answer4you

I just received an Income Tax Examination Changes form from the IRS. They did some recalculation and said that I still owe them money. In their breakdown, they list the amount that I owe them, but do not list any penalties accessed. If I do not have the money to pay upfront and have to go towards monthly payments, will the penalties then be accessed? I know that interest will be charged, which is fine, but will the penalties then also role into the amount?

I have money to pay, but if I do that, then I will have a hard time paying my other bills. Any tax gurus out there?

Here is just an example of what we Catholics have to deal with. This was found on a local Church yesterday. May GOD have mercy on the soul of those who are involved in this...

http://www.ocregister.com/news/police-283611-churc...

What are your thoughts?

1) GOD wanted 30k+ Protestant Churches?

2) You are saved through faith alone (even though James says 'Faith without works is dead')

3) That we are to live by Sola Scriptura?

4) That the bread and wine "represents" the body and blood (As Jesus' words are... this 'IS' )

5) We must remove 7 books from the Bible and call it the KJV?

6) That GOD's church must be reformed by a heretic by the name of Luther?

7) That we are "once-saved, always-saved" (even though Paul tells us we must ' work out our salvation, with fear and trembling)

Things that make you go.... "hmmmm"...

Did you know that in the Bible, we are taught that only men should be the ones that make coffee? It doesn't matter whether you look in the Catholic Bible or the Protestant Bible either... for once, we can agree that it is in both versions.

Not so sure that the female Barristas would appreciate this teaching though. In fact, they have an entire book dedicated to this teaching.

We can see this in the book of HE-BREWS .... =)

Sorry... just a little joke for the day to lighten everyone's spirits...

GOD BLESS...

According to all you Christians out there, what is the Pillar and Foundation of Truth?

(Please also identify what your denomination is... )

a) The Bible?

b) The Church?

c) Your Pastor?

d) Other

This is not a pop quiz... but rather a survey to see where everyone lies on this matter...

Does it come to anybody's surprise that [John 6:66] reads as follows?

"As a result of this, many (of) his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him."

This is not just a coincidence my friends, how John chapter 6, verse 66 depicts people turning their backs from Jesus. Hmmm... this is what we do, when the Devil tempts us to sin, and we fall into sin...

GOD BLESS...

1) Where did Jesus give instructions that the Christian faith should be based exclusively on a book?

2) Other than the specific command to John to pen the Revelation, where did Jesus tell His apostles to write anything down and compile it into an authoritative book?

3) Where in the New Testament do the apostles tell future generations that the Christian faith will be based solely on a book?

4) Some Protestants claim that Jesus condemned all oral tradition (e.g., Matt 15:3, 6; Mark 7:8-13). If so, why does He bind His listeners to oral tradition by telling them to obey the scribes and Pharisees when they “sit on Moses’ seat” (Matt 23:2)?

5) Some Protestants claim that St. Paul condemned all oral tradition (Col 2:8). If so, why does he tell the Thessalonians to “stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter” (2 Thes 2:15) and praises the Corinthians because they “hold firmly to the traditions” (1 Cor 11:2)?

(And why does the Protestant NIV change the word “tradition” to “teaching”?)

6) If the authors of the New Testament believed in Sola Scriptura, why did they sometimes draw on oral Tradition as authoritative and as God’s Word (Matt 2:23; 23:2; 1 Cor 10:4; 1 Pet 3:19; Jude 9, 14 15)?

7) Where in the Bible is God’s Word restricted only to what is written down?

8) How do we know who wrote the books that we call Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Hebrews, and 1, 2, and 3 John?

9) On what authority, or on what principle, would we accept as Scripture books that we know were not written by one of the twelve apostles?

10) Where in the Bible do we find an inspired and infallible list of books that should belong in the Bible? (e.g., Is the Bible’s Table of Contents inspired?)

11) How do we know, from the Bible alone, that the individual books of the New Testament are inspired, even when they make no claim to be inspired?

12) How do we know, from the Bible alone, that the letters of St. Paul, who wrote to first-century congregations and individuals, are meant to be read by us as Scripture 2000 years later?

13) Where does the Bible claim to be the sole authority for Christians in matters of faith and morals?

14) Most of the books of the New Testament were written to address very specific problems in the early Church, and none of them are a systematic presentation of Christian faith and theology. On what biblical basis do Protestants think that everything that the apostles taught is captured in the New Testament writings?

15) If the books of the New Testament are “self-authenticating” through the ministry of the Holy Spirit to each individual, then why was there confusion in the early Church over which books were inspired, with some books being rejected by the majority?

