Apologetics Frequently Asked Questions!
Apologetics is defined as: "reasoned arguments or writings in justification of a theory or religious doctrine." ... Basically knowing and proving your faith! It is essential to being a Christian! Without knowledge and defense of our faith we are lost.
These are the most powerful and concise answers I can think of.
Each statement/question has tons of info beneath it. Just click the "+" next to the one you want to open. Click the "-" to close it and go to another. They are categorized by topic. MORE COMING SOON.
IF YOU ARE ON MOBILE DEVICE; SCROLL WITH WHITE SPACE ON THE SIDES
These are the most powerful and concise answers I can think of.
Each statement/question has tons of info beneath it. Just click the "+" next to the one you want to open. Click the "-" to close it and go to another. They are categorized by topic. MORE COMING SOON.
IF YOU ARE ON MOBILE DEVICE; SCROLL WITH WHITE SPACE ON THE SIDES
Theological Questions:
how many books are in the bible?
There is a difference between Catholic Bibles and other Christian Bibles. Do you know what it is?
The word Bible comes from the Greek word βιβλία which means "books". The Bible as a whole is 1 book but each section is a separate book complied together. It was not all written in 1 book. It was compiled over time.
The King James Version, or Christian Bible has 39 Books in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament for a total of 66 books.
The Catholic New American Bible has 46 books in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament for a total of 73 Books.
Why does the KJV Bible have 7 less books than the NAB?
Tobit, Judith, Maccabees 1 and 2, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch, parts of Esther, and parts of Daniel are deuterocanonical are not found in other Christian Bibles typically and found only in Catholic Bibles.
During the Protestant Reformation, Martin Luther rejected these books as divinely inspired and removed them. While Catholics still kept them.
The New American Bible (Roman Catholic version, Saint Joseph edition included) is true for what was said above. It was translated more recently, so it used more discovered ancient manuscripts so it is more accurately translated than the KJV or other Christian Bibles.
Now time for the Eastern Church;
The Greek Orthodox Church mostly considers Psalm 151 in the Book of Psalms, and has Maccabees in 4 books. They consider the Septuagint divinity inspired. The Septuagint is the Hebrew Bible translated into Koine Greek. This means that the Roman Catholic Bible is shorter than the Eastern Orthodox Bibles.
In Ethiopian Orthodoxy there are 81 books, making it longer than other Bibles.
The word Bible comes from the Greek word βιβλία which means "books". The Bible as a whole is 1 book but each section is a separate book complied together. It was not all written in 1 book. It was compiled over time.
The King James Version, or Christian Bible has 39 Books in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament for a total of 66 books.
The Catholic New American Bible has 46 books in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament for a total of 73 Books.
Why does the KJV Bible have 7 less books than the NAB?
Tobit, Judith, Maccabees 1 and 2, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch, parts of Esther, and parts of Daniel are deuterocanonical are not found in other Christian Bibles typically and found only in Catholic Bibles.
During the Protestant Reformation, Martin Luther rejected these books as divinely inspired and removed them. While Catholics still kept them.
The New American Bible (Roman Catholic version, Saint Joseph edition included) is true for what was said above. It was translated more recently, so it used more discovered ancient manuscripts so it is more accurately translated than the KJV or other Christian Bibles.
Now time for the Eastern Church;
The Greek Orthodox Church mostly considers Psalm 151 in the Book of Psalms, and has Maccabees in 4 books. They consider the Septuagint divinity inspired. The Septuagint is the Hebrew Bible translated into Koine Greek. This means that the Roman Catholic Bible is shorter than the Eastern Orthodox Bibles.
In Ethiopian Orthodoxy there are 81 books, making it longer than other Bibles.
Do catholics worship mary?
Christians who are not Catholic say that Catholics worship Mary and think she is higher than God. They say that we should ONLY pray to God and forget all about Mary. Let's take a look at a quote from the leader of the Protestants who say this, Martin Luther (who broke away from the Catholic Church in the 1500s)
"One should honor Mary as she herself wished and as she expressed it in the Magnificat. She praised God for his deeds. How then can we praise her? The true honor of Mary is the honor of God, the praise of God’s grace . . . Mary is nothing for the sake of herself, but for the sake of Christ . . . Mary does not wish that we come to her, but through her to God.
