Dear Catholic Exchange:
Why do Catholics use other books for information? Why not the Word of God? Why do they still use the apocrypha? You should be going by the Word of God, not man-made tradition and customs. Also why don’t you teach the Word of God in mass? Teach people the Bible, not tradition. Sorry if I’ve offended the Catholic faith. Maybe if you taught more about Bible teaching in church, instead of tradition, people would not leave the Catholic Church and go to Bible-study churches. And I believe you should let priests marry so you would not have so much corruption in your Church. Stop adding doctrines all the time and just teach the Word of God. Forget about the Council of Trent.
Nickelle
Dear Nickelle:
Catholics use the books the apostles used. For more information on the deuterocanonical books that Protestants removed from the Bible, go here, 5 Myths about 7 Books.
As to the use of Tradition, the issue is not that Catholics rely on it and Protestants don't. The issue is that Catholics rely on it and know they do, while many Protestants (including you) rely on it and don't know they do.
Here is a chapter from my book on Sacred Tradition — By What Authority?: An Evangelical Discovers Catholic Tradition — which demonstrates the Protestant reliance on Sacred Tradition when reading Scripture and tackling various essential Protestant teachings.
I'm not sure what priestly celibacy has to do with corruption, since all Christian churches struggle with corruption and most of them do not have a celibate priesthood.
Thanks for the advice on teaching the word of God. If you ever should happen to go to a Catholic Mass, you will find that there are at least three readings from Scripture in every Mass, not to mention the fact that the rest of the liturgy is deeply rooted in Scriptural teaching.
It really is a good idea to have some idea of what you are talking about before you write a total stranger to berate him about his faith.
If you like, you can send me your snail-mail address and I will send you a copy of By What Authority?, free of charge. You may be very surprised about how much Jesus and the apostles relied on Sacred Tradition. It's your own “Bible only” doctrine that is the departure from the teaching Scripture. I urge you: give up this man-made tradition and return to the teaching of the Gospel.
Mark Shea
Senior Content Editor
Catholic Exchange
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