Apologetics for the Masses - Issue #198

General Comments

Here is a thank you from Susie and Mark and their family. I am working through a 3rd party on this, so they have no idea where this money is coming from. So, for all of you who made a donation to help them out and/or are praying for them, please take these words as being sent directly to you:

“Words cannot express the joy you have given to our family. God has many rewards for you! We would have never succeeded without you! Thank you so much, this means a whole lot. Thank you also for all the help you gave to little Mark, there was no way we could do it, and as a mother I was totally at a loss because I could not help him but you did and I can’t thank you enough! May God bless and keep you! We can buy groceries now and be able to get all of our medicine too!” God bless you!

The reference to “little Mark” is about their son, Mark, who is off at college, struggling to pay his way, and was between jobs and needed help with his utility bill. We used a little bit of the money that came in to help him with that. I believe he has just now gotten another job.

So, as we say here in Alabama, “Ya’ll done good.”

Introduction

Okay, back to Bud Weber…sort of. Received the email below about the questions I have repeatedly asked Bud, which have repeatedly not been answered. Below the email are the questions I’ve asked Bud, and then the “correct” answers to them.

Challenge/Response/Strategy

Subscriber’s Email:
"Your passion and knowledge are contagious and the fact that Bud keeps responding (even though he never answers your questions) at the very least tells me you are causing him to question and ponder what is really going on. Could you help me out and answer these questions, even though Bud never attempts to, I would love to know the official Church’s position on these questions and maybe they are available through the Catchecism. In some form on some relatively normal frequency I do get ‘questioned’ or subjected to comments similar to these about the Church my family and I have returned to this summer. As my fundamental knowledge on the apologetics and official doctrine is limited at this time I tend to respond out of love with the person or persons but never really confront them as you have with Bud. As my goal would not be to confront them but rather enlighten them so to break down the barriers of what divides us. Some people and friends from the church we left support our decision to return to the Catholic Church and some don’t understand it due to some of the stereotypical beliefs that Bud Weber shares. Like I said I want to respond out of love because I think there is opportunity to enlighten some of the folks we used to worship with – but I also want to respond with the truth of what the Church believes. I think the Catholic Church can be very attractive if presented with the facts and I don’t want to misrepresent that or get in the way so to speak."

The Questions:

1) If assurance of salvation is true, then how can one be severed from Christ by being circumcised?

2) When Jesus was asked, “What good deed must I do to have eternal life,” how did He answer? How would you answer that question?

3) Can you get into Heaven if you do not forgive the sins of others – yes or no?

4) Can you give me one example in the Bible of a Christian who was saved by reading the Bible?

5) Who wrote the Gospel of Mark and how do you know? And how do you know the Gospel of Mark is the inspired Word of God?

6) For a Christian, what is the pillar and ground of the truth…is it the Bible?

7) Are you infallible in your interpretation of the Bible – yes or no?

The Answers:

1) If assurance of salvation is true, then one cannot be severed from Christ – after being "saved" – by being circumcised, or by anything else for that matter. Yet, in Galatians 5:2-4, Paul says to those members of the church in Galatia who are contemplating circumcision – because of the influence of the Judaizers – that if they receive circumcison, they will be "severed from Christ," (RSV-CE). Or, in the King James Version (KJV), it says that for those who receive circumcision, "Christ shall profit you nothing," (verse 2) and that "Christ is become of no effect unto you…you have fallen from grace," (verse 4).

Well, if you’re "saved," and then you do something that causes Christ to "profit you nothing," or to be "severed from Christ," or to "fall from grace," then are you still saved? No, you’re not. I don’t see how anyone could say that being in a state where Christ profits you nothing or that you have fallen from grace could say that means you’re "saved."

