CatholicAnswersLive

Callers choose the topics during Open Forum, peppering our guests with questions on every aspect of Catholic life and faith, the moral life, and even philosophical topics that touch on general religious belief.   Questions Covered: 02:42  - Hypothetically, in the future, if there was a secular utopian future with no suffering, pain, or death, how would a Christian live through that environment?   05:54  - Why do Catholics venerate the saints and Mary?   16:11  - In Jesus’ time, how would they have referred to different parts of the Old Testament? Would they have listed chapter and verse?   21:04  - Can a Catholic be a Grateful Dead fan?   24:02  - Is it acceptable to play video games which have a god, magic, or violence if all the players  are aware that it is not real?   32:10  - When were the four gospels written and how do we know?   43:33  - Why does the Church focus on Augustine more than the other fathers? ...

Questions Covered: 02:23  - How can I best speak to Protestants who speak about Jesus dismantling Jewish tradition and starting Christianity as this completely independent, separate, and different entity? They  eschew the old and believe that this faith was completely new and unrelated.    12:47  - Why do Catholics confess to a  priest when the Bible says to take sins straight to God? Where in Scripture do you have evidence for that?   33:40  – Why  are there arguments that the Pope wasn’t officially recognized until way later past the third century?   42:00  - P rotestants always ask about salvation. What is a quick way to explain the Catholic understanding of salvation?   48:28  - How do you explain the supremacy of the papacy?  

Questions Covered: 07:52  - Roman Catholics tell me that there is an increase of justification or faith plus works because of the loss of salvation due to mortal sins. If a Catholic never commits a mortal sin, then does that mean they are living Sola Fide, without works?   17:08  - How do Catholics know that the way they are electing popes is the way the early Church did it?   22:24  - I am a Protestant. Where do Catholics get the theology of redemptive suffering?    33:48  - In talking with a Baptist friend of mine, we spoke about the papacy and the original Church being the Catholic Church. She challenged me saying that there are many religious orders within the Catholic Church, just like the denominations in the Protestant world. How can I respond to this?   42:25  - My family is be coming Catholic. I have family members who say that the early Church was not Catholic until Constantine. How can I respond to them?  

Questions Covered: 02:20  - I recently lost someone and I am struggling. On one hand, I know his salvation is not assured. One the other hand, I want to believe he’ll go to heaven. What should I do?   11:59  - How did you lovingly talk to your family and get them to convert to the Catholic faith?   21:25  - What is a good book for fallen away Catholics? Not many young people come to my parish.   29:18  - Can and will anything come from Vigano’s letter?   43:27  - What did Jesus accomplish on the Cross in the eyes of the Catholic Church, if they don’t  believe in substitutionary atonement?   50:02  - If a person dies in the state of mortal sin, what happens to their soul?  

Questions Covered: 10:06  - Does Genesis 6:3 say that a person can only live until 120 years old?   15:57  - When is it appropriate for the Church to use force? I am reading the Syllabus of Errors by Pope Pius IX and he says the Church using force or coercion is not permissible.    23:50  - In Scripture it says that Jesus grew in wisdom and understanding. Was he born with superhuman knowledge or did he progressively grow in this knowledge?   32:08  - What is the Catholic Church’s take on embryo adoption?   42:05  - I started exploring Catholicism a couple months ago. Is there a difference between the  seven sorrows rosary and the regular rosary?   46:15  - People say God forgives and forgets. Why is there purgatory, then?  

You’re not Catholic unless you believe in the papacy. Joe Heschmeyer helps us to understand why. Questions Covered: 05:08  - In Acts, it sounds like Paul is in charge and not Peter. Can you explain this?   09:48  - I have heard that Peter’s denial of Christ was not really a denial, but a denial of who he is becoming in Christ. What do you think of this?   14:40  - How can I respond to people who claim that Pope Francis is saying a bunch of crazy things, for example, that we don’t have to go to Church anymore?   18:21  - I am confused by Pope Francis because he says many things that make it seem like he is socialist or liberal. I want to have no doubt or confusion about him. Can you help me to better understand him?   23:51  - What do you mean by the anti-popes?   2 9:12 – I am not Catholic. How do you square Jesus saying, “Believe and be baptized,” and Peter saying, “Repent and be baptized”?   35:40  - Isn’t the job of the pope...

You’re not Catholic unless you believe in the papacy. Joe Heschmeyer helps us to understand why. Questions Covered: 20:46  - I don’t believe that Peter ever was a pope. He did not have time for that. He was a martyr.   29:20  - I heard that the current Pope is not actually the pope because Pope Emeritus Benedict  only resigned from being the Bishop of Rome and not from the papacy. Is this true?   32:38  - In the Scriptural passage when Jesus says to Peter, “Upon this rock, I will build my Church,” my Protestant family claims that Jesus is saying that He Himself is the rock. How can I address this?   43:11  - When did they start calling the Pope “Pope” and was Peter called this? What does Pope  mean?   44:30  - How did Peter know that he was going to be a pope and leader? Did he know or was he  just trying to figure it out?   48:43  - I don’t think the job of the pope is to make changes in the world, it’s just to keep ...