Catholic Answers Focus

What do Joel Osteen, Kenneth Copeland, and Jesse Duplantis have in common? They all promote a form of Christianity that preaches a good and easy life. Tim Staples breaks down the reasons why the prosperity gospel is dangerous and exposes the pitfalls of this theology.

Cy Kellet:

Tim Staples, Catholic Apologist, thanks for being with us.

Tim Staples:

It is great to be with you, Cy Kellet.

Cy Kellet:

I want to talk to you about the prosperity gospel. And this is something that really is big. The prosperity gospel is really big, and I do sometimes feel a pang of guilt that we don’t talk ab...

Questions Covered:

05:08 – When we commit mortal sin, besides confession, what else can we do to avoid purgatory?

14:32 – Why be Catholic and not just a Protestant Christian?

20:16 – I’m in a conversation with a Baptist and they asked: how do we know that tradition is divinely inspired? How do I respond?

31:14 – Acts 20:29-30 How do we know that the pope and priests aren’t the people that will lead people away from Christ?

37:30 – Why were other books like the Gospel of Thomas not included in the bible? Should they have been included since they mention more about the early life of Jesus?

46:12 – Is the Church able to teach heresy? Church indefectibility

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Questions Covered:

04:46 – Can you explain the Eucharist specifically in terms of a sacrifice?

18:20 – In the Old Testament did the Levitical priest have the power to forgive sins or did they merely pronounce God’s Forgiveness?

31:15 – Regarding Judah’s death is Acts 1:18 or Mt 27:5 true?

35:38 – Is the blood of Christ on the cross the same substance as the blood in the Eucharist?

44:54 – Is speaking in tongues the babbling of the Holy Spirit?

51:16 – Does needing to go to confession after baptism lessen the efficaciousness of baptism itself?

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Questions Covered:

22:00 – do they say that you can’t receive the Eucharist if you’ve committed a mortal sin? 

33:37 – Is there a correlation between the Eucharist and how we are made in the image of the Holy Trinity? 

45:12 – How often is the Eucharist supposed to be offered and why? 

47:45 – I did RCIA under Dr. Feingold and am a recent convert. Can you talk about why God chooses to use physical things to be bridges to the eternal? 

52:30 – I’m a Lutheran, why do Catholics have the sacrificial part? I don’t see it. 

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Questions Covered:

21:15 – My daughter has bipolar and is in and out of hospitals. How do I fight hopelessness if nothing changes? 

30:50 – My 15-year-old daughter struggles with anxiety and depression. How can I help her as a mother? 

38:05 – I’m training to be a childhood counselor. Can you give me preventative advice to avoid anxiety, depression and hopelessness? 

38:03 – The thing that helped me was to draw a line in the sand. And not let the darkness in. 

51:16 – Do you have recommendations on things I can do and say to help our society that is so politically divided? We no longer see each other as neighbors, and it causes lots of anxiety. 

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Questions Covered:

02:15 – I’m protestant, I grew up thinking Catholic symbolism was idol worship. Where did we go wrong in that thinking?

10:10 – Is God both merciful and just? How does this manifest itself on the cross?

17:00 – Is the idea that Anglicanism is not valid an indefinite teaching in the Catholic Church?

22:06 – Both cremation and communion in the hand became permissible in the 1960’s. A. What’s the most proper way of disposing of a body? B. When and why did communion in the hand become universal?

30:01 – Why isn’t the Church using extraordinary ministers of holy communion or deacons to go give communion at hospitals?

32:09 – If Jesus is all merciful and we should be like him, should we be imprisoning murderers and thieves?

37:52 – What is the Church’s stance on the Old Catholic Church?

44:15 – What is the significance of doing a pilgrimage? What is the best way to prepare for one?

47:56 – Is it ok for Catholics to cross-dress in situations like theater or cosplay? What’s the best way to respond to the pro-abortion reply that Catholics are pro-life because it was started in a time of misogyny?

52:43 – Jesus said, “Let the dead bury the dead.” Did he mean physically or spiritually?

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Questions Covered:

15:40 – What should we expect to experience once we die? How will our nature change?

20:00 – we called to give to the poor even if we know there will be no change?

25:00 – What are your thoughts on women being inserted into the dicastery of bishops?

34:43 – Is there a scriptural basis for the two different judgments?

38:35 – I just got out of the hospital. An Anglican priest came to visit and give me communion. Is this valid for Catholics to receive? Is it common to have communion wrapped in plastic packaging?

46:52 – The catechism says that if you help someone that’s doing something wrong, you’re held accountable. How would this be applicable to the caller who asked about helping her family?

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Questions Covered:

10:39 – How do we reconcile Vatican 2 teaching on Muslims with the rest of the Church’s historical teaching?

18:00 – If God can’t go contrary to his nature and he is good then how can he do evil as said in Isaiah 45:7?

22:10 – How is mental illness handled in Christianity specifically dealing with multiple personalities?

31:32 – How do we tell the difference between saintliness and mental stability?

44:52 – How do we reconcile the 4th Lateran Council and Vatican 2 on no salvation outside of the Church?

50:48 – Do Jews believe that God created evil?

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Questions Covered:

03:55 – Is there any reason we should think that Adam was given a rational soul at the moment of his conception?

10:28 – What would be the best way to respond to protestants when they try to claim that St. Augustine believed protestant doctrine?

14:55 – Why does the Catechism say that we go to heaven, hell or purgatory right after death if scripture says differently? Why does the Catechism say there are 2 judgements?

21:00 – Has Christ provided everything for our salvation?

22:40 – Who are the people who Cain was afraid of after he was exiled?

28:38 – Do I lose salvation for not going to a Catholic Church? Is the Eucharist essential for salvation?

32:47 – When Jesus died, the curtain was torn into two. What’s the significance of that in our Christian life?

35:40 – In the Old Testament, how can people believe in false gods especially when they were tested, and nothing happened? When people that go through RCIA and go into the church turn away from the church, are they held accountable for their actions?

43:29 – Revelation 12:9-12 says that St. Michael will fight with the devil. What exactly does that mean?

48:43 – Follow up on torn veil question: Rending one’s garments was used as a form of mourning. This meaning can also be used to describe the veil being torn in two.

50:38 – What are your thoughts on us having unused DNA and us possibly using it in the next life?

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Questions Covered:

01:12 – I’m not Catholic because of a long series of Socratic conversations with Catholics who don’t have a complete understanding. I don’t think they are intellectually honest. 

15:53 – I’m contemplating leaving Catholicism. I have a problem with the idea that missing Sunday mass is a mortal sin. 

28:30 – I’m not Catholic because of the Council of Nicaea and how they changed the Sabbath to Sunday. 

44:20 – I’m not Catholic because of Daniel 7:25. 

50:53 – I just converted to Catholicism because the Episcopal church changed when it came to sexual ethics. 

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