When was the Assemblies of God Religion founded?
The Assemblies of God Religion was founded in 1914 in Hot Springs, Ark. It is the largest denomination of Protestant Pentecostals. There are dozens of various Protestant Pentecostal Religions, Churches, and sects, which are in various states of contradicting each other, although they all claim, as do all the various Protestant Churches, to be based on the Bible. At the present time the Assemblies of God Church has its headquarters in Springfield, Mo. It is highly organized and is growing very rapidly. It makes very few doctrinal or moral demands on its adherents. Like most Protestant Pentecostal Churches it emphasizes the emotional and sentimental, claims to have healings, speaking in tongues and other miraculous things going on within it quite regularly, and is basically fundamentalistic, fideistic, and theologically quite shallow. It has strong appeal to people looking for emotional satisfaction in their religion and people who are not too interested in the ration al aspects and the historical realities of Christian belief. It has its main college in Springfield: Central Bible College.
Reprinted November 12, 1999
I recently received at work a pamphlet entitled "Is the Virgin Mary Dead
or Alive?" from a Seventh Day Adventist. She also told me that we Catholics
do not read the Bible. Should I have read her pamphlet? I just threw it away
and told her that Catholics belong to the one true Church.
You did the right thing. The pamphlet you refer to is not only polemical but also anti-Catholic. Some Seventh Day Adventist people are friendly, but the literature produced by their Church is often hatefully anti-Catholic. It seems they indoctrinate many of their members with such attitudes. The Seventh Day Adventist Religion is a type of Protestant, man-made construction, only founded in the last century in the United States. It is a result of misinterpreting the Bible and of their trying in vain to calculate exactly the time of the Second Coming of Christ. Many Seventh Day Adventists regard the trances, visions and writings of their "Prophetess," Ellen White, as equal to the Bible.
Reprinted November 19, 1999
Does the new agreement between some of the Lutheran churches and the Catholic
Church about Justification mean that there is any change in Catholic doctrine?
No. The Holy See has said clearly that all the teachings and the anathemas of the Council of Trent stand, are in no way contradicted by the agreement, and remain doctrinally correct and binding for all Catholics' faith.
Reprinted October 15, 1999
Where can I find the rules for intercommunion with non-Catholics. This can
be a source of pain and misunderstanding for all.
Every "liturgy aid" or "missalette" printed in the United States has a very clear explanation of the discipline and laws of the Catholic Church about these matters somewhere in it (often in the inside of the front or back cover). There is also something of an explanation of these matters printed there too. This is printed there by order of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops of the United States. I would also strongly recommend you read the Catechism of the Catholic Church, numbers 1398-1401 and numbers 820-822. Also, your parish priest will be able to answer some of your questions in these matters. The Holy Eucharist is a sign, among many other things, of a basic unity of faith, which, unfortunately, cannot be placed authenticalloy where such unity does not exist.
Reprinted September 10, 1999
If a Catholic quits the Catholic Church and joins an- other Church, can he
get to heaven?
The Second Vatican Council teaches what the Church has always taught, namely, "Whosoever, knowing that the Catholic Church was made necessary by God through Jesus Christ, would refuse to enter her or to remain in her cannot be saved."
Reprinted April 9, 1999
Is it all right for a Catholic to receive communion in a non-Catholic church,
even though he would not really believe in it?
It is my opinion that it would be seriously wrong for a Catholic to receive communion in a non-Catholic church, even if invited to do so. It would symbolize adherence to the non-Catholic religion or, at a minimum, a measure of religious indifference. Some few non-Catholic religions may have valid orders (for instance, some of the Eastern Orthodox, the Polish National Church, etc.), because they have maintained correctly apostolic succession when they broke away from the Catholic Faith, and hence have a valid Eucharist. However, intercommunion even with those denominations is forbidden to Catholics. There are some rare circumstances when members of such churches may receive Holy Communion in a Catholic church. These things are explained by order of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops in all the missalettes and liturgy aids printed in the U.S. Before being involved in all such matters, it is always swell to confer with your parish priest or confessor.
Reprinted from January 22, 1999