Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Rick Warren Endorses "Catholics Come Home" Campaign

Posted by Christine Pack
I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people." (Romans 16:17-18)
Now that Saddleback pastor Rick Warren has endorsed the Roman Catholic campaign Catholics Come Home, created to bring lapsed Catholics back to the Catholic faith, can he finally and officially be publicly marked out and separated from for the false teacher that he is?
“The mission of Tom Peterson and Catholics Come Home to bring souls home to Jesus and the church is critically important during this challenging time in our history. I fully support this new evangelization project.” —Rick Warren, author The Purpose Driven Life



 Additional Resources 

Rick Warren Endorsing Catholics Come Home (Apprising Ministries)

Catholicism Is Not Just Another Christian Denomination (Sola Sisters)

Why the Reformation Was Important (Sola Sisters)

After The Darkness, Light (Post Tenebras Lux) (Sola Sisters)


A Chart With Christian/Catholic Views Side-By-Side (Berean Beacon)

Testimony of a Former Roman Catholic Priest....From Darkness to Light (Berean Beacon)

Far From Rome Near To God (Amazon)

On The "Faith" of Mother Teresa: John Ortberg Strikes Out (Sola Sisters)

The Myth of Mother Teresa
 (Challies)

Mother Teresa A Lost Soul (Berean Beacon)

Mother Teresa in Her Own Words (Sola Sisters)

CNN Reports That Mother Teresa Underwent Exorcism (CNN Archives)

BBC Reports About Exorcism Performed on Mother Teresa (BBC Archives)

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Being Missional The New Legalism?

Posted by Christine Pack

Professor Anthony Bradley of King's College has written an excellent article entitled The New Legalism: Missional, Radical, Narcissistic, and Shamed. In this article, Bradley cites David Platt and the notion of "radical Christianity" for contributing to this new legalistic mindset, and states the following:
"Being a 'radical,' 'missional,' Christian is slowly becoming the 'new legalism.' We need more ordinary God and people lovers (Matt 22:36-40)........I continue to amazed by the number of youth and youth adults who are stressed and burnt out from the regularly shaming and feelings of inadequacy if they happen to not being doing something unique and special. Today’s Millennial generation is being fed the message that if they don’t do something extraordinary in this life they are wasting their gifts and potential. The sad result is that many young adults feel ashamed if they 'settle' into ordinary jobs, get married early and start families, live in small towns, or as 1 Thess 4:11 says, 'aspire to live quietly, and to mind [their] affairs, and to work with [their] hands.' For too many Millennials their greatest fear in this life is being an ordinary person with a non-glamorous job, living in the suburbs, and having nothing spectacular to boast about." (Anthony Bradley, Associate Professor of Theology and Ethics, King’s College, New York)
Or to paraphrase Christian researcher Bob DeWaay, "Why can't we just be ordinary Christians, living out our lives fulfilling ordinary responsibilities by keeping a job, paying bills, taking care of our families, etc.?" In other words, there is a growing perception in evangelicalism that those who don't do Great Big Things For Jesus are somehow deemed inferior. That unless you've sold everything to go take care of orphans behind enemy lines while taking incoming fire, you're sort of a "second-tier Christian."  So unconsciously, but pervasively, there is now a mindset in evangelicalism that there are these "ordinary Christians" who live in America and take care of their families and work at their jobs, and then there are the behind-enemy-lines-in-a-third-world-country "Super Christians." And this new pietistic mindset of missional legalism sure does seem to prey upon the immaturity and folly of youth, doesn't it?
"For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge." (Romans 10:2)
For the record, please understand that I am not against missions. And neither am I saying that it's bad or wrong for Christians to go to third world countries and feed orphans behind enemy lines. What I'm saying is that the "ordinary Christians" in America and the Christians who go to third world countries to proclaim Christ and care for the needy are both important for building up the body of Christ, and both are vitally necessary.
"Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it." (1 Corinthians 12:27)