(Explanation of the Magnificat, 1521)" -Martin Luther
Yes, even Martin Luther thought Mary should be honored. Catholics DO NOT worship Mary. We say "pray FOR us" and not "we pray TO you". We ask Mary to pray for us in the same way we ask each other to pray for us. Revelations chapter 12 100% proves that Mary is in Heaven and she helps defeat the dragon (Satan) with Her son (Jesus). Mary has appeared to many and has showed countless miracles including our Lady of Guadalupe and Miracle of the Sun where 70,000 people witnessed.
___________________________
Satan cannot stand to hear the name Jesus and we all can agree. So if these miracles of Mary are work of Satan why is it that the woman people see does not snarl when we pray to Jesus with her? People say that the apparitions of Mary is probably just Satan and he wants us to pray to Mary instead of God. If Satan CANNOT stand to hear the name Jesus or God being said then why when we say "blessed is the fruit of they womb JESUS" when praying, does 'Mary" not snarl and freak out. These apparitions must only be from God and cannot be evil. This proves that these miracles cannot be Satanic. The Rosary is prayers to God. Glory be to God... Etc and almost all mysteries are about Christ. The only part about Mary in the Rosary is when we address her as being full of grace and blessed and then we ask her to pray to her son for us. We do not pray TO her but ask her to pray FOR us.
____________________________
Catholics know Mary is human and she needs Jesus just like us. She is NOT God or even part God. She is human. We can relate to her in a sense because she is fully human just like us. We pray directly to God and Jesus A LOT. Some of us pray more directly to Jesus daily than most Protestants but yet when we ask Mary to pray for us they flip out and tell us just to pray to Jesus (which we do as well and most likely more of). Mary can be a "middle man" for prayer which helps. Because she is our mother too. Jesus said "Behold your mother". When you are being crucified you die of suffocation because your chest is pushed out with blood loss as well. Any word is the worst pain in the world and impossible to say. It was assumed John was to take care of him mom. Jesus wasn't speaking to John, but he was speaking to the world. It was one of his last words to mankind before death. Mary is just another option and a helpful way to pray by asking for prayers. Direct prayer to Christ is CRUCIAL though. For all you Protestant Luther fans out there even he can understand why she should be honored and venerated.
"One should honor Mary as she herself wished and as she expressed it in the Magnificat. She praised God for his deeds. How then can we praise her? The true honor of Mary is the honor of God, the praise of God’s grace . . . Mary is nothing for the sake of herself, but for the sake of Christ . . . Mary does not wish that we come to her, but through her to God.
(Explanation of the Magnificat, 1521)" -Martin Luther
Yes, even Martin Luther thought Mary should be honored. Catholics DO NOT worship Mary. We say "pray FOR us" and not "we pray TO you". We ask Mary to pray for us in the same way we ask each other to pray for us. Revelations chapter 12 100% proves that Mary is in Heaven and she helps defeat the dragon (Satan) with Her son (Jesus). Mary has appeared to many and has showed countless miracles including our Lady of Guadalupe and Miracle of the Sun where 70,000 people witnessed.
___________________________
Satan cannot stand to hear the name Jesus and we all can agree. So if these miracles of Mary are work of Satan why is it that the woman people see does not snarl when we pray to Jesus with her? People say that the apparitions of Mary is probably just Satan and he wants us to pray to Mary instead of God. If Satan CANNOT stand to hear the name Jesus or God being said then why when we say "blessed is the fruit of they womb JESUS" when praying, does 'Mary" not snarl and freak out. These apparitions must only be from God and cannot be evil. This proves that these miracles cannot be Satanic. The Rosary is prayers to God. Glory be to God... Etc and almost all mysteries are about Christ. The only part about Mary in the Rosary is when we address her as being full of grace and blessed and then we ask her to pray to her son for us. We do not pray TO her but ask her to pray FOR us.
