Most non-Catholic Christians claim, "The Holy Bible is all I need," but this notion is not taught in the Holy Bible/Sacred Scripture itself. In fact, the Holy Bible/Sacred Scripture teaches the contrary idea. - 2 Peter 1:20-21, 3:15-18 - The "Holy Bible/Sacred Scripture alone" theory was not believed by Christians in the early Church. It is new, having arisen only in the 1500s during the Protestant Reformation. The theory is a "tradition of men" that nullifies the Word of God, distorts the true role of the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible, and undermines the authority of the Universal / Catholic Church. The Universal / Catholic Church that Jesus established. - Matthew 15:1-9; Mark 7:1-8 -

Although popular with many "Bible Christian" churches, the "Bible alone" theory simply does not work in practice. Historical experience disproves it. Each year we see additional splintering among "Bible-believing" religions. Today there are hundreds of thousands of competing denominations, each insisting its interpretation of the Holy Bible is the correct one. The resulting divisions have caused untold confusion among millions of sincere but misled Christians.

We know for sure and it is a fact: The Holy Spirit cannot be the author of this confusion. "Prophets can always control their prophetic spirits, since God is not a God of disorder but of peace." - 1 Corinthians 14:33 - God cannot lead people to contradictory beliefs because God / the Lord Jesus Christ said: 'I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one can come to the Father/God except through me. If you know me, you know my Father too. From this moment you know and have seen him.' - John 14:6-7 -  

                 -   The value of prophecy  - False Teachers  -  The punishment to come  -

"At the same time, we must be most careful to remember that the interpretation of scriptural prophecy is never a matter for the individual. Why? Because no prophecy ever came from man's initiative. When men/women spoke for God it was the Holy Spirit that moved them." - 2 Peter 1:20-21 -

"Think of our Lord's patience as your opportunity to be saved; our brother Paul, [Apostle/Saint Paul] who is so dear to us, told you this when he wrote to you with the wisdom that is his special gift. He always writes like this when he deals with this sort of subject, and this makes some points and in his letters hard to understand; these are the points that uneducated and unbalanced people distort, in the same way as they distort the rest of sacred scripture - a fatal thing for them to do. You have been warned about this, my friends; be careful not to get carried away by the errors of unprincipled people, from the firm ground that you are standing on. Instead, go on growing in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ. To him: our Lord Jesus Christ be glory, in time and in eternity. Amen." - 2 Peter 3:15-18 -

                     -   The Day of the Lord Jesus Christ; the prophets and the apostles  -

My friends, this is my second letter to you, and in both of them I have tried to awaken a true understanding in you by giving you a reminder: recalling to you what was said in the past by the holy prophets and the commandments of the Lord Jesus Christ and saviour which you were given by the apostles.

We must be careful to remember that during the last days there are bound to be people who will be scornful, the kind who always please themselves on and in what they do, and they will make fun of the promise and ask, "Well, where is this coming? Everything goes on as it has since the Fathers died, as it has since it began at the creation." They are choosing to forget that there were heavens at the beginning, and that the earth was formed by the word of God out of water and between the waters, so that the world of that time was destroyed by being flooded by water. But by the same word, the present sky and earth are destined for fire, and are only being reserved until Judgement day so that all sinners may be destroyed. The Day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then with a roar the sky will vanish, the elements will catch fire and fall apart, the earth and all that it contain will burnt up.

Since everything is coming to an end like this, you should be living holy and saintly lives while you wait and long for the Day of God to come, when the sky will dissolve in flames and the elements melt in heat. What we are waiting for is what God/He promised: the new heavens and new earth, the place where righteous will be at home.

So then, my friends, while you are waiting, do your best to live lives without spot or stain so that He will find you at peace. Think of our Lord's patience as your opportunity to be saved: our brother Paul/Saul, who is so dear to us, told you this when he wrote to you with the wisdom that is his special gift. He always writes like this when he deals with this sort of subject, and this makes some points in his letter hard to understand; these are the points that uneducated and unbalanced people distort, in the same way as the distort the rest of sacred scripture - a fatal thing for them to do.

You have been warned about this, my friends; be careful not to get carried away by the errors of unprincipled people, from the firm ground you are standing on. Instead, go on growing in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory, in time and in eternity. Amen. - 2 Peter 3:1-18 -

Jesus belonged to the family of king David. He was proclaimed as the Messiah of David's line both before His birth and after His resurrection but the Lord Jesus was slow to make messianic claims. The reason for this is that the ideas associated with the Messiah in the minds of the Jewish people were quite different from the character and purpose of His ministry. Obviously, The Christ was the MESSIAH, the Son of David. 

