CV NEWS FEED // Dr. Ray Guarendi, a radio and television host, psychologist, and adoptive father of ten, explained “The Logic of Being Catholic” as part of a lecture series for Catholics.
Detroit Catholic reports that Guarendi gave his talk at St. John’s Resort in Plymouth, Michigan, as part of the “Anything is Possible” (AIP) speaker series of monthly lectures that are aimed at inspiring “Catholics to live as missionary disciples in today’s changing world.”
Guarendi discussed his eight-year departure from the faith and the inherent logic of Catholicism, which brought him back.
He talked about how Protestantism, especially the doctrine of sola scriptura, leads to division, with over 30,000 denominations resulting from various Scriptural interpretations. “When I brought this to my non-Catholic friends,” he said, “here is the answer they came back with: ‘There may be a lot of independent churches, but we agree on the basics.’”
Dr. Guarendi asked, “(But) who decides on the basics?” He said for Catholics, it is the Church, founded by Christ, who decides.
“Back when the Bible was put together, in the latter part of the fourth century, the Church got together and said, ‘OK, we’ve got to figure out what Scripture is,’” he continued, emphasizing that the Church herself decided on the books of the Bibles.
While Guarendi agreed with Protestants that the Holy Spirit guided the process, he clarified that it was the Holy Spirit through the Church.
He also said that Martin Luther’s decision to remove multiple books of the Bible creates a logical problem for Protestants: “We have 46 books in our Old Testament, (Protestants) have 39. Now, did the Holy Spirit get it wrong when the canon was put together in the latter portion of the fourth century?”
Guarendi stated, “Now, you can say that (the Holy Spirit guided such a change) and say, ‘Well, that’s what the Holy Spirit does. It’s a mystery.’” But he added, “My experience is that nobody thinks it through that way.”
He concluded, “The early Church was very, very Catholic. There is only one reason to be Catholic, and that’s because it’s true.”