 Additional Resources 

If Platt's Radical was Radical

Pastor Gary Gilley Reviews David Platt's Radical

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Catholics, Physical Suffering and Doctrines of Demons

Posted by Christine Pack
"(Mother Teresa) was 'anything but a saint,' the Canadian study authors found.......In fact, she found beauty in watching people suffer, the authors say." (Washington Times article)
"Pope John Paul II used to beat himself with a belt and sleep on a bare floor to bring himself closer to Christ, a book published (in 2010) says." (CNN article
Mother Teresa
There is a commonly held view today among both Christians and the secular that the well known Roman Catholic nun Mother Teresa was good and loving, and that she devoted her life's energies to alleviating the suffering of others. This view has been summed up in the oft repeated response that Christians sometimes encounter from unbelievers when they are being pressed about goodness, morality, and one's standing before God. The response, from the lost person whose conscience has been pricked, goes something like this: "Hey, I'm no Mother Teresa but I'm no Hitler either." In that statement, one can see that Hitler has been cast in the role of a person universally regarded and known to embody evil, while Mother Teresa is the antithesis to that: the universal embodiment of goodness.

But is this the reality about Mother Teresa? Was she the essence of goodness and selfless giving of herself to those who were suffering?

 Christian View of Suffering 

First, let's discuss the biblical view of suffering as compared to the Catholic view of suffering. The biblical understanding of suffering is that God allows and uses suffering of every kind (physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual) to sanctify believers and conform them more and more to the image of Christ, and that in the midst of these trials, Christians can entrust themselves to God's wisdom, goodness, comfort, and eternal purposes.

There are many, many Bible passages that speak to this, but here are just a few:
"And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers." (Rom 8:28-29) 
"Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." (Rom 5:3-5) 
"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." (James 1:2-4) 
"But He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest on me. That is why, for the sake of Christ, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Cor 12:9-10)
"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: 'For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.' No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Rom 8:35-39) 
"I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength." (Phil 4:12-13) 
"Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings." (1 Peter 5:8-9) 
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble." (2 Cor 1:3-4) 
"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me." (Psalm 23:4) 
"Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you.' So we can confidently say, 'The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?'" (Heb 13:5-6)
(And of course.... the entire book of Job.)
So that is the Christian view of suffering: God providentially allows suffering, and uses it to sanctify us, to conform us to the image of Christ, to teach us perseverance, to grow us in compassion, and to cause us to love Him more, and learn to entrust ourselves to Him more and more. These are wonderful promises and blessings that the believer can hold fast to in trials.

 Catholic View of Suffering 

So what is the Catholic view of physical suffering? Roman Catholics sometimes go beyond the biblical concept of entrusting themselves into God's sovereign care during physical suffering, to the point of (1) actually inflicting physical pain upon themselves (as documented in this CNN article about Pope John Paul II) or (2) through not alleviating the physical suffering of others in their care (as documented about Mother Teresa in this recent article). From the French study that raised concerns about how Mother Teresa cared for those in her missions:
"At the time of her death, Mother Teresa had opened 517 missions welcoming the poor and sick in more than 100 countries. The missions have been described as 'homes for the dying' by doctors visiting several of these establishments in Calcutta. Two-thirds of the people coming to these missions hoped to a find a doctor to treat them, while the other third lay dying without receiving appropriate care. The doctors observed a significant lack of hygiene, even unfit conditions, as well as a shortage of actual care, inadequate food, and no painkillers. The problem is not a lack of money--the Foundation created by Mother Teresa has raised hundreds of millions of dollars--but rather a particular conception of suffering and death: 'There is something beautiful in seeing the poor accept their lot, to suffer it like Christ's Passion. The world gains much from their suffering,' was her reply to criticism, cites the journalist Christopher Hitchens. Nevertheless, when Mother Teresa required palliative care, she received it in a modern American hospital."
Many Catholic monks (and some devout layperson Catholics) follow in Mother Teresa's view of intentional-physical-suffering-brings-holiness, and self flagellate (i.e., cause physical harm to themselves on purpose), fast for days on end, sleep in the freezing cold exposed to the elements, wear painful metal implements attached to their own bodies that inflict physical pain, etc. They do this under the delusion that purposefully bringing about physical pain will bring them more holiness, and bring them closer to God, in much the same way that they believe the elements of the Catholic Mass give them little injections of holiness every time they partake.

