The 7 Sacraments of the Roman Catholic Church explained.

List of common questions: (leave a comment if there is something you wish to add).

What are the 7 Sacraments?

Are the Sacraments (as a whole) needed for salvation?

Why do we do them?

(Note i had to remove color from the text, so please ignore my comments in regards to that).

The 7 Sacraments are a group of 7 sacred ceremonies which allow us to experience God's saving presence. To use Cannon Law to explain them, we reference the Catechism. 

Cannon Law 1210

Christ instituted the sacraments of the new law. There are seven: Baptism, Confirmation (or Chrismation), the Eucharist, Penance, the Anointing of the Sick, Holy Orders, and Matrimony. The seven sacraments touch all the stages and all the important moments of Christian life: they give birth and increase, healing and mission to the Christian's life of faith. There is thus a certain resemblance between the stages of natural life and the stages of the spiritual life.

Cannon Law 1211

Following this analogy, the first chapter will expound the three sacraments of Christian initiation; the second, the sacraments of healing; and the third, the sacraments at the service of communion and the mission of the faithful. This order, while not the only one possible, does allow one to see that the sacraments form an organic whole in which each particular sacrament has its own vital place. In this organic whole, the Eucharist occupies a unique place as the "Sacrament of sacraments": "all the other sacraments are ordered to it as to their end."

So, to break it down for you,

These are Sacraments of Christian initiation. Baptism, Conformation, and Eucharist (First Holy Communion is given a special tidal for being the first time we meet the Body and Blood of our Lord).

These are Sacraments of healing. Penance (going to confession) and Anointing of the Sick (often called Last Rites).

These are Sacraments at the service of communion of the mission of the faithful. Holy Orders, (For example, the Priesthood) and Matrimony.



Why do we celebrate them?

To answer, Baptism, the Holy Eucharist are both, needed for salvation, the exception to this can be found in Lumen Gentium Here 13-19 

(Evidence is in red, with important parts in darker red, if you know the passage, skip below the red to save time)

Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God."
-John 3:5 

"I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever;and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh. The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me. This is the bread which came down from heaven, not such as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live forever."

-John 6:51-58

*Note: Read John 6:66 Jesus is willing to lose followers over this message, and he does not explain it, as if it were a parable, he mean it literally.

Conformation, not everyone knows as much about this one. Suffice it to say, one passage from the bible clears it up greatly.

"Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit; for it had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit." 

-Acts of the Apostles 8:14-17

As you can see, from the "only" Baptism is just the start of the life of a Christian. 

*Note: We hold it replaces the Old Testament Circumcision, and it therefore appropriate around the time of Birth. 

Penance 

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.  If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
-John 20: 19-23

*Note: First few Verses are for context.


Here, Jesus gives the Priesthood he has formed the power to forgive sins....Through the power of God. This is very important, they do not forgive sins on their own, only God has that power, Websites such as Here Which states

"Only God can forgive sins, and Christ, being God, has the power to do so as well, but He never communicated any such power to His disciples, nor did they ever assume any such power to themselves. The key to understanding the meaning of John 20:23 lies in the previous two verses: “Again Jesus said, ‘Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.’ And with that he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’” He sent them, as He is sending us, to bring the good news of the way to salvation and heaven to the whole world. Jesus was leaving the earth physically but promised God would be with them in the person of the Holy Spirit living in them. As they proclaimed the gospel, they could honestly tell people who believed in that message that their sins were forgiven, and they could honestly tell people that did not believe in the message that their sins were not forgiven and that they stand condemned in God’s eyes. Jesus said, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him” (John 3:36). "

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven."
-Matthew 7:21

The Fact is, they could, and they did do what this website claims they did not. And it does mean a Priest can forgive sins, as he has been delegated the authority to do this, he does not do it out of his own power, that would be a terrible Heresy, and the Church would be the First to condemn anyone who says they can do that, save of course the second coming of Christ.

Anointing of the Sick

It is seen often in the bible

"Is any among you sick? Let him call for the presbyters of the Church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer of faith will save the sick man, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven." 

