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 Assumption of Mary

For Roman Catholic Christians, the belief in the Assumption of Mary flows immediately from the belief in her Immaculate Conception. Catholic Christians believe that if Mary was preserved from sin by the free gift of God, she would not be bound to experience the consequences of sin--death--in the same way we do. Mary's assumption shows the result of this freedom from sin--the immediate union of her whole being with her Son Jesus Christ with God at the end of her life.

Catholic Christians believe that the Blessed Virgin Mary, at the end of her earthly life, was assumed both body and soul into heavenly glory.

Rom 5:12: Therefore, just as through one person sin entered the world, and through sin, death, and thus death came to all, inasmuch as all sinned ...
Rom 6:23: For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
1 Cor 15:21-26: For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead came also through a human being. For just as in Adam all die, so too in Christ shall all be brought to life, but each one in proper order: Christ the first fruits; then, at his coming, those who belong to Christ; then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to his God and Father, when he has destroyed every sovereignty and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

Since sin and death are the fruits of Satan, the freedom of Mary from the original sin of Adam also frees her from the consequences of sin also. Then Mary best fulfills the scripture of Genesis.

Gen 3:15: I will put enmity between you (the serpent, Satan) and the woman (Mary), and between your offspring (the minions of Satan) and hers (Christ); He will strike at your head, while you strike at his heel.

The constant faith (paradosis) of the Church affirms the belief in the Assumption of Mary.

From the 5th Century:: The Feast of the Assumption of Mary was celebrated in Syria.
5th and 6th Century:: The Apocryphal Books were testimony of a certain christian sense of the abhorrence felt that the body of the Mother of God should lie in a sepulcher.
6th Century:: The Feast of the Assumption was celebrated in Jerusalem (and perhaps even in Alexandria).
From the 7th Century:: Clear and explicit testimony was given on the Assumption of Mary in the Eastern Church; The same testimony is clear also in the Western Church (Gregory, Tours, 538-594).
9th Century:: The Feast of the Assumption was celebrated in Spain.
From the 10th - 12th Century:: No dispute whatsoever in the Western Church; there was dispute over the false epistles of Jerome on the subject.
12th Century:: The Feast of the Assumption was celebrated in the city of Rome, and in France.
13th Century to the present:: Certain and undisputed faith in the Assumption of Mary in the universal Church.
1950: Pope Pius XII, declared infallibly, ex cathedra: "Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul to heavenly glory." (The Magisterium has stayed cospicuously silent regarding whether this process entailed Mary's physical death. The teaching merely states that Mary's body and soul were assumed at the completion of the course of Mary's life.)

Annalex: in whose company do you think you will find [Jesus]?

Theo: Mine.

Where did Mary go?

Where did the Holy Apostles go? Where did the Good Thief go? All the saints?

All these were persevering with one mind in prayer with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren (Acts 1:14)
29 ...I dispose to you, as my Father hath disposed to me, a kingdom; 30 That you may eat and drink at my table, in my kingdom: and may sit upon thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. (Luke 22)
this day thou shalt be with me in paradise. (Luke 23:43)
we also having so great a cloud of witnesses over our head, laying aside every weight and sin which surrounds us (Hebrews 12:1)

Of course, all who’ve been adopted into Christ’s family will be in the company of Jesus.

Consider Luke 8:19-21, where Jesus’ mother and biological brothers wanted to see Jesus. His response? He diminished the importance of biological relatives, and emphasized the importance of “those who hear the word of God and do it.” In other words, Jesus said “no” to Mary’s request, pointing out that spiritual relation to Jesus is more important than biological relation to Jesus. That was a very radical thing for Jesus to do, as “family” was of utmost importance at the time.

Mary was an important woman, but Jesus owes her no special allegiance. He’s told her “no,” and said “yes” to those of us who have been adopted into His family by grace through faith.

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