Is this not the essence of demonic deception? I can imagine Satan laughing in glee at this wicked deception he's gotten people to buy into that causes them to create physical torment in themselves or refuse to alleviate it in others. After all, we must remember that Satan hates all humans because we are made in the image of God, and is like a roaring lion, prowling the earth seeking whom he can devour (1 Peter 5:8).
"Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons." (1 Tim 4:1)
This is probably hard for most Christians to comprehend, but please, if you have Catholic friends or neighbors in your life that you care about, take some time to familiarize yourself with some of their beliefs, and what Paul called "doctrines of demons" (1 Tim 4:1). Catholics need the life giving truth of the gospel, the true gospel, and to understand that there is nothing they can add to Christ's finished work on the Cross.

photo credit: TheAlieness GiselaGiardino²³ via photopin cc


 Additional Resources 

French Study Claims Mother Teresa Wasn't So Saintly (Washington Times)

Book: Pope John Paul II Self-Flagellated to Get Closer to Jesus (CNN)

Rick Warren Endorses "Catholics Come Home" Campaign (Sola Sisters)

Catholicism Is Not Just Another Christian Denomination (Sola Sisters)

Why the Reformation Was Important (Sola Sisters)

After The Darkness, Light (Post Tenebras Lux) (Sola Sisters)

A Chart With Christian/Catholic Views Side-By-Side (Berean Beacon)

Testimony of a Former Roman Catholic Priest....From Darkness to Light
 (Berean Beacon)

Far From Rome Near To God (Amazon)

On The "Faith" of Mother Teresa: John Ortberg Strikes Out (Sola Sisters)

The Myth of Mother Teresa
 (Challies)

Mother Teresa in Her Own Words (Sola Sisters)

CNN Reports That Mother Teresa Underwent Exorcism (CNN Archives)

BBC Reports About Exorcism Performed on Mother Teresa (BBC Archives)


 Refuting ECT (Evangelicals and Catholics Together) 

In this very important work, several Protestant pastors got together and presented a biblical response to the ECT document calling into question its purpose, which is that Christians and Catholics can go forth together in a united front to evangelize the lost. Obviously, given this, purpose, we can understand that the presupposition in the ECT document is that Christians and Catholics are both true believers, and both have a life-giving message to take to the lost. But the pastors who gave a rebuttal to ECT explain why the 2 camps cannot join forces together, and that, while Christians and Catholics share some common ground and terminology, they have fundamental, core and foundational differences in several significant areas, chiefly in their soteriological views (i.e., how it is that man is saved). And that's the hinge that swings the whole door of salvation.

The response to the ECT document was broken out into 6 parts entitled "Irreconcilable Differences." There are transcripts of the response, as well as 2 audio teaching sessions.

Parts 1-3 (approximately 1 hour in length)

Parts 4-6 (also approximately 1 hour in length)

Monday, April 22, 2013

Some Food For Thought For Christians On Earth Day 2013

Posted by Christine Pack and Marcia Montenegro

Today, in case it had somehow slipped by you, is Earth Day. I began receiving notifications that it would soon be Earth Day about two weeks ago. In my email inbox this morning, I received "Happy Earth Day" messages from a t-shirt company, Aveda, a homeschooling organization, Williams Sonoma, Lindt Chocolates, and many others. But how should Christians think about Earth Day? And what, if anything, should be our response?

