BAPTISM QUESTIONS (see also SACRAMENTS)
Dear Apologist, What does the Church teach about being "born again"?

(THE) BIBLE
I was told that Jesus forbids us to pray repetitious prayers like the Rosary. Is that true?

The Church Fathers didn't write the Bible and we should pay no attention to their writings.

My Baptist neighbor said Jesus wouldn't have us put stock in any traditions, but only in the word of God, which is the Scriptures.  How do I reply?

Dear Apologist, how do Catholics understand the predestination passages in Ephesians 1?  My Baptist friend thinks it means Christians cannot lose their salvation.

CONFESSION (incl. confessing to a priest)
God Wants You to Confess Your Sins to a Priest
The priest is a gift of Christ, Christ made present, visible, a healer.

DEATH, DYING AND THE DEAD
I was told the Bible says the dead don’t know what happens on earth.
Is that true?
Some like Seventh-Day Adventists believe the souls of the dead have no awareness of any kind after death. But otherwise do the deceased see us?

EUCHARIST
My friend says Jesus was speaking metaphorically when He said, “This is my body.” How do I answer that? (11-10-23)

How do we know the Bread of Life discourse in John 6 connects to the Last Supper?

A friend says Jesus was speaking metaphorically when He said, “This is my body.”  How do I answer that?
In John chapter 6 was Jesus only using metaphor, or a parable to describe what Catholics believe about the Eucharist, the host which Catholics believe becomes the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus?

A non-Catholic Christian told me John 6:63 disproves the Catholic doctrine of the Real Presence.  Does it?

FAITH AND WORKS
My evangelical friend says that the Sacraments cannot impart saving grace because they are works. How are the Sacraments not works?

“For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” --James 2:14-26

MARY
Responding to: Catholics show too much honor to Mary
Catholics can never love Mary more than Jesus does.

I was told Mary couldn’t be sinless because she thought Jesus was crazy.
Did she?
Angel Gabriel to Mary: Hail, full of grace; the Lord is with you." --Luke 1:28

How do I deal with the accusation that Catholics worship Mary?
Veneration, not worship.

(THE) MASS
How do I explain that the Mass is not a “re-sacrificing” of Jesus?
Catholics agree the sacrifice is a one-time event.

(THE) PAPACY
How do we respond to questions about the bad popes in Church history?
Bad pope doesn't mean anti-pope or no pope at all.

PRO-LIFE: CONCEPTION TO NATURAL DEATH
My friend (who supports abortion) said if we criminalized abortion we would
have to prosecute the women who procure them. How do I respond?
The focus of prosecution is on the abortion provider.

PROTESTANT INTERACTIN
Are Catholics Christian?

A coworker said he can’t recognize Catholics as Christians because the
Council of Trent condemned salvation by faith alone. What should I say?
Beacuse of our unambiguous belief in Jesus Christ as second Member of the Trinity, and Lord and Savior and Redeemer of mankind we assume Catholics are Christian. But not so fast. Not all non-Catholics agree.

PURGATORY
What does the Catholic Church teach about Purgatory? Wasn't it just a money making scheme?

SAINTS
Does the honor Catholics give to the saints distract us from Jesus?
If you asked a friend or relative to pray for you, would that be distracting from Jesus?

Aren't We All Saints?

Will You Catholics Please Stop Praying to the Saints Already!

SACRAMENTS
My Lutheran friend says they have the Sacraments which are attested to in Scripture, whereas the Catholic Church invented extra ones.  Where did I find all seven in the Bible?

How do I reply to someone who says the Sacraments are a form of superstition?
The Sacraments are all Scriptural if by compelling deduction, same as we apply to the word "Trinity," which appears nowhere in Scripture.

SCRIPTURE (including sola scripture)
How do I respond to the claim that 2Timothy3:16 supports Sola Scriptura?
Sola scripture is a vital Protestant belief but also one of the easiest to refute. Once this domino falls, so do many others in the Protestant universe. It's being anchored so tightly to Martuin Luther ids dfeeply flawed and not by small margins.

How do Catholics understand the predestination passages in Ephesians 1? My Baptist friend thinks it means Christians cannot lose their salvation.
Tthis is also known as a doctrine of "once saved always saved."

ANTI-CATHOLIC WHOPPERS
Fallacy: Catholics were once forbidden to read the Bible and in 1536 William Tyndall was burned at the stake for publishing a Bible in English
When a Bible would cost $40,000 to hand scribe before Gutenberg invented the printing press, you'd protect it, too; and de-bunking an outright falsehood.

Anti-Catholic Myths (fun with Bob Jones of Bob Jones University)

Meet Jack Chick

A Survey of Chick Publications

Debunking six claims that Christmas is pagan

CATHOLIC-TO-CATHOLIC
What does it mean to "worthily" or "unworthily" receive Holy Communion? Aren't we all unworthy?

How often am I required to go to Confession?