Called To Communion - 3/8/18 - Dr. David Anders - Difference between Disciples and Apostles

what's stopping you from becoming a Catholic why can't women become priests why do Catholics worship Mary why do I need to confess my sins to a priest where is purgatory in the Bible I think the Pope has too much authority you are called to communion with dr. David Anders hey everybody welcome again to call the communion this is the program for our non Catholic brothers and sisters and that's you if you are a non Catholic a fallen away Catholic never been a Catholic but you do have some interest in the Catholic faith and there's some questions that you would like to get answered here is our phone number one eight three three two eight eight EWTN that is eight three three two eight eight three nine eight six we would also like to know if you are a non Catholic what is stopping you from becoming a Catholic again eight three three two eight eight EWTN or you can send us a text the address therefore that is EWTN text the letters EWTN to five five zero zero zero wait for the response from us and then text us your first name and your brief question message and data rates may apply if you're watching us on TV today the email address for a future show CTC at ewtn.com CTC at ewtn.com well we have the a-team in place we're ready to hear from you Michael Burchfield is our producer Matt Kaminski is our phone screener we also have Michael McCaul taking care of social media for us so he can also pass along any questions you may post via Facebook or YouTube I'm Tom price along with dr. David Andrews Tom how are you today couldn't be better how are you well you know I'm happy and a little bit under the weather but happy and under the weather I'm proud of you you're hanging in there thank you so my voice sounds kind of today that's why you will push through it I know you will here's an email we've received from Dan how can we refute the assertions that the Catholic Church is one of the beasts in Revelation for example the Beast got its power from Rome what say you okay thanks first of the burden of proof is always on the one who asserts right all right so the the first thing you need to do if someone makes this claim to you as you say okay let's know you demonstrate that that assertion is true and then I'll respond to you by refuting the arguments that you make for it okay but let's actually take a look at the book of Revelation chapter 13 and we read about a beast from the earth and a beef beast from the sea and in neither case does their description match in the slightest the the history or identity of the Catholic Church for instance the beasts from the sea is one that has dominion over the entire world and the Catholic Church does not have dominion over the entire world the Catholic Church has dominion over Catholics that like the Pope is a Vicar of Christ on earth in crisis is is is the king of the whole universe right but the Catholic Church does not exercise jurisdiction politically over the entire world and that is that's clearly what's intended here when you read the description of the beasts of the sea secondly the beast from the sea is one that makes war on all of the saints and those who hold to the name of Jesus but it was the Catholic Church that makes Saints and proclaims the name of Jesus throughout the entire world it's because of the Catholic Church that we have today the sacred scriptures and the preservation of the gospel and his promulgation throughout the world so it's kind of doing the opposite now of what the base from the sea does and both of these beasts the one from the CEO of the earth really it's pretty evident I think stand um in an allegorical way in a figurative way for for illegitimate or blasphemous political and religious power okay and in so in a sense I mean all apocalyptic works this way I think you can find evidences of these tendencies in human culture in every age okay and and that's why biblical interpreters have since the beginning pointed to historical figures and events in their own time and said ah ah this is obviously no didn't notice right because in every age we can find and we can find something that corresponds to these tendencies to take either political power or or ideology and then distort them in anti-christian and inhumane ways we let some pervasive tendency and human experiences why these why these texts have a have a perennial value because we can they're they're written in the obscure fashion that they are mm-hmm I think so that we won't simply identify them with one particular historical epic or person now if you really had to identify a particular epic or person it would be Nero Caesar right because if you looked on in verse 18 here is wisdom let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast for it is the number of a man is number 666 well this is a reference to the practice of Kamaria Kamaria was a Assyrian Hebrew convention whereby they conveyed a numeric value to to the letters in the alphabet so you could calculate a new numeric score for a personal name it's not something that we do in the English language most common in the antiquity okay and and we know with a certainty that this is how they added up the value of the name Nero Caesar who was a type of Antichrist who persecuted the church and did all these things that are that are in evidence in the sacred text here so either you got one of two options either you say okay this is a localized prophecy mm-hmm that hat or apocalyptic text it has to do specifically with Roman persecution of and there weren't any Protestants back then the Catholics okay or you take Caesar as a type all right that we have to confront potentially in every age of illegitimate political or religious power okay but to go back to this point here the Dan brings up the Catholic Church one of the beasts as we would say here in the south that dog won't hunt about Darwin absolutely not thank you for your email though although it's it's a it's a dog that's been shot a lot over the last 500 years well so the charge that the Pope of Rome is the beast or the Antichrist or something that's a standard part of Protestant polemics going back for you know 500 years really even goes back to before the Reformation into the 15th century you find folks running around making this claim and you know and oldie but not a goodie it's an oldie but not a goodie okay here's an email from Laura who says what are your thoughts on donating umbilical cord and placenta to research personally I think the