CALLED TO COMMUNION - Dr. David Anders - November 20 , 2019

opponents for more news from a Catholic perspective visit EWTN news.com call to communion with dr. David Anders starts now what's stopping you from becoming a Catholic why can't women become priests one two three three two eight eight EWTN I don't understand why I have to earn salvation one eight three three two eight eight three nine eight six why do I need to confess my food to a pray what's stopping you this is called to communion with dr. David Anders on the EWTN global Catholic radio network everybody welcome again to call to Communion this is the program for our non Catholic brothers and sisters those of you who have questions about the Catholic faith maybe you're casting about hither and yon looking for an answer to this question or this question or maybe it's a misunderstanding that you just need to get cleared up we are here for you here's our phone number eight three three two eight eight EWTN that's eight three three two eight eight three nine eight six if you're listening outside of North America please dial the u.s. country code and then two oh five two seven one two nine eight five you can also text the letters EWTN to five five zero zero zero wait for our response which will appear almost immediately on your mobile device and then text us your first name and your brief question message and data rates may apply and of course you can email us any time of the day or night CTC at ewtn.com CTC at ewtn.com we'll be recording a couple of mailbag programs that will air on Thanksgiving and the day after Thanksgiving some people call it Black Friday I guess Steely Dan would certainly call it Black Friday anyway but we'll do all that in the next couple of days and get those squared away so that you'll have something fresh to listen to on those two days Charles berry is our producer Ryan Penney as our phone screener Jeff person is on social media he'll pass on any questions that you may wish to ask via the comments section on YouTube or Facebook we are streaming their live right now I'm Tom Price along with dr. David Anders Tom how are you today I'm doing very well how are you my friend I'm doing decent blessed to see you last night at the local crisis pregnancy center fundraising dinner always a good outing it's fantastic our keynote speaker Abby Johnson basically knocked it out of the park she was inspiring and her story is very interesting yeah Charles Barry our producer was there as well he had a good time and certainly anything that we can do to promote the sanctity of life we are all in our way absolutely you better believe it so I've got a great question for you here this will be a lot of fun this is from Fanny who posted this on Facebook what made you dr. David Andrews want to talk with non-catholics and fallen away Catholics thanks appreciate the question so I grew up in a tradition that proselytized Catholics and attempted to get them to convert to our version of Protestantism and I was heavily oriented towards proselytism and towards argument with others about the right way to think and believe okay I came to learn over a long time that that was wrong headed both because I had the wrong Christian doctrine in my head I believe the wrong things about Christ and God the Bible and also because that orientation made me a jerk it made me an unpleasant person to be around because no one likes to be around I know it all who just wants to tell you what to do and they're right and you're wrong and all that so I realized that I tolerated behaviors and myself in the area of religion that I wouldn't tolerate in any other form of human life politics sports entertainment whatnot and there had to be something wrong with my religion that made me such an intolerable boor but in kind of that realization I I said so my cat my Protestant beliefs oriented as they were towards adoption of faith alone and Sola scriptura tended to kind of make me want to be the expert on all things only the most important thing was the faith because that's how you're saved and it's me and the Bible is the way I figured that out so I kind of became my own expert my own little pet however by God's grace the process actually led me out of the Protestant church because I thought through the thing from the ground up and realized that it was contradictory and a historical land and contradict the scripture and logic and reason and all the rest of it and was making a wreck of my personal life and so I was led very unwillingly into the Catholic faith but the process of getting there was about 10 years of full-time theological study and PhD work of constantly testing and proving my own claims against and for Catholicism and and many people are converted in other ways but for me my conversion to Catholicism was intensely intellectual but the fruit of it in my life was was spiritual and ethical and I came to realize that the Catholic faith was just just profoundly true and profoundly good and a Jim to be shared but not in the way of trying to beat people over hit over the head with the Catechism and and manipulate them into Catholic belief but by sharing the good things that God had shown me in the Catholic tradition that I didn't invent and I didn't find and I didn't discover and I didn't make up but I received as a son of the church and what a liberating perspective that was and to try to think the thoughts of the great Saints after them but not and not thinking about for myself and but the form of my own Christian life for all of my life had taken the form of this kind of interior dialectic this interior conversation about what's true and other people have a different path that was my path and I got invited actually because of your wife Tom price to share that story of my own conversion with Marcus Grodi on the journey home and I recapitulated a lot of the steps my own intellectual moves in becoming Catholic and apparently that went down fairly well because then I got invited to do it again several other times on Catholic Answers and actually the tagline for this show what's stopping you from becoming a Catholic