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Q u i c k Q u e s t i o n s
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This Rock
Volume 3, Number 11
 November 1992 
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Can Anything Good Be From the Devil?
Q: A woman in my prayer group claims that all of the reported Marian apparitions around the world must be from God because their messages are consistent with the Bible and call people to prayer and repentance. She says "the devil would never do anything which would draw people closer to God" and concludes that none of these apparitions could possibly come from the devil.
A: Your friend is wrong. The message of an alleged apparition is not the only thing on which that apparition's authenticity should be evaluated. Besides, it's up to the Church, not to an individual, to make that decision. There have been purported Marian apparitions, later judged by the Church to be spurious, whose messages, although sensational, seemed innocuous and not contrary to orthodoxy.
Your friend is also wrong to assume the devil would never do something that would, ostensibly, draw people to God. In fact, although the devil's ultimate goal is to remove each of us from God's presence permanently, he sometimes uses ploys which seem to lead people toward holiness, yet which turn out to be cleverly devised traps designed to impede our progress toward God.
Consider what happened when Paul and Silas were preaching the gospel in Macedonia: "As [they] were going to the place of prayer, [they] met a slave girl with an oracular spirit, who used to bring a large profit to her owners through her fortune telling. She began to follow Paul…shouting, 'These people are slaves of the Most High God, who proclaim to you a way of salvation.' She did this for many days. Paul became annoyed, turned, and said to the spirit, 'I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.' Then it came out at that moment" (Acts 16:16-18).
There are two important details to be aware of in this passage. Notice that it was a demonic spirit who was telling people to heed Paul's teaching. The demon was calling people to believe the gospel which would, in the normal course of events, draw people to God. If you look closely you'll also see there was an error subtly embedded in the demon's message, "These people…proclaim to you a [not 'the'] way of salvation," implying that there are other ways to salvation. That is false, of course, and completely contrary to the gospel Paul was preaching.
There is only one way to salvation: through Jesus Christ alone. Jesus said, "I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6 [see John 10:9]). Peter echoed the Lord's teaching, explaining, "There is no salvation through anyone else, nor is there any other name under heaven given to the human race by which we are to be saved" (Acts 4:12). The demon in Acts 16 was trying to introduce error sugar-coated by a-perfectly laudable appeal to embrace the gospel.
Never doubt that the devil can, if he thinks he needs to, use the incongruous ploy of urging us to turn to God as part of his larger plan of introducing error and exploiting religious fervor that's not solidly grounded upon authentic Christian spirituality. That's why the first pope warned us to be on guard against his wiles. "Be sober and vigilant. Your opponent the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, steadfast in faith, knowing that your fellow believers throughout the world undergo the same sufferings" (2 Pet. 5:8-9).
Q: Revelation 22,18-19 says, "I warn everyone who hears the prophetic words in this book; if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words in this prophetic book, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city described in this book." Doesn't this verse render the Catholic doctrine of sacred Tradition scripturally unviable since your Tradition is added to the Bible?
A: That conclusion might be possible if John's phrase "this book" meant "the Bible," but it doesn't. It's a common mistake of Evangelicals and Fundamentalists to assume that John was speaking here of the Bible as we know it - all 73 books (seven less in Protestant versions), from Genesis to Revelation, bound between two covers.
John wrote Revelation before the year 100, so he could not have had the Bible in mind when he penned this warning, because the Bible as we know it (and as many Protestants think he meant it) would not exist in its present form for three centuries.
The Catholic Church defined the canons of the Old and New Testaments at the councils of Hippo (393) and Carthage (397). Before that time Christians weren't certain exactly which books belonged in the canon because the Church hadn't yet made a definitive decision on the issue.
Besides, oral Tradition isn't something added to the Bible. Paul tells us in 2 Thessalonians 2:15 that Tradition comes to us in two forms, written and oral. He exhorts us to "stand firm and hold fast" to both the oral form and the written form of Tradition. In other words, the Lord gave the Church the Bible and oral Tradition as the two ways of preserving and handing on a single thing, the revealed Word of God.
There's another reason Revelation 22:18-19 doesn't disprove the Catholic doctrine of Tradition. Virtually the same warning is given in Deuteronomy 4:2. If we apply there the same principle that you want to apply in Revelation 22, we have a dilemma, because God would have prohibited the adding of anything to his statutes and decrees as found up to and including the book of Deuteronomy. If that were the case, all subsequent books of the Bible, including the book of Revelation itself, would be proscribed because they were added to the Pentateuch. That means Jeremiah and Ezekiel and Paul and John and all the writers of later books would have the aforementioned dreaded plagues "added unto them" because they added to what was already there.
