Dr. James White Vs Catholicism

Ephesians 4:11-15

So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.

Greetings,

I watched this debate between Alex Belfield,  and Dr. James White. Alex is a popular podcaster whom I believe had a career in broadcasting before launching his YouTube channel Voice Of Reason (aptly named because he sounds more like Rocky Balboa than Sylvester Stallone ever could!) He's a practicing Catholic and is a great Catholic apologist. Dr. James White is of course no stranger to anyone in religious circles, a seasoned theologian, pastor of a baptist church, director of a ministry, and known by many as the king of the "anti-catholic" movement. 

I commended Alex for having the stones to sit across from Dr. White, because as he mentioned at the start of their debate, 5 other people before him were invited and said no. I haven't watched too many of Dr. White's videos, nor do I know much about his body of work, but the little that I have watched has convinced me of two things:

1) He's a devout Christian, who loves the Lord.

2) He's an extremely intelligent man, who knows what he's talking about when he opens his mouth.

So, I respect him for those two reasons. Obviously, many catholics came up in defence of Alex saying he "won the debate". I don't quite see it that way, even as a catholic myself. He did very well, and I would say in terms of character, Alex was more Christ-Like than Dr. White, not only because of how much more he referenced scriptures, but also because of how much respect and grace he showed to Dr. White. But Dr. White's closing statements for me personally, edged the debate in his favour. Why?

Well, it's the one area of catholic doctrine that I personally even as a catholic have immense trouble with. The alleged "infallibility of the papacy". Apostolic succession is true and I believe when Jesus chose Peter as the rock upon which He would build His church (Matthew 16:18). He really did set the foundation for the catholic church, and yes, I believe Peter was the first pope. What I don't believe is in the "infallibility" of that office. That's not biblical, because even Peter was not infallible. He denied Jesus 3 times! Therefore, the papacy is true and a result of apostolic succession, BUT the papacy is not infallible. Since Alex said that if any pope says anything that goes against the bible then Catholicism as a church is fake. I believe that's the moment he let the debate slip, because that's not true. Only Our Father in heaven is infallible, and we as humans are always fallible, our fallibility as human beings doesn't nullify the infallibility of God, nor does it diminish the authenticity of the church He founded. 

So, as Dr. White said in his closing statements. I do agree there could come a day where a pope could drastically change a doctrine or teaching of the church, but this will not render the church false, and if anyone does believe that, then they are placing the fallibility of man above the infallibility of Our Father, and that is completely false. The catholic church will always stand beyond pope's and bishops and whoever else comes along, irrespective of how they lead, because it's God's church. Not the pope's. This is why I remain Catholic, because I believe in the infallibility of Our Father above all else.

Dr. White Vs Voice Of Reason

Take care of yourselves and eachother.

Shalom.

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