-James 5:14       


What this is in effect, is a last chance to bless the dieing person, forgive their sins, and give them peace of mind that they enter into their fathers house. Its Biblical, and practical on both a spiritual, and physiological realm. 

Matrimony

He answered, "Have you not read that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female,  and said, `For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'?  So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder."

-Matthew 19:4-6 

I don't think anything else is needed.


Holy Orders  

The Idea of Holy Orders is really, that of a Priesthood who like the Jewish counterparts in the days of old (Pre-Rabbinic Judaism) Offered sacrifice, forgave sins (Delegated to them by God as in *Leviticus 4:20) and remained Celibate for their time office (I need to provide biblical evidence, i am aware, since it does not directly say this, see below in Blue)*"And do with this bull just as he did with the bull for the sin offering. In this way the priest will make atonement for them, and they will be forgiven."
I had Issues before over the meaning of the word "Atonement" so Here is the definition "Reconciliation or an instance of reconciliation between God and humans."

"It [Show bread] belongs to Aaron and his sons, who are to eat it in a holy place, because it is a most holy part of their regular share of the offerings made to the LORD by fire."

Leviticus 24:9

1) Only Priests are Suppose to eat Show bread.  

"But the priest answered David, “I don’t have any ordinary bread on hand; however, there is some consecrated bread here—provided the men have kept themselves from women.”

 -1 Samuel 21:4

David replied, “Indeed women have been kept from us, as usual whenever I set out. The men’s bodies are holy even on missions that are not holy. How much more so today!”  So the priest gave him the consecrated bread, since there was no bread there except the bread of the Presence that had been removed from before the Lord and replaced by hot bread on the day it was taken away. 

-1 Samuel 21:5-6

2) Only Celibate men are allowed to eat the Show bread.

The Jews of the time, served at the temple for only a short time, during which they were celibate, until they returned home, then they could, assuming they were married, participate in the marital act. Here is a Wiki-Page which confirms what i say, but its not a great source, there is a footnote in 3 of my bibles making reference to this fact.

3) Priest only remained celibate while serving as a Priest

From these 3 things, we have the end result on "Why Catholic Priests Don't Marry". They serve for life, or until they leave the Priesthood.  --  Its worth noting Catholic Priests in the Middle ages and before sometimes married, and sometimes were ordained for only limited amounts of time, this is a Discipline, (subject to change as needed) not a infallibly defined truth.

Sola Scripture (Please, send me more proofs for it!)

 I been wanting to Disprove Sola Scripture for a while now, but rather then pointing to all the verses, and evidence against it, i though i would blast my own position with everything Protestants have.

I got my first selection of bible verses from Here

1. Proverbs 30:5
2. Hebrews 4:12
3. Matthew 4:4
4. 2 Timothy 3:16
5. Deuteronomy 8:3
6. Jos. 8:8 (Note: Joshua's obedience/actions were done so according to whatever God said, i.e. his word. By implication, it shows that we are to follow whatever source is his Word.)
7. Acts 13:44

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All Verses will be from the New International Version, my favorite Protestant only Bible.

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 “Every word of God is flawless;  he is a shield to those who take refuge in him." 

Proverbs 30:5

I see no indication that these words are written, nor do i see any indication that words alone are enough for a man to live by. If i have a boat, and i say factually that my underbelly is without flaw that does not mean my boat will not sink do to other reasons (for example my sides are not high enough).

"For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart."

Hebrews 4:12

Again, it does not say written word, Nor does it say anything which indicates alone.

Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God."

Matthew 4:4

"Mouth of god" Spoken word...If anything this proves that written and spoken are both valid.
"It is written" + "from the mouth of god" = written and spoken; It does not say or indicate alone.

"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness"

2 Timothy 3:16   

^{All of it is, this fails to say alone, as it its a true statement, "useful" if i may point out, mean it has use...not that it is a final authority.} 

"He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD^"

 Deuteronomy 8:3

Again, it fails to say written word, and therefore can not indicate bible alone

"Then it will be when you have seized the city, that you shall set the city on fire. You shall do it according to the word of the LORD. See, I have commanded you.