actually came from Patrick coffin on Catholic Answers and we were doing a show for non Catholics and he threw that line out and I went man we need to trademarked up god that's good stuff you know yeah and and and then actually I got invited by the radio management here at EWTN to do a show for non Catholics on open law once a week and that eventually evolved into the call to communion show five days a week over you know over several years so really the impetus came from the management of EWTN radio to start the show but but it it it obviously was was building on something that I've always enjoyed doing which is to try to give an account for the reasons for the Catholic faith that I have and it's something it's an activity that comes naturally and enjoyably to me and it's always sort of been a primary motive in my spirituality and and I love to do it and so God some people say how do you get into Catholic radio and I said it's easy you move five miles away from EWTN and start singing in the choir next to the program directors wife you know so I didn't plan it it emerged organically and by God's providence but fortunately enabled me to do something that I enjoy enormous ly and that has been to for me the most professionally satisfying thing I've ever done and as you would say it scratches the itch scratches the itch there you go well thanks for sharing that and we also thank you Fanny for posting the question in the first place via Facebook in a moment we will get to the phones if you have a question for dr. David Andrews whatever it is regarding the Catholic faith love to hear from you today and our phone number is eight three three two eight eight EWTN that's eight three three two eight eight three nine eight six the Wednesday edition of call to communion here on EWTN this is Charles berry producer of call to communion with dr. David Anders inviting you to join us for a very special EWTN Thanksgiving call the EWTN listener comment line two zero five seven nine five five seven seven three and tell us your memories traditions or what you're grateful for then listen on Thanksgiving Day as we share your messages with our global audience from our EWTN family to yours god bless father Benedict Groeschel I must tell you that from what I observed from very young people all of these blasphemers all of these mockers are in for a tough time because the devil bites his own tail and I find among young people a growing reverence and longing for God I find decline in the cynicism and skepticism around because it had to destroy itself no one can live on being an enemy of God it's too crazy it's to observe is too dark it's too bleak God is beautiful God is holy why in the world mock God the people you know and trust are on EWTN [Music] tomorrow morning on more to life you make me sick stressful relationships we're on our mental and our physical health you may not have connected those two dots but it's actually quite true it can wear you down physically as well as mentally dr. Greg and Lisa pop check help you have a better relationship or two and a healthier life check it out tomorrow morning more to life at 10:00 a.m. Eastern right here on EWTN radio if you're ready now let's go to the phones at eight three three two eight eight EWTN we begin with Paula in Atlanta listening on Sirius XM 130 hey Paula what's on your mind today hi I have a friend that she loves guys she reads the Bible every day she does many good things but our conversation goes around that she says we don't need anybody to explain the Bible to us we can do it by our own and the Bible how do I explain to her I did tell her about the Magisterium in history but she still thinks that he's just her in the Bible and you don't need anybody else oh I want to know how to approach okay thanks mullah I'm gonna appreciate the question so here are a couple of questions I would like to ask your friend if I were in conversation with her the first one is the position that she's just taken I just need me in the Bible did Jesus tell her that is that what Jesus said she should do did Jesus tell her all you need is the Bible and in your own mind well the answer to that question is no you can study the words of Christ you can find anything you want out about Jesus Jesus never said that Jesus never told us that we just need the Bible in fact the book that she calls the Bible includes I presume the 27 books in the New Testament not only did Jesus not tell us to read the 27 books of the New Testament by ourselves he never even mentioned them for a very good reason they were all written after he had gone to heaven every single one of them was composed after Christ's ascension he never mentioned them he never gave any instructions that they should be written so if she wants to follow Christ she needs to approached Christ in the way that Christ Himself says we should approach him and he never tells us to approach him through the Bible what he says is that we should approach him through the church Christ didn't write a book he founded an institution he gave to the Apostles his own oral teaching and his own example and commanded that they teach that to all the nations till the end of time and he promised to be with them you can read about that in Matthew 28 by the way so where does the Bible come from the Catholic Church produced the Bible the Catholic Church produced the Bible it identified those texts that the Apostles and their successors had written it identified them as divinely inspired and it published the list of books you are to read now we as Catholics we read the Bible because we believe it's God's Word but we know that because it came to us through the Catholic Church that Jesus founded so if your friends so another question you might ask her is where do you think the Bible came from where the Bible come from it didn't fall out of heaven if you do not believe the authority of the Catholic Church then you've no reason to go to these twenty-seven books why these twenty-seven why not 28 why not 24 why not 22 why not 5 why any books at all the only rational answer to that question is because the