16) If the meaning of the Bible is so clear—so easily interpreted—and if the Holy Spirit leads every Christian to interpret it for themselves, then why are there over 33,000 Protestant denominations, and millions of individual Protestants, all interpreting the Bible differently?

17) Who may authoritatively arbitrate between Christians who claim to be led by the Holy Spirit into mutually contradictory interpretations of the Bible?

18) Since each Protestant must admit that his or her interpretation is fallible, how can any Protestant in good conscience call anything heresy or bind another Christian to a particular belief?

19) Protestants usually claim that they all agree “on the important things.” Who is able to decide authoritatively what is important in the Christian faith and what is not?

20) How did the early Church evangelize and overthrow the Roman Empire, survive and prosper almost 350 years, without knowing for sure which books belong in the canon of Scripture?

21) Who in the Church had the authority to determine which books belonged in the New Testament canon and to make this decision binding on all Christians? If nobody has this authority, then can I remove or add books to the canon on my own authority?

22) Why do Protestant scholars recognize the early Church councils at Hippo and Carthage as the first instances in which the New Testament canon was officially ratified, but ignore the fact that those same councils ratified the Old Testament canon used by the Catholic Church today but abandoned by Protestants at the Reformation?

23) Why do Protestants follow post-apostolic Jewish decisions on the boundaries of the Old Testament canon, rather than the decision of the Church founded by Jesus Christ?

24) How were the bishops at Hippo and Carthage able to determine the correct canon of Scripture, in spite of the fact that they believed all the distinctively Catholic doctrines such as the apostolic succession of bishops, the sacrifice of the Mass, Christ’s Real Presence in the Eucharist, baptismal regeneration, etc?

25) If Christianity is a “book religion,” how did it flourish during the first 1500 year

"Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching its people to love, but to use violence to get what they want. That is why the greatest destroyer of love and peace is abortion."

"It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you live as you wish."

"Any country that accepts abortion is the poorest of the poor."

"I feel that the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because it is a war against the child, a direct killing of the innocent child, murder by the mother herself."

"And if we can accept that a mother can kill her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another?"

"Many people are concerned with children of India, with the children of Africa where quite a few die of hunger, and so on. Many people are also concerned about the violence in this great country of the United States. These concerns are very good. But often these same people are not concerned with the millions being killed by the deliberate decision of their own mothers. And this is the greatest destroyer of peace today- abortion which brings people to such blindness."

"We must remember that life begins at home and we must also remember that the future of humanity passes through the family."

"By abortion the Mother does not learn to love, but kills her own child to solve her problems. And, by abortion, that father is told that he does not have to take any responsibility at all for the child he has brought into the world. The father is likely to put other women to the same trouble. So abortion leads to more abortion."

Can you please provide one verse in Scripture which tells us:

1) We are saved through FAITH ALONE?

2) The Bible is the ONLY AUTHORITY on teaching the faith?

3) Jesus did not intend to establish HIS Church on St. Peter... which HE clearly does in Matthew 16:18-19?

Are any of you Catholics on YA! from Southern California (specifically Orange County?)

If so... we should all meet up for MASS together... how cool would that be?

It appears that you spend quite a deal of time trying to spread lies and misconceptions about the Catholic Church. Either way, as my separated brother and sisters in Christ, I still love you guys and will continue to pray for you. A couple things that I have noticed, and would like you guys to clarify for me...

1) You believe in the Bible (which is great), but you say that Sola Scriptura is the way to be... So please tell me

-Where in the Bible, can I find the passage that says that we are "Saved by Faith ALONE"

2) You believe that the Bible is the inspired word of GOD (which is great), but then you would have to agree that there are no mistakes or contradictions as well, correct. One argument that Protestant typically have is in Matthew 23:9, where it states call no man father... So please explain why

-Eph 6:1-2 says that we need to honor our father and mother;

-Luke 16:24 we see the terms Father Abraham

-Romans 4:1-18, Abraham is referred to as Father Abraham 7 separate times;

-Acts 7:1-2 we see the verse "Here me, brethren and fathers!";

-James 2:21 says "Was not Abraham our Father"; why 1 John 2:13 starts off with "“I am writing to you, fathers...";

-Ephesians 3:14-15 it states “For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name”

3) Protestants like to refer to the Bible regarding, thou shall not build any graven images... So please explain why

-GOD instructs two large Cherubims to be constructed above the Ark of the Covenant, and why...

-GOD commands that a serpent staff be created so that anyone who has been bit by snakes, and stares at the staff would not die...

