 Cor 11:23-26). St. Ignatius of Antioch, before he was...

Question 13 of The Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church now asks the following: "In what ways does Apostolic Tradition occur?" Answer: "Apostolic Tradition occurs in two ways: through the living transmission of the Word of God (simply called Tradition) and through Sacred Scripture which is the same proclamation of salvation in written form." The Catholic concept of Tradition is among the most misunderstood and, consequently, misrepresented notions in Catholic teaching. It is widely regarded as a form of attachment to teachings and practices long past and gratuitously preserved. Even Catholics who esteem themselves as "modern" or "progressive"...

Folks, I want to add some further, yet brief reflections that I think are connected to those I did about the Holy Trinity last week (here and here). I belief there are a few connections between the process which resulted in the Trinitarian settlement in the 5th century AD, the settlement of the Canon of Scripture, and the Protestant idea of sola scriptura. First, let's define a few key terms: Sola scriptura is a Latin phrase meaning "Scripture Alone" and refers to the foundational Protestant tenets that the Bible, and the Bible alone is to be the sole rule of...

Question 12 of The Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church now asks the following: "What is Apostolic Tradition?" Answer: "Apostolic Tradition is the transmission of the message of Christ, brought about from the very beginnings of Christianity by means of preaching, bearing witness, institutions, worship, and inspired writings. The Apostles transmitted all they received from Christ and learned from the Holy Spirit to their successors, the bishops, and through them to all generations until the end of the world." The notion of Sola Scriptura, or "Scripture alone", as the definitive source of all that is genuine, all that...

The curious thing about the Bible is the way it reads itself. Modern and postmodern folk, having talked themselves out of trusting Scripture so that they can more credulously swallow whatever some dimestore novelist tells them, spend most of their energy (should they ever get around to reading the Bible) fretting over the most elementary aspects about the text. So, if we propose to the modern mind that Mark wrote Mark or Isaiah had something to do with the authorship of Isaiah, this is often greeted with hoots of derision as simplistic fundamentalism and the question "How do you know?"...

All Christians can agree on this, that the Bible is God’s authoritative and inspired word, and ought to govern the faith and life of the Christian community. What’s in accord with Scripture is good. What contradicts Scripture must be rejected.Opposition in the Name of Fidelity The Protestant reformers, inspired with zeal for God’s word, went one step further. Under the banner of “sola scriptura” they proclaimed the Bible as the only infallible authority for Christians. That meant that both Tradition and Church authority could be opposed in the name of fidelity to Scripture. Funny thing, however: from the outset...

Can You Prove the Bible Is True? Belief in the Bible as the inspired and accurate Word of God is plunging. Here are some simple proofs you can use to show that the Bible is indeed what it claims to be—the very Word of God. by Mario Seiglie Have you ever wondered whether the Bible is the inspired Word of God and can be taken literally—meaning in its plain and obvious sense? Back in 1963, two out of three Americans asked by the Gallup polling organization said they believed "the Bible is the actual word of God and is to...

Linus once remarked to Charlie Brown that he always felt guilty reading the New Testament. When Charlie Brown asked why, he replied, “Because I always feel as though I’m reading somebody else’s mail.” Linus is a wise kid. For the truth is, when you read Scripture, the first thing to realize is that you are reading somebody else’s mail. True, Scripture is “a love letter from God to us” but before it is that, it is a collection of writings by human beings to other human beings, written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. So if we are going...

COLUMBUS, OH: Episcopal Convention Condemns Bible as 'Anti-Jewish' By Hans Zeiger VirtueOnline Correspondent www.virtueonline.org COLUMBUS, OHIO (6/15/06)-The 75th General Convention of the Episcopal Church today passed a resolution essentially condemning the Bible as an "anti-Jewish" document. Not only does the resolution aim to address perceptions of anti-Jewish prejudice in the Bible and Episcopal liturgy, but it suggests that such prejudice is actually "expressed in...Christian Scriptures and liturgical texts." Originated in the Committee on Prayer Book, Liturgy and Music, Resolution C001 directs the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music to "collect and develop materials to assist members of the Church to...

It was described as “elegant,” “Spirit-filled,” and “awesome.” One man said he’d learned more Scripture in two hours on that Saturday than he had in his entire life! Two Protestants who attended are now headed to the Catholic Church.International Flavor One said she cried tears of joy all the way home. The other, a resident of Missouri, came because she didn’t think Catholics studied Scripture and wanted to see for herself what this conference was about. She said she was flabbergasted and awestruck. To the delight of her husband, who took her to the event, she bought a Catholic Bible...