____________________________
Catholics know Mary is human and she needs Jesus just like us. She is NOT God or even part God. She is human. We can relate to her in a sense because she is fully human just like us. We pray directly to God and Jesus A LOT. Some of us pray more directly to Jesus daily than most Protestants but yet when we ask Mary to pray for us they flip out and tell us just to pray to Jesus (which we do as well and most likely more of). Mary can be a "middle man" for prayer which helps. Because she is our mother too. Jesus said "Behold your mother". When you are being crucified you die of suffocation because your chest is pushed out with blood loss as well. Any word is the worst pain in the world and impossible to say. It was assumed John was to take care of him mom. Jesus wasn't speaking to John, but he was speaking to the world. It was one of his last words to mankind before death. Mary is just another option and a helpful way to pray by asking for prayers. Direct prayer to Christ is CRUCIAL though. For all you Protestant Luther fans out there even he can understand why she should be honored and venerated.
Are Catholics Christian?
Catholics are Christians:
Prove by Contradiction Catholics are Christians
Assumption: Catholics are NOT Christians
Given:
If you do not agree with given then you are not a Christian by definition.
1. Jesus was Christian
2. The Disciples were Christian
3. Peter was one of the Disciples
4. Peter wrote part of the Bible as documented by the Bible
5. The Bible is Christian
Steps of Proof:
1. Peter was a Christian and he wrote part of the Bible as listed in given.
2. Peter was the first Catholic Pope as documented in acts and records of the Catholic Church. He died in Rome and his bones were excavated. The seat of Peter is in Rome.
3. Peter along with Jesus founded the Catholic Church
4. The keys of the World and Heaven were given to Peter by Jesus. At that time keys were very important and were symbolic of great importance to the area that they unlocked.
5. Peter is Catholic due to him being a Catholic Pope
Part 2, using assumption:
6. Peter is not Christian because he was a Catholic
7. The Bible is Christian and Peter wrote part of the Bible
8. Peter had to be Christian by contradiction since you cannot say the Bible is Christian but it's writers are not
9. By the transitive property of equality: Peter was a Pope. Popes are Catholic. Hence Peter was Catholic.
Peter was Christian as given. Peter was Catholic as proved. Hence Catholics are Christians.
Prove by Contradiction Catholics are Christians
Assumption: Catholics are NOT Christians
Given:
If you do not agree with given then you are not a Christian by definition.
1. Jesus was Christian
2. The Disciples were Christian
3. Peter was one of the Disciples
4. Peter wrote part of the Bible as documented by the Bible
5. The Bible is Christian
Steps of Proof:
1. Peter was a Christian and he wrote part of the Bible as listed in given.
2. Peter was the first Catholic Pope as documented in acts and records of the Catholic Church. He died in Rome and his bones were excavated. The seat of Peter is in Rome.
3. Peter along with Jesus founded the Catholic Church
4. The keys of the World and Heaven were given to Peter by Jesus. At that time keys were very important and were symbolic of great importance to the area that they unlocked.
5. Peter is Catholic due to him being a Catholic Pope
Part 2, using assumption:
6. Peter is not Christian because he was a Catholic
7. The Bible is Christian and Peter wrote part of the Bible
8. Peter had to be Christian by contradiction since you cannot say the Bible is Christian but it's writers are not
9. By the transitive property of equality: Peter was a Pope. Popes are Catholic. Hence Peter was Catholic.
Peter was Christian as given. Peter was Catholic as proved. Hence Catholics are Christians.
do we hold hands during the "our father" at mass?
Orans Position-Our Father: (Answer)
The General Instruction for the New Order of the Mass says nothing about hands during the Our Father, so we can do whatever we want with them. It ONLY says we must stand. So you can hold hands or not. It is up to you. Here is some information as to why we might not hold hands:
We should not out of knowledge and reverence of what is going on. This is not meant to be harsh. Mass literally has JESUS CHRIST present, Body, Soul, and Divinity and should be taken with the upmost respect and reverence we can humanly offer. Any type of ignorance or obvliviousness should be avoided at all costs. The recognition of Priestly and Divine Authority during Mass or Divine Liturgy should be upheld.
KEEP IN MIND; YOU CAN STILL HOLD HANDS IF YOU WANT. NOTHING BAD WILL HAPPEN AND IT IS ALLOWED!