catholic church which speaks with divine authority has specified that these 27 books of the New Testament are divinely inspired if you don't believe the Catholic Church you've got no rational basis for holding these books as opposed to no books or tests as opposed to some other books okay Paula we thank you so much for your call and that opens up a line for you right now at eight three three two eight eight EWTN if you have a question for dr. David Andrews would love to hear from you on this Wednesday afternoon eight three three two eight eight three nine eight six it is called a communion here on EWTN we do have a quick question here this was posed by Emily watching us right now on YouTube if Mary being sinless is proven by her being quote full of grace how come acts 6-8 doesn't make Steven sinless as well yeah it's a different word different word in English you will sometimes find the I'm gonna I'm actually gonna pull the text here if you give me a second mm-hm you will find don't I'm dead I'm dead I'm dead I'm dead I'm hanging out I'm getting to the text no oh yes Claire a scary toast is it the Greek phrase in Acts chapter six aid in in in Luke's Gospel the word applied to the Blessed Virgin Mary is kakarrot Amin a it's a different word okay and kakarrot Amin a is a middle voice or passive voice construction built around the word chorus for grace and it means essentially one having been graced to the full it's a different word and it's the only time in Sacred Scripture that word is used so different different language different concept being applied to Steven and and let's also look at the context of the Annunciation in Luke chapter 1 where this word is used of her it's in view of its in view of the divine maternity because she's been designated as the one who will become mother of God and it's in view of that that she has this gift of being kakarrot Amadei one having been graced to the fold and she yourself recognizes this dignity in the Magnificat when she says all generations will call me blessed that's powerful stuff and it's not the only place in scripture where we find these images used so and Christ Himself identifies her with the woman of prophecy in Genesis chapter 3 so does Revelation chapter 12 identifies Christ very much with this the woman of from Genesis chapter 3 and contrasts her with Eve by placing her prophetically in confrontation with that ancient serpent the devil who deceived Eve but but who Mary conquers and thus she is identified in the gospel as the mother of all those who believe in Christ she is the mother of the church right she is an archetypal or iconic if you will image of the Christian life and and because of her Fiat because of her yes to God be it done to me according to thy word and just as Christ as the second Adam and that's a very biblical metaphor we find it book of Romans also first Corinthians so Mary is the second evening of these things are true with Stephen great guy though Stephen was a great guy though here Stephen does not birth the Christian Church Stephen does not give birth to the Son of God to God himself to the god man Stephen is not the mother of all those who believe in Christ Stephen is not the one who fulfills the ancient prophecy of the woman who will crush the head of the serpent Stephen is not is not kakarrot hominid okay very good and we thank you for that it is called communion here on EWTN we have a line open or two for you right now at eight three three two eight eighty wtn that's eight three three two eight eight three nine eight six if you've been wanting to get in maybe you've got a busy signal last time you tried you won't get a busy signal right now eight three three two eight eight EWTN kris checking in on facebook says could you please help clarify st. Pius the tenth canonical standing there are some local Catholics attending a local chapel and spreading dissension regarding the ordinary form of the mass okay thanks so I'm going to talk about their canonical status but I want to go straight to the accusation that you made they're spreading dissension they're spreading dissension they're spreading dissension does the Bible talk about that it most certainly does Saint Paul in particular says I insist that you agree on everything as strong language everything yeah everything everything and if anyone s first Corinthians 1 chapter 1 verse 10 and if anyone wants to be contentious its first conceit 11:16 know that we have no other practice nor did the Churches of God he appeals to the liturgical consensus of the Catholic Church throughout the world as the standard applied to liturgical matters specifically now the the or the extraordinary form the mass great good stuff no arguments from me this is the the mass of the church through which many saints came to holiness sure fantastic if that's your spirituality go for it live it generously raise your kids in it baptize them marry them whatever you want to do fantastic become holy in the extraordinary form of the mass fantastic but do not foment dissension this is a very big sin in Sacred Scripture it's a huge sin and and contradicts the primary meaning of the gospel which is charity so if you're liturgical propriety or ideological purity leads you to be pulling the splinters out of your brother's eye when there is a lock sticking in your own Christ talks about this Christ talks about this now look why why what is the logic of the ordinary form of the mass that they so cavalierly reject and keep in mind the ordinary for mass is the ordinary form of the best this is the form promulgated by the church by the Pope with the full authority of the church behind it and I mean it that's the standard of Catholic of Catholic right that is the church product that the church promulgates it what what's the logic of the thing well in the council documents themselves a principal goal of the ordinary form of the mass is to unify to unify the people of God and in particular the priests and the people in a single liturgical action that's why in sacra sanctum kaanchi Liam when they talk about the sacrifice of the mass the council documents say