The Didache proves nothing.
It is evidence of the instructions circulated amongst Christians whilst St. John the Apostle was still living.
The collection, page by page.
Every original article remains available. Choose a question and take your time.
Do you approve the proclamation of religious liberty in Spain?
No. It was prompted by no desire for any purer religion, but by motives of hatred of all religion, or else simply by irreligion. It did not give the people liberty to be religious, for it restricted the liberty of good Catholics to practice their religion and educate their children according to the dictates of their conscience. …
Christ forbade any attempt to exercise authority when He said, “Do not lord it over others as do the Gentiles.” Matt. XX., 25.
Christ warned the Apostles against exercising authority in unjust and domineering ways such as those of worldlings, who delight to be thought great, and who love tyranny. He forbade the evil method, but He deliberately gave His authority to the Apostles, and chiefly to St. Peter.
I have seen Catholics on their knees adoring and praying to statues in their Churches.
You have not. You have seen Catholics kneeling at prayer, and perhaps kneeling before an image of Christ, or of Our Lady. But if you concluded that they were praying to the statues that was not the fault of the Catholics. It was your own fault in so far as you judged them according to your own preconceived ideas. Without botheri…
Why does the Catholic Church favor only the Labor Party?
She does not. But the Catholic Church to-day is as it was in the time of the Apostles, “not many noble, not many of the worldly wise, not many powerful.” Most of her children are drawn from the class Christ loved so much—the working class. And in civil life the majority of these workers happen to have Labor sympathies. But these…
Christ was above sectarianism.
He was. And so is the Catholic Church. She is not a sect. Sect supposes section or cutting off. The Catholic Church has never been cut off from herself. The sects are those religious bodies which have cut themselves off from the Catholic Church, and the clippings from the tree are not the tree.
Is the Book of Genesis to be taken literally or allegorically?
Each and every word of Genesis need not be taken literally. But the substance of all facts which are fundamental in Christianity are to be taken as literally true.
Anyway they seem quite content to be Masons.
Who knows? Those who have completely lost their faith may be so. But there are many who have not lost the faith, and who but seem to be content. They are most miserable because they cannot practice their faith as long as they are Masons; and although they have not the courage of their convictions yet, they hope to renounce Mason…
Where did Christ tell us to shut ourselves away in monasteries or convents?
Nowhere. But He invited some people to renounce all things and to follow Him by close imitation. “If you wish to be really perfect, sell all you have, give to the poor, and come, follow Me.” If a man marries he cannot do that. He has a duty to his wife and children, and cannot sell the house and furniture over their heads, leavi…
Satan is a mythical being.
He is quite content to seem a mythical being. He has no desire to be detected in his operations, and is not likely to inform you that evil suggestions are from him.
No Priest can make water holy.
God knows differently. In Numbers, V., 17, we read God’s command, “The Priest shall take holy water.” In Numbers, VIII., 7, God ordered Moses to purify the Levites as follows, “Take the Levites out of the midst of the children of Israel, and thou shalt purify them according to this rite; let them be sprinkled with the water of p…
Why the proud display of processions such as those of Eucharistic Congresses?
There is nothing wrong with processions. Christ entered Jerusalem with a procession of the populace crying hosanna, waving palms and strewing their garments on the roadway, making it as elaborate as they could. And He rebuked those who would have prevented it. Remember that Eucharistic Congresses are not in honor of ourselves, b…
Does not Scripture say, “Of Him, and through Him, and in Him are all things”?
Yes. But that does not mean that things are made out of God. It means that all things derive their beings from God’s activity, are preserved by His continued providence, and exist always in His immense omnipresence.
Any man who can think has the moral right to interpret anything.
He has not. The very laws of the state are not subject to the interpretation of each and every citizen. There is such a thing as thinking erroneously. In difficulties of civil law a man consults a lawyer who knows legal practice and parallel statutes. Who gives you the right to take greater liberties with divine legislation? A m…
Catholics speak of the Mass as if it meant the real death of Christ, and calculate its mathematical value!
No Catholic has ever believed that Christ is really slain in the Mass. They have never gone beyond the words of Scripture, “As often as you do this you shall show the death of the Lord until He come.” Nor did any theologians attempt a mathematical calculation as to the efficacy of the Mass. They knew that mathematics could never…
Is the practice of religion necessary?
Yes. God has definite rights which no man is justified in ignoring. Moreover God definitely commands you to adore and serve Him. “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God . . . this is the first and greatest commandment.” A man with no religion, who never worships God, never says a prayer to Him, is far from fulfilling this commandment …
Do you maintain that one is obliged to join your infallible, one, holy, catholic, apostolic, end indefectible Church, if he wishes to be saved?
If a man realizes that the Catholic Church is the true Church, he must join it if he wishes to save his soul. That is the normal law. But if he does not realize this obligation, is true to his conscience, even though it be erroneous, and dies repenting of any violations of his conscience, he will get to Heaven. In such a case, i…
All the same the one who goes to Mass is no better in God’s sight than the one who does not.
He may not be in other things, though even that is unlikely. But he is certainly better in God’s sight in so far as he attends Mass. If the church-goer has faults, I do not justify them; but those faults will be less grave than the sin of the man who neglects the greatest of his debts—that to Almighty God.
I heard a Protestant clergyman say that the miseries of the world were an indictment of all Churches, including the Roman Catholic, for their lack of influence.
I will not comment upon other Churches in this matter. But as regards the Catholic Church I must make some remarks. She certainly has the principles and teachings necessary to better the lot of men. But she cannot influence men much so long as they refuse to accept her principles. The only solution possible, and the solution whi…
They think we are wrong as we think they are. May not Christianity be wrong, and some other religion right?
There is no possibility of that. There is a chance that a man who has not studied the solid evidence for Christianity might become flurried and doubtful in the presence of rival and confident claims. But his doubts would be due to defective information. Again, the fact that a man believes a religion true does not prove it right.…
You say that the Pope is not swayed hy national considerations. In a war between Italy and England, would not his sympathies be with Italy?
The Pope as Pope must forget his nationality. As a man his sympathies might be with Italy. But he could not favor Italy in his official capacity. Despite his national sympathies, the Pope has insisted upon being perfectly independent of Italian authority. If an English Pope had done this many would have ascribed it to anti-Itali…
Christ died to save men, not from the devil, but from earthly masters; and your Church claims to have His mission.
Christ did not die to save men from their earthly masters. The Jews rejected Him precisely because He did not offer to save them from Roman tyranny. If He had died to deliver men from earthly masters, be sure that the Jews would have been delivered from the Roman oppressors. Christ accomplished that for which He died. And He die…
At least, being all-powerful, just, and loving, He ought to give everyone a fair chance of obtaining the good things of this world.
Being all-powerful, there is no reason why He ought to do our bidding as if we were all-powerful. Being just, He is not going to give us a tin trumpet and let us think that to be our real good when it is not. Being loving, He will not usually allow man to have those riches which may cause difficulties in the way of salvation. I …
Then, as a rule, will they not elect an Italian Pope?
Not because so many of the Cardinals are themselves Italian. All the Cardinals, before the election, take an oath that they will vote for the one whom in conscience they believe to be the best fitted for the position, independently of all national considerations. Yet, although there is no law forbidding the election of a non-Ita…