Catholic Biblical Apologetics

Apologetics without apology!

What does the Roman Catholic Church teach about ...? ... and why?

This website surveys the origin and development of Roman Catholic Christianity from the period of the apostolic church, through the post-apostolic church and into the conciliar movement. Principal attention is paid to the biblical basis of both doctrine and dogma as well as the role of paradosis (i.e. handing on the truth) in the history of the Church. Particular attention is also paid to the hierarchical founding and succession of leadership throughout the centuries.

This is a set of lecture notes used since 1985 to teach the basis for key doctrines and dogmas of the Roman Catholic Church. The objectives of the course were, and are:

To present the biblical basis for the origin and development of the Roman Catholic Church.
To present the development of the canon of Scripture and evolution of biblical teaching in the Church.
To understand the role of paradosis/tradition in the oral transmission of revelation.
To study the Council of Jerusalem, described in the 15^th chapter of The Acts of the Apostles and its role in the development of doctrine in the conciliar movement in the Church.
To understand the revelation, doctrinal development and practice of the sacramental life in the history of the Church.
To study the role of the Holy Spirit as teaching authority in the Church.
To study the revelation and development of hierarchical authority in the Church.
To understand the hierarchy of truths in the Church as well as the role of private devotion and personal growth in holiness.

The course grew out of the need for the authors to continually answer questions about their faith tradition and their work. (Both authors are active members of Catholic parish communities in the Diocese of Richmond, Virginia. Dr. Robert Schihl was a Professor and Associate Dean of the School of Communication and the Arts at Regent University. Paul Flanagan is a consultant specializing in preparing people for technology based changes.) At the time these notes were first prepared, the authors were spending time in their faith community answering questions about their Protestant Evangelical workplaces (Mr. Flanagan was then a senior executive at the Christian Broadcasting Network), and time in their workplaces answering similar questions about their Roman Catholic faith community. These notes are the result of more than a decade of facilitating dialogue among those who wish to learn more about what the Roman Catholic Church teaches and why.

The Hebrew Scriptures: Books of the Old Testament

It will serve now to list in comparable columns the canons of the Old Testament as accepted by both Roman Catholics and Protestant Evangelicals. Jews have the same canon as Protestants.

The lists are divided into the groups as taught by the respective faith groups. The books with asterisks are those of the Roman Catholic canon which are considered canonical, but are labeled apocryphal by Protestants and Evangelicals.

Hebrew Scriptures	Roman Catholic Old Testament	Protestant Old Testament
Palestinian Canon	Alexandrian Canon or	Palestinian Canon
	Septuagint (LXX)
The Law	Pentateuch	Pentateuch
Genesis	Genesis	Genesis
Exodus	Exodus	Exodus
Leviticus	Leviticus	Leviticus
Numbers	Numbers	Numbers
Deuteronomy	Deuteronomy	Deuteronomy
Prophets	Historical Books	Historical Books
Earlier Prophets
Joshua	Joshua	Joshua
Judges	Judges	Judges
	Ruth	Ruth
1 Samuel	1 Samuel	1 Samuel
2 Samuel	2 Samuel	2 Samuel
1 Kings	1 Kings	1 Kings
2 Kings	2 Kings	2 Kings
Later Prophets	1 Chronicles	1 Chronicles
Isaiah	2 Chronicles	2 Chronicles
Jeremiah	Ezra	Ezra
Ezekiel	Nehemiah	Nehemiah
Hosea	*Tobit
Joel	*Judith
Amos	Esther	Esther
Obadiah	*1 Maccabees
Jonah	*2 Maccabees
Micah
Nahum	Wisdom Books	Poetical Books
Habakkuk	Job	Job
Zephaniah	Psalms	Psalms
Haggai	Proverbs	Proverbs
Zechariah	Ecclesiastes	Ecclesiastes
Malachi	Song of Songs	Song of Songs
	*Wisdom
	*Sirach
Writings	Prophetical Books	Prophetical Books
Psalms	Isaiah	Isaiah
Proverbs	Jeremiah	Jeremiah
Job	Lamentations	Lamentations
Song of Songs	*Baruch	Ezekiel
Ruth	Ezekiel	Daniel
Lamentations	Daniel	Hosea
Ecclesiastes	Hosea	Joel
Esther	Joel	Amos
Daniel	Amos	Obadiah
Ezra	Obadiah	Jonah
Nehemiah	Jonah	Micah
1 Chronicles	Micah	Nahum
2 Chronicles	Nahum	Habakkuk
	Habakkuk	Zephaniah
	Zephaniah	Haggai
	Haggai	Zechariah
	Zechariah	Malachi
	Malachi

Catholic Dicitionary

CANON

An established rule for guidance, a standard, or a list of such rules: 1. in biblical usage the catalogue of inspired writings known as the Old and New Testaments, identified as such by the Church; 2. in ecclesiastical usage, a short definition of some dogmatic truth, with attached anathema, made as a rule by general councils; 3. the Eucharistic Prayer, which is the essential part of the Sacrifice of the Mass. In religious life, certain orders of men with specific duties often attached to a particular church, shrine, or ecclesiastical function; 4. in music a composition that repeats the same melody by one or more voices in turn, producing harmony; 5. in printing a size type, namely 4 line pica 48 point, used in printing church books or the Canon of the Mass; 6. catalogue of canonized saints; 7. rules of certain religious orders and the books that comprise them; 8. in art and architecture the established rule, which is periodically specified in ecclesiastical matters by Church directives or legislation; 9. a member of the clergy attached to a cathedral or other large church, with specific duties such as the choral recitation of the Divine Office. (Etym. Latin canon, rule, standard of conduct; summary, record; from Greek kan_n, rod, rule.)

All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

Palestinian canon.

What you are asserting is that the scripture came from the palestinians, who are, of course a falsified and non-existent people in the first place - when everyone knows it originated with the Jews.

Thus you are perpetuating the muslim lie that the Koran is really at the bottom of it all (a muslim will tell you that even if Moses was not a muslim he actually wished that he was, notwithstanding the fact that islam wasn't even a gleam in mad mo's forefather's eye at that point in time, and that Jesus was actually one of their flock under the pseudonym of "Issa").

Yes, I know what a "canon" is. Do you know what a "palestinian" is?? Congrats. You have just declared the Catholic church islamic.

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