In general, when people bombard you with a list of questions like this, they are not interested in dialogue. It is a ploy meant to overwhelm and give the impression that the Church has so much wrong with it that he doesn’t even know where to begin. These things seldom turn out well.
I really recommend not responding as I am about to do to a laundry list of questions. If you do, then he will simply respond with his (likely) pre-written automatic responses. Thus, you will find yourself in the middle of 23 different discussions simultaneosuly, many of which books have been written in response to. It will only serve to add confusion. I would recommend asking him to stick with one question at a time. Have him pick what he feels is the most important question and go from there.
Nonetheless, here I go:
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Code:
Do you believe that the holy Catholic Church teaches that there is one way to get to heaven?
This is a loaded question. No matter how lengthy and well-crafted a response you give, I imagine, the simple answer that he may retort with “Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life”. Of course this is true, but the question still remains:
“How does Jesus choose to operate to save us?” Of course, first, He died for us. But then He left us with the Catholic Church to whom He entrusted the Sacraments as a means of tapping into the power of the Cross.
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Code:
Do you believe that the Catholic Church teaches that YOU are God and Christ?
This seems to be a rather insulting insinuation. Yes, God created us in His image and likeness. Yes, we are members of the Mystical Body of Christ (see 1 Cor. 13). But, no, we are not
literally God. Does that even need to be said? The presumption that any person, let alone the Catholic Church as a whole, could believe that we “are God and Christ” is ridiculous.
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Code:
Do you believe that the pope follows the Holy Scripture?
Of course.
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Code:
Do you believe that the pope has the power to change time and laws and even the precepts of Christ?
Again, this is a loaded question with insulting innuendo. The Pope has the authority granted to him
by Christ Himself. No more. No less. The Pope has the authority to change certain laws and precepts (whether or not to have married priests, for example), but he does not have the authority to change the moral law (declaring that murder is no longer sinful, for example).
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Code:
Do you believe that Sunday is the Mark of the Catholic Church?
I’m not sure what this question is even asking. There are four marks of the Church: One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic. The Church calls Sunday “The Lord’s Day” because that is the day Jesus rose from the dead, the eighth day, the day of our re-creation. This has been so from the time of the Apostles.
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Code:
Do you believe the Church is above the Word of God?
Another loaded question. There is no way to answer the question directly without coming off badly, but you are under no obligation to directly answer a disingenuous question. When the Church uses the term “Word of God” She is referring either to Jesus (the
Logos of John 1:1) or else to the unity of Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition. Non-Catholics tend to use the phrase interchangeably with the Bible, which is a mistake. The Church is the guardian of the deposit of faith. The Catholic Church produced and codified Sacred Scripture.
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Code:
Who is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords? And who sits on the judgment seat with God?
Jesus. What does he expect you to say?
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Code:
Can Christianity and evolution merge?
Again, I’m not sure what he means by this as it’s not a very well-phrased question. What he probably means is "Are Christianity and evolution
compatible?” The answer to this is “It depends” and “It hasn’t been clearly defined yet.” Good Catholics are free to disagree on this. However, what we can
not disagree on is that we all descended from one couple who were created by God (either instantly or through the process of evolution), and our first parents were given souls (made human) at one particular moment in time.
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Code:
Does the word of God give us any indication to change the Sabbath to Sunday?
Yes. Acts 20:7.
- What church is the only church in the whole world that follows the Bible and the Bible alone?
Loaded question. The Catholic Church is the one true Church and the only Church that Jesus guaranteed to interpret Scripture accurately. However, no where does Scripture itself tell us to “follow the Bible and the Bible alone”. In fact, Scripture points us to be members of the Church that Christ instituted (the Catholic Church), and to follow Her teachings.
- Why did the reformation fail or loss at the council of Trent?
This question doesn’t make sense to me. I recommend he clarify his phrasing.
- From whom did the church get its authority?
The Catholic Church gets its authority from Christ. I’m not sure where any other “church” received its authority, but Jesus only instituted one (the Catholic Church).
[continued in next post]
Whatever translation they used, it sure wasn’t English. In any case, it wasn’t missing seven books in the Old Testament.