So what was John really warning us about in Revelation 22? Simple. He had written the book of Revelation as a prophetic document for the edification and guidance of the Church, and he didn't want it tampered with - nothing added, nothing subtracted. He knew that some knucklehead in a later generation might decide he could improve on the message, or, like the Jehovah's Witnesses, twist it to better suit his personal theology. Revelation 22:1819 is essentially a first-century copyright, designed to discourage people from altering the work.
Unfortunately, the anonymous "emendation" of texts was rife in the early centuries of the Church, and bishops had to exercise extreme caution in verifying the authorship of the many "holy books" that were in circulation.
Even in Paul's day there were con artists trying to pass off bogus "scripture" to unsuspecting Christians (many of whom only too readily took the bait): "We ask you, brothers. . . not to be shaken out of your minds suddenly or to be alarmed either by a 'spirit' or by an oral statement or by a letter allegedly from us to the effect that the Day of the Lord is already at hand. Let no one deceive you in any way" (2 Thess. 1:1-3).
Q: My son was told by a CCD instructor that in an emergency a person desiring baptism could be baptized with soda, juice, or even urine. This sounds preposterous to me, but I can't back up my objection, and I don't want my son to be given faulty information (either by me or by the instructor).
A: The code of canon law explains that "true, clean, and natural water" is necessary for baptism (canon 849). Liquids can be assessed in three categories: Those that are certainly valid, those that are doubtfully valid, and those that are certainly invalid.
Certainly valid liquids include water as found in rivers, oceans, lakes, hot springs, melted ice or snow, mineral water, dew, slightly muddy water (as long as the water predominates), and slightly brackish water.
Doubtfully valid liquids are those that are a mixture of water and some other substance, such as beer, soda, light tea, thin soup or broth, and artificially scented water such as rose water.
The last category is of liquids which are certainly invalid. It includes oil, urine, grease, phlegm, shoe polish, and milk.
The rule of thumb is that, in emergency situations, you should always try to baptize with certainly valid liquids, beginning with plain, clean water. If plain water isn't available, baptize with a doubtfully valid liquid using the formula, "If this water is valid, I baptize you in the name of the Father. . ." If the danger of death passes, the person should later be conditionally baptized with certainly valid water. Never attempt to baptize anyone with a certainly invalid liquid.
Q: A Mormon neighbor asked if I'd be interested in a tour of the local Mormon "stake center." I declined, but, not wanting to seem ignorant, didn't ask what a stake center is. (I knew he didn't mean "steak center"; he wasn't inviting me to a restaurant.) What exactly is a stake center?
A: A Mormon stake center is the equivalent of a large Catholic parish, with offices for local Mormon officials, meeting rooms, a worship sanctuary (often referred to as a chapel), a kitchen, classrooms, and, in many stake centers, a genealogical records library.
Most stake centers have what's called a cultural center, a room which doubles as an indoor basketball court and an auditorium. The cultural center is separated from the sanctuary by a folding partition, which may be opened when there's an overflow congregation on Sundays or for special events.
In Mormon parlance a stake center is the organizational level that is higher than a ward and smaller than an area. Wards, which are designated by geography, usually contain only a few hundred people. A stake center is made up of several wards, perhaps as many as fifteen. Wards are presided over by bishops, and all the ward bishops answer to a stake president, who in turn is accountable to an area president.
The term "stake" comes from two Bible verses: "Look upon Zion [the Mormons see themselves and Salt Lake City as the modern counterpart to the biblical Zion], the city of our solemnities: thine eyes shall see Jerusalem, a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down; not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed" (Is. 33:20); "Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations; spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes" (Is. 54:2).
The stake center is the backbone of the Mormon Church's infrastructure. The Church's 40,000 full-time missionaries fan out in search of converts from their stake centers. The Mormon Church's annual general conferences and other functions are beamed live via satellite to all the stake centers which have a satellite dish (most do). Local genealogy work is conducted out of the stake centers, and almost all of the converts who come into the Mormon Church are baptized at a stake center.
Some facts on the rapid proliferation of Mormon stake centers: As of October, 1988 there were 1,108 stakes in the U.S. Of the ten countries boasting the largest number of stake centers, six of them (Mexico with 92; Brazil, 57; Chile, 48; the Philippines, 32; Peru; 31; Argentina, 26) are traditionally Catholic countries. (Nowadays, well more than half of all Mormon converts are from the Catholic faith.) It took 143 years for the first fifty percent of the total stakes worldwide (1700) to be organized. It has taken only eleven years for the most recent fifty percent to spring up.
Q: In this day and age, what's the right way to observe the third commandment, "Keep holy the sabbath day"?
