My Arguments for Catholicism

is Catholicism based on circular reasoning what is circular reasoning sometimes I get this objection to some of my videos where people say things like well you're just saying the Catholic church is true because the Catholic Church says it's true is that a circular argument circular reasoning is a logical fallacy in which the Reasoner begins with what they're trying to end with and circular reasoning is an argument where the premises are just as much in need of the proof or evidence as the conclusion is this what Catholicism teaches are we exposed here I think we need

to look at this a circular argument when it comes to Catholicism would look something like this the Catholic church is true because the truth is Catholicism that would be a circular argument the conclusion is dependent on the premise is this what Catholicism does are the arguments for Catholicism just simply based on Catholicism is true because what it says about itself I say no way Catholicism claims for truth are not based solely on what it says about itself but rather on The Bible History reason and ultimately Faith so I'm going to break down the case for

Catholicism one by one here and I'm going to begin with the Bible but wait Keith the Catholic church is not in the Bible I hear this all the time where are the words Roman Catholic in the Bible is that objection alone enough to blow up my argument for some maybe but I suspect they would be in trouble if they apply that same standard to the eles I mean where is independent fundamentalist Baptist King James only or reformed calvinist found in the Bible there are many things not explicitly mentioned in the Bible that these same objectors

will usually accept the Trinity the cannon of the Bible the sinner's prayer those are just some examples but I don't want to play that game using a lousy argument to expose another lousy argument is sometimes necessary but it really doesn't get us anywhere whenever someone fires up the where's that in the Bible argument I prepare for not getting anywhere usually these arguments devolve into well that's not what that means for example when arguing for Apostolic succession based on the Bible I take people to Acts chapter 1 where the apostles literally chose a successor to Judas

es scariot because Peter applies the scripture from Psalm 109 let another his office take as the reason to elect mithas to his office that's a pretty clear-cut example but I rarely hear someone go oh you got me on that one they instead argue well that's not what that means and we can do the same thing about Mary's Immaculate Conception which is rooted in Gabriel's greeting to her in Luke 1:28 and in what God Said to the serpent in Genesis 3:15 about the woman who would have enmity with him whose seed would crush his head this

is a clear reference to Mary who if she were born into sin would have at one point in time been an enemy of God rather than Satan oh that's not what that means we can also look to Matthew 16:18 where Jesus renames Simon to Peter which literally means Rock and then says Upon This Rock I will build my church and the Gates of Hell will not stand against it that's not what that means we can do this all day when you ask deep questions about Catholic beliefs you will discover the scriptural roots of everything the

issue is are those interpretations accurate so I want to ask this question differently because we must avoid using circular reasoning well how can we do that we will take the questions out of the realm of personal interpretation and instead ask it this way does the Catholic Church accurately teach the Christian faith this leads to the question what is the Christian faith and how can we know what it teaches who gets to Define what Christianity is the Catholic Church claims that it is the fullness of the Christian faith so therefore that's the claim we must test

how do we know what the Christian faith is and how is Catholicism the fullness of it this is where the argument from history comes into play we know what Christianity is because we can see what the earliest Christians believed and taught we find this information by studying their writings and the writings of others about them these writings show us their beliefs practices and their history some of these writings are found in what became the new testament which was added to the Hebrew scriptures the Old Testament and became the Christian Bible the books of the Bible

are believed to be more than the writings of humans though they are considered to be the inspired infallible word of God thus carrying the highest level of authority along with two other sources of authority sacred tradition which means the way the apostles and their followers have understood Christianity and the magisterium of the church which means the teaching Authority the pope and the councils think of this as how the church interprets and applies God's word all three sources of authority reveal to the world what the Christian faith is while individual writings of the church fathers are

not infallible they show us how the beliefs and practices of the Christian faith were understood and even developed over time the magisterium of the church led by the Pope the successor to St Peter the leader of the Apostles leads the church in teaching and in worship so the question is is the Catholic Church the fullness of Christianity the answer is much bigger than yes because it says so Catholicism is an unbroken line of succession that traces back to Jesus the apostles and if you look at the earliest writings of the Christians you will find the

beginnings of the Catholic church now some people get worked up about that they think if this were true the church should look today precisely as it looked 2,000 years ago but is that realistic is that God's plan for the church at what point in history do you say it should stop growing you could make this argument when Jesus called others to follow him after the twel apostles hey this doesn't look the way it used to look or what about a Pentecost when the church grew by 3,000 people or when the apostles created deacons when are

we supposed to have a snapshot and never grow from there do you see my point the church is on a trajectory it grows and develops because it is alive and as it does things will look different and when you ask why you can find an answer for example the church became headquartered in Rome because that's where Peter was Bishop when he died however Constantine did not start the Catholic church in the 4th Century you can't just accept these created by anti- Catholics is fact you need to look at history and fortunately we have writings from

before the time of Constantine that show us what was going on in the early church over the centuries the church has continued to grow and develop in its practices and Theological understanding that's why we need an authoritative magisterium to protect and defend the deposit of Faith given by Jesus to his Apostles as the church grows in its Mission and new issues are raised the church clarifies its beliefs and settles disputes that's what we see in history and this is important as we look at Catholicism today we can see its Connection to the Past we can

see how the church fathers processed and worked out certain theological Concepts like the cannon of the Bible the Trinity baptism and salvation but also practical things like what to do with those who denied the faith and then wanted to return or how the church should be administered the interplay between the church and the various political States these are real issues and they weren't all explicitly fully defined at the time of Jesus we see a great example of this in Acts chapter 15 where the magisterium of the church had to work out what to do with