idea of someone growing my baby stem cells on a petri dish is kind of creepy but my husband seems fine with it what do you think right so as long as we're not as long as we're not killing a human person or or or bringing you know a human person into existence for the purpose of of manipulating them or exploiting them I mean the concept of Catholics are perfectly permitted to donate their organs you know once you've been delivered unless the baby's been delivered and we've you know removed the afterbirth and all the rest of it I mean that's just gonna go into a medical waste bag anyway and I don't I mean from based on my knowledge of Catholic moral theology and bioethics there'd be nothing to prevent the use of that biological material because that's not where you know it's like you're producing babies right in order to generate umbilical cords now if you were that I'd be illegitimate if you were pumping out babies because you wanted to use their placenta for medical research then be kind of exploitive yes but I I'm not aware of any reason that you couldn't do that very good Laura thank you so much for your email when we return we'll be talking with Kelly in Oklahoma City we also have a line open for you right now eight three three two eight eight EWTN if you have a question for dr. David Andrews and by the way for all of you non-catholics out there we'd love to know what is keeping you from becoming a Catholic again eight three three two eight eight EWTN eight eight eight three three two eight eight three nine eight six it's called a communion here on EWTN sharing the fullness of the Catholic faith 23 3 2 8 8 EWTN one eight three three two eight eight three nine eight six this is call to communion with dr. David Anders on the EWTN global Catholic radio network hi this is father Mitch Pacwa from open line Wednesday we pray that you have a holy and blessed stay up to date on the latest EWTN TV and radio shows books art CDs and DVDs from religious catalogue when you sign up for wings our weekly e-newsletter get wings today at ewtn.com the eyes have it but unfortunately when it comes to technology not in a good way I'm Teresa Tomeo with another medium and it here on EWTN are you and your computer or smartphone a great deal noticing things such as dry eyes and blurred vision you may be suffering from digital eye strain doctor jean-marie Davis at Alcon us Vision Care which did a survey on this recently says some time away from those electronics could solve the problem this could be a full break whether it's a full afternoon that you walk away from all your devices or a whole weekend but it's essentially just taking some specific intentional time away from your technology the survey finding that 51 percent of us respondents spending more than four hours per day watching TV and that 15% used their smartphone for eight hours or more a day it indicated that even regular weekly use of a device can be a problem for some people I'm Teresa Tomeo with another media minute here on EWTN [Music] what's stopping you from becoming a Catholic you are called to communion with dr. David Anders 8e wtn one eight three three two eight eight three nine eight six if you're ready now let's get to the phones at eight three three two eight eight EWTN we begin with Kelly in Oklahoma City listening to us there on our great affiliate group Oklahoma Catholic broadcasting hello Kelly what's on your mind today I appreciate you taking my call here's my question raised Protestant and have converted to Catholic okay the message we got was Jesus died in roads he paid for all our sins you believed and received your saved you go to heaven okay good message great now I go to Mass and go to confession and I just want to know if if I'm getting this right but it seems like it's sort of like making a car payment you have this debt and a lot of it's paid off you go and you pay up to date and if you die in grace and you get your last rites you you go to heaven eventually but there's still a lot of debt left and I don't know that this doesn't sound right okay thanks I understand the question very much and I think I appreciate it and I see the dilemma that you're facing I think you misconstrue the way Catholics understand the death of Christ and and and all for that matter the way Protestants understand it and that and the difference in our spiritual lives that results therefrom so let me let me try to explain this a little bit to you in Protestantism in the tradition that you came from there's an idea it was very common that that because of our son God is morally obligated as it were to punish us okay and so but he's loving and he doesn't want to so what he does is he punishes Jesus instead and the full weight of our sin all the debt all the punishment that's due to us is imputed to Christ counted as if it were Jesus's and then God pours out his wrath on cry and you know it kind of gets it out of his system as it were and then imputes the righteousness of Jesus to us he counts Christ's righteousness as if it's ours so even though I may remain objectively a sinner I may still be morally vitiating in my in my attitudes and life and behavior because I've had faith in Jesus all of Christ's righteousness counts as if it's mine my sins are punished in Jesus and I get off scot-free and I get a you know get-out-of-jail-free card basically I'm guaranteed salvation forever and that's that's more or less the position that you are coming out of well there are a number of problems with that point of view one of them is it's not biblical alright because scripture never represents the death of Christ like that to us Jesus Bible says that Jesus's death is a sacrifice of atonement it doesn't say it's a vicarious punishment alright in the Protestant view is that it's a vicarious punishment Bible doesn't say that it says it's a sacrifice of atonement in a sacrifice of atonement if you go back and look in the Old Testament like in Leviticus chapter 5 it's something that the worshiper offers to God it's not something that God imposes on a victim alright so the dynamic of the thing is is is very very different than the way process understand it it's a it's a gift that a worshiper gives to God that has an intrinsic value all right and that's the way the Bible represents the death of Jesus that st. Paul for instance says that because Christ humbled himself to death on a cross that God exalted him see Jesus's obedience and God rewards him all right it's very very different from the idea of God being wrathful and punishing