Catholic answers
Answers
Short, sourced answers to real questions about the Catholic faith, organized by topic and by tradition.
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What Are Indulgences? What the Catholic Church Really Teaches
What are indulgences? What the Catholic Church actually teaches, why they never forgive sin and can't be bought, and the 1517 abuses Luther protested.
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Why Do Catholics Baptize by Pouring Instead of Immersion?
Why do Catholics baptize by pouring instead of immersion? The Church allows both. Pouring is as old as the Didache, and Scripture never sets a depth.
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Why Are There So Many Protestant Denominations?
Why are there so many Protestant denominations? An honest look at the numbers, what Scripture says about unity, and why division keeps happening.
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Is Mary the Queen of Heaven?
Is Mary the Queen of Heaven? The Bible's queen mother of David's line, Luke 1, and Revelation 12 explain why Catholics honor Mary as Queen.
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Did Jesus Condemn All Tradition?
Did Jesus condemn all tradition? What Mark 7 and Matthew 15 really target, the traditions Jesus kept, and the tradition He told His apostles to hand on.
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Did the Early Church Believe in Purgatory?
Did the early Church believe in purgatory? Yes in substance: from the 200s, Christians prayed for the dead and spoke of cleansing after death.
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What Does "Works of the Law" Mean?
What does "works of the law" mean in Paul? The deeds the Law of Moses required. They can't justify, but Paul never uses the phrase for works done in grace.
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If God Is Good, Why Is There Evil?
If God is good, why is there evil? The problem of evil at full strength, and the Catholic answer: freedom, providence, and a God who suffers with us.
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Is the Trinity in the Bible?
Is the Trinity in the Bible? The word isn't, but the teaching is: one God; the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit each God and distinct. The verses, explained.
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What Is Apostolic Succession, and Why Does It Matter?
What is apostolic succession? How the apostles handed on their office to bishops, from Acts and the Pastoral Letters to Clement and Irenaeus.
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Is the Catholic Church the Whore of Babylon?
Is the Catholic Church the whore of Babylon? Revelation 17 points to pagan imperial Rome, which killed the saints. The Church is the Bride, not the harlot.
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Did Constantine Create the Catholic Church?
Did Constantine create the Catholic Church? No. The history of the Edict of Milan, Nicaea, and the Catholic Church that existed long before 313.
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Is Jesus Michael the Archangel?
Is Jesus Michael the Archangel? Jehovah's Witnesses say yes. Hebrews 1 says no angel is the Son, and all the angels worship Him. The biblical case.
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What Does Papal Infallibility Actually Mean?
What does papal infallibility mean? Not that the pope is sinless or always right, but that Christ protects his definitive teaching on faith and morals.
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Are Catholics Christian? Why "Catholic vs. Christian" Is the Wrong Question
Is Catholic Christian? Yes. "Catholic vs. Christian" is the wrong question. The real comparison: Catholic Christian vs. Protestant Christian.
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Was Peter Ever in Rome?
Was Peter ever in Rome? Yes. 1 Peter 5:13 writes from "Babylon," code for Rome, and every early writer who names where he died says Rome.
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Why Can't Catholic Priests Marry?
Why can't Catholic priests marry? Celibacy is a discipline, not a doctrine. The Bible's case, married Eastern Catholic priests, and 1 Timothy 3:2.
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Do Catholics Re-Sacrifice Jesus at Every Mass?
Do Catholics re-sacrifice Jesus at Mass? No. Hebrews says Christ was offered once for all; the Mass makes that one sacrifice present, from Scripture.
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Was Jesus Crucified? Answering Qur'an 4:157
Was Jesus crucified? A respectful Catholic answer to Qur'an 4:157 from the Gospels, Jesus' own predictions, and Tacitus and Josephus.
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Is Jesus the Messiah Promised in the Hebrew Scriptures?
Is Jesus the Messiah promised in the Hebrew Scriptures? A respectful look at Isaiah 53, Micah 5, Daniel 9, Psalm 22 and Zechariah 12.