FULL ANSWER:
The Priest at specific moments of the Mass intercedes through the Holy Spirit for us to God. This is symbolized and done by the Orans position, which is a symbolic and literal gesture of open and outstretched hands for Divine Intercession. The "Our Father" at Mass is said by the Priest using the Orans Position and he intercedes for the parish through the Holy Spirit to God. The parish does not have the power to do this intercession or else why even have the Priest up there.
The Orans position is reserved for the Priest when he is interceding through the Holy Spirit to God for the parish. Ordained priests have special abilities and powers vested in them by God and one of these is literally representing God and interceding for us (the Church Militant) to God, which is possible through the Holy Spirit.
On a side note, when the Priest holds up the consecrated Host during Mass, the entire parish does not just lift their hands in the air as if they were holding an imaginary host simply because that would be mocking/mimicking the priest and shows that they are completely oblivious to the Priest's authority of God in the room given to him by Apostolic Succession of ordination.
In this exact same way, when he is in the Orans position (remember; open and outstretched arms) we do not mimic the priest because we do not have "special authority" (aka Priestly ordination and Divine Powers vested in us) to do so during Mass. Even if everyone is doing it, they are oblivious to the Priest's purpose at that moment interceding through the Holy Spirit for us (the Parish) to God and might just be subconsciously doing it because they are not even paying close attention (which they should be) during the Mass and just following what they have always done.
The tradition is that we keep our hands folded or like this; 🙏 (folded together and pointing upwards). The church is not going to tell people to stop raising hands. It is not written anywhere for the Priest to stop Mass and tell everyone to stop holding hands, BUT it is also not written anywhere that people should hold hands using the Orans position. Holding hands was never tradition for hundreds of years during the Pater Noster (Latin "Our Father") as Mass. After the "spirit of reforms" from the 1960's until now, clergy have added and removed things like this during liturgy that is neither forbidden nor forced in church documents such as Vatican II. Because some documents in Vatican II do not specify, people can interpret them in different ways. The documents from Vatican II are very beneficial to the church but there is not enough written in them to discuss everything in the Mass (like the Orans Position), which means Priests cannot stop people from holding hands, but they also cannot force people to hold hands as well. There is simply nothing forbidden or forced about it sadly. It is up to our knowledge, reasoning, and judgement to decide if we should personally hold hands. Based on the paragraphs above, as an informed Catholic, we should not;
So basically... people can do whatever they want with their hands at Mass which is a shame, but the church does not force anyone to stop. We cannot force anyone to hold hands or not hold hands. It is up to them to inform themselves and decide.
To sum up, we as educated and practicing Catholics are well aware of the intercession and consecration at Mass and do not mimic the priest in the Orans Position like an uninformed person who is clearly oblivious to a priest's purpose at Mass and who does so simply because they have no clue what is even coming next in the Mass and they just follow everyone else to go through the motions like they have growing up. In other terms, we, the parish, are not interceding during "The Our Father". The Priest is.
This is not meant to be binding or cynical. This is a combination of church teachings, Divine teachings, tradition, and theology.
The General Instruction for the New Order of the Mass says nothing about hands during the Our Father, so we can do whatever we want with them. It ONLY says we must stand. So you can hold hands or not. It is up to you. Here is some information as to why we might not hold hands:
We should not out of knowledge and reverence of what is going on. This is not meant to be harsh. Mass literally has JESUS CHRIST present, Body, Soul, and Divinity and should be taken with the upmost respect and reverence we can humanly offer. Any type of ignorance or obvliviousness should be avoided at all costs. The recognition of Priestly and Divine Authority during Mass or Divine Liturgy should be upheld.
KEEP IN MIND; YOU CAN STILL HOLD HANDS IF YOU WANT. NOTHING BAD WILL HAPPEN AND IT IS ALLOWED!
FULL ANSWER:
The Priest at specific moments of the Mass intercedes through the Holy Spirit for us to God. This is symbolized and done by the Orans position, which is a symbolic and literal gesture of open and outstretched hands for Divine Intercession. The "Our Father" at Mass is said by the Priest using the Orans Position and he intercedes for the parish through the Holy Spirit to God. The parish does not have the power to do this intercession or else why even have the Priest up there.