the people need to be taught that it is not only through the hands of the priests but along with them well along with him that the whole church offers the Immaculate victim to God the Father and reparation of the sins of the world the priest if alone affects the sacrifice of the mass you can't do it without the priest priest alone affects the sacrifice of the mass but the whole church offers it in one single liturgical action and that is the consistent teaching of sacred tradition st. Francis DeSales doctor of the church explicitly teaches that that the faithful this is long before the ordinary form that we now have says the faith will have to be taught that they also offer the sacrifice and they have to approach the morning offering that so traditional interest teaches the spirituality the ordinary form of the mask contains rubrics for the laity the responses of the laity in the prayers of the mass as we pronounce the ordinary the the I Newsday and the scientists and all the rest of it this is something that the laity is supposed to do in the mass to vocalize these prayers to to express in and internalize and and intensify this single liturgical act that is the Holy Sacrifice do you know how many rubrics there are for the laity in the traditional excuse me in the extraordinary form of the mass how many zip aha there are no rubrics for the lanty meaning that that it is allowable and I'm not denigrating this as a spiritual practice I'm just pointing out you can go to the the extraordinary form of the mass and just sit and read your bravery the whole time you can go and pray your rosary the whole time you can go and write a novel right and you will satisfy the legal requirement for having attended you know mass in the Roman Rite and you I mean again I'm not going to criticize that that is a that isn't that you can do that it's allowable in the law but the logic behind the ordinary form of the mass is that the laypeople be involved in an active participation that doesn't mean running around popping balloons it means prayerfully be taught to express to verbally pray and to consciously make the offering of the sacrifice of the mass along with the priest you effects it can that be done badly yes you can you can you can celebrate a mass badly right but validly so the solution is not to create factions not to join ideological parties the solution is celebrate the mass reverently celebrate the mass reverently and in charity whether you are going to your local parish that celebrates the ordinary form that's the ordinary form or whether in your spirituality you elect to attend a parish that celebrates the extraordinary form all things done in charity I better believe it Chris thank you so much for checking us out today on Facebook we hope that is helpful for you it is called a communion here on EWTN looks like two lines open right now at eight three three two eight eight EWTN that's eight three three two eight eight three nine eight six let's go to Sheela now in Columbus Ohio listening on the blowtorch there st. Gabriel radio a first-time caller Sheila what's on your mind today hi I come from a very Catholic family both my grandparents were practicing Catholics and had large families but as you've aged and grown and my cousins and I have had our own families many of my cousins have left the Catholic Church and several of my aunts and uncles have also left the church each has their own reason though I'm not aware of all of these but it brought on a discussion on Facebook this week one of my cousin's posted he was being baptized on Sunday and my mother so kindly pointed out to him you know congratulations godson but you've been baptized and there is no need to be rebaptised he's bought RCIA for years and so she's got lots of the answers and left her phone number for someone to call her but I entertained the discussion and ultimately came to the point you know where I'm asking the question what does this baptism mean and these other Christian churches the Catholic Church recognizes their Christian baptism in the name of the Father the Son of the Holy Spirit why don't they recognize their Christian baptism in the Catholic Church or does it mean something else entirely I will answer that question right after this break that I cannot avoid yeah it's one of those things we just got to go with it so Sheila sit tight we will answer your question in just a couple of moments here we'll also get two more phone calls and we've got two lines open for you right now if you'd like to join in as well eight three three two eight eight EWTN that's eight three three two eight eight three nine eight six the Wednesday edition of call to Communion dr. ray guarendi be grateful that you came to the faith when you did let the children see what mom is like now compared to how they were raised before mom or dad came to the faith the leading Catholic voices are on EWTN radio [Music] this is Kevin Burke a priest for life with pro-life update all we do in the pro-life movement must be sustained by prayer that's why on January 24th 2020 the day of the March for Life in Washington DC various religious groups including priests relief will gather in the morning for the annual national interdenominational prayer service honoring the preborn and their mothers and fathers this service which starts with a Mass at 7:30 a.m. has been held for 25 years and takes place in Constitution Hall father Frank Pavan will deliver the sermon and there will be other special guest speakers this is the premier indoor pro-life event on that day and will be a marvelous experience of unity admission is free please join us learn more at national prayer service calm mrs. Kevin Burke on the EWTN global Catholic radio network [Music] he is only one of four popes honored as the great Matthew Bunsen and the doctors of the church st. layer the first was Pope at a time when Roman civilization was being overrun by barbarian armies he stood as a light in the darkness and even say the city of Rome through destruction by Attila and the Huns Leo died and 461 or more about the doctors of the church visit doctors of