Catholic-Protestant Debate

[Editor's note: the following letter includes responses to the viewer following each of her questions, which appear here in italics.]

Dear Meagan:

You write:

I'm writing to you as a 9th grade homeschool student because the other day in one of my co-op classes we got into a debate about the books of the Bible and other Catholic-Protestant issues. I was wondering if you could answer some of the questions that I could not answer.

1) First of all why do the Protestants not have the Apocrypha? And how do I explain why Catholics do to Protestants?

Here's an article I wrote on this subject some time ago.

2) Second, the teacher said that the Ten Commandments that the Protestants have are the Commandments that the Jews were first given and the Catholics have different ones suggesting that ours are wrong.

Here is a piece about that topic.

3) What is the Teaching about Mary as the co-redeemer? She said that Catholics believe that Mary is our Savior?

The title “co-Redemptrix” is one that has been used by Catholics from time to time, but it is not formally taught by the Catholic Church and the present pope, Benedict, discourages its use since it can easily be misunderstand. Properly understood, it does not mean that Mary is our savior, but rather than Mary — like all of us — participates in Christ's work of redeeming the world by His grace. As the song says, “You're the only Jesus some people will ever meet.” Mary said “Yes” to God and became the person through whom Jesus came into the world. In the same way, our little “yesses” to God are the doorways through which Christ's redemption and power come to our neighbors.

4) The teacher tried to say that there were different denominations within the Catholic Church, is this true and (this is my own question) why is the Eastern Orthodox Church considered part of the Catholic Church even though they have a different pope?

There are not different denominations in the Catholic Church, but there are different rites (i.e. ways of celebrating the sacraments) such as the Latin Rite, the Byzantine, Ruthenian, Ukrainian, etc. There are also different orders, societies and so forth that are devoted to different missions (such as the Dominicans, the Missionaries of Charities, the Franciscans, the Jesuits, and so forth). The Eastern Orthodox Church is actually not part of the Catholic Church. They are still out of communion with one another. However, the Byzantine Rite of the Catholic Church is composed of those Orthodox who returned to communion with the Catholic Church a few centuries ago.

5) How do I explain why we pray to saints even though God is already in us why do we need them to get closer to Him?

Try this.

6) Did Peter consider himself to be the first pope?

For the evidence for the papacy and its descent from Peter, go here.

7) Why do Protestants use the Hebrew text when Catholics use the Greek and that is what Jesus used, and how can I tell them that that's what Jesus used?

See the article on “Five Myths About Seven Books” mentioned above in response to the first question.

8) If the Protestants believe that they were the original church then where do they say that the Catholics came from?

That depends on the Protestant. It will be a different story depending on who you ask.

9) How do you defend the Catholic Church in light of some people who claim the Catholic faith, and yet espouse teachings not in line with the Magisterium of the Church?

The same way you defend the truthfulness of the Apostles, even though one of them was Judas Iscariot. The whole reason the Catholic Church has an authoritative teaching office (known as the Magisterium) is because there are always going to be Catholics who will say cockamamie things that the Church rejects, yet who will claim what they are saying is Catholic.

We will be meeting again on Monday and resuming this discussion so if you have a chance to respond before then, I would greatly appreciate it!

Thanks and Love in Christ,

Meagan Milstead

Hope this helps!

Mark Shea

Senior Content Editor

Catholic Exchange