Christ for sins he didn't commit alright Acts chapter 2 says the same thing in the pentecost sermon Saint Peter says that that that God has exalted Christ at the right hand of God and given to him the gift of the Holy Spirit that he now pours out on the church in this manifestation of Pentecost that you can now see in here so it's a very very different dynamic the idea in the Bible is that Jesus gives something of infinite worth namely his own human life in sacrifice because he surrenders himself turns the other cheek is punished by unjust men dies the death of a martyr and you know hungry and thirsting for righteousness being persecuted for righteousness sake all those things that he commenced to us in the Sermon on the Mount he does these things to a preeminent degree to an infinite degree and thus his deeds are meritorious and he wins for us the gift of forgiveness of sins and the outpouring of His grace so it's a very different dynamic okay the other problem with the Protestant view is it also seems to make God unjust makes God into a tyrant because in the Protestant view God is punishing an innocent person and acquitting guilty people all right he punishes an innocent person and acquits a guilty person and and that's that's terrible we know if we met that in a human in a human judge imagine if imagine if you know somebody robbed your house or god forbid you know killed a loved one of yours and and they went up and that person was being tried in a court mm-hmm and and then and then the judge said I got an idea let's let this guy off scot-free and instead I'll grab this other guy off the oh and the judge says to what I'll do I'll put my own son in the electric care chair and I'll let this guy off scot-free well not only would I mean you would look at that and be horrified all right and that's that's what the Protestants suggest that God has done it I'll just kill my own son and punish him for something you didn't do and then let you off scot-free all right no that's not how it works in Sacred Scripture and it's not how it works logically either so again Christ Christ does something voluntarily all right namely makes us makes himself a sacrifice of atonement merits the gift of the Holy Spirit and the forgiveness of sins for those that are members of his body which is the church and poured out on us now do we receive forgiveness of sins by being incorporated into Jesus of course we do all right that's part of the proclamation of the gospel that our sins are forgiven right but it doesn't end there all right Christ also promises that he will make us friends I no longer call you servants but friends he says he says if anyone loves me and keeps my Commandments my father and I will come to them and make our dwelling with him all right well to dwell within a person's heart that's that's like you know my wife dwells in my heart right because I love her and she loves me we have this reciprocal of mutual relationship is beautiful right I know what she wants she know what's up I once I take up her interests as my own she takes up my interests as alright as a deep and intimate abiding relationship of love and that's why the ultimate gift of salvation is not just to get out of jail free card all right it's a relationship of love all right but but to love God to be in relationship to God to love Christ to be in relationship to Christ presupposes a change in my moral character right so a salvation that said I will save you but let you stay alienated from me in your will and that's that's the Protestant position oh I'll give you this thing called eternal life but in the meanwhile you're still gonna remain at enmity from me in your will the Catholic looks at that and scratches his head and says that's like my wife saying yeah I forgive you but you can't come home doesn't work all right and so but but we are wounded in our wills we are wounded in our character we do desire things that we ought not to desire and if we desire something that's contrary to God's honor or God's glory our own good then then we're not reconciled to God in our wills right so the salvation we receive from Jesus not only do we knit her sins forgiven we need our character transformed mm-hm so that's where the gift of the Holy Spirit comes in st. Paul tells us in Romans 5:5 that by faith in Christ the love of God is shed into our hearts by the Holy Spirit so that now we can in fact love God and love neighbor alright we now love God and love neighbor and that's what we call sanctifying grace it's a share in the divine nature whose character itself is love so we're not saved by obedience to the law the Protestants got that right okay so it's not by obeying a legal code that I'm justified or reconciled to God but through faith in Christ inwardly I'm transformed by the gift of the Holy Spirit so then now I really am reformed in love so it's we're not saved by law but neither are we saved by faith alone we're saved by a faith that works through charity because that that is salvation is to be lovingly United to God who is our ultimate and true good now so now let's bring this around to the question of the mass and the sacraments what Jesus did on the cross think of that as the objective act of redemption right what Christ accomplished to make our salvation possible all right but the application of that to the individual believer mm-hmm that's a separate question like Jesus did this for me but how do I lay hold of that and make it my own all right how do I lay hold of that and make it my own now keeping in mind this salvation is not just a legal transaction where I get a ticket to get into heaven as you once understood no it's a promise of a transforming relationship of love that means there's an ongoing progressive character to it and love is something that can increase this is why over and over and over again in Sacred Scripture we find all these exhortations and these promises and prayers that we might grow in the grace of the knowledge of the love of God st. Paul prays in the book of Ephesians I pray that the eyes of your heart be enlightened that you might know the height and the depth and the width and the power of the love of God transforming you and grace become more and more in his likeness have this mind in you that was in Christ Jesus you know we have the mind of Christ surrender your bodies as living sacrifices this is your spiritual act of worship he says in Romans 12:1 so the idea of a continuing ongoing progressive growth in the life of grace okay now the application of that grace