The Orans position is reserved for the Priest when he is interceding through the Holy Spirit to God for the parish. Ordained priests have special abilities and powers vested in them by God and one of these is literally representing God and interceding for us (the Church Militant) to God, which is possible through the Holy Spirit.
On a side note, when the Priest holds up the consecrated Host during Mass, the entire parish does not just lift their hands in the air as if they were holding an imaginary host simply because that would be mocking/mimicking the priest and shows that they are completely oblivious to the Priest's authority of God in the room given to him by Apostolic Succession of ordination.
In this exact same way, when he is in the Orans position (remember; open and outstretched arms) we do not mimic the priest because we do not have "special authority" (aka Priestly ordination and Divine Powers vested in us) to do so during Mass. Even if everyone is doing it, they are oblivious to the Priest's purpose at that moment interceding through the Holy Spirit for us (the Parish) to God and might just be subconsciously doing it because they are not even paying close attention (which they should be) during the Mass and just following what they have always done.
The tradition is that we keep our hands folded or like this; 🙏 (folded together and pointing upwards). The church is not going to tell people to stop raising hands. It is not written anywhere for the Priest to stop Mass and tell everyone to stop holding hands, BUT it is also not written anywhere that people should hold hands using the Orans position. Holding hands was never tradition for hundreds of years during the Pater Noster (Latin "Our Father") as Mass. After the "spirit of reforms" from the 1960's until now, clergy have added and removed things like this during liturgy that is neither forbidden nor forced in church documents such as Vatican II. Because some documents in Vatican II do not specify, people can interpret them in different ways. The documents from Vatican II are very beneficial to the church but there is not enough written in them to discuss everything in the Mass (like the Orans Position), which means Priests cannot stop people from holding hands, but they also cannot force people to hold hands as well. There is simply nothing forbidden or forced about it sadly. It is up to our knowledge, reasoning, and judgement to decide if we should personally hold hands. Based on the paragraphs above, as an informed Catholic, we should not;
So basically... people can do whatever they want with their hands at Mass which is a shame, but the church does not force anyone to stop. We cannot force anyone to hold hands or not hold hands. It is up to them to inform themselves and decide.
To sum up, we as educated and practicing Catholics are well aware of the intercession and consecration at Mass and do not mimic the priest in the Orans Position like an uninformed person who is clearly oblivious to a priest's purpose at Mass and who does so simply because they have no clue what is even coming next in the Mass and they just follow everyone else to go through the motions like they have growing up. In other terms, we, the parish, are not interceding during "The Our Father". The Priest is.
This is not meant to be binding or cynical. This is a combination of church teachings, Divine teachings, tradition, and theology.
What is the difference between vatican ii and the "spirit" of vatican ii?
I will provide information on the topic and allow opinions to formulate. The goal of this is to spark an interest to learn and research this topic to better understand the church.
"VATICAN II" is formally said "The Second Vatican Council". This council was from 1962 to 1965 and called for by Pope St. John XXIII for liturgical reformation. The original documents that were produced are Vatican II and the reformation after the documents and their interpretations by progressive reformers in the church is called the "Spirit" of Vatican II.
The Vatican II original documents supported the TLM, encouraged the use of the church organ, Gregorian chant and Latin.
The following quotations from "Sacrosanctum Concilium" which is one of the main documents produced by Vatican II. These rules were supposed to be obeyed, but have instead been ignored or defied.
_________________
"36. Particular law remaining in force, the use of the Latin language is to be preserved in the Latin rites.
28.In liturgical celebrations each person, minister or layman, who has an office to perform, should do all of, but only, those parts which pertain to his office by the nature of the rite and the principles of liturgy.
116. The Church acknowledges Gregorian chant as specially suited to the Roman liturgy: therefore, other things being equal, it should be given pride of place in liturgical services.
120. In the Latin Church the pipe organ is to be held in high esteem, for it is the traditional musical instrument which adds a wonderful splendor to the Church's ceremonies and powerfully lifts up man's mind to God and to higher things."