4) Back to Sola Scriptura, it's nice to see that you guys do try to live by the teachings of the Bible (this is good)... But please explain to me why it appears that you have totally ignored the following verses...

"So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by letter." --- 2 Thess 2:15

"So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes by the preaching of Christ." --- Romans 10:17

"What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, do; and the God of peace will be with you." --- Philippians 4:9

"Finally, brethren, we beseech and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you learned from us how you ought to live and to please God, just as you are doing, you do so more and more." --- 1 Thess 4:1

"Follow the pattern of the sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus;" --- 2 Timothy 1:13

So as you can see, this should be enough evidence on the importance of the teachings which were verbally conveyed, and not what has been captured solely by a Bible, which the Catholic Church didn't put together for the world, until 397AD. Sacred Tradition + Scripture is the foundation of Christianity.

GOD BLESS....

So here is a true story… I was speaking to a Priest at a retreat that I went to recently. Anyhow he told us a story about a couple Carmelite nuns who went to Staples Center to watch a Lakers game. Anyhow, because they are nuns, they hit the town in their full habit. Mind you, these were not your typical, smaller nuns. In fact they were Eastern European nuns so in themselves, they carry about a large frame.

So while at the game, they sat in front of three guys who, by their comments throughout the game, were clearly very Anti-Catholic. In fact the conversations they had were quite loud, and they were deliberately vocal so as the nuns could hear them. One of them said something to the extent of… “We should go to Minnesota, where I hear there are only 150 nuns in the whole state”… so the sisters let this one slide. Another one of the guys proceeded to say, “We should go to Ohio, where I hear there are only 50 nuns”. The last of the three guys chimed in and said, “We should go to Utah, where the Mormons are, as I hear there are only 15 nuns”.

This was the last straw, and the sisters could not put up with the ranting, Anti-Catholic epithet. As such, one of the sisters could no longer bite her tongue. So she turned around and told them… “You should go to Hell… I hear there are no nuns there”.

---Needless to say, I was rolling on the floor when I heard this. Goes to show you that our nuns do have a sense of humor. I’m sure sister went to confession afterwards, but nevertheless… the guys got a taste of their own medicine.

So… any other Catholics have similar stories…? What would you to stand up for your faith?

GOD BLESS... I'm CATHOLIC

What do you think Catholics? (Read Below...)

Recently I have seen so much Catholic bashing at YA! and in my everyday life. What is more interesting is that most of this comes from Protestant Christians, who at the same time say that they believe in Christ’ teachings and that the Bible is the only authority for teaching and foundation for our faith.

So, here is an official challenge to all the Protestant Christians out there…

Please identify one verse in the Bible, which it clearly states that the Bible should be the only authority by which we Christians should be teaching from. --- Just one example… please…

In addition, I’d like to also address a notable Christian arguments against the Catholic Church. Protestants commonly argue the following:

---Call No Man Father---

Matt 23:9 - "Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven.”

This argument is very good, and is pulled directly out of Scripture. So, first off, congratulations Protestant Christians, for using your Bibles. I actually have a good deal of respect for you for doing so. I will give you this… all Catholics should follow in suit and use their Bible more frequently as well, as this could only strengthen our faith. In fact, Catholics Christians, much like yourselves, believe in the inerrancy of the Bible, and we know that Sacred Scripture cannot, I repeat, cannot contradict itself. --- After all this is what you guys believe too, right? Okay, at least we have some common ground here. As such, we too believe in the verse as well, in what is says and what it means.

Now, back to my point. If our premise is that Sacred Scripture cannot contradict itself, then any contradiction that is said to be found simply means that one of the two has been taken out of context, right? In line with this thought, we as Christians, cannot and should not, take one single verse of Scripture out of context, lift it out of context, absolutize it, to the detriment or to contradict other verses of Scripture. Correct? If so, then we are only proving the Athiests right that Sacred Scripture is not truly the Word of GOD, as GOD would not have contradicted Himself.

However, it’s a good thing that we can both agree that this is not that case, because we KNOW that Sacred Scripture is the inspired works of GOD and does not, I repeat, does not contradict itself, right? --- Okay, at least we can agree on this point as well.

So… if this is the case, which we KNOW is true… Scripture IS the INSPIRED works of GOD, and GOD DOES NOT contradict himself, unless you are saying that HE makes mistakes…. (Which we KNOW he doesn’t…)

Now… Please open up your Bibles and turn to:

1) Eph 6:1-2 – “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. HONOR YOUR FATHER and mother

2) Luke 16:24 – “And he cried out and said, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.”