to our heart that continually trained transforms us and makes us more and more loving to share deeper and deeper in the mystery of Christ is given to us primarily through the dynamic of the sacraments because the sacraments are not magic all right they're not just they're not just magic tricks okay the sacraments are sacred signs now signs convey an intelligible content they convey information all right but they also habituate us they form our and shape our character and our attitudes so that we can obey the divine injunction to have this mind in you that was in Christ Jesus and they're there of course they're empowered by the Holy Spirit so that not they not only signify they actually calls to happen in our lives the thing signified now let's take the mass for example the mass which Christ commands us to do over and over and over again he says do this in memory of me st. Paul says as often as we eat this bread and drink this cup we proclaim the Lord's death until he comes there's something that it's enjoined on us by the word of Christ that we habitually perpetually celebrate the memorial is definitely death and resurrection not for no reason but so that we can fulfill that promise and draw on that strength of grace to grow ever more and more into his likeness all right now that sense you have of paying a debt is a is is not entirely accurate and it's not entirely wrong either okay okay in any relationship in any relationship like take the example of my wife for instance my reconciliation to my wife is certainly not dependent on me paying her a debt all right and if I do something wrong and and we are alienated and I say I'm sorry and she's gonna forgive me freely because she's a loving person that's the kind of person she is but there some times when it's appropriate for me to bring her an offering right flowers box of chocolates you name it okay and and and to do so is right and just and meet and it's appropriate in the order of love not not like my wife sits our on keeping a ledger yeah and marks office um you know me you know three box of chocolates this week doesn't work that way it's in the order of love but still appropriate to make an offering okay and that's what penance is in the life afresh you notice when the priest imposes a penance on you in confession it's usually some it you know he's not like he doesn't say well go down to the bank and take out exactly fifty-two dollars and five cents no he what he says is go pray you know go pray the rosary go I mean I've had priests tell me to you know go home and kiss your wife I mean whatever you know it's a it's something in the order of love and it at all its it's almost laughable to even think of it as a payment because it's usually such a gentle encouragement to deepen our love with God and yet it still satisfies that sense of I'm doing something in reparation for an offense that I brought against my lover yeah in the order of love there you go hey Kelly thank you so much for your call we hope that is enlightening for you that opens up a line right now at eight three three two eight eight EWTN eight three three two eight eight three nine eight six we got a text here from uh Sean checking us out on YouTube in Omaha this is regarding a scripture passage why did Jesus say he did not come to abolish the law is he speaking about something different than the Mosaic law that Paul speaks about in his epistles okay thanks so there are a lot of different ways we can take this I mean on the one hand clearly the coming of the kingdom of God is the fulfillment of the law in st. Paul tells us in Romans 13 verse 8 that the that the love of God and neighbor fulfills the law okay and and in Romans chapter 2 verses 25 to 29 st. Paul distinguishes he says he says we're not justified by the works of the law and he uses the Greek phrase ergo and namu okay but then but then in Romans 2 25 to 29 he says that by the gift of the Spirit and our hearts are circumcised by the Holy Spirit of course that's the prophecy of Ezekiel 36 he says the righteous requirements of the law the dickham attitude namu okay the righteous requirements of the law are fully met in us and he says the same thing in Romans 8:3 that the righteous requirements the law the righteousness is of the law are fully met in us who don't who don't live according to the flesh but according to the spirit so there's a real sense in the life of the Christian where their ritual prescriptions you know the dietary laws and that kind of thing are are so much symbolism pointing towards the coming of Christ and the need for ritual purity and holiness all right but the real heart the meat the spirit of the thing if you will is the command to love God and love neighbor and that's ultimately fulfilled in the Christian faith and the gift of the Spirit that comes in the New Covenant alright so his perfect continuity between the Testaments in that regard now there's also a sense in which Jesus didn't come to abolish the law in the commandments and that's we know that even after the Ascension of Jesus that Jewish Christians who believed in Christ the Messiah and received the gift of the holy spirit continued to to practice the laws of kashrut and maintain the law of Moses as a badge of thyroid of their identity as the physical descendants of Abraham st. Paul himself would submit to those rights when he went into Jewish synagogues Sean thank you so much for your question there and we thank you so much for watching us today on YouTube when we come back we'll be talking with Brooke Tucson we also have a line open for you right now eight three three two eight eight EWTN eight three three two eight eight three nine eight six called a communion in progress here on EWTN this is a Lenten journey with Timothy cardinal Dolan on ewtn radio one of the one of the more sorrowful moments that i have is a priest and i think my brother priests will back me up is when we meet with extraordinarily good parents who are crying because their children have gone astray they'll say they'll say to me you know father I we tried to do everything we gave him everything we gave him a great education and upbringing example what do we do wrong they've broken our hearts and I'll often say to them I think how God feels God is our Father he's given us his children everything and more often than not we are ingrates we don't give it back we don't live the way that he wants we've got that we've got a hint to that in the Liturgy of the word for this Thursday of the of the third week of Lent we can