_________________
Good intentions were to support the TLM while introducing the Vernacular and Novus Ordo Missæ as a better way for people to understand the Mass. Vernacular means the language spoken to the specific area. So people could better participate and understand their faith. This was the intention in the documents...
Now... A bunch of progressive people and reformers within the church falsely interpreted the documents of Vatican II after the 60s. This whole process of the following years from 1969'ish until now is called the "Spirit" of Vatican II. They basically turned the church into what we have today which is very stripped of tradition with some liturgical abuse.
Vatican II NEVER called for the removal of altar rails, removal of church statues and gothic decorations, women altar servers, replacement of deacon duties with lay people (ministering Eucharist), removal of Latin and TLM, holding hands during Our Father, modern music, charismatic anything, liturgical dancing/clapping during Mass, abolished ad Orientem, and many other things we see in the Mass today. The original documents of Vatican II NEVER called for any of that. That was the false spirit of Vatican II which is the modernistic, reletavistic, and loose progressive interpretations of the documents by certain church leaders over time. The SSPX (society of St Pius X) and sedevacantist Catholics believe that what happened after the 60s (basically the whole spirit of Vatican II) is heresy, apostasy, and that the true seat of Rome (Pope) is empty now.
We must not divide ourselves. The documents of Vatican II are to be upheld and interpreted as they were created. It is up to each of us to research this topic and form our own opinions on what is to come especially with the majority of Catholics (percentage) are not attending daily Mass and now think the Eucharist is just merely a symbol.
For more research click these links:
VATICAN II IS ON OUR SIDE
THE VATICAN II VIRUS
"VATICAN II" is formally said "The Second Vatican Council". This council was from 1962 to 1965 and called for by Pope St. John XXIII for liturgical reformation. The original documents that were produced are Vatican II and the reformation after the documents and their interpretations by progressive reformers in the church is called the "Spirit" of Vatican II.
The Vatican II original documents supported the TLM, encouraged the use of the church organ, Gregorian chant and Latin.
The following quotations from "Sacrosanctum Concilium" which is one of the main documents produced by Vatican II. These rules were supposed to be obeyed, but have instead been ignored or defied.
_________________
"36. Particular law remaining in force, the use of the Latin language is to be preserved in the Latin rites.
28.In liturgical celebrations each person, minister or layman, who has an office to perform, should do all of, but only, those parts which pertain to his office by the nature of the rite and the principles of liturgy.
116. The Church acknowledges Gregorian chant as specially suited to the Roman liturgy: therefore, other things being equal, it should be given pride of place in liturgical services.
120. In the Latin Church the pipe organ is to be held in high esteem, for it is the traditional musical instrument which adds a wonderful splendor to the Church's ceremonies and powerfully lifts up man's mind to God and to higher things."
_________________
Good intentions were to support the TLM while introducing the Vernacular and Novus Ordo Missæ as a better way for people to understand the Mass. Vernacular means the language spoken to the specific area. So people could better participate and understand their faith. This was the intention in the documents...
Now... A bunch of progressive people and reformers within the church falsely interpreted the documents of Vatican II after the 60s. This whole process of the following years from 1969'ish until now is called the "Spirit" of Vatican II. They basically turned the church into what we have today which is very stripped of tradition with some liturgical abuse.
Vatican II NEVER called for the removal of altar rails, removal of church statues and gothic decorations, women altar servers, replacement of deacon duties with lay people (ministering Eucharist), removal of Latin and TLM, holding hands during Our Father, modern music, charismatic anything, liturgical dancing/clapping during Mass, abolished ad Orientem, and many other things we see in the Mass today. The original documents of Vatican II NEVER called for any of that. That was the false spirit of Vatican II which is the modernistic, reletavistic, and loose progressive interpretations of the documents by certain church leaders over time. The SSPX (society of St Pius X) and sedevacantist Catholics believe that what happened after the 60s (basically the whole spirit of Vatican II) is heresy, apostasy, and that the true seat of Rome (Pope) is empty now.
We must not divide ourselves. The documents of Vatican II are to be upheld and interpreted as they were created. It is up to each of us to research this topic and form our own opinions on what is to come especially with the majority of Catholics (percentage) are not attending daily Mass and now think the Eucharist is just merely a symbol.
