Why Catholic?

Get this.  One day I was hanging out doing super hero stuff on Facebook.  I was minding my own business when all of a sudden, a wild anti-catholic appeared.  She threw various attacks about how wrong it was to want to be Catholic.  The worst part was I didn't know how to defend myself.  She seemed very knowledgeable about the bible and it was an utter defeat.   Luckily faith is on my side and I have endless power! Thus, I decided to properly equip myself for revenge justice.

Translation Punch to the Face!


To begin, I want to talk about the transition of the bible from Latin to English.  By 500 B.C. all of the Hebrew manuscripts of the Old Testament were finished.  About 300 years later those manuscripts were translated into Greek.

The New Testament was finished by the end of the first century.   It was also written in Greek.  An entire bible in the Greek language and no one speaks the language today.

Now,  in 382 A.D.  Pope Damascus commissioned St. Jerome to revise the bible in the old Latin text.  He used the original Greek text to reproduce the gospels.  However, he also translated all 39 books of the Hebrew bible for the Old Testament.  Here is a man who used two different translations for two parts of the bible.  This is St. Jerome's preface to his version:

"You urge me to revise the old Latin version, and, as it were, to sit in judgement on the copies of the Scriptures which are now scattered throughout the whole world; and, inasmuch as they differ from one another, you would have me decide which of them agree with the Greek original."

St. Jerome

Don't get me wrong, this was done to correct inaccurate translations.  Keep in mind there is a long history of the bible and it was made by man over the course of 3000 years.

The church prevented any other translation of the bible from about 600 A.D. up until the invention of the printing press.  The printing press internationalized the bible and it began to be translated into other languages.  John Wycliffe was known to produce the first hand-written English version (which helped start the Protestant reformation.)  He was part of a secret society that tried to keep the original Christian teachings that the Catholic Church corrupted during the middle ages.

The bible itself is up for debate here.  The argument of following only the teachings of the bible is invalid.  The most accurate version is the Hebrew Scripture of the Old Testament and the Greek version of the New Testament.  The Catholic Church is the only one who has these and the remnants are scattered and lost with the ages.  The bible, therefore, can't give accurate teachings; it can only serve as a guide.   Faith in the bible alone is faith in the integrity of the translations.

Super-Sacrament Attack!


Denying the sacraments is like denying the apostles.  Jesus gave his apostles the duty of spreading his word. The sacraments are based off of the life and teachings of Jesus and made in a way to deepen our faith.

Baptism- This is easy.  Jesus found John the Baptist in the wilderness and was baptized by him.  Baptism washes away original sin and gives back the graces Adam lost for us.

Eucharist- Protestants believe the body and blood of Jesus is not actually present during communion.   They say he was not meant to be taken literally at the last supper.  I don't know if you realized this, but the apostles were dumb.  They couldn't even understand Jesus's simple parables.  Jesus would not say "this is my body" or "this is my blood" if it wasn't meant to represent them.   Offering his body and blood is also a sacrifice to God.  It is also the only acceptable one because we offer up God to God.  The Eucharist is an altar in which we give the most sacred thing we have to God; that is Jesus.

Reconciliation- Confessing our sins in order to be forgiven.  God loves us so much he is willing to forgive us. I have heard that confession is wrong because "only God can forgive sins" or "you can only call God 'father'."   I am sorry Dad, I will just have to call you Randy from now on.  As for being forgiven for sins,  Jesus had that power.  We see him forgiving sins left and right.  He gave his apostles that power in his name. When we go to confession we are praying to God while a priest hears us.  We ask God to forgive us, not the priest.  the priest listens and forgives in God's name.  They are like the Shepard trying to bring his stray back to the flock.

Confirmation- I'm not exactly sure when exactly Jesus performed confirmation.  We do hear of him appointing priests and sending them into towns to preach.  It is said the first official confirmation was at Pentecost, where the apostles received the holy spirit.  Today, it is when a child reaches a maturity to understand God.  It is kind of like a vow to live life in his glory.

Marriage- This is a union between a man and woman as one flesh, as it was with Adam and Eve.  It is a symbol of Christ's love for his church in the form of holy matrimony.

Holy Orders- The bishops today are like yesterday's apostles.  These bishops are given the power to ordain priests.  The relationship is similar to marriage.  Instead, the priest gets married to the church.  You are fulfilling the same commitment as Jesus and the apostles if you go down this route.  That is why Protestants can't have priests nor any other sect not related to Catholicism.  Only bishops can appoint priests and only priests have the power of absolution, the ability to turn bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ and the power to anoint the sick.

Jesus and the Leper

Anointing of the Sick- This is performed on someone's death bed or during an exorcism.  The priests essentially perform rituals for healing and offer a chance for sins to be forgiven.  This is what Jesus is seen doing throughout all of the gospels.  He cured leprosy, made the dead live and expelled demons.

Holiday/Prayer Low Kick Combo!


Just because it isn't in the bible doesn't mean it isn't relevant.  God existed before the bible.  In essence, we can worship him without it.  Holidays are not a rule made in the commandments.  Congratulations.  You have thwarted all my faith.  Just kidding.

Holidays are an expression of love towards God.   Loving God is the first commandment last I checked.  When we give something up for lent, we aren't saying, "God look at us obeying you."  We are saying, "Jesus look at us try to understand you."  During Easter we don't say, "we deserve what Jesus did for us because we were faithful."  We say "God, I don't deserve the sacrifice you gave us."  We put Jesus before ourselves.

When we pray to our Blessed Mother we are not worshiping her.  We are asking her to pray for us.  I had a conversation about this with my sponsor and she said something utterly brilliant.   What is a prayer?  I said it is trying to communicate with God.  Who better to communicate with God than his mother?  The higher purpose isn't to worship how great they were; it is to help our prayers reach Jesus.


Anti-Catholic Girl Defeated?

Certainly not.   I only used a few of my attacks in the arsenal!  She will be back!  She is the Joker to my Batman!  Without her I would have no reason to blog!  There are many other arguments that can be made against Catholics. I say bring it.  Anywhere there is injustice in the world I will be there.  Any time there is someone struggling with faith I will hold strong. I am Catechu-Man!