almost feel for God as he's saying in the first reading that my children are ingrates they haven't listened what have I done wrong a Lenten journey with Timothy cardinal Dolan is available on DVD through the EWTN religious catalogue this DVD includes all 47 segments for each day of Lent and Easter Sunday to get your copy log on to our website EWTN religious catalogue comm 24 hours a day seven days a week or call one eight hundred eight five four six three one six EWTN communicating the faint I had to go through spear and thank God that I overcame the fear and I just left it up to God and now there's no more fear it's just acceptance and I'm just learning to listen if you want to be closer to God you just need to keep following his rules and your application your radio station has helped me to always be positive and continue to listen to the rules and obey EWTN live truth live Catholic what's stopping you from becoming a Catholic you are called to communion with dr. David Anders to eight EWTN one eight three three two eight eight three nine eight six great question there what's stopping you from becoming a Catholic we would love to know eight three three two eight eight EWTN back to the phones now for Brooke in Tucson checking us out today on the EWTN app a free download I might add hey Brooke what's on your mind today I thank you for taking my call um I was wondering about the epic of gilgamesh I've heard non-believers say that Christianity can't be true because Christianity borrows from those pagan writings so I'm wondering if you can just explain a little bit more about that and yeah I'm sure okay absolutely I appreciate the question so this is a very strange claim to make it's an extraordinarily strange claim to make because it's a complete non sequitur so let's let's at non sequitur means it doesn't follow there's no logical connection so let's say someplace in the Sacred Scripture we find a story where there are parallels with in the pagan tradition okay and that means precisely what all right yeah means that there's something at the very least at the very least it means that there's something about this story that resonates at a very deep psychological and moral level with the universal moral aspirations or spiritual aspirations of the human race all right it's I mean and and so yeah all right it stands to reason that if there are spiritual or moral truths that can be represented in the form of narrative truths that Sacred Scripture embodies for us all right that I mean the Catholic position is that what can be known about God and the moral life is evident from the things that have been made all right you don't have to be a card-carrying member of the Catholic Church to come to some true knowledge of God and the moral life in eternity that's what the whole book of Romans first chapter is all about alright and and if it's the the mode of ancient writing is to convey moral truths in the form of narrative and myth and we have access to some of those moral truths just in virtue of our common humanity well then of course you're going to find scriptural moral truths articulated within the structure of pagan myth miss stands to reason right yeah now that there's a within the Protestant tradition there's much more skepticism about the ability of natural reason to come to moral and spiritual truths about God all right and so I mean this is least how when I'm a Catholic now but I was raised a Protestant when I grew up this kind of thing used to really get under my skin because the presentation of Christianity that I received was one in which I was taught to believe that everything about the Christian faith was just radically unique and and and and could by no means have been arrived at with any kind of you know natural reason or a human experience the gospel is something completely unexpected that broke in out of nowhere okay that's not the Catholic point of view at all I was not thinking I think more of you at all the Catholic point of view is the gospel speaks to universal pervasive human aspirations that that in some way shadowy sometimes more more articulate in others is represented in just about every culture all right and and the Christian faith is kind of the intensification the sort of reification if you will of these shadowy intimations that we find all throughout the pagan world now solidified in the historical person of Jesus and and so you know one of the things you'll notice about pagan myth is it's usually in a once upon a time kind of mode you know yes and the historian of religion Mircea Eliade a used the latin phrase in illo tempore in that time you know in that time the great God Marduk might bless wait and like once upon a time eggs you know and so you know or the mythic heroes of ancient Greece and so forth it's obviously it's up there at Mount Olympus you know it's it's it's remote from our historical experience and it's only they are present to us in our religious imagination and there's something very different about the Christian tradition I mean it begins with statements like you know during the reign of Herod the Tetrarch or when curiae Gnaeus was governor of Syria very specific or you know Augustus sent forth a decree saying all right and so and so the character of the person of Jesus is located in an identifying point of history all right and it doesn't take place in illo tempore it doesn't take place in once upon a time it takes place some place that's locatable on a map and on a timeline all right and and the evidences of those of those now careful with my language here don't misunderstand me okay true myth true man true CS Lewis used to call a he's anglican theologian used to call the gospel true matthew myth myth we think of as a fanciful you know story and illo tempore yeah alright but the the the spiritual themes enunciated therein now reified an actual historical time but still with that with that sort of universal valence okay okay true myth all right takes place in a in a place in a time where we can verify their actual existence and we can measure their spiritual and cultural impact down through history you know I I like this analogy if if I look up and there's a baseball coming towards my head yeah alright it is useless for me to speculate about whether there was a real baseball thrower I had better put up my glove or duck or I'm gonna get smashed in the head yeah okay there is there is this thing barreling down upon me throughout the the sands of time called the Catholic Church it's as visible as France okay and