For more research click these links:
VATICAN II IS ON OUR SIDE
THE VATICAN II VIRUS
Can You be in a state of grace without going to confession?
You cannot be in a full state of grace while in a state of sin whether mortal or venial. The only person ever to be in a state full of grace without confession was Mary. Hence "Hail Mary, full of Grace."
The question has a lot to deal with purgatory. The reason we have purgatory is for people who lived morally good lives overall but are not in a state full of grace because of sins that they need to purge (hence purgatory). Only when someone is in a state of compete (full) grace can they go to Heaven. During confession are sins are fully forgiven. After absolution we are completely wiped clean and our state full grace is restored. This then means technically if you just went to confession, opened the door to walk out, and had a heart attack and died, you would go straight up to Heaven. Now this isn't to be messed with because if someone wants to go to heaven and they go to confession and jump off a bridge a second after to get there, it doesn't work because suicide would be a sin, but I digress. So no, we cannot be in a state of full grace until confession. If we die with any sins that hath not been forgiven we must go to purgatory to purge our sins to then make us achieve a state of grace (or Hell if we died in a state of serious multiple mortal sins and hate all things good).
Now this doesn't mean we can't obtain partial graces while in a state of sin. We can get special graces from going to Mass and doing certain prayers like the Rosary. (Receiving communion would obtain graces but we cannot ever receive the Eucharist while in Mortal sin. It is sacrilege and disrespectful to Christ because we are not in a state of grace to receive him, therefore we need confession first. It's church law and in the catechism) In short, we cannot be in a full state of grace without confession unless we are Mary. We can however obtain partial graces but never be fully filled. What about people who don't believe in confession? Protestants, other religions, and atheists? If they were morally good their entire life, they purge (to rid of, or wean off) their sins at purgatory to achieve grace. Once in purgatory we cannot go to Hell. It is on the pathway into Heaven.
The question has a lot to deal with purgatory. The reason we have purgatory is for people who lived morally good lives overall but are not in a state full of grace because of sins that they need to purge (hence purgatory). Only when someone is in a state of compete (full) grace can they go to Heaven. During confession are sins are fully forgiven. After absolution we are completely wiped clean and our state full grace is restored. This then means technically if you just went to confession, opened the door to walk out, and had a heart attack and died, you would go straight up to Heaven. Now this isn't to be messed with because if someone wants to go to heaven and they go to confession and jump off a bridge a second after to get there, it doesn't work because suicide would be a sin, but I digress. So no, we cannot be in a state of full grace until confession. If we die with any sins that hath not been forgiven we must go to purgatory to purge our sins to then make us achieve a state of grace (or Hell if we died in a state of serious multiple mortal sins and hate all things good).
Now this doesn't mean we can't obtain partial graces while in a state of sin. We can get special graces from going to Mass and doing certain prayers like the Rosary. (Receiving communion would obtain graces but we cannot ever receive the Eucharist while in Mortal sin. It is sacrilege and disrespectful to Christ because we are not in a state of grace to receive him, therefore we need confession first. It's church law and in the catechism) In short, we cannot be in a full state of grace without confession unless we are Mary. We can however obtain partial graces but never be fully filled. What about people who don't believe in confession? Protestants, other religions, and atheists? If they were morally good their entire life, they purge (to rid of, or wean off) their sins at purgatory to achieve grace. Once in purgatory we cannot go to Hell. It is on the pathway into Heaven.
What are indulgences?
Indulgences:
Societies definition: "An indulgence is a piece of paper that you pay the church for so you go to Heaven."
This sounds corrupt because it is. The church was never like this. Certain priests in the Middle Ages were greedy and corrupted this which led to Martin Luther writing the 95 theses. Around 1570 the Council of Trent abolished the sale of indulgences once and for all so this was a false excuse for Luther to continue his protest against the Church and forming the Lutheran Church.
An indulgence is "The remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins forgiven as far as their guilt is concerned, which the follower of Christ with the proper dispositions and under certain determined conditions acquires through the intervention of the Church, which, as minister of the redemption, authoritatively dispenses and applies the treasury of the satisfaction won by Christ and the saints" (Pope Paul VI, Apostolic Constitution on Indulgences).
