The Catholic Church has the Answers!!!

From CATHOLIC APOLOGETICS - 

THE CATHOLIC CHURCH is the world's largest, and Christianity's oldest, religious body. Her 1 billion members inhabit the width and breadth of the earth, comprising almost one-fifth of the total human population. She is far and away the most popular religious concept the world has ever known. Paradoxically, however, the Catholic Church is also the world's most controversial religious concept. Catholic belief is different, too different to be orthodox, say Protestants and Christian cultists. Catholic belief is too ethereal to be logical, and too strict to be enjoyable, say the humanists and agnostics. Hence to millions of people, Catholicism is not only a colossal success, it is also a colossal enigma. Of course, there has to be an explanation for these contradictory opinions -- and there is an explanation: Protestants and others who have questions about Catholic belief too often make the mistake of going to the wrong place for the answers. Too often books written by religious incompetents are consulted. The result is incomplete and distorted information. With such information, one cannot help but see the Catholic faith as a colossal enigma.

The right place to go for information about Catholic belief -- in fact the only place to go for complete and authoritative information -- is the Catholic Church herself. As any detective will tell you, no investigation is quite so complete as an on-the-spot investigation. Hence, dear reader, if you are a Protestant, an unaffiliated Christian, or an agnostic, who wants to know the truth about Catholic belief, take this friendly advice: Seek out a Catholic priest and put your questions to him. You will find him a very understanding and obliging person. Or read this little booklet. This booklet was written by a Catholic who knows the questions you are likely to ask, as well as the answers, because once he, too, was outside of the Catholic Church, looking in. The questions in this booklet are basically the same ones he put to a Catholic priest, and the answers are basically the same ones given him by that priest. Read this booklet; then forget all the fiction you have heard about the Catholic Church, for you will have the gospel truth.

• Why do Catholics believe that the universe and all life in it was created by, and is governed by, an all-powerful Spirit Being called God?  What actual proof is there of God's existence and omnipotence?  
• Why do Catholics believe that God is three Persons, called the Holy Trinity?  How can God be three Persons and still be one God? 
• Why do Catholics believe that Jesus Christ was God the Son -- the Second Person of the Holy Trinity?  Would it not be more reasonable to believe that He was a great and holy man... a religious leader of exceptional talent and dedication... a prophet? 
• Why do Catholics believe that their Church is the one true Church of Jesus Christ?  Wouldn't it be more reasonable to believe that Christ's true Church is a spiritual union of all Christian denominations? 
• Why do Catholics refuse to concede that their church became doctrinally corrupt in the Middle Ages, necessitating the Protestant Reformation? 
• If the Catholic Church never fell into error, how does one explain the worldly Popes, the bloody Inquisitions, the selling of indulgences and the invention of new doctrines? 
• Why do Catholics believe that Peter the Apostle was the first Pope, when the word "Pope" doesn't even appear in Catholic Bibles?  Just where does the Pope get his authority to rule over the Catholic Church? 
• Why do Catholics believe the Pope is infallible in his teachings when he is a human being, with a finite human intellect, like the rest of us?  What is the scriptural basis for this belief? 
• Why do Catholics believe in seven sacraments, while Protestants believe in only two?  Exactly what is a sacrament, and what does it do for a person? 
• Why does the Catholic Church discourage Bible reading when, according to the Apostle, "All scripture, inspired of God, is profitable to teach...[and] to instruct in justice"?   (2 Tim. 3:16). 
• If the Catholic Church really honors the Bible as the holy Word of God -- if she really wants her members to become familiar with its truth -- why in times past did she confiscate and burn so many Bibles? 
• Why does the Catholic Church base some of her doctrines on tradition instead of basing them all on the Bible?  Did Christ not tell the Pharisees that in holding to tradition they were transgressing the commandment of God?   (Matt. 15:3, Mark 7:9). 
• Why do Catholics try to earn their own salvation, despite the fact that salvation can only come as a free gift from Jesus Christ? 
• Why do Catholics believe that good works are necessary for salvation!  Does not Paul say in Romans 3:28 that faith alone justifies! 
• Why do Catholics worship Mary as though she were a goddess, when it is clear in Scripture that she was not a supernatural being? 
• Why do Catholics pray to Mary and the saints when Sacred Scripture states that there is one Mediator between God and man -- Christ Jesus?   (2 Tim. 2:5). 
• Why do Catholics repeat the same prayer over and over again when they pray the Rosary?  Is this not the vain repetition condemned by Christ in Matthew 6:7? 
• Why do Catholics believe in a place between Heaven and Hell called Purgatory?  Where is Purgatory mentioned in the Bible? 
• Why do Catholics confess their sins to priests?  What makes them think that priests can absolve them of the guilt of their sins?  Why don't they confess their sins directly to God as Protestants do? 
• Granting that priests do have the power to forgive sins in the name of God, what advantage does confessing one's sins to a priest have over confessing directly to God in private prayer? 
• Do Catholics confess all the sordid details of their sins to the priest? 
• Why do Catholics believe that Christ is sacrificed in each and every Mass, when Scripture plainly states that He was sacrificed on Calvary once and for all? 
• Why do Catholics believe their Holy Communion is the actual Flesh and Blood of Jesus Christ?  Why don't they believe as Protestants do that Christ is only present symbolically, or spiritually, in the consecrated bread and wine? 
• Why are Catholic lay people usually given Holy Communion only under the one form of bread?  By not giving the consecrated bread and wine, isn't the Catholic Church depriving its people of the full benefit of Holy Communion? 
• Why is Latin the language of the Church?  How can the congregation understand the Mass whenever it is said in Latin? 
• Why do Catholics call their priests "Father" despite the fact that Christ said:  "Call no man on earth your father; for one is your Father, who is in heaven"! (Matt. 23:9). 
• Why do Catholics practice fasting and abstinence from meat on certain days?  Does not St. Paul call abstaining from meats a "doctrine of devils"?  (1 Tim. 4:1-3)
  
• Why don't Catholic priests marry?  The Bible says that a bishop should be "blameless, the husband of one wife" (1 Tim. 3:2), which certainly indicates that Christ approves of marriage for the Christian clergy. 
• The Bible says that after Christ was baptized He "came out of the water" (Matt. 3:16), indicating that He was baptized by total immersion.  Why doesn't the Catholic Church also baptize by total immersion instead of by pouring on the head? 
• Why does the Catholic Church baptize infants, who have no understanding of what is taking place? 
• Why is the Catholic Church opposed to birth control?  Where in the Bible is birth control condemned as being contrary to the Will of God? 
• Why does the Catholic Church make no exceptions when it comes to divorce?  Does not the Bible say that Christ permitted divorce in case of fornication?  (Matthew 19:9). 
• Why have Catholic women traditionally worn hats in church?  Are bareheaded women forbidden to enter Catholic churches? 
• Why must Catholics pay money for a Mass that is offered up for deceased relatives and friends when the Bible states that the gift of God is not to be purchased with money?   (Acts 8:20). 
• Conclusion One man's story of conversion.