it had a historical origin locatable and time and space you know first century Palestine and here it is it's in front of me it's an evidence it's there it's an institution founded by a historical personage namely Jesus all right it's not located in once upon a time I just left it actually I worked for the Catholic Diocese of Birmingham this morning I shook hands with the bishop all right there he is there he in the flesh in direct historical continuity to the Apostles founded by Jesus so that's a very different character from pagan myth but that there should be resonances between Christian moral spiritual truth and what we find represented in pagan myth is precisely what the gospel itself leads us to anticipate yeah so it doesn't count against the historical truth of Christianity at all in fact I think it's rather the opposite I think that if Christianity proposed a moral spiritual message that had no resonance whatsoever at all with pagan myth or story or human history or philosophy then we should scratch our heads and go well why on earth should I believe it it's like so it's so radically discontinuous with human experiences to be as to beyond impossible to assimilate no but on the contrary it's st. Josephine Paquita who I get out on a lot one of my favorite Catholics is uh never heard a word about God with a gospel or any religion at all until she was redeemed out of slavery by an Italian diplomat taken to Italy and introduced to Catholic Christianity where she received the gospel and became a Catholic religious and died very very holy life and in her autobiography she says she says that when she learned about the God the Father of the Christian faith she recognized him as the one that she had known in her heart all along without knowing his name Wow gotta love that Brooke thank you so much for your question we hope that's helpful for you this is called a communion here on EWTN eight three three two eight eight EWTN is our phone number eight three three two eight eight three nine eight six let's see here Katie just sent us something on YouTube she says how can I explain the significance of water in Baptism to one who believes the water itself does nothing for salvation and that they though baptized were saved rather by the righteousness of Christ okay there's so many category mistakes going on here okay so first of all that we ought to baptize is commanded to us by Jesus go therefore make disciples baptize them in the name of the Father Son and Holy Spirit Jesus commands us to write mark chapter 16 whoever believes and is baptized will be saved okay that that baptism is more than just a symbol st. Peter tells us that baptism saves us first Peter chapter 3 st. Paul tells us that we died with Christ and baptism and are raised again with him to new life Romans chapter 6 okay so so why water why water well all the sacraments are signs okay they use material elements to signify things they're not only signs but they're clearly signs in water symbolizes at least two realities all right one of them is washing all right and with st. Paul speaks about the washing of regeneration through the word okay and the other one is is death and rebirth you know when when a person is born they they're they're born out of the waters of the womb as it were you know the amniotic fluids and there's also a descent and burial and and re-emergence motif that's clearly vividly illustrated therein okay now I obviously can't know right from natural reason or sensory experience that the waters of baptism or any other anything other than natural water all right it's not visible to me the only way I know this to be the case is on the authority of Christ who promises to accomplish in me that which baptism symbolizes through the instrument of and on the occasion of my actual baptism and it's the Bab it's though it's the waters of baptism themselves empowered by the holy spirit that have this character what I know that if Christ hadn't revealed it no I wouldn't know it if Jesus hadn't revealed it okay now the second question is your friend believes that he was saved by the by the imputed righteousness of Jesus well we're saved by Jesus as righteousness is alright but not through imputation and again you know the burden of proof is on one who asserts there's just nothing in the Bible that ever says that that's the way that we're saved there's no passage of scripture that says that Jesus's righteousness is imputed to us no righteous Christ gives his life as a sacrifice of atonement wins for us the grace of the forgiveness of sins and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit whereby our own lives are transformed we come to love God and love neighbor and therefore are saved yes indeed thank you so much for your question and we're glad that you're watching us today on YouTube this is called a communion here on EWTN like to say a few words about a wonderful website called Church pop if you haven't heard about it it is great do check it out church pop features new online Christian content that has lots of fun and inspiring every day and they do keep it fresh I can tell you that you'll find it on snapchat Instagram and on the web at Church pop com Church pop com it's a division of EWTN so you can trust it back to the phones now let's go to Alice and Marion Ohio listening to us on the blowtorch there's st. Gabriel radio out of Columbus hey Alice what's on your mind today I was wondering if the disciples okay we're Catholics and what's the difference between a disciple in an apostle oh thank you so much yes the original disciples of course were Catholic to be Catholic means to belong to the church founded by Christ to be in union with that visible society that Jesus intended and and of course all the apostles were Andy and the disciples were members of that one body of Christ founded by founded by Christ and they're the ones that received the command whoever hears you hears me go therefore into all nations and make disciples teach them everything that I have commanded you to be Catholic means to participate in that one body of Christ and to share one faith and one sacramental system one mode of discipline or governance st. Paul clearly testifies about this in the book of first Corinthians he says you know don't say I follow Paul or I follow Apollo's or I follow Peter say I follow Christ there's only one faith one Lord and one baptism Ephesians 4:5 when the Apostles went out to the four corners of the world it's not like it's not like st. mark founded the marking denomination