Catholic Apologetics of America

Taken and adapted from a article By David Goldstein LL.D, 1943.

A Jewish convert to Catholicism. Named a "Knight of St. Gregory" by Pope Pius XII in 1955.

One of the vicious impressions made upon the minds of non-Catholics , is that the Catholic Church sold indulgences during the 16th century, and so continues. The term indulgence always impressed this columnist as unfortunate; as it conveys to many minds the notion that it means the gratification of improper desires, the condoning of them; whereas the Catholic concept of the term is the direct opposite. The moral and historical use of the term indulgence by the Catholic Church, beng of a spiritual nature, permits not of improper thoughts or actions; nor does it forgive sins committed through improper thoughts or deeds. The definition of an indulgence, given in Webster's International Dictionary, which is Catholic, is as follows: "Remission of the temporal punishment due, by divine justice, for sins whose eternal punishment has been pardoned by the reception of the sacrament of penance."

The State acts with prisoners, in the granting of pardons, as the Church acts in the granting of indulgences. This is evidenced when a governor grants a parole. He remits the temporal punishment of the prisoner, by releasing him from captivity, yet his crime is not thus condoned. The Governor grants a pardon by the power of the State; whereas the Church grants indulgences by the power of the Keys; the authority to bind and to loose, which was conferred upon her by Jesus Christ (St. Matt. 16:13-20; and 18:17-18).

WHAT AN INDULGENCE IS AND IS NOT: An indulgence is a favor granted by Christ through His Church.

An indulgence is not self-indulgence, for that is a sin.

An indulgence is the fruit of self denial, the effect or reward of it,-in labor, prayer, alms, charity, deeds, etc.

An indulgence cannot be bought or sold; it can only be gained by the person who fulfills the moral requirements of the Church; the person who does the works enjoined.

An indulgence is of no avail to one who gives money to a worthy cause, even if it be a million dollars, unless the giver is in a state of grace.

An indulgence relates to the punishment due to sins of the past, and is never for future sins.

An indulgence applies only' to the person whose sins are forgiven, or to the souls in purgatory.

An indulgence remits temporal punishment only, that is deserved penances.

An indulgence promotes the practice of good works.

An indulgence is motivated by the desire to have greater honor and glory given to God.

To profess to love Christ, as do Protestants, while lauding the disrupter of the unity of Christendom; to hold as an ideal personage a murderer of peasants; a furtherer of a bigamous union; the utterer of "'Table Talk" of a shocking, devilish, degenerate nature; a violator of solemn vows, is simply amazing.

Luther's "Table Talk" proves the founder of Protestantism to have been the filthiest-mouthed, the filthiest talking man that ever claimed to speak in the name of Christ. Every reliable historian blames him for the Peasant's War, and the Thirty Years War (1524 - 1525). He encouraged the Peasant's to revolt, Heaping the blame on the lords. It was their opposition to him---"preaching of the Gospel"---which had brought about this war. "It is not the peasants who have risen against you, it is God Himself." The tide of war turned once the princes formed a military alliance. In the one major battle that took princes formed a military alliance. In the one battle that took place, Frankenhausen the peasants were annihilated.

The peasant were slain by the thousand everywhere in reprisal, and Luther, now converted for ever from his sentimenetal confidence in the common man, He turned upon the Peasants with ruthless fury, calling upon the "nobles" to kill those "children of the devil"; to track them down like dogs, as the "nobles" did. Luther continued to urged on the princes in a murderous little tract, "Kill them, strangle them; what else is to be done the mad dog who leaps at you? Strike, throttle, stab, secretly or openly. . . there is nothing more poisonous, more hurtful, moredevilish, than a rebel." A hundred thousand of them are said to have been killed in the revolt that Luther initiated, " And years later he complacently praised himself, "It was I who slew all the peasants in the insurrection, for it was I who commanded them to be slaughtered' their blood is on my head. . .But I throw the responiblility on our Lord God Who instruced me to give this order" He celebrated the funeral of the dead peasants by marrying a nun, saying "to make the mad and stupid peasants still more mad, I married," blasphemously declaring that it was the result of an inspiration, "the Lord has suddenly thrown me into marriage with that nun, Catherine Bora."