Let me first note that, when I was a New Ager, we were ALL about Creation worship, sometimes called Gaia worship. And please note the capitalized "C" of "Creation worship;" we sincerely thought creation was imbued with divinity. I didn't know it at the time, of course, but I was a direct fulfillment of Romans 1:25, which states that "They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator.....".  But I can honestly say that never in my wildest dreams, as a practicing New Ager, could I have imagined that one day the earth worship we had in our little fringe group would spread to the rest of the world and even into Christianity. And yet, I've seen Green Bibles, Green Bible Studies, Green Christian websites, etc.
"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more." Rev 21:1
Now, it's not wrong, of course, to take care of the creation, but we must not give it more value than God has ascribed to it. God has told us in his Word that one day He will create a new heavens and a new earth. This means that this earth is of finite, limited use, and will one day be gone. And again, I'm not saying we should trash the earth: we are told in the Bible to be good stewards of it. But we must not revere it, and "Green" anything that I see inside Christianity literally makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up because there is a very fine line indeed between being a good steward of the earth in a biblical, balanced way, as opposed to letting your everyday decisions be framed by the environmental agenda. But to my dismay, I now recognize that this movement is so completely mainstreamed, that it often does frame our thinking in many of our decisions, from what car we will drive (electric vs. gas-powered), what paper products we will buy (recycled paper products vs. regular paper products) what items we will purchase (those produced by sustainable organizations vs. those not), etc., etc., with some kind of inherent moral virtue often implied in the purchasing of the "green" products.

Sadly, there are many Christians who are innocent to the agenda of the environmental movement. So as a former proponent of the Environmental Movement, I just want to sound a note of caution for Christians to perhaps be careful about what messages they might be unconsciously taking in, and to even be aware of the idea that there might be an agenda of some kind attached to a group that on the surface might look wholesome and beneficial. I also think Christians should be careful about which organizations they donate to, and to do their due diligence. Take for instance the organization Evangelical Environmental Network, which was founded by three pastors. That doesn't sound sinister, does it? But please look at this quote from their website, found by my friend and fellow researcher, Marcia Montenegro:
We urge individual Christians and churches to be centers of creation's care and renewal, both delighting in creation as God's gift, and enjoying it as God's provision, in ways which sustain and heal the damaged fabric of the creation which God has entrusted to us. 
We recall Jesus' words that our lives do not consist in the abundance of our possessions, and therefore we urge followers of Jesus to resist the allure of wastefulness and overconsumption by making personal lifestyle choices that express humility, forbearance, self restraint and frugality. 
We call on all Christians to work for godly, just, and sustainable economies which reflect God's sovereign economy and enable men, women and children to flourish along with all the diversity of creation. We recognize that poverty forces people to degrade creation in order to survive; therefore we support the development of just, free economies which empower the poor and create abundance without diminishing creation's bounty. (online source)
All right, that right there is where the rubber meets the road. It sounds so good on paper....as so many theories and ideas do, but try living that out. Many parts of this country have been hit hard by the recession we're in, and let's say a Christian man, wanting to make Godly choices and walk righteously before his Lord read the above call-to-action to only work at corporations that are sustainable, green, etc., and so he made the decision to do that because he felt it would be sinning otherwise. Should he starve to death, and let his family starve to death, if he couldn't find a suitably green company to work for?

As noted by Christian researcher Marcia Montenegro, this kind of thinking is "a type of legalism and judgment according to man's standards, and not God's. God tells the head of the family to provide for his family or he is acting worse than an unbeliever ('But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.' 1 Tim 5:8 - this goes for single mothers, too). That is God's mandate and that overrides working only for 'green' companies."