the church calm does your spouse resent your relationship with God we want to hear your story on tomorrow's take two with Gerry and Debbie now back to more of cultic communion with dr. David Anders [Music] glad you could join us for the Wednesday edition of called to communion here on EWTN two lines open right now eight three three two eight eight EWTN that's eight three three two eight eight three nine eight six so before the break we were talking with Sheila in Columbus Ohio talking about cousins and family members of hers who have left the church and for whatever reason they are seeking to be so-called rebaptised what's this all about yeah so Sheila's question was what did these non Catholic churches believe they are accomplishing why would they do this why would they not recognize the validity of Catholic baptism well obviously depends on the groups and like Protestants different disagree with one another radically but a very common opinion especially those that belong to either the Baptist Church or to kind of the larger family of churches that tend to follow a Baptist understanding of the sacraments they believe that the sacraments in themselves do not convey grace that they are that they are just barren empty signs they're sort of like Scripture that's been ritualized and are your ability to appropriate the graces that are variant symbolized is entirely dependent on your conscious willing acceptance of those truths all right and so there's a there's an intellectual move that has to take place in the in the you know in the participant uh-huh and that in that alone is the is the the the Avenue the channel if you will down which grace flows so see the Catholic doctrine and the biblical doctrine of the sacraments is that we you do bring faith to the sacraments if you don't have faith you're not going to benefit from the sacraments you must have faith for this actually be efficacious in your life but the sacraments themselves in virtue of the the action in the in virtue of the working of the work itself of the sacraments they in fact are the channels through which grace flows into our life and that's why even in the life of an infant baptism can really and grace is present right I mean implicitly in the infant and explicitly and the sponsors and everyone the baptism really does affect an interior supernatural change in the life of an infant right well Baptist folks don't believe that about the sacraments they think that that conscious willful conversion is necessary in order for the grace of God to be active in your life now the Catholic Church again we believe in conversion conversion is a very important part of the Christian life but it's a part of the Christian life it's not the whole show and it's not a one-time event that's the other thing the Baptist's tend to think of conversion as a sort of crisis moment in your life where everything was dark then it becomes light and now you enter into this life of grace Catholic Church thinks that sea grace can come always comes before us accompanies our conversion and continues afterwards you enter into the life of grace by being brought into communion with Christ's body which is the church you enter into a supernatural State of belonging to Christ in virtue of the sacraments and even even when you lose the grace of God through mortal sin you don't stop being in a supernatural state because the virtue of faith itself is intrinsically supernatural you continue to belong to Christ in the Catholic Church you're part of his flock now you can go to hell right you're still in danger if you're in mortal sound but you still belong to the church and are a participant in the prayers and sacrifices and the merits and the graces of the church in virtue of that participation uh and so conversion becomes for you a real moral possibility because grace was there beginning like grace starts you out actual grace comes into your life moves you to consider God moves you back through the grace of conversion into an active living charitable life in God for the for the for the Baptist's however conversion is the whole show the the mental change is the whole show the only channel down which grace flows the sacraments themselves they see is just kind of a bare external write or symbol to to demonstrate what takes place only in the interior a of the individual person and their individual will so for that reason they would say you know somebody wasn't living an active Christian life as a Catholic they would say well that person was unconverted therefore that person had no grace right that they weren't actually joined to Christ because they hadn't had that conversion experience and so they want to rebab ties just basically to symbolize to to express what they think is the whole show namely that interior conversion got it Sheila thank you so much for your call it is called a communion here on EWTN glad that you're with us on this Wednesday afternoon here's Josephine now in st. Louis listening on covenant radio a first-time caller hello Josephine what's on your mind today I was calling because my all four of my children are coming home through the holidays and of the four all of whom went to Catholic schools only one still believes I sent the first three to fancy schools not realizing that they would lose their faith and worse than having lost their faith they argue to me that Christianity is a force for evil in the world and I have heard dr. David Andrews speak so in such a scholarly fashion and my children are all very bright and I hope he can give me something to read something good short answers I know it's ridiculous I know that you know the marriage of Christianity and No the Greeks etc it's brought about the enlightenment you know the Scientific Revolution but but my children I need something I need a fluent way to speak to them and to answer their arguments it just breaks my heart I am my heart is just breaking and I'm right there with you me too I am right there with you and I understand your complaint your lament is the lament of Catholic parents in the present age and and we we weep we weep but we are not