The Lutheran Church would not have outlived the days of its founder, were it not for the aid of the German princes, who shared in the spoils of the confiscated Catholic churches, monasteries, lands, etc. Luther rallied the people to their civic banners, declaring "Cujus Regio, Illius Rehgio," the religion of the people must be the religion of the rulers. It was this submission to those in civil authority, that is said to have prompted Luther to give Philip of Hesse, patron of the "Reformation," father of seven children, a dispensation to take unto himself a second wife, while living with his first wife. Luther's action toward the Jews was as devilish as was his action toward the peasants. He recommended that their synagogues be burned; their homes destroyed; their gold and silver confiscated; and their rabbis forbidden to teach under penalty of death. Referring to this Luther viciousness, The Jewish Chronicle said a few weeks ago, "Once Luther was secure in power, his diatribes against the Jews became more and more frequent and vicious. The fiery persecution of 'heretics' and public oppression of conscience by Luther's henchmen were undreamed of in Roman Catholic Germany" (London, Eng., Oct.14, 1955).

Luther is historically in the forefront of notorious excommunicated priests, who violated their priestly vows, made to Almighty God. This major offense, condemned in the Bible, which is supposed to be your one and only rule of faith (Num. 30:2-5; Eccles. 5:3-5), is always due to pride, intellectual conceit, lust, or a lunatic strain, all of them afflictions that the founder of your Church suffered. Pray, tell me, how can Lutheran ministers consistently demand an irrevocable vow from Lutheran youth during confirmation; a solemn promise that they will never leave the Lutheran Church, under threat that violation of the vow means loss of their soul's salvation; when their Church owes its origin, and functions under the name of the foremost violator of solemn vows, made to Almighty God on bended knees, that the world has known?

A proper evaluation of the life of the apostate father of Protestantism would cause Lutherans to be ashamed to function under his name. His sensual excesses; his indulgence in vices and concupisences that the Lutherans of today condemn; his favorable-ness to bigamy; his anti-Semitism; his venomous action during the Peasants War, which he encouraged; Are actions one might expect from the anti-Christ, rather than one who pretends to be a reformer of Christian practices. These are but a few of the many things that caused some Protestant foremost enemies of the Catholic Church to condemn Luther. Zwingli said, "When l read a book of Luther (evidently having his Table Talk in mind) I seem to be looking at an obscene pig, grunting among the flowers of a fair garden." Erasmus said of Luther, that he was "a savage beast, a furious wild boar." And Calvin said of him, "Would to God that he would think a little more of his own vices." Let us examine some of the safer statements (some of Luther's statements are more fitting of a X rated Website than a Christian one) made by Luther and compare them to those of Christ:

On Sin

Christ: "Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are fornication . . . murder . . . and suchlike. And concerning these I warn you, they who do such things will not attain the Kingdom of God." (Galatians 5:19-21)

Luther: "Sin boldly but believe more boldly. Let your faith be greater than your sin . . . Sin will not destroy us in the reign of the Lamb, although we were to commit fornication a thousand times in one day." (Letter to Melanchthon, August 1, 1521, Audin p. 178)

Christ: "And do not be drunk with wine, for in that is debauchery." (Ephesians 5:18) "Keep thyself chaste." (I Timothy 5:22)

Luther: "Why do I sit soaked in wine? . . . To be continent and chaste is not in me." (Luther's Diary)

On Good Works

Christ: "What will it profit, my brethren, if a man says he has faith, but does not have works?" "As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without good works is dead also." (James 2:14,26)

Luther: "He that says the Gospel requires works for salvation, I say, flat and plain, is a liar." (Table Talk, Weimer Edition, III, p. 137)

On Truth

Christ: "Do not be liars against the truth. This is not the wisdom that descends from above. It is earthly, sensual, devilish." (James 3:14-15) "Do not lie to one another" (Col. 3:9) "The Lord hateth a lying tongue . . . a deceitful witness that uttereth lies . . . " (Proverbs 6:16-17) "A thief is worse than a liar, but both of them shall inherit destruction." (Ecclesiasticus 20:27)

Luther: To lie in case of necessity, or for convenience, or in excuse, would not offend God, who is ready to take such lies on Himself." (Eisenrach Conference, July 17, 1540)

On Marriage

Christ: "Whosoever shall put away his wife and marry another, committeth adultery against her. And if the wife shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery." (Mark 10:11-12)