So, Galatians 5 shows that the doctrine of once saved always saved, or the doctrine of absolute assurance of salvation, is in direct contradiction to the Word of God. The only possible way out of this for a once saved always saved believer, is to say that, "Well, Paul is talking about those who really weren’t saved in the first place." But, that won’t work either. In Galatians 5:1, Paul shows that he is talking to Christians…to those that have been saved…to those who have been set free by Christ…to those that have been delivered from the yoke of slavery (to sin). To say that these are people who really weren’t saved in the first place is to insert a lie into the text.

So, no way around it. Galatians 5:1-4, completely and thoroughly demolishes the doctrine of absolute assurance – once saved always saved – which is why Bud would not, and could not, answer my question.

2) Jesus’ answer was, "Keep the commandments," (Matt 19:17). If salvation is by faith alone, and works have nothing at all to do with our salvation, then what a strange thing for Jesus to say, isn’t it? Silly Jesus…didn’t He know that all one has to do to be saved is believe in Him? What’s all this malarkey about having to keep the commandments in order to have eternal life?

In other words, we see the dogma of Sola Fide – salvation by faith alone – crashing upon the rocks and being smashed to pieces by the Word of God. Which is why Bud would not, and could not, answer my question.

And, the reason I asked Bud, or anyone else for that matter, what his answer would be, is that neither his answer, nor the answer of anyone who teaches and preaches Sola Fide, would be the same as Jesus’ answer. And if your answer is not compatible with Jesus’ answer, then either Jesus is wrong, or you are wrong.

3) No; you cannot get into Heaven if you do not forgive the sins of others (Matt 6:15). Can you get into Heaven if your sins are not forgiven? No. Will your sins be forgiven if you do not forgive the sins of others? No. Therefore, you cannot get into Heaven if you do not forgive the sins of others. Is forgiving the sins of others a work? Yes it is. So, there is at least one work we have to do in order to get into Heaven. If there is at least one work we have to do to get into Heaven, can the dogma of Sola Fide – salvation by faith alone – be true? No, it can’t. Therefore, the dogma of Sola Fide, according to Scripture, cannot be true. Which is why Bud would not, and could not, answer my question.

4)There is not one example in the Scripture of a person being "saved" by reading the Scriptures. Which is why Bud would not, and could not, answer my question. So, when Bud claims that he was "saved" by reading the Scripture, he is saying he was saved in some manner that the Bible knows nothing about.

5) Since Bud goes by the doctrine of Sola Scriptura – the Bible alone – and since the Bible nowhere tells us who actually wrote the Gospel of Mark, or that it was even someone named Mark who wrote the Gospel of Mark, or that the the Gospel of Mark is indeed the inspired Word of God; then Bud, based on his theological principles, cannot know with any degree of certainty that someone named Mark wrote the Gospel of Mark and he cannot know with any degree of certaintly that the Gospel of Mark is the inspired Word of God. Which is why Bud would not, and could not, answer my question. Bud, whether he admits it or not, relies on extra-biblical tradition for his belief that Mark wrote the Gospel of Mark and that it is the inspired Word of God. Sola Scriptura? I don’t think so!

6) The pillar and foundation, or ground, of the truth is…according to the Bible…the Church (1 Tim 3:15). Most "Bible-christians," say that the Bible is the pillar and foundation of the truth. Most "Bible-christians" are wrong. Which is why Bud would not, and could not, answer my question. Think about the implications of this one verse of Scripture on the dogma of Sola Scriptura. Rips it up.

7) No single man, even the Pope – under ordinary circumstances – is infallible in their interpretation of each and every verse of Scripture. Which means, no, Bud is not infallible in his interpretations of Scripture. Which means, every single one of Bud’s interpretations of Scripture could be wrong. Including, every single interpretation that runs contrary to Catholic teaching. Which is why Bud would not, and could not, answer my question.

In Conclusion

I hope all of you have a great week. I am in a day-long meeting this coming Friday, so I may not be able to get a newsletter out this week. But, if I can’t, I’ll get one out the following week (God willing!).

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