powerless we're not powerless because we know the answer now you've asked for a kind of pithy helpful resource to fortify yourself in the short term gonna give you one gonna give you one it is a lecture by Father James Brent BR en t.o.p Dominican of the two mystic Institute and if you will give me two seconds I'm going to give you the exact title of it I'm dead I'm dead I'm dumb hang on I'm right there I'm choice as a stopwatch okay all right all right it's a talk he recently gave at the two mystic Institute and it is it is called what is the name of this talk I'm about to find it it's on SoundCloud is responding to contemporary atheism father James Brent that's the one you want responding to contemporary atheism father James Brent that's not gonna solve all your problems and it's only gonna go after one kind of core conviction right of the contemporary scene but it's one that I think you need to deal with right and then it's a it's a philosophical lecture but it's accessible it's accessible now the the claim that the cat that the Christianity is a force of evil in the world is is gen is so ludicrous and absurd that it's hard to believe we have to make the case it's hard to believe we have to make the case but let me give you a couple other resources in making the case almost anything that you want to read on his Christianity by Rodney stark all right Rodney stark actually I think he's a Lutheran but he's a Lutheran he's extremely friendly to the Catholic Church and has made kind of a career of overwriting Defense's of Catholic tradition and accounts of Catholic history that go directly after this claim Philip Jenkins Philip Jenkins is another non Catholic writer who is a defender of Catholic tradition has a book called the last acceptable prejudice it's anti-catholicism the last acceptable prejudice another good book not father Tom woods the book how the Catholic Church built Western civilization another great resource so you got woods you got Jenkins you got Rodney stark I recommend all of them highly for this particular situation you know and I wish I could have your children in dialog an honest open intellectual dialogue about this because I'd like to ask some some questions like what is the standard what is the criteria of judgment that you're using to evaluate evil I mean if you're making the claim that the Catholic churches of what do you mean by the term evil right and probably probably at the root of that claim is some allegation that the Catholic faith violates human dignity or conscience and that's that's often the way the thing is constructive uh-huh well where do you think you got those values from where do you think you got those values where do you really think that that that ancient Near Eastern dictators valued human dignity and conscience in their imperialistic conquests deep is that what you think right you look at the history of non-christian civilization you're not going to find an account of human dignity and the and the and the dignity of conscience these are Christian ideas that emerge specifically from the Latin Christian West all right the whole doctrine of human rights is an invention of Catholic Spanish theologians in the 16th century to address the the moral problems that emerged out of the exploration of the newer yes have there been European colonialists that did bad things to natives well there has never been an imperialistic culture on the planet that didn't do bad things to those they conquered but let's look at the difference did the Spanish do bad things when they conquered the new world of course they did but you know what they found they found the Aztecs what did the Aztecs do to the people they conquered they ate them they ate them they cut them up and ate them after they ripped their hearts out and sacrificed them to their gods and what did the Spaniards do when they showed up in Mesoamerica they said don't do that don't eat people it's not very charitable and why why should you not eat people because they're made in the likeness and image of God it is a Christian doctrine you don't find that in Buddhism you don't find that in Hinduism you don't find it in Aztec paganism and you sure as heck don't find it in the fancy-schmancy expensive modern university anyway there you go alright Joseph a we hope that's helpful for you love those resources they're all excellent if you need to hear those again just go to our podcast EWTN radio dotnet EWTN radio dotnet we'll have that posted for you in the next couple of hours or so it is called to communion here on EWTN let's go to Bianca now in San Antonio listening on Guadalupe Radio Bianca what's on your mind today yes hello I have a question about evangelizing someone I know who's kind of one of they have they've made up their own belief system which is a mixed well she's she's in her sixties she went to Catholic school she was born with Creole Catholic but now in her 60s she's made of her own belief system which is like a hybrid of Judaism and Protestantism the Judaism part is because she claims in the Bible that Jesus God the Father is greater than me so she says that don't forget Jesus only worship God the Father and from Protestantism she got only believed the Bible alone and I don't know what to help her so if dr. David Andrews can please give me some advice on how I can help this person okay so I can give you theological arguments to use I know this type of person I've met this personality type before they are generally immune to argument because why do people evolve these highly idiosyncratic very bizarre belief systems and they alone are right well it's usually because there's some deep psychological wound some personality disorder some profound insecurities and they build a fortress in their own mind against this massive conspiracy that they take to be the rest of the world and that's where they find their significance and and and you'll you'll they're there folks in this way who sometimes will even even pretend to to grandiosity and imagine that they are somehow the hinge on which human history in the world turns and I've known individuals like