The Our Father and repeated prayers
I think the cure for ignorance is education. I was watching this (Here is why Crimea would never be a part of russia [FACTS ONLY] and please, watch it)! And, while, otherwise a very good documentary, it seems like the Crimean Khan’s descendant (If I am remembering correctly) thinks Catholics aren’t Christian. It is possible that the translation is wrong, or that he misspoke. Okay, I’ll grant that possibility.
(Before we get started, check out my previous article, Take your kids to Jesus!), and check out my latest on Locals; Coffee and Christianity: Episode 66: Woe to you who are rich!
But, the thing is, the reason that he is telling people this, because people have been so brainwashed by Russian imperialist and communist propaganda on this topic, that they think Crimea has always been part of Russia (and, I remind you, still isn’t part of Russia, from a legal standpoint).
Of course, this can backfire. People can (and often do), double down on their ignorance.
There are some people, that no matter what you tell them, or how much you tell them, will always insist that they’re right.
So, you can say, “No, Catholics do not worship the Virgin Mary”, someone, because they’ve already made up their mind, finds some obscure work that says Catholics worship the Virgin Mary, because the word “worship” used to have a very different meaning in English. (And still has that older meaning in judicial systems of some commonwealth countries).
Some people, no matter what you tell them, are going to make nonsense claims like “Catholics worship a cookie”, because a Chick Tract says it (I think it’s quite appropriate that the most common place I find them is public restrooms, and as for Mr. Chick, Meet Jack Chick, seriously, I’m thinking about starting a collection).
One of the weirdest I’ve seen, is that Catholics pray to Saints instead of God,
What do we begin our prayers with? “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit”. We literally invoke the Trinity. Here’s the order of Mass; Order of Mass
And this took me about five seconds to look up. Maybe someone is unfamiliar with Catholic terminology (I should point out, that even some Catholics are unaware that not all Catholics call their main liturgy “Mass”, Eastern Catholics may say “Divine Liturgy” or “Qurbana”).
Maybe they believe that Catholics don’t read the Bible. Well, I never understood that one. See here; Daily Readings, here,Melkite Daily Readings, or the fact I own about 20 different Bibles.
It’s weird, because I’ve simultaneously heard that Catholics took the Bible so literally that they believe the sun revolves around the earth (which, to be honest, I don’t see that in Joshua 10:13), yet I’ve also been told Catholics don’t read the Bible.
Well, which is it?! Is it that Catholics don’t read the Bible, or that they take it too literally?!
Both those things can’t be true!
For the record, anecdotal experience, is that Protestants don’t know the Bible very well. They know verses, but, not in context.
Now, you may be wondering why I care so much, and why I even bother writing about the things I do.
Over.
And over.
And over.
And over.
Again.
Because, Truth matters And, as 1 Peter 3:15 (ESV with Deuterocanon, 2017, Crossway) says, “but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect”.
Adam Charles Hovey is the host of the weekly Bible study, "Coffee and Christianity", and is the founder of the Catholicism, news, and whatever community