CHRISTIAN VISITORS
You Already Know His Name. Come Explore the Faith He Founded.
If you are Protestant, Evangelical, Orthodox, non-denominational, or part of another Christian tradition, you already share something foundational with Catholics:
Jesus Christ is Lord.
We believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We believe Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God who became truly human, died for our sins, rose bodily from the dead, ascended into heaven, and will come again.
We read the same New Testament. We proclaim the same crucified and risen Jesus. We believe salvation comes through God’s grace in Christ.
Those points of agreement matter.
But so do our disagreements.
Questions Worth Investigating
Who has authority to interpret Scripture?
Did Jesus intend Scripture to function as the Christian’s sole infallible rule of faith?
What is Sacred Tradition?
How did Christians know which books belonged in the Bible?
Did Jesus establish a visible Church?
What authority did He give Peter and the Apostles?
Is the Eucharist truly Christ’s Body and Blood?
Why do Catholics confess sins to priests?
Why do Catholics honor Mary and ask the saints to pray for them?
These are substantial questions.
We aren’t asking you to set them aside.
We’re inviting you to investigate them.
Start With What We Share
Catholicism begins with Jesus Christ.
But an important question follows:
What did Jesus intend Christianity to be?
Jesus did not merely leave behind a collection of teachings.
He gathered disciples.
He chose Twelve Apostles.
He gave them authority.
He commissioned them to preach, teach, baptize, forgive sins, and continue His mission.
After His Resurrection He said:
“As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”
John 20:21
And before His Ascension:
“Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them…”
Matthew 28:19
Acts then presents Christianity as an identifiable community with Apostles, teaching, worship, discipline, leadership, and the ability to resolve serious doctrinal disputes. See Acts 2:42; 6:1–6; 15:1–29.
The Second Vatican Council describes this apostolic transmission as occurring through both the Apostles’ oral preaching and inspired writings and teaches that the Apostles left bishops as successors so that the Gospel would remain alive in the Church. Dei Verbum §§7–8.
That gives us an important starting question:
Did Jesus establish a visible, authoritative Church intended to continue after the Apostles died?
Scripture: Our Common Ground
Catholics believe the Bible is the inspired Word of God.
The Second Vatican Council teaches that the books of the Old and New Testaments were written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and have God as their author, while also affirming the genuine human authorship of the biblical writers. Dei Verbum §§11–12.
The Church also teaches that Scripture must permeate Christian preaching and theology and that Christians should have ready access to it. Dei Verbum §§21–25.
So the Catholic-Protestant disagreement is not:
Bible or no Bible?
The deeper question is:
Did Christ intend Scripture to be the Christian’s only infallible authority?
“Stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught, either by an oral statement or by a letter of ours.” 2 Thessalonians 2:15
“What you heard from me through many witnesses entrust to faithful people who will have the ability to teach others as well.” 2 Timothy 2:2
Notice the pattern:
Paul → Timothy → faithful teachers → others.
The Catholic position is not that Tradition competes with Scripture.
Catholicism teaches that Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition come from the same divine source and together constitute one deposit of God’s Word, authentically interpreted by the Church’s teaching office. Dei Verbum §§9–10; Catechism of the Catholic Church §§96–100.
So the question worth asking is:
Where does Scripture teach that Scripture alone was intended to function as Christianity’s sole infallible rule of faith?
Where Did the Bible Come From?
Every Christian who opens a New Testament already possesses a collection of 27 books.
But the New Testament does not contain an inspired table of contents identifying those 27 books.
The earliest Christians received apostolic writings over time, read them in Christian worship, distinguished authentic apostolic writings from others, and eventually recognized the canon universally received by the Church.
This raises an important question:
How did Christians know which writings belonged in Scripture?
The Catholic answer does not mean the Church created Scripture or gave God’s Word its inspiration.
Rather, the Church recognized which books had been handed down as inspired Scripture.
Dei Verbum explicitly connects the Church’s knowledge of the complete canon with the apostolic Tradition transmitted within the Church.
This becomes especially important because early Christians had to discern books such as Hebrews, James, 2 Peter, Jude, Revelation, and others whose reception was not equally uniform everywhere.
The question is therefore larger than:
“Do I trust the Bible?”
Catholics do.
The additional question is:
What role did the historic Church play in identifying the Bible Christians trust?
Did Jesus Give Peter a Unique Role?
