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The Church Fathers on: Indulgences (by Daniel Marcum)

The Doctrine of Indulgences in the Early Church Fathers ~57 A.D. - St. Paul - “For such a one this punishment by the majority is enough...you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him...I beg you to reaffirm your love for him. … What I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ.” (2 Corinthians 2:5-10) ~197 A.D. - Tertullian - “Some, not able to find this peace in the Church, have been used to seek it from the imprisoned martyrs. And so you [imprisoned Christians] ought to have it dwelling with you, and to cherish it, and to guard it, that you may be able perhaps to bestow it upon others.” (Ad Martyras Chapter 1) 222 A.D. - Tertullian - “[N]ow you are ascribing this power [of granting indulgences] even to your dear martyrs. As soon as someone of his own accord has taken on the fetters...at once the adulterers are swarming about…[and] prayers are humming in the air... Men and women crowd [them]...beg for [their] blessing...and ...
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Refuting Mike Gendron's "Are Catholics Deceived?"

Mike Gendron will be quoted in black; my responses will be in red . Deception will always be exposed by Truth. Have you ever realized that you could be deceived and not even be aware of it? Those who are deceived will never know it unless they are confronted with the truth. Many go to their grave deceived about the most important issue we all face, and that is, locating the narrow road that leads to eternal life. Who are you trusting to show you the way and the truth to eternal life? What is your source for truth? Is it absolutely trustworthy? Will it protect you from the schemes and lies of the master deceiver?    The prophet Jeremiah gave us wise counsel for choosing whom we should trust. He said if you trust in man you will be cursed liked a bush in the parched places of the desert. But if you trust in God you will be blessed. You will be like a tree planted by water always bearing fruit, whose leaves are always green. No worries or fears will come upon you in a year of...
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Why is there Temporal Punishment for Sin; Didn't Jesus Pay Our Debt?

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I was discussing Penance, purgatory, and indulgences (among many other topics) with a friend, and the topic of temporal punishment came up. Temporal punishment happens to be closely linked to indulgences, which happen to be linked to the effects of Sacramental Penance, so it was only natural that it be next in line for discussion. In case you aren't familiar with what I'm talking about: " An indulgence is a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven ..." ( CCC 1471 , emphasis mine). Anyone not familiar with that might respond with, " Whoa! Hold up there on the 'temporal punishment'! What's that all about? " I'll explain what it's all about, but you can also get a good idea by reading the very short Catechism paragraphs 1471-1473, especially in light of the three paragraphs immediately preceding those, and 1478-79. ( HERE's that link.) Anyway, my friend actually read ...
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Shaming the Pastor with a Same-Sex "Marriage" Argument?

A video was posted to Facebook which plays a clip of Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd responding to a Christian Pastor who asked how the Prime Minister could justify his stance on Same-Sex "Marriage" while simultaneously identifying himself as a Christian. "Why", the Pastor wanted to know, "should Christians vote for [him]" when he holds values that are contrary to Christian belief. (The title of the video is "A Pastor Asks A Politician Why He Supports Gay Marriage. It Seems He Wasn't Prepared For His Reply" It can be found on YouTube quite easily.) Prime Minister Rudd responded, first by subjecting Christian Truth to his personal subjective opinions, and then avoided answering the question altogether by throwing out "strawmen" and resorting other fallacious reasoning tactics. While some same-sex "marriage" supporters will think he made some good points (and Christians will think otherwise), I'd like to give...
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The Early Christians Believed in Hell - Refuting John Lilley

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I was recently directed to a website belonging to John Lilley, an author of at least three books on Christianity. One of those books is titled “ Hell is a Mistranslation ”. One article on his website, titled “ The Early Christians did not Believe in Hell ” served as a sort of prologue to the book, explaining why Lilley believes “hell” to be a mistranslation and explaining that neither Christ nor the early Christian writers from the first several centuries believed in “hell” as we understand it today. I have attempted several times to re-access his webpage lately, but have been unable. I continue to get a message that the webpage (johnlilley.org) has expired. Whether the page will come up again, I do not know. What I do know is that there are at least a handful of people who have recently read his article and were misled by it, and so I am going to refute it. Actually, I’m going to let Jesus and the early Christians refute it; I’ll just post their words. Christ, Himself, as w...
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The Sex-Abuse Crisis: What are Christians Doing About It?

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It appeared to be a random “drive-by” smear on the Church, since the reference within it only popped up in the comment boxes of eight other Catholic blogs whose authors had written some specifically “Catholic” article. I clicked each link and, sure enough, the full comment was identical to the one I had received. I removed the comment from my own blog, but the basic message of it, when you strip away the passive-aggression and the curious paraphrasing, is actually an important one. This is what he/she wrote: “Hi- I would like to request prayers for the victims of rape and abuse by members of the Catholic Church. Many of them were children when they were attacked or abused. This is also an ongoing crisis, with new victims each year, worldwide. I will remember them and their stories forever, but for the healing to truly take place, it will take the voices and efforts of many. To paraphrase a poem by an Indian schoolgirl, "Too many Catholics, in too many countries, speak the ...
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A World Better Off Without Religion?

I once had a discussion with a friend of mine who believed that the world would be better off without any religion.   “ I think I figured it out ” , he said.   “[The one thing humans can] do away with that would make the world a much safer, brighter, happier, more progressive and innovative, and loving world [is religion]” .     Going with my own understanding of “religion” , I asked, “ How could the world be safer, brighter, happier, more progressive/innovative/loving by doing away with a relationship with our Creator? Seems like that would be a step in the opposite direction. ”   We ended up talking about several different topics at once ( whether we really know our Creator; whether He created evil/sin; the nature of free will; the state of humanity; etc. ) but the main focus was religion, and whether the world would be better off without it.     I said, “ Let’s make sure we are talking about the same thing:   ‘Religion’:   f...
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