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Catholicism is another man-made religion just like the rest. Following Jesus is the only way to heaven

Tim Staples addresses this directly in Behold Your Mother. TL;DR: There are good reasons to read Mary's pangs of birth in Revelation 12 as spiritual and metaphorical. "Knowing that Catholic teaching has traditionally held that Mary did not suffer the pains of labor, the question is asked, how can Catholics believe this is Mary? "First, I know of no Protestant scholar who would interpret this text in any way other than to say that the 'labor pangs' were spiritual in nature. If one held the woman to be Israel or the Church, 'the labor pains' would obviously be spiritual. It should be no problem to interpret it that way if it were Mary. "Secondly, Mary did in fact suffer greatly throughout her life as a result of her calling to be the Mother of God. Right from the start, she had to suffer through being misunderstood—perhaps even by St. Joseph—with regard to her pregnancy. She would have had some knowledge that her son was destined for great suffering from the time the angel revealed to her that he was to be the Messiah. This would be a source of suffering for any loving mother. Moreover, she was promised suffering by almighty God through the prophet Simeon in Luke 2:34-35: 'A sword shall pierce your soul.' This would be dramatically fulfilled at the foot of the cross. "Ecclesiastes 1:18 says: 'For in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.' Mary’s unique and intimate knowledge of her son would have been a source of great consolation and great suffering. Any mother can readily see this even on a natural level; given the plenitude of grace in Mary’s life, her intimate knowledge and therefore her suffering would have been multiplied exponentially. It is certainly no leap to see why she would be depicted as suffering 'labor pangs' in Revelation 12:3—not physical pain from the head of her child passing through her birth canal, but just as real. In fact, spiritual suffering in the soul can be worse than any physical suffering. The body can go numb with intense pain, but there is no way to shut down the pain in a heart that loves." (Behold Your Mother 107-108)

Wait so Catholics say Mary’s childbirth was likely painless but they also say Mary is the woman in revelation 12 (it’s Israel) Cant make this up. 😬 Revelation 12:1-2  A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. 2 She was pregnant and cried out in PAIN as she was about to give birth. This is what happens when you don’t rightly divide the word of truth and create doctrines of men.

Christians are painfully unaware that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John did not write the gospels

As it is so often on this side of the veil, it is with equal parts sorrow and joy that we announce that, as of July 1, Tim Staples has retired from his post at Catholic Answers. Sorrow to be bidding farewell to our brother in arms but joy in considering the magnificence of his life of service in the spread of the gospel. Tim's name can be said in the same breath as Bart Starr's and Hank Aaron's. There are more recent celebrity athletes with more sparkly stats, perhaps, but Tim belongs in this company not only for his greatness in his field—Tim is the original apologetics GOAT—but also, because, like Starr and Aaron, Tim has always been first about his team and the game. And the game Tim plays every day, and is an undisputed champion of, is the only one that matters: eternity. Tim’s lost nothing of his staggering and ready command of Scripture, St. Thomas, and Church documents, but certain blows to his health have taken their toll on his sowing and harvesting in the vineyard. And yet—seat him behind a microphone in the Catholic Answers studio or stick one in his hand behind any podium (not that he will stay behind the podium!), and the unmitigated energy and joy of his earliest apologetics days returns. "Can I get an Amen??" Marvelous indeed are Tim’s depth and breadth of knowledge and his capacity to render an involved theological or doctrinal question with extraordinary lucidity and accessibility. Most admirable about the man, however, is his certain conviction that every single soul is worthy of his time. For Tim, apologetics and evangelization have never been about the metrics or the numbers. They are about the individual human person with whom he is talking, who at that moment might as well be the only other person on earth. You hear this care in his habitual repetition of a caller’s or audience member’s first name over the course of his answer. It’s not a mere rhetorical device. It’s love. And where it most manifests is in those many, many occasions when Tim, long after a talk is over, the lights in the church all are turned off, and all the folks have gone home, has stayed up till two or three in the morning in the parking lot with that one young man still struggling with a Church teaching. In this way, he very much reflects the Good Shepherd leaving the ninety-nine behind to bring back the stray. From where does this love come? From his own palpable love of Jesus Christ and the Church he founded. Happily, our working relationship with Tim is not altogether ended; devoted listeners of Catholic Answers Live will still hear him as a guest, twice a month. Like our other regular guests and contributors, Tim now occupies the esteemed role of "fellow worker in the vineyard." Godspeed, Tim. For all of us at Catholic Answers, working alongside you has been an honor, and inspiration, and a joy.

Skull of St. Thomas Aquinas being transported to Fossanova Abbey. Photograph by Daniel Ibanez, 2024

We have no record of a pope for 100 years after Peter died. Peter also never served as supreme pontiff in Rome. This undermines the Roman Catholic Church's "unbroken apostolic succession" claims and the idea that the Church has always had its headquarters in Rome. The Church was born in Jerusalem and spread throughout the world. Christ alone is its Head. The papacy is blasphemy against God. Turn to Christ alone for salvation.