Gentile converts to Christianity would these people need to obey the entire Jewish law before becoming Christians there was a discussion and prayer and ultimately based on experience and the leading of the Holy Spirit a decision was made to settle this new issue they didn't just quote a verse from the Old Testament this is the pattern that continued throughout the history of Christianity this is Catholicism by the way for Protestants who get wigged out by practical or doctrinal development why do they never apply this to themselves when they fuss that the Catholic church has structure and

developments do they not see that in themselves it's so hypocritical the only people I listen to who make this kind of criticism about Catholicism are the Eastern Orthodox because they too Trace their history back to the beginning but that's for another video Catholicism traces itself in an unbroken line of succession back to Jesus and you can see this as an objective fact people may not like that but it's true this is why it's so ridiculous when people say things like well Catholics aren't Christians I've even heard people say this about our Eastern Orthodox brothers and

sisters but my friends Catholics and Eastern Orthodox are the original Christians that's just a historical fact now for some people who still find this completely crazy I would challenge you to look at the writings of the church fathers you will see Catholic beliefs on the Primacy of the bishop of Rome the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist the mass as a sacrifice to God the baptism of infants and baptismal regeneration the authority of the Catholic Church the cannon of scripture as the Catholic church has it today the veneration of icons and prayer to the

Saints and even the veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mary now I know the objections some say I don't care what the church fathers say I only care about the Bible but that statement blows up when you realize that God used the church to tell you which books are in the Bible and so many other things others will say well the church fathers aren't unanimous so you guys are picking and choosing I agree that's precisely why the authority of the church is not based only on the church fathers but also on the scriptures and the magisterium

it is the god-given role of the church to preserve unpack teach the deposit of Faith passed down from Jesus to the apostles and their successors the Bible says in 2 Thessalonians 2:15 so then Brethren stand firm and hold to the Traditions which you were taught by us either by word of mouth or by letter and also in 1 Timothy 3:15 if I am delayed you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God which is the Church of the Living God the pillar and buw workk of the truth and of course Jesus

himself when founding his church says to Peter in Matthew 16:18 and I tell you you are Peter and on this rock I will build my church and the powers of Death Shall Not Prevail against it I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven and whatever you bind on Earth shall be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on Earth shall be loosed in heaven Christ came to save the world from sin and created a church to accomplish his mission and to that church church he has given Authority protection and power to do

that which he has predestined it to do and that church the household of God according to Ephesians 2:20 is the one that stands today built on the foundation of the Apostles with Jesus Christ as the Cornerstone and as Matthew 16 says with Peter as the rock that church is the Catholic church now let's talk about reason is Catholicism reasonable I know this is the most subjective aspect but sometimes we just have to ask ourselves does this make any sense when I think about Christianity there are two main narratives that explain its nature and origin Jesus

came to the world lived and died rose again ascended into heaven and promised to return both narratives agree on this but the question is how his mission and message were meant to be spread worldwide one narrative says that God's word in the Bible is the only infallible source of authentic Christianity and that the way we discover the faith is by reading and understanding the Bible there can be other sources of of information but the Bible alone gives us what we need to know about Christianity and how to live it this is the narrative in which

I was raised I know this narrative well the problem with this narrative is that it doesn't answer some fundamental questions by what Authority do we know that the Bible is God's word and even what it is how do we account for the vast differences in interpretation of the Bible by those who hold to this narrative who gets to make the call when it comes to differences of opinion does it make sense that Jesus would expect his followers to know his mission in teaching through a book alone especially one he never commanded anyone to write that

wouldn't exist in its final form for hundreds of years now what about the people who lived before it was written and compiled how did they know what Christianity was how would future disputes about the Bible settled does it make sense that Jesus would do it this way especially when the Bible itself says otherwise for example in Matthew chapter 18 Jesus tells his followers to take their disputes that they can't settle to the church but how can this command be applied in the narrative that denies the existence of a visible church with authority not to mention

when looking at the history of the church it didn't function according to that narrative for over 1500 years and for the vast majority of Christians in the world it's still doesn't does that seem reasonable I don't think so what does seem reasonable is that Jesus gave his authority to his Apostles and founded a church that would by his authority protection and power fulfill his mission to bring the gospel to the world through his church the Bible was written and compiled and through his church it is rightly taught and interpreted through his church the world is

evangelized through his church the fullness of Truth is revealed even though its members are sinners Jesus Works in and through them to accomplish his mission this is the way things worked when Jesus was on Earth and that was the way things were right at the beginning after he left and this is how things have continued to this day this second narrative is consistent with the Bible History and reason it just makes sense now let's talk about the last issue regarding Catholicism Faith you need Faith to be a Christian because you're choosing to believe in things

that you can't objectively prove and it takes Faith to be a Catholic too because the church is not perfect from the human perspective the church is filled with Sinners and has even been led by them this was true even among the apostles Judas betrayed Jesus and there was a time when Paul rebuked Peter himself because he wasn't living up to the truth the church hasn't always behaved according to its Doctrine and it hasn't always perfectly lived up to its Mission but remember my friends we don't worship the church we worship its founder we worship Jesus

being in the church takes Faith but that's how it is no matter what kind of Christian you are you must put your faith somewhere to join jesus' Mission will it be in yourself and in your interpretations or those of your favorite Pastor or celebrity preacher do you have faith that someone can correctly interpret and apply the Bible on their own even if it differs substantially from the interpretation of the earliest Christians we all need faith in God but we also must have faith that God has provided a way for us to be led and equipped

through the power of the Holy Spirit working through his church so for me the Catholic Church doesn't depend on a circular argument it stands on the evidence of The Bible History reason and faith and I can tell you this from personal perspective despite the problems in the Catholic church I have never been more in love with Jesus than since my conversion to Catholicism I have never appreciated the scriptures more than I do as a Catholic and I've never been filled with more joy and gratitude to be part of a church than I am today thanks

for watching my friends take care and God bless