Arguing with a Non-Catholic

Just a few years ago, I reaffirmed my faith in God. My participation in the church choir helped better my understanding of my faith. As a Catholic, I also believe in the intercession of Mary and the saints. Non-Catholic sects perceive it as worshipping Mary and the saints instead of God; I would like to point out that it doesn’t work that way.

I’ve had at least one encounter with atheists challenging Christians to debates. At first, I thought it was difficult, but I spoke too soon. It’s a little more challenging when a fellow Christian—non-Catholic—criticizes Catholicism and brands it as a phony. There’s one Christian YouTuber than outright bashed Catholicism on his MySpace blog. I was so not pleased. Since I don’t have a MySpace account, I commented him on his YouTube profile. I was relatively calm, but I can not stand that he accused Catholics of worshipping Mary or the Pope, and also said that the Catholic Church is a phony Church made by man, which is ridiculous.

“Don’t bash something you don’t understand,” I told him. He apologized right away, and pointed out his views according to the Scriptures, which is perfectly fine. But I noticed through the Biblical quotes that he posted that he has a rather fundamentalist perception of Christianity and the Church. He showed me that the True Church is the one that will come on the Apocalypse, the New Jerusalem, according to the Book of Revelation.

I understand his views. But I think he missed out on a few basic facts:

Christianity as an established religion began with the Roman Catholic Church in Rome, when Emperor Constantine legalized Christianity and made it the official religion in Rome. The Greek Orthodox Church kinda made a big deal about it, but since Rome was the one in power at the time, the Roman Catholic Church was recognized as the origin of Christianity as we know it today.

But that’s not saying that St. Peter (who is widely recognized as the first Pope because Jesus appointed him as the Rock or cornerstone) or Constantine established the Church. Jesus is the true Founder of the Church; He is the Head, and the Church His Body; the children of God, the “Beautiful Bride [and] Body of Christ; one flesh abiding, strong and unifying.” (From “Beautiful Bride” by Flyleaf) St. Peter and the succeeding Popes are just His earthly representatives.

The YouTuber did not argue further; neither did I. As far as I’m concerned, (and I’m sure he feels the same way, too) we shouldn’t even be arguing in the first place because we worship the same God; we are both His children. Although his insinuations still gets my blood boiling, I am willing to keep my cool. “Peace be with you, my brother in Christ,” I told him on my last PM. To my surprise, he was just as willing to make peace with me; he added me as a friend on YouTube. I accepted.

I hope that’s that.