and st. Thomas formed the Thomas denomination and st. Peter formed the Petron denomination no they were all members of the one body of Christ you say Paul talks about that first corinthians 11 he says he says if anyone wants to be contentious and that means you want to do your own thing mm-hmm he says no that we have no other practice nor do the Churches of God you see the the the the universality the catholicity of the Christian faith throughout the world and in Acts chapter 15 after the Council of Jerusalem meets and gives out its rulings about about church discipline they send those letters out to the four corners of the earth and say it seems good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you the following commands you see the same discipline the same doctrine mandated for all Christians everywhere throughout the world that's that's the meaning of catholicity that's what we mean by Catholic mmm-hmm in Christ intended this he says he says to st. Peter on this rug you're Peter and on this rock I will build my church in the gates of Hell will not prevail against it so of course the Apostles and the disciples were Catholics now that everything at a possible a disciple a disciple is a follower of Christ okay and so we can be disciples today we're all called to discipleship to Jesus yep Christ commanded that we make disciples go therefore into all nations make disciples of everyone teach them to obey all that I have commanded you an apostle the word apostle means sent all right the apostles were those that were sent directly by Christ with a message of reconciliation and the 11 the 11 cast Judas of course went AWOL but the 11 received a very special commission from Jesus all right and the church scripture tells us is built on the foundation of the Apostles today the bishops are successors to the Apostles their successors to the Apostles but the Apostolic office in the first century was something unique those that received a commission directly from Jesus to take the gospel into all nations to build the church on that foundation of the proclamation of the word of God the sacraments and the and the church founded by Christ thank you very much for that Alice appreciate your question here's a text from Mandy what is the theological reasoning behind Jesus ascending into heaven instead of staying here on earth in other words why does there need to be a second coming yeah thank you so much so so you know the Jesus tells us in the Gospel of John my kingdom is not of the world my kingdom is not of this world don't hold on to me he says because I have not yet ascended to my father Jesus did not come to set up a temporal kingdom in Jerusalem all right so that we could so he he could have political dominion over all the nations all right the king of God is not like that the king of God is God's reign in the hearts of his people that we come to share in his character which is love and mercy and justice okay and but it's a progressive evolution in the spiritual life we're born again in baptism but then scripture commands us to grow up into the full stature of the full measure of children of God all right and to come to have the mind of Christ and and as such Paul tells us don't set your mind on earthly things like you know do we have political dominion but set your mind on heavenly things where Christ is seated at the right hand of God all right and in the church as salt and light like like a seed or leaven in dough is meant to work its way throughout the whole human family and to and to so it's it's it's benevolent and and in spiritual influence throughout civil society down to the end of time now there's no promise in the gospel that that that that process will ever be complete in in historical time all right and in fact we know at the end of time that Christ will come and separate sheep from goats so there will be those at the end of time who who belonged to the City of God as st. Agustin calls it and those that belong to the city of man even though the church can pervade human culture and influence it for the good as it has done tremendously tremendously over the last 2,000 years the completion of the work of redemption and the renewal of all things in Christ happens at the second coming very good this is called a communion here on EWTN might have room enough for one more phone call at eight three three two eight eight EWTN here's a text now from John who says dr. Andrews I just heard you attempt to argue that Christ's atoning death was not a penal substitution that's correct now if that's the case what is the piercing crushing and chastisement referred to in Isaiah 50 three five and what is meant by numbered with the transgressors in isaiah 53:12 thank you in advance yeah so what the passages that you just cite indicate that Jesus was crushed for our Redemption Catholics believe that and that he was numbered with transgressors what did you ever stop to notice who was on either side of him on the hill of Calvary hello we're tooth of a thief on this side thief on that side yeah all right so so Catholics belief that Christ died a sacrificial death for the salvation of the human race that's the Catholic dogma all right but scripture represents that death as a sacrifice of atonement that's what the Bible says Romans chapter 3 first John chapter 2 Jesus's death is a sacrifice of a time but Christ says he gives his life as a ransom for me all right now go back and look at the Old Testament look at the law concerning ransom look at the law concerning sacrifices of atonement and propitiation now let's take the sacrifice of atonement in particular what happened so of worship or a Hebrew man or woman brings an animal to the temple and they slaughter it and they offer it in reparation for their sins well what's going on there what's the dynamic alright is God angry at the animal is God pouring out his wrath on the animal so that he can let the worshiper go scot free not at all that's not the dynamic Psalm 51 really innocent and and the second Samuel 24 really enter into the dynamic of Old Testament sacrifice david says in psalm in 2nd samuel 24 i think its first 24 he says i will not offer the Lord a sacrifice that costs me nothing I will not offer the Lord a sacrifice that cost me nothing it's that element of gift that makes it valuable and in Psalm chapter 50 excuse me Psalm 51 david says sacrifices and offerings you do not desire right but a contrite heart O Lord you will not despise therefore wash me with hyssop cleanse me don't take your Holy Spirit from