Joshua 8:8

Where in the first 5 books (all they had in his day + The ones traditionally written by Moses) does it tell him to do this? It may even be a Oral command!

⁴⁴ On the next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord.  

^....45 When the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy. They began to contradict what Paul was saying and heaped abuse on him.

 ⁴⁶ Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: “We had to speak the word of God to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles.

Just keep reading, (the Bold), it clearly is not talking about the written word of the lord, but the ORAL word of god.

Now...to Disprove it. 

"So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter."

2 Thessalonians 2:15

Done. That was Easy.

A defense of Sacred Tradition

Sacred Tradition

Practices by: Roman Catholics, Orthodox (see Holy Tradition), and Anglicans.

Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances, as I delivered them to you. - 1 Corinthians 11:2 (King James Version)

Now I praise you, brethren, that you remember me in all things and keep the traditions just as I delivered them to you. - 1 Corinthians 11:2 (New King James Version)

I praise you for remembering me in everything and for holding to the traditions just as I passed them on to you. - 1 Corinthians 11:2 (New International Version)

--

Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle. - 2 Thessalonians 2:15 (King James Version)

Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle. - 2 Thessalonians 2:15 (New King James Version)

So then, brothers and sisters stand firm and hold fast to the teachings* we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.  - New International Version (NIV)
Footnotes: 2 Thessalonians 2:15 or traditions

--

Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us. 2 Thessalonians 3:6 King James Version (KJV)

But we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly and not according to the tradition which he (they) received from us.  2 Thessalonians 3:6 New King James Version (NKJV)

In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers, to keep away from every brother who is idle and does not live according to the teaching you received from us.                          2 Thessalonians 3:6 New International Version (NIV)

 

Sacred Tradition V. tradition

Sacred Tradition, is the teachings that have always been, while tradition, as cited and harshly criticized by Jesus in Matthew, and again in Mark’s version of the story in Mark 7:5 – where the 12 did not washing their hands before eating. This is hardly a dogmatic teaching.  While a Dogmatic or Sacred Tradition is a key basis of any faith, as you can see by the interchangeability in the KJV, NKJV, and NIV quotes, “Traditions” and “Teachings” are closely related.

Examples of Sacred Tradition

Two natures of Christ, The Trinity, and The Theotokos or literally the mother of God, Immaculate Conception, and the assumption of Mary…

As well as the Apostles' Creed, Sacraments, Athanasian Creed, Nicene Creed, Roles of Priests, Deacons, and Bishops, as well as the duties of the Patriarchs, and the Primacy of the Bishop of Rome though Orthodox see him as the first among equals, rather than an exclusive command belonging solely to Peter as indicated by John 21:15-17 (Feed Sheep) Matt 16:18, (Build Church on), Matt 16:19 (Keys to kingdom).

Examples of non-sacred traditions: Washing your hands before a meal.

Why is it Sacred or Infallible?

Because the Infallible (or Dogmatic) teaching can never change, something cannot be true in the lifetime of Jesus, and not true in our life time. Otherwise something can be declared true in one life time, and declared a Heresy in the next, resulting in theological relativism, mass confusion and the *new religion* not looking like the old one.

Anti-Catholic Teacher last straw.

Today in my Class my teacher, as well as one Protestant student had some fun with me a intellectual  insult which i feel the need to clearly explain the fallacy of it.


The Class is watching her present "The Catholic Reformation"
The sum of her presentation was three quotes from Protestant Authors on the "Horrors" of the Jesuits who were as one of her quotes put it.


"If ever there was a body of men who merited damnation on earth and in Hell, it is this society of Loyola's." -- John Adams, letter to Thomas Jefferson, May 5, 1816 -- (By the way, there is a good change George Washington was converted on his deathbed by a Jesuit).

First, i would like to point out, she did not actually talk about the Catholics of the time, Second she provided Protestant revisionist histories of the Inquisition and other areas, without ANY Catholic quotes, or "evil" actions mentioned what so ever. Clearly, the word of a Protestant on what they claim Catholics are doing at a time when they need to justify their existence is not to be taken as a absolutely authoritative statement, as they clearly have their own dog in this fight.  

