Becoming Catholic #34: Jewish Roots of Catholic Authority, Part 4—What Was the Jewish Understanding of Jesus’s Words About “Binding and Loosing”?

The Jewish understanding of the terms “bind and loose” is essentially the same as, or compatible with, the Catholic understanding of the authority given to the Apostles and their successors to teach and govern the Church with God’s authority and ratification.

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Becoming Catholic #33: Family Matters, Part 1—Christ and the Apostles Forbade Divorce and Remarriage

The biblical case that Jesus and the Apostles forbade divorce and remarriage is incredibly strong. As a protestant exploring the ancient Faith, I discovered that the Catholic Church alone has adhered to this clear teaching.

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Becoming Catholic #30: The Prophecy That Convinced Me the “Apocrypha” Was Part of the Bible

Not only does the Wisdom prophecy describe Jesus’ claims and His crucifixion in remarkable detail, but it quotes His enemies, and describes their folly in the same way as St. Paul does.

The only other Messianic prophecy I knew of that came even close to this level of detail and clarity was Isaiah 53. So how could one be Scripture, and the other not?

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Becoming Catholic #28: Former Calvinist Theologian and Historian Set Out to Disprove the Catholic Church, and Becomes Catholic—The Story of Dr. David Anders

Few conversion stories had as big of an effect on my own conversion as that of Dr. David Anders. Before becoming Catholic, he was a Calvinist theologian and historian who had set out to defend the reformation and disprove Catholicism. But after years of studying the sources, Anders himself ended up Catholic.

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Becoming Catholic #26: Jewish Roots of Catholic Authority, Part 3—“Apostolic Succession” in the Old Testament

While the ancient Christians were absolutely unanimous on the doctrine of Apostolic Succession, many protestants claimed it was absent from the New Testament. However, when I realized that the principle of succession was so thoroughly established in the Old Testament for priests, tribal heads, judges, kings, and even some prophets, and that this was confirmed by extra-biblical Jewish sources, I knew this was the default.

Therefore, since Christianity does not abolish, but fulfills the Jewish religion, the burden of proof is on protestants to show that the New Testament does not speak of or exemplify the principle of succession via Apostolic Succession. In fact, given its ubiquity throughout the Old Testament, the burden is on protestants to show that the New Testament explicitly denies the principle of succession, which is the norm and default by which the government of God’s people is perpetuated through time.

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Destruction of Empire #4: Polybius—When Empires Get Too Powerful and Too Rich for Their Own Good (Greece/Rome)

The ancient Greek statesman and historian, Polybius, offered a penetrating prediction about what was in store for the Roman Republic once it attained absolute supremacy.

His prediction turned out to be accurate, which makes it as relevant today as it was 2,200 years ago.

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Becoming Catholic #25: Protestants: “The Church is morally corrupt!” Pope: “Correct. We repent!”

Growing up a protestant, I was accustomed to hearing how bad the Catholic Church was before the “reformation.” But when I dove into the details myself, I found a fascinating story my fellow protestants had never told me about. Just two years after Martin Luther was excommunicated, and before some of Europe’s most powerful leaders, the Catholic Pope openly admitted how deeply moral corruption had infected the Church, and that much of it stemmed from the papacy itself.

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Becoming Catholic #24: Where is the True Church? A Typological Connection Between Ancient Israel and the Catholic Church

The Church’s structure, like that of ancient Israel, is very simple, and straightforward. All you have to do is answer “yes” to two questions: (1) Are you in one of the tribes (are you under an Apostle/his successor)? And (2) Is your tribe in communion with the head tribe (is your Apostle/bishop in communion with Peter/his successor)?

That’s it.

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