Catholics believe Jesus gave Peter a distinctive responsibility among the Apostles.
The discussion begins with Jesus’ words:
“You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church.”
Matthew 16:18
Jesus then says:
“I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven.”
Matthew 16:19
The imagery of the keys has an important Old Testament background in Isaiah 22:20–22, where authority in the Davidic kingdom is represented by a key entrusted to an officeholder.
Peter also receives other distinctive commissions.
“I have prayed that your own faith may not fail; and once you have turned back, you must strengthen your brothers.” Luke 22:32
After the Resurrection Jesus tells Peter three times to care for His flock:
“Feed my sheep.” John 21:17
Peter then occupies a conspicuous position in the opening chapters of Acts.
The Catholic argument is not that the New Testament contains the modern administrative vocabulary of the papacy.
The historical and theological questions are more fundamental:
Did Jesus give Peter a unique pastoral office?
And if He did:
Was that office supposed to disappear when Peter died—or continue within the Church Christ established?
The Eucharist: What Did Jesus Mean?
This is one of the most consequential differences between Catholicism and many other Christian traditions.
“I am the bread of life.” — John 6:35
“The bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.” — John 6:51
His listeners object:
“How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” — John 6:52
Jesus responds:
“My flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.” — John 6:55
The reaction is severe:
“This saying is hard; who can accept it?” — John 6:60
And then:
“Many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him.” — John 6:66
This is important.
Jesus’ disciples understood His teaching strongly enough to object—and some strongly enough to leave.
Yet Jesus does not call them back and explain that they misunderstood a merely symbolic metaphor.
Instead, He turns to the Twelve:
“Do you also want to leave?” — John 6:67
Peter responds:
“Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” — John 6:68
At the Last Supper Jesus then takes bread and says:
“This is my body.” — Luke 22:19
Paul asks:
“The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?” — 1 Corinthians 10:16
And he warns that whoever receives unworthily “will have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord.” — 1 Corinthians 11:27.
Catholicism therefore teaches that after consecration Christ is present in the Eucharist truly, really, and substantially—Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity—while the outward appearances of bread and wine remain. Catechism of the Catholic Church §§1374–1377.
But the evidence does not stop with the New Testament.
Around the middle of the second century, Justin Martyr describes Christian Eucharistic worship and explicitly says Christians do not receive the Eucharistic elements as ordinary bread and drink but as the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ. First Apology 65–66.
That gives us a particularly important historical question:
If the Catholic understanding of the Eucharist were a later corruption of Christianity, why do we encounter such a strong Eucharistic belief so close to the apostolic age?
Why Do Catholics Confess Their Sins to a Priest?
Catholics absolutely believe that God forgives sins.
The question is whether Jesus chose to exercise that forgiveness through a sacramental ministry within His Church.
“As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” — John 20:21
He breathes on them and says:
“Receive the holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” — John 20:22–23
That raises a straightforward question:
Why would Jesus give His Apostles authority to forgive or retain sins if Christians were never expected to approach an apostolic ministry for reconciliation?
Catholics do not believe the priest replaces Jesus.
Christ remains the source of forgiveness.
The priest exercises the ministry Christ entrusted to His Church.
Do Catholics Worship Mary?
No.
Catholic worship belongs to God alone.
Mary is not a goddess.
She is not part of the Trinity.
She does not replace Jesus.
And she is not a rival mediator competing with Him.
Catholics honor Mary precisely because of her relationship with Christ.
“Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.” — Luke 1:42
“From now on will all ages call me blessed.” — Luke 1:48
Catholic devotion therefore distinguishes between adoration owed to God and honor given to God’s saints.
The better question is not simply:
“Why do Catholics talk so much about Mary?”
It is:
What does Scripture actually say about Mary, and what did the earliest Christians understand her place in salvation history to be?
Ultimately, every authentically Catholic teaching about Mary is meant to protect or illuminate a truth about Jesus Christ.
Why Ask Saints to Pray for Us?
Most Christians are comfortable asking another Christian:
“Would you pray for me?”
Catholicism asks what happens to that communion when a Christian dies in Christ.
Jesus says God “is not God of the dead, but of the living.” Mark 12:27.
Revelation depicts heavenly figures presenting prayers before God:
“Each of the elders held a harp and gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of the holy ones.” — Revelation 5:8
Later, heavenly incense rises “with the prayers of the holy ones.” Revelation 8:3–4.