this who have personally claimed to change the outcome of international policy and elections because their private prayers are so efficacious this kind of thing you know or to imagine themselves at the forefront of some great international movement that will sweep the globe and change human history and when you probe a little deeper you realize that it's like them and their cat you know and and it's it's a pathology it's a pathology and it's a psychological wind and so if that's the kind of personality type that you're dealing with I I don't know that argument is gonna win the day because they they inoculate themselves against any kind of public reason and and the by engaging them in dialectic you cede to their insane in position a kind of dignity that they crave they want to be taken seriously as intellectual actors and I think I almost wonder if it's not better a better pastoral approach to to kind of smile benignly and go isn't that precious would you like a pie you know I'm gonna go to Mass now yeah so that's for you to judge but if it's that personality type that I'm wary of the arguments you know when it comes to when it comes to the the Bible alone doctrine well that's the easiest one to shoot down right because the Bible alone doesn't teach us to follow the Bible alone not in the old nor the New Testament is there any is there any scriptural warrant for the idea that all we need is the mobile the Bible actually directs us quite on the contrary to the authority our authoritative tradition and teaching of the church and and I've made that case in this show and many others many many times so I won't rehash that right now and so that's very easy to shoot down the the the preeminence of Judaism as a as a sort of interpretive paradigm for a sacred scripture again is contradicted by the Bible itself and especially in st. Paul's letter to the Galatians and Romans he makes the case over and over again that the the what was special in God's promise to Abraham precedes the the gift of the Mosaic law by 400 years Abraham Genesis chapter 12 receives this promise that he and his heir and his descendants will be heirs of the world that they will be a blessing to all nations in view of God's benevolence and and Abraham's faith and it's only 400 years later that they get these these ritual prescriptions the 613 commandments of the of the tour of the mosaic code into which God baked a decree of obsolescence so Deuteronomy chapter 30 God explains that's not the end of the show that the Mosaic law alone will not actually affect the righteousness that God desires and all the prophets concur Jeremiah Ezekiel Jeremiah 31 is equal 36 so it's not the bear command written on stone but it's this interior renovation of the heart that will be accomplished with the end gathering of the Gentiles into the people of God and that's what Jesus comes to deliver it's that full Kingdom of God that promised that prophetic expectation obsolescence of the Mosaic law and the in gathering of Jew and Gentile into one family of God constituted by faith in Christ the Messiah and that's what Ephesians chapter 2 says in Colossians chapter 2 st. Paul says specifically don't let anybody pass judgment on you with regard to the ritual prescriptions of the mosaic code like new mood new moons and Sabbath's and questions of food and dietary laws and all this is that thing is just a shadow of the past poof gone now we have the fullness in Christ in whom the fullness of divinity dwells right he's the image of the invisible God exact representation of his being the book of Hebrews says again dealing with the gistic question and he is in the very form of God st. Paul tells us in Philippians chapter 2 and of course Christ Himself says I and the father are one and before Abraham was born I am and claims for himself the divine name so Christ as Christ asserts his own divinity over and over and over again the best scholarly case for that that's accessible that I know right now is Brandt Petrie's new book the case for Jesus which I highly recommend to you to defend the doctrine of the divinity of Christ as Jesus's own self understanding we do appreciate your call Bianca and we hope that is helpful for you it is called a communion here on EWTN and we're inviting you to join us for a very special EWTN Thanksgiving it's very soon coming up in really just about a week or so now normally we don't give you any phone number on this program except the one to call but right now I'm going to give you a special number to call that's the EWTN listener comment line write this down two oh five seven nine five five seven seven three we would love to hear from you tell us your memories your Thanksgiving traditions what you are grateful for what you're thankful for this Thanksgiving day I'll give you that number again two oh five seven nine five five seven seven three that number is open 24 hours a day and be sure to listen tune in on Thanksgiving Day we'll be sharing your messages with our global audience and we're very happy to be doing that back to the phones right now for call to communion here is Judy in Mandan North Dakota listening on real presence radio Judy what's on your mind today hi thank you for taking my call I have one question how can I explain to my sister that Jesus at the Last Supper had wine in the chalice not great truth yeah thanks I appreciate the question so there's only one word for wine in the New Testament the Greek word Ono's and it is it's it's this about which st. Paul says that we are not to get drunk on it and I have yet to meet anybody that's capable of getting drunk on Welch's and it was also point out that today with the with like hermetically sealed little bottles on your grocery store shelf or refrigerators it is possible to keep great grape juice and have it not ferment try doing that in the first century in the Middle East mm-hm and when Jesus talks about this in the parable of the wine skins and he says you know you put the people at new wine in new wines guns and old wine and old wine skins and then he describes the process of fermentation that takes place when you