Daily Defense Podcast

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#316 Bishops, Priests, and Deacons - Jimmy Akin Nov 12, 2023

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DAY 316 CHALLENGE “In the New Testament, Church leadership wasn’t divided up among bishops, priests (aka presbyters/elders), and deacons. In particular, the office of bishop and elder were the same (Titus 1:5–7).” DEFENSE The offices of Church leadership developed during the first century under the guidance of the apostles. Originally, the only office in the Church was apostle. Jesus appointed the Twelve to serve as apostles toward the beginning of his ministry, around A.D. 30 or 31 (Matt. 10:1–4). He appointed others to temporary assignments, but not ongoing offices (Luke 10:1). Thus ...

#315 The Limits of Infallibility - Jimmy Akin Nov 11, 2023

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DAY 315 CHALLENGE “The Catholic Church claims a dangerous and sweeping power for itself when it says that it can teach infallibly. That means it can bind Catholics to believe anything.” DEFENSE There are limits to the Church’s ability to teach infallibly, and it is used far less frequently than many suppose. First, it is limited by topic. Christ didn’t give the Church the charism of infallibility so it could pronounce on just any subject. He gave it so the faithful could profess the Christian faith correctly (CCC 890). As a result, the Magisterium can infallibly teach truths that God...

#314 Omitting Doubted Books - Jimmy Akin Nov 10, 2023

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DAY 314 CHALLENGE “If the deuterocanonical books were doubted by some early on, shouldn’t we err on the side of caution and omit them rather than risk adding to the word of God?” DEFENSE This is based on a faulty premise that would lead to dramatic consequences. First, the deuterocanonicals weren’t the only doubted books of the Old Testament. At least five additional books were disputed in the Pharisee tradition but later included in the canon of modern rabbinic Judaism (see Day 255). These books—Esther, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, and Ezekiel—are sometimes referred to as...

#313 Born Believers - Jimmy Akin Nov 09, 2023

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DAY 313 CHALLENGE “Religion is unnatural. Children are not born as believers but have to be indoctrinated into it.” DEFENSE On the contrary, children are naturally predisposed to religious belief. As scientists have shown using tests that measure the amount of attention babies pay to things, they are aware in the first year of life of the difference between beings with mind and intention (agents) and inanimate objects. Further tests have indicated that small children do not presuppose that agents are human or that they must be visible, and they are prepared to attribute superhuman le...

#312 Merit and Reward - Jimmy Akin Nov 08, 2023

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DAY 312 CHALLENGE “Catholic teaching on merit is unbiblical. We can’t merit anything before God.” DEFENSE The term “merit” (Latin, meritum) refers to a reward. By extension, it has also come to refer to actions that God chooses to reward. The doctrine of merit is thus the biblical doctrine of rewards under another name. The Bible is clear that our actions in this life can affect the degree of reward we receive in heaven. Jesus told us: “Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is...

#311 Scripture as Final Authority? - Jimmy Akin Nov 07, 2023

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DAY 311 CHALLENGE “We know that the Bible teaches we should do theology ‘by Scripture alone’ (sola scriptura) because Jesus and the apostles quote Scripture as their final authority.” DEFENSE This claim is demonstrably false. Although Jesus and the apostles quote from Scripture, all this shows is that they considered it an authority capable of settling questions it deals with, not that it was the only authority. Speaking of it as “their final authority” misleadingly assumes there was a single, final authority for them, but a person can have Scripture as an authority while also having...

#310 Historical Sins - Jimmy Akin Nov 06, 2023

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DAY 310 CHALLENGE “Catholics have committed grave sins in history, including sins of avarice, intolerance, and persecution.” DEFENSE Yes, they have! Jesus did not come to make men sinless in this life but to make it possible for sinners to be saved. Sin is an ongoing reality (James 3:2; 1 John 1:8) against which we must struggle (1 Cor. 10:13). Jesus taught us to pray, on a regular basis, “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” (Matt. 6:12). We must also recognize that sins are not only committed against God; they affect those on earth, and their forgiveness must a...

#309 The Day of the Crucifixion - Jimmy Akin Nov 05, 2023

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DAY 309 CHALLENGE “Jesus couldn’t have been crucified on a Friday. He rose Sunday morning, and he said he would be in the tomb “three days and three nights” (Matt. 12:40). There aren’t three days and nights between Friday and Sunday.” DEFENSE This fails to understand the modes of speech then used. In the most literal sense, “three days and three nights” means seventy- two hours. The Gospels agree Jesus died in the afternoon and was buried in the evening, just before the beginning of the Sabbath at sunset (Matt. 27:57; Mark 15:42; Luke 23:54; John 19:42). If he remained buried for sev...

#308 Dunking, Pouring, or Sprinkling? - Jimmy Akin Nov 04, 2023

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DAY 308 CHALLENGE “The only legitimate way to baptize is immersion.” DEFENSE There is more than one mode by which baptism can be performed. Different groups of Christians have baptized using three methods: imimmersion (dunking), affusion (pouring), and aspersion (sprinkling). There is misinformation in some circles about which the Catholic Church uses, with the claim being that it uses sprinkling and not immersion. However, Catholics do not use sprinkling, and they do use immersion. In fact, the Church acknowledges immersion as the most expressive way of administering baptism. The Cate...

#307 Devotional Use of Images - Jimmy Akin Nov 03, 2023

Show notes

DAY 307 CHALLENGE “God may permit the use of religious images (see Day 179), but we should not kneel before or kiss them. The Bible says, ‘you shall not bow down to them’ (Exod. 20:5; Deut. 5:9), and it condemns those who have bent their knees to or kissed Ba’al (1 Kings 19:18).” DEFENSE These prohibitions apply to idols. If there is an idol—a statue of a pagan god—then you absolutely should not kneel before or kiss it! However, not all kneeling and kissing falls under this ban. Scripture contains innocent examples of kneeling (Judg. 7:5–6), bowing (Gen. 23:7, 12), prostration (1 Sam...

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