3) Romans 4:1-18 – [St. Paul refers to Abraham as Father Abraham, 7 times…]

4) Acts 7:1-2 – “The high priest said, "Are these things so?" And he said, "Hear me, brethren and fathers! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran,”

5) James 2:21 – “Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar?”

6) 1 John 2:13 – “I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one I have written to you, children, because you know the Father.

7) 1 Cor 4:14-15 – “I do not write these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For if you were to have countless tutors in Christ, yet you would not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel.

8) Eph 3:14-15 – “For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name”

So as you can see throughout the Bible, men are called “father” and spiritual leaders are called “father” as well. Does GOD make mistakes? NO… so this should simply shows you that one of the primary arguments of Protestant Christians against the Catholic Church, Matt 23:9, is in contradiction to other parts of the Bible… which as Christians we know cannot happen. So does this mean that GOD messed up here? Absolutely not… this simply means that Protestant Churches are isolating one verse, taking it out of context, and presenting it as such so that their followers too can join in on the bashing. However, anyone who takes the time to really study the Bible, the Church Fathers, and the origins of Christianity… will only find that “all roads lead back to Rome”. (Roman Catholic Church)

GOD BLESS….

Many argue that science and Religion cannot co-exist. The argument is that through the intelligence found in science and the capable reasoning of such, GOD cannot exist.

So in short, many say that the world can only be explained by these wise men/women. If so, how do you explain the following list of Nobel Laureates and great world Scientists who believed in GOD?

PART I. Nobel Scientists (20-21 Century)

Albert Einstein Nobel Laureate in Physics Jewish

Max Planck Nobel Laureate in Physics Protestant

Erwin Schrodinger Nobel Laureate in Physics Catholic

Werner Heisenberg Nobel Laureate in Physics Lutheran

Robert Millikan Nobel Laureate in Physics Congregationalist

Charles Hard Townes Nobel Laureate in Physics United Church of Christ (raised Baptist)

Arthur Schawlow Nobel Laureate in Physics Methodist

William D. Phillips Nobel Laureate in Physics Methodist

William H. Bragg Nobel Laureate in Physics Anglican

Guglielmo Marconi Nobel Laureate in Physics Catholic and Anglican

Arthur Compton Nobel Laureate in Physics Presbyterian

Arno Penzias Nobel Laureate in Physics Jewish

Nevill Mott Nobel Laureate in Physics Anglican

Isidor Isaac Rabi Nobel Laureate in Physics Jewish

Abdus Salam Nobel Laureate in Physics Muslim

Antony Hewish Nobel Laureate in Physics Christian

Joseph H. Taylor, Jr. Nobel Laureate in Physics Quaker

Alexis Carrel Nobel Laureate in Medicine and Physiology Catholic

John Eccles Nobel Laureate in Medicine and Physiology Catholic

Joseph Murray Nobel Laureate in Medicine and Physiology Catholic

Ernst Chain Nobel Laureate in Medicine and Physiology Jewish

George Wald Nobel Laureate in Medicine and Physiology Jewish

Ronald Ross Nobel Laureate in Medicine and Physiology Christian

Derek Barton Nobel Laureate in Chemistry Christian

Christian Anfinsen Nobel Laureate in Chemistry Jewish

Walter Kohn Nobel Laureate in Chemistry Jewish

Richard Smalley Nobel Laureate in Chemistry Christian

PART II. Nobel Writers (20-21 Century)

T.S. Eliot Nobel Laureate in Literature Anglo-Catholic (Anglican)

Rudyard Kipling Nobel Laureate in Literature Anglican

Alexander Solzhenitsyn Nobel Laureate in Literature Russian Orthodox

François Mauriac Nobel Laureate in Literature Catholic

Hermann Hesse Nobel Laureate in Literature Buddhist

Winston Churchill Nobel Laureate in Literature Anglican

Jean-Paul Sartre Nobel Laureate in Literature Lutheran & Messianic Jew

Sigrid Undset Nobel Laureate in Literature Catholic (previously Lutheran)

Rabindranath Tagore Nobel Laureate in Literature Hindu

Rudolf Eucken Nobel Laureate in Literature Christian

Isaac Singer Nobel Laureate in Literature Jewish

PART III. Nobel Peace Laureates (20-21 Century)

Albert Schweitzer Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Lutheran

Jimmy Carter Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Baptist

Theodore Roosevelt Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Episcopalian

Woodrow Wilson Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Presbyterian

Frederik de Klerk Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Dutch Reformed

