fathers

The Coming Sabbath Rest

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FOR 2000 years, the Church has laboured to draw souls into her bosom. She has endured persecutions and betrayals, heretics and schismatics. She has gone through seasons of glory and growth, decline and division, power and poverty whilst tirelessly proclaiming the Gospel — if only at times through a remnant. But someday, said the Church Fathers, she will enjoy a “Sabbath Rest” — an Era of Peace on earth before the end of the world. But what exactly is this rest, and what brings it about?Continue reading →

The Fundamental Problem

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St. Peter who was given “the keys of the kingdom “
 

 

I HAVE received a number of emails, some from Catholics who aren’t sure how to answer their “evangelical” family members, and others from fundamentalists who are certain the Catholic Church is neither biblical nor Christian. Several letters contained long explanations why they feel this Scripture means this and why they think this quote means that. After reading these letters, and considering the hours it would take to respond to them, I thought I would address instead the fundamental problem: just who exactly has the authority to interpret Scripture?

 

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Of the Sabbath

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SOLMENITY OF ST. PETER AND PAUL

 

THERE is a hidden side to this apostolate that from time to time makes its way to this column—the letter writing that goes back and forth between myself and atheists, unbelievers, doubters, skeptics, and of course, the Faithful. For the past two years, I have been dialoguing with a Seventh Day Adventist. The exchange has been peaceful and respectful, even though the gap between some of our beliefs remains. The following is a response I wrote to him last year regarding why the Sabbath is no longer practiced on Saturday in the Catholic Church and generally all of Christendom. His point? That the Catholic Church has broken the Fourth Commandment [1]the traditional Catechetical formula lists this commandment as Third by altering the day on which the Israelites “kept holy” the Sabbath. If this is the case, then there are grounds to suggest that the Catholic Church is not the true Church as she claims, and that the fullness of truth resides elsewhere.

We pick up our dialogue here about whether or not Christian Tradition is founded solely upon Scripture without the infallible interpretation of the Church…

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Footnotes

Footnotes
↑1 the traditional Catechetical formula lists this commandment as Third