Archaic Words in the NIVAdapted from, Archaic Words in the NIV by Dr. Laurence M. Vance featured at Dial the-Truth Ministries Website   NIV BIBLE VERSE AV abasement Ezra 9:5 heaviness abashed Is 24:23 confounded abutted Ezek 40:18 over against acclamation 2 Chr 15:14 voice aghast Is 13:8 amazed alcove Ezek 40:13 little chamber annotations 2 Chr 13:22 story armless Num 31:50 chains bewilderment Acts 2:6 confounded blunted Ps 58:7 cut in pieces blustering Job 8:2 strong breakers Ps 93:4 waves brooches Ex 35:22 bracelets brood Is 57:4 children burnished Dan 10:6 polished carnelian Rev 4:3 sardine charioteers I...

TEL AVIV – A Florida teenager lying in a coma here after being critically injured last week in a suicide bombing opened his eyes for the first time since the attack yesterday just as his rabbi donned him with teffillin, or Jewish prayer phylacteries. Daniel Wultz, 16, was one of over 60 people injured in last Monday's attack in which a Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up in a crowded section of Tel Aviv as Israelis celebrated the fifth day of the Passover holiday. The blast ripped through a falafel restaurant just outside the city's old central bus station, killing...

VATICAN CITY, APRIL 23, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Here is Part 1 of the translation of the question-and-answer session Benedict XVI had with young people of the Latium region April 6 in St. Peter's Square, in preparation for the diocesan-level World Youth Day. Part 2 will appear Monday. * * * 1. Your Holiness, my name is Simone and I am from St. Bartholomew's Parish. I am 21 years old and am studying chemical engineering at La Sapienza University of Rome. First of all, thank you for addressing to us the message for the 21st World Youth Day on the topic of...

The Washington Post religion section recently had an article about the Gnostic gospels. What are they? — A reader in SterlingThe Gnostic gospels are attributed to the work of a community known as the "Gnostics," which existed in the early Church. (Gnosis in Greek means "knowledge.") However, before addressing the issue of the Gnostic gospels, we must first understand more about the Gnostic community and the heresy entitled "Gnosticism." The origins of Gnosticism are unclear. The first traces of Gnosticism arise centuries before Christianity and are rooted in the ancient religions of Syria, Babylonia, Phoenicia and Persia, and in the...

Washington DC, Apr. 11, 2006 (CNA) - Prominent reform Rabbi Michael Cook says many Jews are paralyzed by their ignorance of New Testament writings, and is urging their study in order to improve interfaith relations and answer Christians who ask why Jews don't accept Jesus as the Messiah. Cook says this lack of knowledge about the New Testament is the Jewish "Achilles' heel," reported the Associated Press. Jews they must learn how the Gospels molded Christian attitudes toward Judaism, he says. This "self-imposed ignorance" is dangerous, he adds. "The New Testament is the greatest single external determinant of Jewish history,...

Over the years, Catholic apologetics has raised a number of objections to sola Scriptura. Let's run through the major objections and rebut them one by one. 1. It’s a recipe for chaos: Catholic apologists often point to the proliferation of Protestant denominations as proof that the right of private judgment is infeasible (cf. Vatican I, preamble). This objection rests on two or three related assumptions: (i) this is an intolerable state of affairs which God would not allow to go unchecked; (ii) God has made provision for some instrumentality that would guard against such disunity, and (iii) the Roman Church...

Tales continue to circulate about how the Catholic Church opposed translating the Bible into the vernacular. But the Church has never opposed that. After all, the Vulgate was originally translated by St. Jerome to make the Bible available in the vernacular of the day, Latin, which continued to be the lingua franca of educated Europe up to the late 18th century and beyond. Nor were the Reformers the first to translate the Bible into more modern European languages. The Catholic Church approved of Gutenberg's German Bible in 1455. The first printed Flemish edition came out in 1477. Two Italian...

Do you remember the last time you heard of a high-ranking elected official invoking the name of Jesus Christ in his inaugural address, explaining that the Lord is the only source of life, law, and liberty? You have heard of innumerable judges and their rulings which appear to legitimize sin and progressively banish God from the public square; but when was the last time you read of a Supreme Court justice using Scripture in a court opinion to explain and defend the biblical roots of the common law and our constitutional system of government? And can you think of one...