Luther: "As to divorce, it is still a moot question whether it is allowable. For my part, I prefer bigamy." (De Wette, Vol. 2, p. 459)

On Free Will

Christ: "Woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! it were better for that man if be had not been born." (Matthew 26:24) "Let no man say when he is tempted that he is tempted by God; for God is no tempter to evil." (James 1:13)

Luther: "Judas' will was the work of God; God by His almighty power moved his will as He does all that is in this world." (De Servo Arbitro -- Against man's free will) Accosted on all sides by charges of heresy, even by many of his former associates in the Protestant movement, Luther found refuge in this, the strangest of all his beliefs. No man is accountable for his actions, Luther taught, no matter how evil. Not even Judas!

Such are the teachings of the so-called "reformer" of Christ's Church! If Luther was a man divinely inspired or called in an extraordinary manner, why did God permit him to fall into so many absurdities in points of doctrine? It is not suprising, then, that in his History of Heresies, Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori said of Luther, "That pig is howling in hell."

It takes a peculiar Lutheran mental slant to insist upon exacting a vow at Confirmation to remain Lutherans until death; while lauding in terms of the highest the founder of Lutheranism, who violated the vow, made to God, of obedience to the Christ-instituted Catholic Church, and to the Augustinian Religious Order, as well as the vows of celibacy and poverty, all of which he violated. A violator of the vow of obedience to his Church is a traitorous enemy of God; which is even worse than being a traitor to one's country, bad as it is.

The presentation of Luther as a saint, instead of a sinner, at the expense of truth, by misrepresenting Catholic teachings and practices, is a moral offense, of which the initiators and producers Protestant history are guilty.

Commentary by Fr. Frank Pavone, National Director, Priests for Life

WASHINGTON, November 11, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - I received the following message on my blog (http://www.priestsforlife.org/blog) the day after the elections:

IMPORTANT MESSAGE FOR FATHER FRANK PAVONE

“I am predicting that there will be more anti-abortion terror because of this election. I AM ALSO PREDICTING THAT THIS TIME IT WILL BE ANSWERED IN KIND BY PRO-CHOICE COUNTERTERRORISTS, who will mount similar terrorist attacks against well-known right-to-lifers. FATHER FRANK will be a natural target for pro-choice counterterrorists.

“I therefore advise you, Fr Frank, if you read that there has been another abortion-clinic shooting or bombing, get out of town immediately. Take a vacation abroad. Go visit the Vatican. If there is another act of anti-abortion terror, your life will not be safe in the USA.

“Good luck.â€

Some other pro-life leaders received a similar message, and it has been reported to law enforcement.

Pro-abortion extremists call the pro-life movement "violent." Yet it's the most peaceful movement of social reform in our nation's history. In fact, the most confrontational aspect of our movement, Operation Rescue, brought about over 70,000 arrests from 1987 to 1994, yet not a single one of them was for violent activity.

We also know that any time a movement is as big as ours, there will be a handful of people - disconnected from the movement - who embrace violence as a tactic. The same was true of the civil rights movement and the abolitionist movement.

But of no movement is it more true than the pro-abortion movement. It's just that the public doesn't know of their fanatical violence. It starts in the womb, of course - the very action they promote as a "right" is in fact violence. "Typically, the skull is brought out in fragments rather than as a unified piece," abortionist Martin Haskell testified in court in 1999 regarding the legal "D and E" abortion procedure.

And their violence extends beyond the womb. Just visit http://www.prochoiceviolence.com to see that our movement has been able to document 8519 acts of violence (and counting) by the other side. Pro-abortion fanatics have attacked pro-life demonstrators, have kidnapped women to force them to abort, have murdered born babies, and much more.

So for the visitor to my blog to send that message just reinforces the truth about the "abortion-rights" fanatics. Violence is their way of life.

But why blame Obama? Of course, he is the most pro-abortion person elected to the Presidency. Perhaps they're thinking back to President Clinton, whose attempts to stop peaceful intervention coincided with the killing of some abortionists. Or perhaps they're thinking of President Kennedy's assertion, "Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable."

But we already have a peaceful revolution - and not only is it possible, it's growing! As long as I have anything to say about it, there won't be any "anti-abortion terror." Instead, there will be peaceful vigil, 24-hours a day, around abortion centers. That both stops abortions and stops the killing of abortionists.

