James: "(Holy Communion) could not be a sacrifice if Jesus
was not there."
Scott: Yes, it could still be a sacrifice of bread
and wine, but it is much, much more. As stated
above, it IS the Body and Blood of Christ after it is
consecrated by the words that Jesus commanded us to use.
James: "Uses Jewish symbols to confect the Holy Communion."
Scott: Yes? And there's a problem with this? God uses
symbols to prefigure the fulfillment of prophecy throughout
the Old Testament. Hence, the symbolism of the Jewish
elements is:
The Spotless Lamb
The bitter herbs
| The Blood used to mark those whom Death will Passover.
| The bread and wine of the Seder
| |
James: "Anything that would divert attention from His Death
is to be abandoned."
Scott: The Mass does not divert from His Death! The Mass is
the re-presentation of His Death in an unbloody manner. It is
in the Mass that He is offered up for us and that we receive
Him. It is in the Mass that we are "marked" with His Body,
Blood, Soul and Divinity, as in the Passover, so that we are
protected against the Death of the soul.
James: (need more reference here - need to listen to the tape again). He quotes part of John 6, but stops short of the demand to eat His Flesh...
James: Augustine teaches that there is no more sacrifice,
but the Sacrifice of Christ is commemorated.
Scott: (need to look up references)
James: Worship of the Host, preservation in a tabernacle,
processions, etc. all began about the same time as the
teaching of transubstantiation.
Scott: (need to look for earlier sources)
James: "Why don't we have stories of Eucharistic Miracles
in the third century (or prior)?
Scott: Because God uses miracles as a sign. As doubts may
have crept in to believers, He provided them with a miracle.
Evidently, prior to the third century, no such miracles
were deemed necessary by God.
James: "Is Jesus presented as a perfect sacrifice in the
book of Hebrews?"
Scott: Yes! And the Sacrifice of the Mass is no different!
A Catholic is perfected by the Mass, but if he stumbles then
he is no longer perfect. It is not the Mass that is less
than perfect, but the man.
James: "Do you remember your sins when you go to Mass?"
Scott: This was a "gotcha" question. James wants us to
say "yes" to that question so that he can say that we are
then being distracted from the death of Christ and the true
nature of the Gospel, that our sins are washed away. (I need
to get more on this that he states in his concluding remarks).
James: "Does God save, or does man allow God to save?"
Scott: This is another "gotcha" question that James
thinks the Catholic cannot answer without giving a
Calvinistic response. Well, we have to disappoint Dr.
White here. Man does not "allow" God to do anything; quite
the contrary. God saves us, but He also allows us to
refuse His Gift! This is called Free Will. If we had
no choice in the matter, then God would choose, these
puppets over here to be saved, and those puppets over
there to be burned. If man has no choice in the matter
then all we are is His puppets. God desires that we
love, honor and obey Him - there is none of that in
someone who has been chosen to love, honor and obey!
Can you force your child to love you? No! If a parent
were to try this, the child might submit, for a period of
time, but ultimately would rebel and harbor hate - the
exact opposite of what the parent's goal is.
James: (repeats) The use of a tabernacle to store the
reserved Hosts is not practiced until the definition
of transubstantiation.
Scott: Prior to the use of the tabernacle, the Host
was completely consumed at each Mass. There was no
"reserve."
James: "If the Presence of Jesus Christ in the Mass
perfects, then why do you need so many visits?" (I
need to hear the tape again to get the exact wording).
Is the Presence of Jesus incapable of perfecting
those who go to Mass?
Scott: How many times did Judas Iscariot come before
Jesus Christ Himself, and yet remained "imperfected?"
How many of His "disciples" turned from Him and
"walked with Him no more" over the teaching that they
must eat His Flesh? Was Jesus incapable of "perfecting"
them?
There's more still reviewing the tapes...