The outrage of presenting Protestant ideas on Catholics as Historical fact, without even one word from a Catholic, one shred of evidence for this "evil". This has caused me to set my mind to having this teacher removed form her position of influence, (this is far from the first time she has tried this stuff).

Faith alone?

“Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.”
-James 2:24 (KJV)
 
<sup>There is exactly one place in the bible the words "Faith alone" appear. Check it for yourself Here 

Now, The Catholic View Basically, it can be described as...Well, watch the Video. I prepare for the eventuality that this video will go down, by adding the text below.

To explain the shortness of this post, a simple explanation: I think you have to be mad to not think works play a part in salvation, you must signal god you wish to accept his grace somehow, faith is half way there, Thus also Faith by itself, if it does not have works is dead (James 2:17).


31</sup> “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. ³² All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
   ³⁴ “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶ I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
   ³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸ When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
   ⁴⁰ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
   ⁴¹ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴² For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³ I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
   ⁴⁴ “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
   ⁴⁵ “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
   ⁴⁶ “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."
-New International Version (NIV) Matthew 25:31-46.

Curruption of the Bible, Mary and Lent

The Quote:
"religion is corrupt i mean catholiks pray to the virgin mary more than God and whats that thing u ppl do wen u dnt eat meat and wat sup wit ur bible idk y u ppl changed it"

English [non-Literal] Translation:
I find, that your religion is corrupt, I mean to say that Catholics pray to the virgin Mary more than they pray to God and whats that [Lent] thing you People do when you do not eat meat [on Fridays]? and what is up with your bible? I don't know why you people changed it.

Questions at the Heart of this:
1) Why do Catholics Pray to Saints?
2) Why is Mary honored? 
3)What is lent?
4)Why don't you eat meat during lent?
5) Why is your bible bigger then mine?

Biblical Contradiction:

"I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people"
-1 Timothy 2:1

"Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God’s people, on the golden altar in front of the throne. The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God from the angel’s hand."
-Revelations 8:3-4

"And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people."
-Revelations 5:8

"Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus."
-Matthew 17:3

Other Biblical Quotes Needed for this rebuttal:

"Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective."
-James 5:16
"Nothing impure will ever enter it [Heaven], nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life."
-Revelations 21:27

"But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit."
-1 Corinthians 6:17

"honor your father and mother,' and 'love your neighbor as yourself."
-Matthew 19:19

"After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God."
-Acts 1:3

"and he was in the desert forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him."
-Mark 1:13

Clarification:

1) Catholics, and most, if not all Orthodox Church (I am unaware of any which do not) believe in the intercession of Saints. The biblical passages above show a decent basic for the idea of it, while i am sure i will not convince a anti-intercession extremist, this is not a page to convert people, but to remove roadblocks on the path to mutual understanding, suffice it to say, in my mind the early church including "communion of saints" as one of its dogmatic teachings is sufficient for me to say that it is a Christian idea. As to why we pray to Saints, rather then ask for prayers of living people (which we do too) As you can see, a man who is righteous is a powerful intercessor (James 5:16), and there is no one who is not pure in heaven, (Rev 21:27).

To Fully answer this question, we must answer a few smaller questions -- First, Can they hear our prayers? -- Yes, they are aware of them, that is clear (Rev 5:8) and (Rev 8:3-4) While you can make the argument that they are not involved with the prayers, and that the are instead going directly to god, clearly they know whats going on. And as Jesus proved, you can talk to the dead (Matt 17:3).

Second, Does praying to them, or anything else we do imply worshiping them?
No, we Honor them, and Mary above all the rest of the saints, Honor, does not mean, or imply worship of them, in the bible (Matthew 19:19) you must Honor your mother and your father. So too do we honor those who make it into paradise.

Third, Can they pray for us? -- I see no reason why not, the bible (as far as i am aware) makes no real distinction between the dead, and the living, If you can ask a friend to pray for you, there is no reason for me to think your same friend could not pray for you in heaven with even stronger prayers.