Link to Original

The mainstream media's coverage of the 2008 presidential election has proved to be radically biased and in such a way that an unjust election will likely take place on voting day this November 4th since this systematic bias has generated a multitude of voters who are not properly informed on the key issues.

The media camps outside of "Joe the Plumber's" home and the liberals use goverment computers to find information on him in order to smear his good name, but they [the media] still refuse to tell people about Obama's shady past and his associations with unrepentant terrorists and other criminals and anti-Americans. His support for the killing of unborn and newborn babies is horrific and yet this too has hardly been reported by the media. Instead, the media mimics Tokyo Rose, liberal style by attacking McCain-Palin while they continue on a daily and nightly basis to give Obama-Biden a free pass.

An Obama presidency will surely be the most pro-death presidency in the history of the United States of America. His vow to Planned Parenthood back in July of 2007 to sign the so-called "Freedom of Choice Act" as the first thing he will do as president and his promise to this same group to support sex-education for children in kindergarten and his goal to sign out of law the Defense of Marriage Act will give unprecedented power to the culture of death and to those who desire to suppress the Catholic Church and anyone who dare to call themselves Christian.

Please PRAY as much as possible during the next week. Only God can save us from being delivered into the hands of two liberal politicians, Obama-Biden, who have a wicked agenda to re-create America into a socialist nation full of immoral laws and the suppression of religious freedom and free speech.

Meanwhile, here are several links concerning Obama-Biden. Some of them were posted by a friend of mine on facebook.

1. ABC News: "Media's Presidential Bias and Decline"

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/Story?id=6099188&page=1

2. "Joe Biden on WFTV in Florida - He Lies, Spins, and Distorts in Interview with Barbara West"

Barbara West asks Joe Biden some real questions. She is an actual journalist. The Obama Thug Patrol will be going after her hard. Send her your support and encouragement: barbara.west@wftv.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjX8wQPMADk&NR=1

Sources: "Like Orlando, Biden Bans Philadelphia Station After Tough Interview"

http://www.breitbart.tv/html/206633.html

3. "(Audio) proof that Obama is a Marxist"

http://www.stoptheaclu.com/

4. "Obama, Ayers and the Weather Underground... Read More’s Plot to Overthrow Capitalism"

http://www.stoptheaclu.com/archives/2008/10/26/obama-ayers-and-the-weather-undergrounds-plot-to-overthrow-capitalism/

5. "O’Reilly Confronts William Ayers"

http://www.stoptheaclu.com/archives/2008/10/25/oreilly-confronts-william-ayers/

6. "Obama and Khalid Al Masour"
Yet another tie the media ignore

http://www.stoptheaclu.com/archives/2008/10/25/obama-and-khalid-al-masour/

7. "Obama’s Ties to Rashid Khalidi"
Yet another terrorist tie the media will ignore

http://www.stoptheaclu.com/archives/2008/10/25/obamas-ties-to-rashid-khalidi/

8. "Virginia Officials Illegally Discard Military Votes, Allow Out-of-State Votes"

http://www.stoptheaclu.com/archives/2008/10/25/virginia-officials-illegally-discard-military-votes-allow-out-of-state-votes

9. "Biden Wrong About ACORN-Obama Connection"

http://www.newsmax.com/lowell_ponte/joe_biden_interview/2008/10/26/144312.html

10. "Palin Hanged in Effigy in Hollywood for Halloween"

http://newsmax.com/insidecover/palin_halloween_maniquin/2008/10/27/144451.html

11. "Democrats Cover Up Fannie/Freddie" (Video)

http://www.hannity.com//Article.asp?id=575398

12. In Obama's own words, he wants to go to war against Americans who work for a living! Claims '60s era civil rights activism did not go far enough by not forcing a redistribution of wealth based on past social grievances.

http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/10...buting-wealth/

13. "Shocking 1995 Obama Audio Found"



Newsbusters: "Obama Race Baiting Interview From 1995 Revealed, Will Media Ignore?"

