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Streamed on: Apr 30, 8:01 pm EDT

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Come by and enjoy the wonderful mind and insights of the great John C. Wright - sci-fi and fantasy author and Catholic thinker.

Steven N. Gosney / John C. Wright: What do Catholics actually believe?
It seems there are quite a number of folks who seems to want to misrepresent Catholic beliefs -- some pushback is in order. The critical error in many "Bible based" churches is the source of the statement of faith, which is the Church. Did Christ write a gospel? He did not. He started a Church. For example, all mainstream Christians in the West believe, such as monogamy or trinitarianism, which are also not in the Bible. I want to be part of Jesus' ministry and church, which generated the books of the New Testament.
The Nicene Creed is a wonderful and concise statement of faith. There is nothing all Christians believe in, but if we take the Nicene Creed as the beginning of mere Christianity, or standard Christianity, we will not go far wrong.
The Nicene Creed
“I believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.
I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages. God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father; through him all things were made.
For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven, and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate, he suffered death and was buried, and rose again on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and his kingdom will have no end.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets.
I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.
I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.”
A certain X / twitter user posted that we both responded to that had several points, each of which was a false characterization of Catholicism.
> > > Here is the post:
CC States: Applying the concept of "know them by their fruits," CC states commented as follows:
1. Popular views of Catholicism. “Hollywood, the media, and the elite push Catholicism if any Christianity at all. You almost never see a movie made about a Baptist or Lutheran hero. The people pushing it from here seem to have the worst fruits.”
2. Mary and Catholic witnessing. “People on X talk about Mary and the Catholic Church far more often than they do Jesus Christ. I don't think I've ever seen a Catholic witnessing to someone on X.”
3. Papal Infallibility and Church Corruption. Does the Pope endorse non-biblical things like getting into Heaven without Jesus (such as an atheist) or blessing gay marriages?
4. Faith versus Works. “The bible says, "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." but Catholics add a bunch of ANDs – AND do works AND not die with mortal sin AND be baptized AND be Catholic AND receive the Eucharist, etc. as if to say the Bible is inaccurate or incomplete.”
5. Purgatory. CC states: “Purgatory is not in the bible. Nor are plenary indulgences. Nor is Papal infallibility. Nor are many other Catholic practices. They purposefully and obviously misinterpret passages to make it look biblical, but a plain and clear reading says otherwise. They act as the Pharisees we were warned about by creating man's law. Like wolves in sheep's clothing.”
6. Prayers to Saints. “I don't see anyone praying to the dead in the Bible. I do see it clearly and obviously marked as forbidden. I am still open to the idea that I might be wrong about being Independent Baptist and God might want me somewhere else, but so far I see the Baptists holding fast to the word of God and the Catholics holding fast to the word of men.”
GK Chesterton's Three Stage of Catholicism (First, you give it a chance, second, you are impressed by the age, depth, and profundity of its thought, finally, you are repelled and try to resist the pull of spiritual gravity-- but by then it is too late.)