Catholic Replies
Editor’s Note: This series on Apologetics is based on the book Catholicism & Reason. Please feel free to use the series for high schoolers or adults. We will continue to welcome your questions for the column as well. You can send them either to the postal mailing address or to the email address below, and we will interrupt this series to answer them.
Special Course On Catholicism And Reason (Chapter 11)
The true Church founded by Jesus must be catholic, which means universal, or existing in all places at all times, and it must be apostolic, which means tracing her leadership back to the twelve Apostles and teaching the same things that the Apostles taught two thousand years ago.
The Church is Catholic. Jesus didn’t use the word “catholic” (that word was first used for the Church around AD 107, less than eighty years after the time of Jesus), but He promised that His Church would be around “always, until the end of the world.” He also indicated that His Church would exist everywhere when He told the apostles to “go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations,” and when He said to them, “go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature.” A look at history will show that only the Catholic Church has existed from the time of Christ until the present day. Other churches which claim to be the Church of Christ came into existence many hundreds of years after Jesus, which means that they cannot be His Church.
Some of these churches claim that the Catholic Church went into decline and disappeared from history. But one can refute this claim by noting the convening of the Church’s leaders at worldwide councils in the fourth century (Nicaea), the twelfth century (Lateran I, II, and III), the sixteenth century (Trent), and the twentieth century (Vatican II). One can also cite such well-known Catholic saints as Augustine and Patrick (fifth century), Thomas Aquinas and Francis of Assisi (thirteenth century), Thomas More, the “Man for all Seasons” (sixteenth century), and Mother Teresa and Pope John Paul II (twentieth century). The historical existence of these councils and saints demonstrates that the Catholic Church has been active since the first century.
The Catholic Church has survived Roman persecution, barbarian invasions, the Protestant Revolt in England and Germany, and Islamic, Nazi, and Communist attacks not because she is physically powerful, or financially wealthy, or intellectually brilliant, or incredibly lucky, but solely because she was founded by Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who promised to be with her until the end of time.
The Church is Apostolic. This means that she has been governed in an unbroken line by Popes and bishops who can trace their origin back to the original apostles chosen by Jesus. As noted before, only the Pope claims to be the Successor of St. Peter, the first head of the Church of Christ. This has been affirmed by all recent Popes, including St. Paul VI, St. John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Francis. In 2007, Pope Benedict said that “the Church is apostolic because, built upon the foundation of the apostles, it faithfully conserves their teaching through the uninterrupted chain of apostolic succession.”
Those who deny the Church’s claim to be the one founded by Christ say that the Church fell into error, but this is impossible because Jesus said that Satan would never prevail against His Church, and He promised to send the Holy Spirit, “the Spirit of truth” who will “guide you to all truth.” Only the Catholic Church is teaching today what the apostles taught twenty centuries ago. Pick any issue — the divinity of Christ, His Real Presence in the Holy Eucharist, the existence of seven sacraments, the power to forgive sins, the existence of Purgatory, the role of the Pope as the representative of Christ on Earth, the evil of abortion and divorce — and you will find only the Catholic Church teaching what the apostles taught.
Those teachings are spelled out in three statements of the Church’s beliefs: the Apostles’ Creed (first century), the Nicene Creed (fourth century), and Pope St. Paul VI’s Credo of the People of God (twentieth century). All three of these creeds were promulgated by the Catholic Church, and they demonstrate the apostolic nature of the Church.
List of Answers:
ABORTION
APOSTLES
CATHOLIC
COUNCILS
CREEDS
DIVORCE
EUCHARIST
JESUS
JOHN PAUL II
NATIONS
POPE
SACRAMENTS
SAINTS
SATAN
SINS
TERESA
TRUTH
WORLD
Quiz:
- The Church founded by __ must be catholic and apostolic.
- The word “________was first used for the Church in AD 107.
- Jesus promised His Church would last until the end of the _.
- He said that His Gospel would be preached to all __ and creatures.
- The existence of the Church over 20 centuries can be demonstrated by numerous and ___.
- Two modern-day saints are Mother _ and Pope _.
- The leaders of the Catholic Church today can trace their succession back to the time of the twelve______________.
- Only the _ claims to be the Successor of St. Peter.
- It is impossible for the Church to fall into error because Jesus promised that _______and the other demons would never prevail against His Church.
- Jesus also promised to send the Holy Spirit, the “spirit of _,” to guide the Church.
- Among the apostolic truths still taught by the Catholic Church today are the Real Presence of Jesus in the Holy , the existence of seven __, the power of priests to forgive , and the evil of ____and ______.
- The teachings of Christ and His Church are spelled out in three _, one each from the first century, the fourth century, and the twentieth century.