when you do this try try taking this like the juice of grapes put it in the wine skin unrefrigerated in the ancient Near East keep it for any length of time and see what happens you can't prevent fermentation yeah right and and that's why there are there are principles that govern the consumption of wine and other fermented drink in the New Testament we're exhorted not to get drunk on them so the position that somehow Jesus used D alcoholized or non fermented grape juice has no warrant in the Bible whatsoever at all I mean that which you do is you what's your evidence for that give me give me your positive case for the non-alcoholic quantity a quality of the wine used by Christ when remember when Jesus made wine in John chapter 2 it was sufficiently alcoholic that the participants at the wedding feast could could kind of lose track of what it tasted like no and then the servants say well you know you saved the best to last most people don't do that they wait till everybody gets a little bit on them sod and then they don't know the difference yep there you go Judy thank you so much for your call Tom checking in via YouTube he says a Protestant tells me that in John 10:28 where Jesus says they shall not be taken out of my hand this must mean that we cannot lose our salvation so what is its real meaning yeah thanks well the fact that we can lose our salvation is quite evident from many passages of the Bible one of them is in 2nd Peter chapter 2 where st. Peter says is better not to have entered the way of righteousness than to enter and turn back right and and and Hebrews chapter 6 that says that if you turn back to sin after having received salvation there's no sacrifice for sins left but only a fearful expectation of judgment and Paul who speaks and in Galatians to those who have received the Spirit of God through faith and yet they are a danger of ship-wrecking their faith by turning away from the gospel of grace and also he warns them against in Galatians 5 against going back to deeds of darkness like fornication and adultery if they do that he says you will not inherit the kingdom of God so plenty of instances in the Bible of those who've received the grace of conversion and salvation in the Catholic faith and then turn back into our shipwreck and lose the whole thing so that's that's evident so how do we understand John chapter 10 well as a couple of ways to understand it one might be in the same way that Paul writes in Romans chapter 8 that if we are in Christ its nakedness and famine and sword and toil and all these external forces cannot yank us out of out of out of redemption and of course even on the persecution and death we're still not going to be cut off from Christ by the by the hangman's noose or the Roman emperors sword right that's not gonna or the Supreme Court like they can't take us out of the hand of Christ right but doesn't mean that we can't take ourselves out that's one way of reading another one would be and this would be kind of more than two mystic route is that the elect will not will it will necessarily persevere that's a Catholic doctrine right see there are elect and and not elect in the Catholic Church not everybody who receives the grace of conversion will necessarily persevere and the gift of perseverance comes entirely from God we can't Marinette nothing we can do can compel God's hand to give us the grace of conversion so if we are God's elect we will infallibly persevere and be saved but that's not up to us right we still have to operate and participate right and we have to take seriously the warnings against apostasy but if somebody apostasy zé's and walks away you know that's that's on them not on God for sure so there's a lot of different ways to take it but none of them none of them would go here with this idea that just because you have faith in grace you can't get lost because scripture contradicts that multiple times Tom thanks for your question let's go real quick to Doris and Beloit Wisconsin listening on the EWTN app Doris we have that about a minute left what's your question well I had fundamentalist friend who is she was in the Catholic Church for some time but obviously did not get it but she claims that she's enough like the house church movement now and has been for some time she's told me recently that they don't believe in having they don't have priests they don't have clergy because it's not biblical and I I know for a fact that's not true but maybe you could elaborate that on yeah sure so I two things to say first one is if it were true if it were true that it wasn't biblical why does that matter like why is the Bible the standard for orthodoxy who made that up not not the Bible Bible doesn't ever say that the Bible is the standard of Orthodoxy so I would say first prove that first prove your criterion before you appeal to it right but secondly of course clergy are biblical I mean take one passage in mind at Acts chapter 14 the Apostles that we took are told appointed presbyteries ie priests for the congregation's that they found it there you go and book Hebrews tells us you have to obey your leaders in the faith the pastoral epistles Timothy and Titus are all about the appointing of clergy in the Christian Church and the offices that they are to exercise when it comes to the sacrificial rites of the clergy the offering of the Holy Sacrifice of the mass oh Jesus did kind of say do this in memory of me he instituted the Holy Sacrifice of the mass to the eleven in the upper room and gave them the charge of perpetuating that sacrifice to the end of the world right so yeah he kind of did okay Doris thank you so much for your call couldn't get to Elsie's text will try to carry that over to a future show dr. David Andrews thank you sir thanks Tom looking forward to our next visit at the same time tomorrow right here on EWTN is called to communion I'm Tom price you have a blessed day and

Channel: EWTN

Views: 1,779

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: Catholic, EWTN, Christian, television

Id: lCMYqCb7AdM

Length: 54min 9sec (3249 seconds)

Published: Wed Nov 20 2019