Editor, Times-Union: The Old Testament is fulfilled in Christ and the New Testament proceeds from Christ through His very own one, holy, Catholic and apostolic church. Therefore, Ms. Clemmer is correct, for without Christ the Bible is a meaningless human endeavor. Mr. Hite's quotations do not prove his point; they prove hers.
Mr. Hite's other attacks on the church and Ms. Clemmer are equally unfounded. William Tyndale was a Catholic, a Franciscan priest who was put to death by Henry VIII, and this occurred after Henry had made himself the head of his own brand new church. These facts about Tyndale were conveniently omitted in Foxes Book of Martyrs.
The Catholic Wycliffe's remains were cast out of consecrated ground because of the repugnance of his heresy. No matter. The real issue is this: does human agency detract from the perfections of God in the Most Blessed Trinity, as he has revealed himself through the Catholic Church?
No. Mr. Hite doesn't say which of the many versions of the Bible he considers infallible but it appears that he, like Ms.Grimm and others, are not terribly discerning on this point. Otherwise they might wonder why their Protestant versions are lacking the seven Deutero-Canonical books in the Old Testament that are in the Catholic Bible and appeared in the 1611 King James Version, but not in subsequent versions. They might also wonder why their New Testaments were translated to fit the competing agendas of the day, rather than the faithful translation of the Vulgate. Their Bibles lack completeness and accuracy; even so, many Protestants have arrived at the truth. If they act on the divine inspiration of the Holy Ghost, they become Catholics.
How do I know? In a roundabout way, that is just what I did. For six years I church shopped, trying to find a spiritual home. While I met some very nice people, they could not answer the simplest questions. They often sidestepped my questions by making derogatory references to the Catholic Church. The pastors of these poor souls are truly blind guides. One evangelical went so far as to say that Jesus didn't mean what he said so the Catholics had to be wrong. Well, there are roughly 20,000 words in the gospel of St. John, about 19,950 more than the Protestants like to quote. That is just one of many reasons why I returned to the church of my baptism, which took place way back when, before Vatican II. Then from the modern Catholic liturgy that I assure you has been protestantized, I, by sheer grace, managed to find the Mass of the saints, the Mass of all time - the Tridentine Mass. Thanks be to God.
At http://olrl.org/, one can find the booklet "The Catholic Church Proved by the Protestant Bible," and other interesting material. There is also an online Catholic Encyclopedia, NewAdvent.org, that provides a more balanced history on the Eastern rite than the interpretation submitted by Mr. Trolinger.
Kathy Kurosky Warsaw via e-mail
Question Leaders
Editor, Times-Union: I'm not an American who believes that it is patriotic to blindly follow our Congress and president.
I'm an American who believes in questioning our leaders, particularly when lives are at stake.
The following quote is from Republican Theodore Roosevelt, an editorial in the Kansas City Star May 7, 1919.
"To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public."
It's time for the American public to stop being "sheepeople." We are the country, we are the government and we have a responsibility to speak out.