me renew with me a right spirit and then I will offer sacrifices on your altar right and of course this is there's this double this is dynamic and in the Old Testament we're on the one hand God says in Psalm chapter 50 he says those who offer thank F offerings honor me those who offer thank offerings honor me but the same time passage is like a Isaiah chapter 1 God says I don't desire your don't I don't desire the blood of goats and bulls so let's let's put those ideas together it's not the death of the animal per se that pleases God as if he were bloodthirsty right it's it's the attitude of contrition and love the gifting on the part of the offerer that is intrinsically pleasing to God okay now that's the dynamic of Christ's self offering on the cross alright it's not that God is bloodthirsty and says ooh you know now that I see all this bloody crushy stuff on the cross now I I no longer have a desire to punish that's not how it works all right but Jesus obeys his own divine command turn the other cheek if someone forces you to go to one mile go with him two it's almost like a perfect description of what happened on the on the Via Dolorosa as he's heading to the cross you know blessed are those persecuted for righteousness sake blessed are you if you hunger and thirst for righteousness I mean it's like the Sermon on the Mount is a perfect description of the life of the Son of God all right and then st. Paul tells us in Philippians 2 st. Peter tells us in Acts chapter 2 that because of Christ's humble obedience God exalts him he rewards him for a meritorious Act that's a completely different dynamic yeah from this unbiblical idea of penal substitution which is invented by John Calvin and not and not by not represented in Scripture and it's certainly not the patristic or the medieval or the Catholic or the Orthodox view of the atonement at all very good John thank you so much for your text we appreciate that let's go to Stephan Cincinnati listening to us on Sacred Heart Radio AM 740 Steve what's on your mind today yes dr. David Anders thank you for taking my call you guys are awesome listen to you all the time so much okay I have a question and I've been what I've been a strong Catholic my whole life and next to where I grew up we had Protestants and a great family though but I've always wondered why a TV evangelist you know who studied church history in the Bible they don't recognize you know Mary at all and I don't understand that how can I have all this education but seem to miss the part of Mary my friend Danny who lived next door he I've always learned that the Bible didn't end 2,000 years ago the biblical and Christ is make himself known to us every day as we speak so that was my answer but I will hang up I'm anxious to hear what you have to say you know thank you very much so the the history of Protestant interaction with the Blessed Virgin Mary is long in complex and there's there's not just one Catholic Protestant position on Mary there are several over history okay so in the Reformation era of 500 years ago the Protestant reformers were very keen to eliminate prayers offered to the Saints or invitations of the Saints for prayer all right devotion to the Saints they wanted to get rid of and devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary was especially targeted right because of how prevalent it was among Catholics and and also they wanted to eliminate the idea that the saints participated in any way in in our Redemption through through any sort of mystical communion in their merits they wanted to get rid of all those ideas because that's what undergirds the whole logic of purgatory and penances and so forth all right but there were there were Catholic dogmas about the Blessed Virgin Mary that early Protestants did not reject so so well-formed Protestants even today those that know there are tradition well we'll continue to confess that Mary is the mother of God okay they don't all say that but those who know their tradition well know the history we'll will confess that because they understand that that is to deny that is to deny really the unity of the person of Christ and dividing human so they'll continue to confess the Theotokos the Mary Mother of God for a long time Protestants continued to confess her perpetual virginity and in some instances even her sinlessness okay yeah Luther was if he on her sinlessness he didn't really think she was sinned and and but in terms of a perpetual virginity we can find Protestants that continue to leave that into the 17th century okay they of course they were not big on the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception they rejected that um but really the the kind of total disappearance from of Mary from Protestant spiritual and moral imagination I think is more a a reaction against Catholic devotional ism than anything else I think rather than any sort of principled systematic analysis of Sacred Scripture or the tradition it's just a fear that if you say anything about Mary people are gonna think you're a Catholic and I know that's you know when I was growing up as a Protestant before I became Catholic it was almost like well you know Mary's a nice person and all this kind of thing but but she's not devotion to Mary is not necessary that's why we would have seen it so we don't want to risk leading anybody into that horrible Catholicism the baby out with the bathwater exactly oh boy but there are Protestants today that are that are working to correct that a little bit Timothy George who's the Dean of Beeson Divinity School is a pest for a long time been writing a book that we're all waiting about on the evangelical and Protestant assimilation of the Blessed Virgin Mary and he's written a number of articles for magazines like first things on trying to accept as much as he can sure of the Catholic doctrine on Mary very good Steve thank you so much for your call hey dr. David Andrews thank you my friend thanks Tom keep in mind whether you're listening to us on the radio or watching us on TV we do the program each and every Monday through Friday at 2:00 p.m. Eastern on EWTN radio with an encore that same night at 11:00 o'clock and a best-of on Sundays at 2:00 p.m. i'm tom price have a great day and we will see you next time here on call to communion god bless

Channel: EWTN

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Keywords: Catholic, EWTN, Christian, television

Id: iogSRKI4n4M

Length: 54min 3sec (3243 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 08 2018