Someone has been recently trying to tell me that the Catholic Church does not teach Purgatory anymore, that the Church got the idea of marrige being a sacrament from someone else and began to use it that way, and that sex before marrige used to be allowed in the church until too many people were having babies so the Church made it a sin until a couple was married. This person says he's a catholic too. I don't know where he got this imformation from? He says he believes all christian churches are good and he also wants to be an exsorsist. Someone help?????

No protestant answers please only Catholics, thanks.

-- William (Ducin25@aol.com), February 25, 2004

Answers

bumping!

-- (bump@bump.com), February 25, 2004.

william,

your friend is wrong. simply wrong.

Purgatory is very much a part of unchanging catholic doctrine. even if we didnt explicitly teach it, it wouldnt matter. purgatory is mentioned in the old testament, it is truth.

Marraige is a holy institution. As a sacrament, it is given to us BY GOD. remember, God Himself commanded us not to "covet thy neighbors wife." ask your friend how his neighbor is going to have a wife if they arent married?

Sex before marraige has never been allowed. This also dates back to old testament times when the deadly sins, and ALOT of scripture was written on this subject. Furthermore, in the early church, there were no widely known statistics regarding the world's population. there would have been no way for the church to determine that "too many people were having babies" so there would have been no way to make that rule. ALSO, more catholics popping out more young catholics would be good business for us, but we still dont do it. why? because it is wrong, and always has been.

This person is dangerously close to being heretical when he trashes his own church's doctrines and questions truth as though he is some expert. Furthermore, if your friend, at this time, were to attempt an exorcism the results could be lethal (or at least catastrophic). excorcisms are reserved for the strongest of priests, with the most solid foundation in their faith. if your friend cant even keep faith with his church under normal wordly pressure, how ever is he going to stand up to a demon... one of the highest evil powers out there?

-- paul h (dontSendMeMail@notAnAddress.com), February 25, 2004.