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/john-stephenson/2008/10/24/obama-race-baiting-interview-1995-reveled-will-media-ignore

14. "Obama campaign sends Secret Service to harass pro-life mother of three based on a false allegation"

15. From Paul C.

"Obama campaign sends Secret Service to harass pro-life mother of three based on a false allegation"

"I thought you may want a link to this story posted on your profile. This is not the first time the Obama campaign has intimidated and harassed those who have different opinions from them. Obama wants to put into law the so-called "Fairness Doctrine" which will essentially outlaw conservative radio. The Obama campaign refuses to appear on WFTV anymore because a reporter, Barbara West, an objective liberal journalist who once worked for Peter Jennings, actually had the nerve to ask Obama's V.P.nominee Joe Biden, tough questions! This says a lot about the major news networks that you often cite for liberal bias because the Obama campaign still appears on these networks which means they each are tossing them softball questions thus providing voters with slanted views concerning Obama-Biden."



16. "Obama is a Socialist-Archives Prove Obama was a New Party Member"

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2008/10/archives_prove_obama_was_a_new.html

"Barack Obama's Campaign of the Lie"

http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/10/barack_obamas_campaign_of_the.html http://www.thebulletin.us/site/index.cfm?newsid=20168232&BRD=2737&PAG=461&dept_id=576361&rfi=8 http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_102408/content/01125110.html.guest.html

"A former Democratic state attorney general who filed a lawsuit claiming Obama was born in Kenya charges that by failing to respond, the presidential candidate has admitted to the accusations...Hear Michael Savage interview Democrat attorney Philip J. Berg, former deputy attorney general of Pennsylvania, about his lawsuit demanding Barack Obama present his original birth certificate to prove he was born in the United States and qualified to serve as president."

To listen to the interview, CLICK HERE.

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Articles

1. Obama Crimes--ObamaCrimes.com is the official website for the plaintiff's in the Obama citizenship court case.


2. Democrat: Obama's grandma confirms Kenyan birth --'This has been a real sham he's pulled off for the last 20 months'

3. Obama 'admits' Kenyan birth?--Campaign doesn't respond to claims in lawsuit over birth certificate


4. WND's Corsi probing Obama's Hawaiian birth--Unraveling evidence in questions over citizenship

...which Senator Obama says he will sign if he becomes president; Proof: Video of Obama

Read Bishop Finn's article via the following links:

Bishop Finn on FOCA, It's Supporters and Their Apologists

Bp. Finn of Kansas City, MO, on the Freedom of Choice Act

"Above all, the common outcry, which is justly made on behalf of human rights -- for example, the right to health, to home, to work, to family, to culture -- is false and illusory if the right to life, the most basic and fundamental right and the condition for all other personal rights, is not defended with maximum determination" (Pope John Paul II, Christifideles Laici, 1988, n.38; quote provided by Catholic Apologetics of America).

By Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
October 1, 2008

Link to Original

Albany, NY (LifeNews.com) -- The Catholic bishops of New York have released a new statement urging voters to make pro-life issues their first priority when voting. They say the destruction of 50 million children and the injury of countless millions of women eclipses any other political issue.

Edward Cardinal Egan and the Catholic Bishops of New York issued the appeal in statement entitled Our Cherished Right, Our Solemn Duty.

The bishops warn against voting solely out of party loyalty or self interest and say voters should be guided by the pro-life teachings of the Catholic Church.

While noting that there are many issues of great importance facing the country, the protection of human life rises above all other issues, the bishops said.

"We Catholics are called to look at politics as we are called to look at everything – through the lens of our faith," they wrote.

"It is the rare candidate who will agree with the Church on every issue. But as the U.S. Bishops’ recent document Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship makes clear, not every issue is of equal moral gravity," they explain.

"The inalienable right to life of every innocent human person outweighs other concerns where Catholics may use prudential judgment, such as how best to meet the needs of the poor or to increase access to health care for all," they add.

“The right to life is the right through which all others flow,†they wrote. “To the extent candidates reject this fundamental right by supporting an objective evil, such as legal abortion, euthanasia or embryonic stem cell research, Catholic should consider them less acceptable for public office.â€

In the statement, the bishops stressed that voters have an obligation not only to learn the positions of the presidential candidates, but of all of the candidates, including those running for the state legislature.

“Many of the most compelling moral issues of the day play out at the state level" -- including "commonsense restrictions on abortion" are debates that "occur in the halls of the state Capitol in Albany.â€

"Our national and state elected officials have profound influence on countless matters of great importance, such as the right to life," the Catholic leaders say.