I heard that the founder of the Jehovah Witness Religion was
a criminal. Is that true?
Charles Taze Russell, who died in 1916, invented the Jehovah Witness Religion.
He was divorced by his wife for his cruelty and infidelity. He called himself
"pastor" and was convicted of fraud in his sale to farmers of "miracle
wheat", the "millennial bean" and "fantastic cotton seed".
He also sold a "cancer cure", which was a paste of chloride of zinc.
Most people who belong to the Jehovah Witness Religion have no idea who founded
their sect nor anything about him.
Reprinted from February 7, 1997
In a recent column Ann Landers claimed that Jesus founded "Christianity"
and that all Christian denominations can claim Him as their founder. What
do you think of this?
Rubbish! All other manifestations of Christianity on earth can trace their founding and origin to some purely man-made source and person. Only the Catholic Church was founded by Jesus Christ, Who promised that the gates of hell would never prevail against her (Matthew 16:13-19) and that He would be with her to the end of the world (Matthew 28:20). In that column Ann Landers, who is said to be Jewish, manifested profound historical and religious ignorance.
Reprinted from February 7, 1997
Outside of Catholic
marriages, which marriages does the Catholic Church recognize as valid marriages
(Lutheran, Methodist, etc?)
People who are not Catholic (and never have been) can and do enter marriages that are licit and valid, and binding for life in the eyes of the Catholic Church, provided that there is no obstacle (such as a previous marriage) to the union. Non-Catholics who are not baptized do not receive a sacrament (since no sacraments are valid except for the baptized) but enter a solemn, sacred and binding marriage contract between a man, a woman and God. Baptized non-Catholics possibly receive a sacrament, but since most Protestant religions do not recognize marriage as a sacrament, but only a "holy ordinance" or something like that, it would be doubtful if a non-Catholic who did not recognize matrimony as a sacrament would actually then receive a sacrament. In any event, for such people marriage is at least a solemn, lifelong, binding and sacred contract.
Reprinted from February 14, 1997
A friend of mine who is a Christian Scientist told me that
they do not have marriages in their churches. Why not?
Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy, the founder and inventor of the Christian Science Religion (which is neither Christian nor scientific), considered marriage "legalized lust," although she herself was married three times. She called children "errors." Christian Scientists are usually married by Justices of the Peace or friendly Protestant ministers.
Reprinted from February 21, 1997
Does the Jewish Religion
have female rabbis?
The Jewish Religion is roughly divided into three segments - the Reformed, the Conservative and the Orthodox. These groups, however, are sometimes divided into various factions. The Reformed segment and most of the Conservative segment admit women into the rabbinate, while the various Orthodox factions allow only a man to be a rabbi. It should be remembered that a Jewish rabbi is not the same as a Jewish priest in the Old Testament, which required, among other things, physical male secent from Aaron and his family in the tribe of Levi. It might be noted also that many Jewish people today are secular, that is, they really do not pertain to any of the three segments of the Jewish Religion mentioned above, although secular Jews will often retain some ancestral customs and cultural ties to the religion.
Reprinted from December 19, 1997
When did the Eastern
Orthodox Church begin?
There really is no "Eastern Orthodox Church", but rather, there is a collection of autonomous and autocephalous churches that go by this name. They originated in a schism or break off, when they separated from the Catholic Church. This was begun by the Patriarch of Constantinople named Photius in the 9th century and later completed under another patriarch named Michael Caerularius in the 11th century. For a brief time at the Council of Florence the Eastern Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople submitted in obedience to the bishop of Rome and accepted fully the doctrine and discipline of the Catholic Church, but this joining to the Catholic Church later was repudiated by some of the Eastern Orthodox monks and people Constantinople (now Istanbul) again went into schism, separated from the Church founded by Christ. The Eastern Orthodox churches, which are not in union with the See of Peter should not be confused with the churches of the Eastern Rites of the Catholic Church. There are millions of Catholics of the Eastern Rites, in union with Rome, who are just as Catholic as those of the Latin or Western Rite.
Reprinted from January 3, 1997