What Catholics really believe : setting the record straight : 52 answers to common misconceptions about the Catholic faith / Karl Keating. [print]

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Originally published: Ann Arbor, Michigan : Servant Publications, 1992.

The teaching church and its authority -- The pope can change doctrine -- Infallibility means that everything the pope says is true -- Vatican II teaches that the Church should be like a democracy. That's why we have parish councils -- Vatican II was such a watershed that its's now a waste of time to read books written before the Council -- The Catholic Church sends people to hell b excommunicating them -- Catholics who leave the Church will go to hell -- The Church teaches that as long as Catholics go to Mass and confess any series sin, they will go to heaven -- We shouldn't spend money on building fancy churches -- The bible, its inerrancy and authenticity -- Before modern times, laypeople weren't allowed to read the Bible -- Because of ecumenism, Catholics may now read any Bible translation -- Only priests or qualified religious can teach Scripture classes -- The Gospels contain lots of inconsistencies -- All right, but the Old Testament has lots of contradictions and people have known that for at least a century -- Catholics don't believe in the inerrancy of the Bible. That is what Protestants believe especially Fundamentalists -- Modern Scripture scholarship has shown the New Testament was written well after the events took place. The miracle stories are-like fisherman's tales- probably exaggerated and legendary -- The mass and the sacraments -- Anyone who wants to can receive Communion at Mass -- Vatican II emphasized the spirit instead of the letter of the law, so we are not obliged to attend Sunday Mass anymore -- Jesus dies and is sacrificed again at every Mass -- Lutherans and Anglicans believe in he Real Presence in the same way we Catholics do. They just explain it differently -- When you get divorced, you are excommunicated automatically and are barred from receiving Communion -- The recent practice in many parishes of receiving Communion under both species (bread and wine) now means that we need to receive under both kinds, or we haven't received both the body and blood of Christ -- If two people marry in the Church and never have children, their marriage is invalid -- Everyone knows that an annulment is really the Catholic equivalent of a civil divorce. Only the words are different -- Conscience tells me what's true of false, right or wrong -- We don't need to go to confession because sins are forgiven by praying straight to God -- Every Catholic must go to confession at least once a year -- The immaculate conception, apparitions, and the rosary -- The immaculate Conception means that Mary did not need a savior -- Catholics must believe Mary really appeared at Fatima, Lourdes, and other sites of apparitions approved by the Church -- We should get rid of the rosary because it's an obstacle to ecumenism -- Our eternal destiny -- Everyone is basically good, and almost everyone will go to heaven -- Purgatory is not an essential doctrine, but an optional one just like limbo -- Everyone, except for canonized saints and martyrs, must spend at least some time in purgatory before going to heaven -- The Church dropped its old belief in indulgences-that you can get time off in purgatory by performing some specified religious acts and prayers -- Hell isn't permanent. Eventually all creatures will be reunited with God -- Priests and deacons shouldn't even mention hell. Doing so is uncharitable -- The Catholic Church teaches we earn salvation by good works -- Reason plays no tole in our salvation. We just have to believe -- A Christian can believe in reincarnation -- Evangelization, missionaries, and better homilies -- Catholics don't outwardly evangelize like other Christians because they think actions speak louder than words -- All Christian agree on essentials, so we shouldn't worry about secondary points of doctrine -- We shouldn't impose our religion on others through missionaries. Our policy should be live and let live -- Priests should speak only positively from the pulpit and shouldn't concentrate on negative things -- All we can do is pray for better homilies. We shouldn't say anything to our priests since they're in charge -- Catholic customs, devotions, and disciplines -- We should eliminate old-fashioned customs, such as holy water, since they put unnecessary barriers between us and other Christians -- Missionaries at my door explained women aren't supposed to wear slacks (Dt 222:5) and that women aren't supposed to cut their hair (1 Cor 11:6, 14, 15). Seems reasonable to me -- Priestly celibacy s unnatural and unnecessary in the modern world. The pope should just let priests marry -- Relics come from a superstitious age and should be done away with -- The spirit world and superstitions -- This is a scientific age. We know miracles don't happen anymore -- I don't believe in angels as shown on holy cards. That's just ancient superstition -- We know now the devil is imaginary -- The Church affirms extraterrestrials exist -- Astrology is just a harmless pastime.

The popular apologist and best-selling author of Catholicism and Fundamentalism addresses fifty-two of the most common misconceptions about the Catholic Faith that are held by many Catholics and Protestants. Drawing upon Scripture and the Catholic tradition, he not only shows the logical errors in these positions but clearly spells out Catholic teaching and explains the rationale behind frequently misunderstood doctrines and practices. An excellent guide to what Catholics really believe and why.

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