A controversy making the rounds on social media lately centers around the question of whether Democrat presidential candidate Joe Biden is Catholic or not.
Tellingly, it’s the Death Cult that’s staunchly defending Biden’s Catholic bona fides.
Take note that “devout” is a word the Cultists trot out whenever they want to provide cover for a wolf in sheep’s clothing within the Church. Their past association of it with heretics like Nancy Pelosi has robbed the term of any meaning except, “Death Cult plant”.
That hasn’t prevented the witches from trying, or the terminally oblivious within the Church from helping them muddy the waters.
This is a theological shell game. Yes, in onotlogical terms, Biden retains the indelible seal on his soul conferred at baptism. But giving a theological answer to a political question ignores the proper context.
In this case, the context is an ostensibly democratic election wherein citizens will vote for a candidate to represent them. Thus the whole point of CNN telling Catholics that Biden is one of them is to convince them he’ll advance their interests.
Now, all that’s necessary to show the absurdity of that claim is to point out that under Biden’s tenure as VP, the Little Sisters of the Poor were slapped with the HHS mandate that would have obliged them to pay for gravely evil contraceptives–had Trump not intervened, that is.
It’s no use arguing that Biden was powerless to stop the HHS mandate or that his views have since changed. Just last month, he promised to restore the mandate in grave violation of Church teaching.
That, and Biden’s support for abortion, are sound reasons for him to be barred from reception of the Eucharist–which sacrament Catholic priests and bishops have indeed denied him on more than one occasion.
And since he’s under minor excommunication until he publicly reverses his heretical positions and makes a valid confession, it’s hard to see how Biden could have kept the Third Precept of the Catholic Church.
Meaning that, while he retains the effects of baptism and confirmation, Biden remains in grave and persistent error that places him outside of full communion with the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.
Asserting that Biden would represent the interests of Catholics in full communion with the Church would be either laughably foolish or cynically manipulative.
If Biden and Pelosi are are Catholic, and you and I are Catholic, then I guess caliph-to-be Erdogan is also Catholic, as is George Soros. We are all Catholic now, which I guess is why Bergolio frowns upon evangelization.
Either they don't see the hypocrisy of insisting on the catholicity of the man who declared that black people who don't vote for him aren't black, which is deep irony, or they do, which is deeper cynicism.
It is so much easier to convert the nations if you just message the definition.
Though I am unsure if the Satanists are now Christians or not?
It would be nice if there were some kind of inquest that might be made to determine one's standing within the Church. Perhaps it could be run by the church, that way we could have clear answers on these issues, as opposed to the bloviations of the MSM.
Yeah, that would be pretty neato. Oh, well.
You mean bring back the inquisition and the index of forbidden books?
I'm becoming increasingly receptive.
xavier
I'm Protestant and STILL warming to the idea.
When atheists try to use the Salem Witch Trials as cudgels against all Christians, the proper Catholic response shouldn't be to join the dog pile, but to point out that our Inquisition rooted out and burned people who were actually guilty of the charges.
Yes, he's still Catholic. I think the people who feel compelled to point this out are worried about us falling into the Protestant error of thinking we "opt in" to the Church, not that "once in, always in," and are missing the point most of us really mean: we're sick of him and his supporters making him an example of actual Catholicism, rather than and exampled of a person who has pretty much abandoned Catholicism but wants to keep the cred.
Is Biden a candidate who happens to be Catholic? Yes. Is Biden a Catholic candidate? No.
Biden is as Catholic as he needs to be depending on the audience. During the primaries, that was not Catholic at all, as he was competing against other Death Cult members. Now that he has to compete for the normie vote, he's Catholic again. Which is another way of saying the only thing he worships is power.
As to claiming he was powerless as VP to stop the mandate, that doesn't sound right with regards to his own commercials. In them he was apparently responsible for everything good and great during the previous administration. That dark skinned fellow he used to hang with must have been his valet.
As I mentioned on Twitter, therein lies a white pill. Christians still have enough social capital that the Cultists feel the need to court us to win elections.