Basically this means an indulgence is something that makes a punishment less severe. So if you were going to have 3 years in purgatory an indulgence worth three months would take off three months of your time in purgatory. These indulgences are granted by God and not by the church.
Partial indulgences take partial time off of a punishment for a forgiven sin. This could be days, weeks, months etc... A plenary indulgence removes ALL punishment deserved for a forgiven sin. No one but God knows for certain when a plenary indulgences is actually gained, because only he knows whether a person's dispositions are adequate.
One norm for such dispositions is that "all attachment to sin, even venial sin, be absent." If these dispositions are in any way less than complete, the indulgence will only be partial. The same provision applies to the three external conditions necessary to gain a plenary indulgence: sacramental confession, Eucharistic Communion, and prayer for the intentions of the Pope. If these conditions are not satisfied, an otherwise plenary indulgence becomes only partial. These conditions may be satisfied several days before or after the performance of the prescribed work, though preferably Communion should be received and the prayers offered for the Pope on the same day as the indulgenced work. A plenary indulgence can be gained only once a day.
Societies definition: "An indulgence is a piece of paper that you pay the church for so you go to Heaven."
This sounds corrupt because it is. The church was never like this. Certain priests in the Middle Ages were greedy and corrupted this which led to Martin Luther writing the 95 theses. Around 1570 the Council of Trent abolished the sale of indulgences once and for all so this was a false excuse for Luther to continue his protest against the Church and forming the Lutheran Church.
An indulgence is "The remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins forgiven as far as their guilt is concerned, which the follower of Christ with the proper dispositions and under certain determined conditions acquires through the intervention of the Church, which, as minister of the redemption, authoritatively dispenses and applies the treasury of the satisfaction won by Christ and the saints" (Pope Paul VI, Apostolic Constitution on Indulgences).
Basically this means an indulgence is something that makes a punishment less severe. So if you were going to have 3 years in purgatory an indulgence worth three months would take off three months of your time in purgatory. These indulgences are granted by God and not by the church.
Partial indulgences take partial time off of a punishment for a forgiven sin. This could be days, weeks, months etc... A plenary indulgence removes ALL punishment deserved for a forgiven sin. No one but God knows for certain when a plenary indulgences is actually gained, because only he knows whether a person's dispositions are adequate.
One norm for such dispositions is that "all attachment to sin, even venial sin, be absent." If these dispositions are in any way less than complete, the indulgence will only be partial. The same provision applies to the three external conditions necessary to gain a plenary indulgence: sacramental confession, Eucharistic Communion, and prayer for the intentions of the Pope. If these conditions are not satisfied, an otherwise plenary indulgence becomes only partial. These conditions may be satisfied several days before or after the performance of the prescribed work, though preferably Communion should be received and the prayers offered for the Pope on the same day as the indulgenced work. A plenary indulgence can be gained only once a day.
Demons, exorcism, spiritual warfare questions?
Demonology (LINK)
Pop Culture:
IS THE FASTEST MAN IN THE WORLD CATHOLIC? (USAIN BOLT)
The Fastest Man in the World was wearing a gold Medal... DURING HIS RACE!
He hadn't even won the gold medal yet. How can this be?
It was a gold Miraculous Medal of our Lady!!!!!!! Pray for Usain! This is the fastest man in the world. Please pray that he uses his platform to promote Catholicism and convert and deepen people in their faith!
It's awesome to see fellow brothers in Christ out there in a secular world! And he is open about it. Every run he has his Miraculous Medal of our Lady on! Before each race he makes the sign of the cross and points upward as well.
Click here for my picture of it
Click this link for more info
He hadn't even won the gold medal yet. How can this be?
It was a gold Miraculous Medal of our Lady!!!!!!! Pray for Usain! This is the fastest man in the world. Please pray that he uses his platform to promote Catholicism and convert and deepen people in their faith!
It's awesome to see fellow brothers in Christ out there in a secular world! And he is open about it. Every run he has his Miraculous Medal of our Lady on! Before each race he makes the sign of the cross and points upward as well.
Click here for my picture of it
Click this link for more info