A: The same way Christians have observed it for two thousand years: Attend Mass and abstain from all unnecessary work. Fr. Kenneth Baker, S.J., explains, "Sunday should be dedicated to the Lord, at least in intention, if not by actual practice of other good works. Some activities that are in conformity with Sunday observance are reading the Bible or the life of some saint, praying the rosary, engaging in serious conversation on God and the things of the spirit, and so forth.
"Sunday should be a day of joy and relaxation. It is the time for a family meal, for healthy recreation, for sport, for taking a stroll, or for going for a drive. In these and similar activities we can both praise God for his goodness and refresh our bodies and minds after the week's work. Since the time of Moses, abstinence of all unnecessary work has been an essential part of the Sunday observance. We have all heard that the Church forbids all 'servile' work on Sundays. Formerly, 'servile work' was defined as hard physical labor; thus, digging ditches, plowing, splitting wood, and so forth were said to be 'servile' and were so forbidden on Sunday except in cases of emergency or real necessity.
"In the past twenty years or so many exceptions have been placed on the meaning of servile work by moral theologians that it is just about impossible to lay down general rules. Thus, many men who spend the whole week behind a desk find real refreshment working in their garden, mowing the lawn, washing their car. Although these activities require physical labor, they are not now considered to be 'servile' in the situation of contemporary technological America.
"It seems to me that what all should try to do is to observe the spirit of Sunday-worship, rest, and joy. If some kind of work does not fit into that pattern and is truly unnecessary, then it should be avoided. If anyone has serious doubt about whether or not he or she is violating God's law of the Sunday rest, then that person should seek the advice of a priest" (Fundamentals of Catholicism [San Francisco: Ignatius, 1982], 1:174-175).
Q: I'm distressed by a pamphlet I've seen on the brown scapular of our Lady of Mt. Carmel. On the front panel it calls the scapular "the assurance of salvation. "
A: You're right. It is distressing that people who should know better so grossly misrepresent the Catholic Church's teaching about salvation and about scapulars. Let's set the record straight. (Pay close attention, please.)
First, the Catholic Church teaches that there is only one person who can save us, and that person is Jesus Christ.
Second, the Church considers wearing the brown scapular, like praying the rosary, to be a good and helpful way of cultivating a devotion to our Lady. The scapular is like a wedding ring. Wearing a wedding ring doesn't make one married; rather, the ring is an external sign symbolizing the inward reality of the marriage covenant. The same is true of the scapular. Its purpose is to remind the wearer and others who see it that the wearer has a devotion to our Lady. There are absolutely no magical properties ascribed to scapulars. They are not good luck charms.
Third, Mary promised that, with certain conditions fulfilled, she would intercede with God in a special way on behalf of people who die wearing a scapular. But she never said (nor would she) that the scapular is an "assurance of salvation."
Repeat: The Catholic Church teaches that salvation comes only through faith in Jesus Christ and, by his grace, in obedience to his commands ("For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not from you; it is the gift of God. It is not from works, so no one may boast" [Eph. 2:8-9; see Phil. 2:13, Col. 1:29, Jas.2:14-26]).
Furthermore, the Church does not teach that one must wear the scapular, pray the rosary, or cultivate a devotion to Mary. Although the Church recommends these things as ways of enhancing one's spiritual life and drawing closer to Christ by asking Mary's intercession and by imitating her way of life (see Heb. 13:7), one can be a good Catholic and go to heaven never having worn a scapular or having said a single Hail Mary.
Whoever produced that pamphlet should expurgate the offending statement from future printings. The pamphlet misrepresents Catholic teaching on salvation, distorts Mary's true role in God's plan of salvation, perpetuates the false idea that Catholic piety is superstitious, and is a serious source of scandal to those who are given the impression that Catholics believe in salvation by works.
Q: Which is more important for an apologist, holiness or knowledge?
A: The two aren't in opposition, and you should strive for both.
If you are holy but lack knowledge of your faith, you won't have any way to answer people's questions. It's no good to say they will learn from you by observing your example. They may learn how to live well, but they won't learn how to understand or explain well. Facts and reasons can't be passed along by a mere display of your virtues.
On the other hand, if you know all the answers but don't make at least a good stab at holiness, your spiritual state will be evident to people you speak with, and they won't take your answers to heart.
Don't be too concerned about whether holiness or knowledge is the more important to successful apologetics. Just make sure you don't fall into the trap that you must be maximally holy or maximally knowledgeable before starting out in apologetics. (Lord knows, if those were the requirements, none of us would have taken the first step.) Don't let yourself be paralyzed, thinking, "I'm not yet a saint and a genius, so I'll have to wait." No saint or genius ever thought that way, so why should you?
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