Catholics therefore do not believe asking a saint for intercession competes with Jesus.
Scripture teaches:
“There is also one mediator between God and the human race, Christ Jesus.” — 1 Timothy 2:5
Yet immediately before that, Paul urges Christians to make “supplications, prayers, petitions, and thanksgivings” for others (1 Timothy 2:1).
Christ’s unique mediation is precisely what makes Christian intercession possible.
The question becomes:
Does physical death sever Christians from the Body of Christ?
Catholicism says no.
What Did the Earliest Christians Believe?
This is one of the most valuable questions Christians from different traditions can investigate together.
Imagine temporarily setting aside the labels Catholic and Protestant.
Then ask:
What did Christianity look like immediately after the apostolic generation?
Did those Christians have bishops?
Did they believe Christian doctrine was handed down through apostolic succession?
How did they understand Baptism?
What did they believe about the Eucharist?
How did they understand Church unity and authority?
How did they worship?
These questions can be investigated from surviving early Christian writings.
Justin Martyr’s second-century description of Sunday Christian worship, for example, includes readings from the Apostles and Prophets, preaching, common prayers, Eucharistic thanksgiving, distribution by deacons, and assistance for the poor. His description also explicitly distinguishes the Eucharist from ordinary food. First Apology 65–67.
The Second Vatican Council likewise locates Catholic teaching about apostolic succession in the conviction that the Apostles handed their teaching office to bishops so that the Gospel would remain whole and living in the Church. Dei Verbum §§7–8.
The historical question is powerful:
If distinctly Catholic beliefs were invented centuries after the Apostles, what should Christianity look like in the first and second centuries?
And:
Is that what the surviving evidence actually shows?
You Don’t Have to Take Our Word for It
The 99 Ministry is not asking you to become Catholic because Catholics say Catholicism is true.
Test the claims.
Open your Bible.
Read the passages in context.
Compare interpretations.
Study the historical setting.
Read the earliest Christians for yourself.
Distinguish apostolic Tradition from merely human traditions.
Ask whether doctrines developed by clarification or whether they fundamentally changed.
Examine the strongest Protestant, Orthodox, and Catholic arguments—not merely the weakest versions of positions you already reject.
And pray.
If Jesus Christ is Lord, then the goal cannot ultimately be to defend the Christian tradition we happen to prefer.
The question must be:
What did Jesus actually establish?
And once we know the answer:
Are we willing to follow Him there?
Questions Worth Exploring
Scripture & Authority
Is the Bible the Word of God? • Does Scripture teach Sola Scriptura? • What is Sacred Tradition? • Who determined the biblical canon? • Why does the Catholic Bible contain more Old Testament books?
Christ & His Church
Did Jesus establish a visible Church? • Why did He choose Twelve Apostles? • Did the Apostles have successors? • Was Peter given a unique role? • Why does the Catholic Church have a Pope?
Salvation & Sacraments
Are Catholics saved by works? • Why baptize infants? • Why confess sins to a priest? • What is sacramental grace?
Eucharist & Worship
Did Jesus mean John 6 literally? • Is the Eucharist really Christ’s Body and Blood? • What did the earliest Christians believe about it? • Is the Mass another sacrifice of Jesus?
Mary & the Saints
Do Catholics worship Mary? • Why call Mary the Mother of God? • Why ask saints to pray? • Does that conflict with Christ as the one Mediator?
History & the Early Church
What did first- and second-century Christians believe? • When did bishops appear? • How did the biblical canon develop? • Did Catholic doctrines arise centuries later—or can they be traced into early Christianity?
Bring Your Bible. Bring Your Questions.
If you already love Jesus Christ, Catholicism is not asking you to abandon Him.
The Catholic claim is much more consequential:
The fullness of the Catholic faith is about following more completely what Jesus Himself established.
That claim should not be accepted merely because a Catholic makes it.
It should be tested.
Did Jesus establish a visible Church?
Did He give authority to His Apostles?
Did He give Peter a distinctive responsibility?
Was that apostolic ministry intended to continue?
Did the earliest Christians understand the Eucharist sacramentally?
Did apostolic Christianity operate according to Scripture alone—or Scripture within a living apostolic Church?
Those questions take us beyond denominational preference.
They take us back toward the beginning.
Toward the Apostles.
Toward the earliest Christians.
And ultimately toward Jesus Himself.