Indeed, that was actually a major point of friction between Obama and Biden in the run-up to the 2012 election. Obama was *furious* at Biden for explicitly noting Obama's support for Gay Marriage before the election. One of probably several reasons he had proxies discussing replacing Biden on the ticket.
I think we need to extend some charity to JD Flynn. His last episode of CNA Editor's Desk discussed Biden quite a bit. Biden is a Catholic, but a very bad one. Flynn goes through the various reasons why a Catholic should not (and cannot) vote for Biden, including abortion and the Little Sisters of the Poor. They even gave qualified praise to Pres. Trump. Flynn's main flaw is that he's too forgiving to his opponents and it can come off as lending support to someone he actually opposes.
That was the impression I got, which is why I chalked his tone-deaf comments up to obliviousness instead of malice.
Also, if he's going to give public instruction in the faith, he needs to bone up on his subject matter. In the same Twitter exchange excerpted above, he stated that there's "no way out" of being Catholic, which is objectively false.
I suppose this means Lutherans are Catholic now. He just created a whole other religion while still being a full participating member of another. Somehow.
Yeah, Flynn explains himself much better on his podcast than on twitter. I try to give him the benefit of the doubt when I disagree with his take on things.
Brian: “he stated that there's "no way out" of being Catholic, which is objectively false.”
Ah yes, but since Vatican II, there is neither apostates nor infidels now. We are all the same now according to Galatians 3. Judge lest Ye be judged, Brian! We are in the new Springtime! We have sung a new Church into being!
(For those unfamiliar with me, I’m kidding of course. Please don’t burn me as a witch.)
We're told the wheat and the tares will grow together until the harvest.
It's not for me to judge the vitality of another man's faith, but Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi are the kinds of Catholics who would drive me away from seeking communion with Rome. I see literally nothing of Christ in them. I'm glad I know some Catholics who are gracious, unapologetic, admirable, and in whom I think do see the fruit of the Spirit.
Exactly. People keep missing the context, which is Biden's suitability to represent Catholics in office. A cursory glance at his actual governing record proves beyond doubt that he's not. So in the political sense, he cannot be called a Catholic candidate.
No doubt the same folks who make much of Biden for being Catholic will not hesitate to call into question the authenticity of Mike Pence's faith, on the basis of his pro-life, pro-family politics. Naturally, the man whose politics are actually congruent with the faith he professes has (somehow) betrayed that faith, while the man whose politics contradict the firm stances of the church he claims is its best representative in the 2020 presidential race. Also, 2 + 2 = 5, because racism.
Place yet bets folks. What percentage of Catholics will vote Biden? I'm actually going for the low side: 40%.
The number of Catholics in full communion with the Church who vote Dem will remain low. Latin American immigrants who've reached voting age will bump up the Dems' numbers among nominal Catholics.
This is more of the post-modern nonsense of words meaning whatever you want. If I say I'm a Catholic, then I am. I can go through all the rigmarole of becoming one (or not!) and not believe a lick of it, but if I say I am one then that means its true.
This isn't 1996 anymore, and you don't live in a world where you can afford assuming your neighbor is honest. Your actions define you, and trusting words over action is a fool's errand.
Another reason why Flynn speaks clumsily when he says being Catholic is up to what God does, not what the believer does. Receiving a sacrament without the proper disposition can in fact vitiate it.
As a Latter Day Saint who has to deal with Romney, Jeff Flake, and Harry Reid, you have my sympathies.
Thank you. Make sure to pick a handle next time (see left sidebar).
As a newcomer to Christianity here’s a question i have: salvation by grace not through works, yay or nay?
CrusaderSacren
Both. It's through your works that grace comes. And grace sanctified your works. Checkout Tim Staples at the Catholic answers podcast archives. He's discussed this time. Karlos Broussard too I think.
xavier
Another school of thought says that you are definitely saved by grace, but a lack of works is a sign that you have not accepted grace and have little or no faith. Works do not grant salvation, but are instead evidence of salvation.