2) Why do we honor Mary? -- Shes the mother of god, Threw her the head of Satan is crushed with Jesus Christ. I suggest a reading of Revelations 12, where a women, clearly Mary, if you read the context around it, is "clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head" (Rev 12:1).

3) Lent is, a time of spiritual renewal, lasting 40 days, (a typical, biblical number used often, for example Acts 1:3; Mark 1:13) . While this is entirely a man made idea to reenact the 40 days in our own little way, it is a Christian tradition, which many people find spiritually nurturing.

4) Not eating meat as part of our diet in Friday's is a small form of self denial during this period of time, some days we has less meals, or smaller meals, other we don't eat meat. Its purely one of many ways a Christian may practice the main themes of lent, prayer, penance, repentance, alms-giving, and self-denial. Fasts are very biblical, however, see (Fasting in the bible).

5) Our Bible is larger, because your bible is the product of Martin Luther's rejection of those books our bible holds, the Catholic bible, is made up of the same books the Christian bible has always had since we created the thing, the Protestant bible is the result of a man who disagreed with the books of the bible, but in my opinion, he needed to remove a lot more books to make the bible not support the Catholic position.

My Turn:
Why do i feel that Luther should have removed more books form his bible? I used a NIV (No Catholic version in existence) for this entire blog post.

Pax Christi.
AMDG.   

Misunderstandings Dogma, Pope, Church Foundation.

The Quote:
"Sure there are apostate "Protestant" heretics as well but the 1) pope is the king of heretics. 2)The Bible is a solid foundation 3) while the catholic church is constantly changing its dogma and doctrine, 4) it is unstable as it has a man as its head instead of God Almighty."


Biblical Contradiction:

"If I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God's household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth." - 1 Timothy 3:15

"And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it." -Matthew 16:18

Other Biblical Quotes Needed for this rebuttal:

""For," said Peter, "it is written in the book of Psalms, "'Let his home become desolate, with no one living in it.',' and, "'May another take his place of leadership." -Acts 1:20


Clarification:

1) The Pope CAN be a a grave sinner, of any kind, but he can not change the Church into his Heretical ways, Its notable to point out that While the Church suffered from political Popes in past times, never did its teachings change to say "its okay to ____ (List sins committed by Popes here)".

2) As you can see in 1 Timothy, the Church, not the bible is the solid foundation, and the Pope having existed prior to this statement in Timothy was part of that Church, though not all have given this fact recognition.

3) The Church, does not Change its infallible teaching
Dogma - Information -  Here You can read a short Wiki-Page on Dogma.

For a More in-depth read (Try to prove me wrong) Click Here.

Doctrine is the Formal, or informal teaching of the Church, there are 3 main levels.
1) Dogma (Official)
2) Canon Law (Disciplines) - Subject to change with the needs of the faithful.
3) Theolegoumena (Theological opinions) - Not always in agreement, and not infallible. 

While the Lower non-infallible doctrine of the Church may change, its simply insane to claim that this proves anything, as we do not claim it to be infallible. This is a source of frequent misunderstandings, for example Here we have a Protestant Anti-Catholic who claims we don't teach the Sign of the Cross as we used to (Formally on the Forehead, while now its a full chest and head) he points out there was no use of "The sign of the cross" in "apostolic" times however....First, were still in apostolic succession, as are our beloved Orthodox brothers. Secondly, this is merely a reminded of the cross, it sure is not a infallible teaching of the Church.

4) If the Catholic Church is unstable with a man, who has direct succession of his office (see Acts 1:20) meaning he has all the Authority that Jesus left to Peter....Then how strong is your Church, with a man following not the pillar and foundation of Truth, but Making it up as he goes along.


My Turn:

Since you think that the words of men are worthless, and think subjection to Change makes them spiritual untrue, i first must congratulate you, second i must invite you...not to join the Church, but to study the Church, find our men, who despite their flaws are cleansed by the power of god, and given the gift of infallibility, so that they may never lead the church into defining infallibly a way outside what has been said in Heaven. When you find what you think to be true to be a misunderstanding, pray, ask god where he wants you, and wait for his answer.

Pax Christi.
AMDG.