So as far as how Christians should think about and respond to, Earth Day, I think it's pretty straightforward: we should be guided by Scripture, not worldly wisdom about what products to buy or what company to work in. And as far as "evangelical environmentalists," how should we respond to them or think about them? For myself, I have certain criteria that I often hold in my mind when visiting the website of any kind of organization pertaining to be Christian. It goes something like this: What should I see when I visit a website that claims the name of Christ (such as the environmental site linked above)? Should I see Jesus Christ, the God-man, who came and fulfilled God's laws perfectly, and who died for sins, and was raised triumphantly from the grave to reign and rule over all the earth? Should I see Him exalted, magnified and glorified? Or should I see a rather worldly message, designed at piggybacking onto whatever trend is currently captivating people? Well, it's kind of a no-brainer, isn't it?
"For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified."1 Cor 2:2

 Additional Resources 

Tim Keller's Environmental Gospel

Christians and the Environment

Earth Day: The High Holy Day of Paganism

Paganism: The Natural Default of the Human Mind

The Bible is Our Firewall Against Paganism

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Rob Bell Endorses Same Sex Marriage

Posted by Christine Pack

Erin Benziger of Do Not Be Surprised has reported on a recent Q&A with author and NOOMA video producer Rob Bell, which Bell stated:
‎"I am for marriage. I am for fidelity. I am for love, whether it's a man and woman, a woman and a woman, a man and a man. I think the ship has sailed and I think the church needs -- I think this is the world we are living in and we need to affirm people wherever they are."
Hmmmm, perhaps this statement by Bell will prompt a few churches to go through their libraries and do a little spring cleaning, and maybe toss out all those NOOMA videos and Rob Bell books? Just a thought.......

Read Erin Benziger's entire article here. 


 Additional Resources 

An Interview About Rob Bell's Book "Love Wins"

Rob Bell on Hell

What Rob Bell's Theology of Hell Looks Like In The Real World

Love Wins? A Critique of Rob Bell's New Book


Rob Bell Answers His Critics....But Don't Be Fooled







Wednesday, March 27, 2013

To Starbucks or Not to Starbucks, That Is The Question

Posted by Christine Pack and Cathy Mathews

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz was recently challenged by a shareholder in the company who questioned the company's endorsement of a state bill to legalize same-sex marriage. Schultz reportedly told the shareholder that he was free to sell his Starbucks shares and invest elsewhere. (Article: Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz’s Grande Support for Gay Marriage) The ensuing brouhaha had many Christians up in arms, calling for a boycott of Starbucks coffee, and lighting up social media with conversations about this dastardly deed. And yet, at the risk of inflaming many of my Christian friends who often exercise their American right to choose to boycott a company that makes this or that anti-Christian statement, here is just some food for thought:

Should we as Christians expect lost people to act in any other way than lost people generally do?

That is to say, should we expect lost people to not have animosity toward Christians? Can we look at history, perhaps, to help us get our bearings on this? The fact is that the world in which the very first Christians found themselves was a world that was incredibly hostile to biblical Christianity, and filled with wickedness and depravity, including rampant homosexuality. And yet, I feel certain that the Christians of that time interacted in the business world. And I do not see Scriptures exhorting Christians to not buy from this or that leather craftsman or olive purveyor, based on that person's presumably anti-Christian views.

And also, lest we forget, the Bible makes it clear that the world will have animosity toward both us and God's Word:
"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing...." (1 Corinthians 1:18a)
"You will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved." (Matthew 10:22)
This is certainly an issue worth thinking about, praying about, and asking the Lord for wisdom about (James 1:5). Because here's the deal: the world around us has changed. I'm sorry, but it really and truly has. Same-sex marriage, in all likelihood, will soon be legitimized in this country. I'm not happy about that, and I'm certainly not happy about my children growing up in a country in which homosexuals can marry, but how should we Christians now navigate this strange world in which we find ourselves? We have a number of options, but these two come quickly to mind:

Option 1 -We can boycott any secular company that does not promote Christian values. We can stop shopping at Target because they won't say "Merry Christmas," we can stop eating Ben & Jerry's ice cream because they support same sex marriage, we can cross J.C. Penney's off the list because they had a lesbian spokesperson, we can boycott Home Depot because they participated in a gay pride parade, etc., etc. But if we are going to go down that road, we really ought to cash it all in, and buy a farm somewhere and live as an isolationist because very, very, very few corporations cater exclusively to true biblical Christians.