Faith without works is dead.
I think for the most part the major Protestants/Reformed and the Catholics agree salvation itself is by grace alone; but that grace impels the believer to the good works he is intended for. Now, whether you have an overflowing joy in works from the get-go, or you put yourself to the task as a dutiful son of God, I think is an individual thing, but you are now made for those good works and they for you; to avoid them is over time tantamount to self-mutilation.
If I mis-speak in any way, I defer to those wiser.
James 2
Yes, the Catholic Church firmly rejects Pelagianism.
I can't see how if you were filled with the Holy Spirit why you wouldn't want to do something to glorify the experience and spread it to others.
Whenever I heard other Christians devalue works all I can picture are a bunch of boomers yelling bootstraps from their yachts. It's a way of feeling better about yourself for hoarding talents.
I would say that while my tradition sternly rejects works as being the saviour, they all in my experience place an intense value on works in exactly the sense you describe. It would be very discouraging to be around people who truly disparaged works.
As a former Prot, my take wasn’t that Prots, at least the Baptists and the “non-denom” Evangelicals I ran with, reject works…but that they lie about what the Catholic Church actually teaches. I’d hear “Catholics believe salvation comes from works (alone).” Completely false, but part of that comes from some awful book full of lies on Catholicism that is used in many of the seminaries.
Rodney Stark, a non-Catholic and possibly not a Christian (I think he recently said he believes Christ is real but didn’t mention affiliation to a Christian sect) is an academic who wrote a book about the lies still said about Catholicism and traces them to the wars of religion of the Reformation. Considering God hates bearing false witness, you’d think we’d bury the hatch by now and have a serious discussion in order to fulfill Christ’s last prayer about us “being one as you (God) and I (Christ) are one.”
"By their fruits you shall know them" applies to arguments as well. It's instructive in this regard to see that all of the Black Legend anti-Catholic propaganda originally peddled by Protestant colonial powers are now used as bludgeons to strike at the whole Body of Christ.
Which in turn has led to people like me saying of specific allegations against Catholics, "that sounds both prima facie unlikely, and very familiar…"
My conclusion has been that any genuine commitment to Christ may be expected to result in better-than-average behaviour in any respect, taken across large numbers, and THAT rule of thumb has proven fairly reliable.
I have had discussions about this and other matters with those that taught me, primarily my parents; and while they retain a cultural suspicion of the Catholic church as a physical political heirarchy, they seem perfectly open to amendment as and when I can pass it on, from conversations like this and from Edward Feser's blog.
For the argument of unity, in my view and in humility regarding my own wisdom; if a foot is carrying my body along the road, saying to it "you are not my foot" and cutting it off would be precipitous at best. If a tongue is saying "Submit to Christ, obey God, repent of your sins and be saved", then I should neither silence it nor say in my heart that it serves the Devil, let alone try to cut it out.
Besides, ours is an old faith and the schism relatively young. Give it another two or three hundred years to work itself out.
For the record, this is not intended to discourage anyone from Catholicism or from criticism of poor teaching, or again, from whatever it is or was that you understood as necessary for conforming your mind with your faith and both with the will of God. If that is to be more Catholic more of the time then Amen and Amen! Meanwhile I am reminded that I am a Baptist who has never been baptized. And while it may seem odd that Mr Niemeier (and Durandel) have encouraged me to be "better at protestant", you have, and I thank you.
For my part, I thank you for your readership and your thoughtful comments.
Also, though I know something of the Baptist position on baptism, I strongly recommend you to receive the sacrament as soon as your conscience allows, my friend. Perilous times are coming.
@Wreckage,
I grew up Baptist and only began thinking of baptism as a sacrament after becoming a Methodist. The funny thing about Baptists and baptism is that the sacramental nature of it is right under the surface, if you'll pardon the pun. We are buried with Christ, to rise with Him and to walk in the newness of life.
By all means, be baptized as soon as you can. It serves as a public profession of faith. Your may find your walk with Christ deepens after you have taken that step.