Nelson Mandela Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Christian

Kim Dae-Jung Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Catholic

Dag Hammarskjold Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Christian

Martin Luther King, Jr. Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Baptist

Adolfo Perez Esquivel Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Catholic

Desmond Tutu Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Anglican

John R. Mott Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Methodist

Part IV. Founders of Modern Science (16-21 Century)

Isaac Newton Founder of Classical Physics and Infinitesimal Calculus Anglican

Galileo Galilei Founder of Experimental Physics Catholic

Nicolaus Copernicus Founder of Heliocentric Cosmology Catholic

Johannes Kepler Founder of Physical Astronomy and Modern Optics Lutheran

Francis Bacon Founder of the Scientific Inductive Method Anglican

René Descartes Founder of Analytical Geometry and Modern Philosophy Catholic

Blaise Pascal Founder of Hydrostatics, Hydrodynamics,

and the Theory of Probabilities Jansenist

Michael Faraday Founder of Electronics and Electro-Magnetics Sandemanian

James Clerk Maxwell Founder of Statistical Thermodynamics Presbyterian; Anglican; Baptist

Lord Kelvin Founder of Thermodynamics and Energetics Anglican

Robert Boyle Founder of Modern Chemistry Anglican

William Harvey Founder of Modern Medicine Anglican (nominal)

John Ray Founder of Modern Biology and Natural History Calvinist

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz German Mathematician and Philosopher,

Founder of Infinitesimal Calculus Lutheran

Charles Darwin Founder of the Theory of Evolution Anglican

Ernst Haeckel German Biologist,

the Most Influential Evolutionist in Continental Europe

Thomas H. Huxley English Biologist and Evolutionist

Joseph J. Thomson Nobel Laureate in Physics, Discoverer of the Electron, Founder of Atomic Physics Anglican

Louis Pasteur Founder of Microbiology and Immunology Catholic

Part V. Great Ph

Not sure how so many Christians, and Protestant Christians can say that people like Luther, Calvin, and the rest of the Protestant reformation groups fought to preserve the true meaning of the Bible. Let's look at the facts here...

1-The Bible did not exist until about 50-150 years after Jesus died

2-The Catholic Church who had translated the Bible from it's original language.

3-As such, the Catholic Church gave the world the Bible as we know it today.

4-Lutheran, Calvin, and the rest decided that the original Bible did not suit their own personal beliefs, so they decided to change it, removing 7 books... (Judith, Tobit, Maccabees 1 & 2, etc...)

So as these other churches started hundreds, if not thousands of years later, how is it that they claim they have the accurate bible. Any changes to their version of the Bible was a manipulation of the Bible that the Catholic Church gave to the world.

Here is a nice tid-bit of FACT... Did you know that Martin Luther, (supposed great reformer - or at least his followers think) himself, had a heavy devotion to the Virgin Mary? What would his followers think now...?

So come on folks, how much more do you need to understand that the "reformation" was not changing what was wrong, but changing what would fit their lives. Faith and Religion is not like a buffet line... you can't just pick and choose what you believe, removing what you don't agree with, then starting a new church.

Another fact... this is why there are over 33,000 different churches that have started. --- I don't like this... I'll just remove it and start my own. Then a member of that Church doesn't agree with something, removes it, then starts their own Church.

Matthew 16:18-19

Here is a list of various Churches and their founders... You decide who you want to follow:

Note: These are all facts.... you can research for yourself. So with that much said, would you want to follow a Church with 20-30 years of history, or one with 2000+ years...?

Lutheran - 1517 Martin Luther Germany

Anglican - 1534 Henry VIII England

Calvinist - 1555 John Calvin Switzerland

Presbyterian -1560 John Knox Scotland

Congregationalist-1582 Robert Brown Holland

Episcopalians -1789 Samuel Seabury American Colonies

Baptist - 1609 John Smyth Amsterdam

Methodist Episcopal - 1739 John & Charles Wesley England

United Brethren - 1800 Philip Otterbein & Martin Boehm Maryland

Disciples of Christ - 1827 Thomas & Alexander Campbell Kentucky

Mormons - 1830 Joseph Smith New York

Salvation Army - 1865 William Booth London

Jehovah Witness - 1874 Charles Taze Russell Pennsylvania

Christian Science - 1879 Mary Baker Eddy Boston

Four-square Gospel - 1917 Aimee Semple McPherson Los Angeles

Harvest Christian - 1972 Greg Laurie Riverside, CA

Calvary Chapel - 1965 Chuck Smith Costa Mesa, CA

Saddleback Church - 1982 Rick Warren

Catholic - 33 Jesus Christ Jerusalem