Option 2 - We can, by God's grace and with the enabling power of the Holy Spirit, move graciously through this dark and dying world, interacting lovingly with lost sinners, and sharing the hope that is in Christ with those around us.
"Do all things without grumbling or questioning, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world...." (Philippians 2:14-15)
I'm not saying definitively how, exactly, all Christians should respond to these changes coming in the world around us. Merely that we ought to think long, hard and prayerfully about how we should each navigate this unfamiliar terrain. I am reminded of a recent Christianity Today article in which a former lesbian recounts her story of writing an article, as a practicing lesbian, that was aimed at attacking Christianity. Predictably, she received heaps of support letters and also heaps of hate mail. But she received one letter from a pastor that was neither. This letter led to what she has referred to as her "Train Wreck Conversion," that is, it led to her turning her back on her former lifestyle and becoming a born again Christian. In her own words, she lost "everything but the dog." But what she gained was forgiveness, redemption and eternal life. Perhaps we can learn from this pastor's kindness and graciousness in how he reached out to this woman, and shared truth with her in a way that had eternal consequences.


photo credit: Nick Humphries via photopin cc

 Additional Resources 

Interview with Former Lesbian (Rosaria Champagne Butterfield)

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Catholicism is Not Just Another Christian Denomination

Posted by Christine Pack

Is Catholicism just another Christian denomination? I know many Christians who declare this to be so, including Christian leaders. But is this actually true? Are the differences between Christianity and Catholicism so minor as to be just a trifle, as incidental as whether or not you stand or sit when you sing or pray during a worship service?

Former Roman Catholic priest,
Richard Bennett
(Berean Beacon)
I was recently "unfriended" on Facebook by a friend who told me couldn't take what she considered harsh treatment of Catholics in some of my postings. What I told her is that I have always-always-always clearly stated that I do believe there absolutely can be truly saved people within the Catholic church. It's just that, unless death claims them first, a true born again believer WILL come out of the Catholic church, eventually. I don't hate Catholics, I hate Catholicism, because it keeps Catholics in bondage, it keeps them so busy doing all their works and their sacraments that they can be tricked into thinking they are right with God. (And isn't Satan so very good at devising works-driven systems for keeping lost people busy? Busy all the way to their deaths, that is, at which time they will understand the truth.) Well, I want them to be set free (John 8:32). (My friend, incidentally, became very Catholic-sympathetic, after she started working as a teacher at a Catholic school. So I kinda saw it coming.)

If you are a Christian, and you are unsure of the doctrinal differences between Christianity and Catholicism, please look at the attached charts (click on these charts to see a more readable size). These charts were compiled by Richard Bennett, a former Catholic priest. Richard Bennett was a Roman Catholic priest for 21 years. Now think on this: Catholics are trained to look up to their priests and to think that their priests have a greater understanding of the Bible. But, if you listen to Bennett's testimony, he makes it clear that this is not true: Catholic priests are taught very little - very little! - actual Bible in seminary, and are instead trained in the Catholic writings. And yet, Catholics put their trust, their eternal trust, and faith in these men whom they believe have more Bible knowledge.

So how did a Roman Catholic priest of 21 years come to saving faith? A debilitating accident put Catholic priest Richard Bennett flat on his back, and he began to read the actual Bible......and he got saved! The way to salvation IS clearly presented in the Bible, but sadly, many Catholics don't read and study their Bibles, and thus don't know this.



 Additional Resources 

Testimony of Richard Bennett (former Roman Catholic priest)

Berean Beacon (former Roman Catholic priest Richard Bennett)