When Jesus made His declaration before the high priest and His colleagues, He did so in response to the question: "Are You the Christ the Son of the Blessed?" - Mark 14:61 - He replied, "I am" - Mark 14:62 - 'The words are your own' answered Jesus. 'Moreover, I tell you that from this time onward you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.' - Matthew 26:64 -

Early Christian writings prove the first Christians were thoroughly Catholic/Universal in belief and practise and they looked to the successors of the apostles as their leaders. What these first Christians believed and practiced is still believed by the Catholic Church. No other Church can make that claim. These beliefs include the bodily Resurrection of Jesus, the Real Presence of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist, Holy Communion the sacrificial nature of the Holy Mass, the forgiveness of sins through an ordained priest, baptismal regeneration, the existence of purgatory, Mary's special role, the Four Last Things of human beings, that is, are Death, Judgement, Heaven and Hell, also refer to 'In Christian eschatology.' and much more.

For 2,000 years the One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic Church has carried out this mission, preaching and proclaiming the 'Good News' that the Lord Jesus Christ died for all men/women and that the Lord wants all of us to be children and members of his universal family. "All baptised in Christ, you have all clothed yourselves in Christ, and there are no more distinctions between Jew and Greek, slave and free, male and female, but all of you are one in Christ Jesus." - Galatians 3:27-28 - 

Nowadays the Catholic Church is found in every country of the world and is still sending out missionaries to "make disciples of all nations." "Jesus came up and spoke to them. 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, make disciples of all nations; baptise them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teach them to observe all the commands I gave you. And know that I am with you always; yes, to the end of time." - Matthew 28:18-20 -

The Church Jesus established was known by its most common title, "the Catholic Church," at least as early as the year 107, when Ignatius of Antioch used that title to describe the one Church Jesus founded. The title apparently was old in Ignatius's time, which means it probably went all the way back to the time of the apostle.

As from the first, God speaks to his Church through the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible and through sacred Tradition. To make sure we understand Him, He guides the Church's teaching authority - the Magisterium - so it always interprets the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible and sacred Tradition [oral and written] accurately. This is the gift of infallibility.

Like the three legs on a stool, the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible, sacred Tradition, and the Magisterium are all necessary for the stability of the Church to guarantee truth and sound doctrine. The Holy Bible - Sacred Scripture (Catechism Of The Catholic Church - CCC # 101-141) Scripture, by which we mean the Old Testament and the New Testament, was inspired by God. 

"I wanted you to know how people ought to behave in God's family - that is, in the Church of the living God, which upholds the truth and keeps it safe. Without any doubt, the mystery of our religion is very deep indeed: God was made visible in the flesh, attested by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed to the pagans, believed in by the world, taken up in glory." - 2 Timothy 3:15-16 -

The Holy Spirit guided the scriptural/biblical authors to write what He wanted them to write. Since God is the principal author of the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible, and since God is truth itself - John 14:6 - and cannot teach anything untrue, it is free from all error in everything it asserts to be true.

Keep in mind that the Universal Church came before the New Testament, not the New Testament before the Universal Church. Divinely-inspired members of the Church wrote the books of the New Testament, just as divinely-inspired writers had written the Old Testament, and the Church is guided by the Holy Spirit to guard and interpret the entire Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible, both Old Testaments and New Testaments

Such an official interpreter is absolutely necessary if we are to understand the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible properly. (We all know what the Constitution says, but we still need a Supreme Court to interpret what it means.) The Magisterium is infallible when it teaches officially because Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit to guide the apostles and the successors "into all truth". 

"I still have many things to say to you but they would be too much for you now. But when the Spirit of truth comes He will not be speaking as from himself but will say only what he has learnt; and he will tell you of the things to come. He will glorify me, since all he tells you will be taken from what is mine. Everything the Father has is mine; that is why I said: All he tells you will be taken from what is mine. - Jesus to return very soon - 'In a short time you will no longer see me, and then a short time later you will see me again.'" - John 16:12-16 -

- The Church is Apostolic - Ephesians 2:19-20, CCC # 857-865 -

The Church Jesus founded is apostolic because he appointed the apostles to be the first leaders of the Church, and their successors were to be its future leaders. The apostles were the first bishops, and since the first century, there has been an unbroken line of Catholic bishops faithfully handing on what the apostles taught the first Christians in Scripture and oral Tradition. 

Glory be to him whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine; glory be to him from generation to generation in the Church and in Christ Jesus for ever and ever. Amen. - Ephesians 2:19-20 -

Accept the strength, my dear son, that comes from the grace of Christ Jesus. You have learnt everything that I teach in public; hand it on to reliable people so that they in turn will be able to teach others. - 2 Timothy 2:1-2 - Instead of giving in to your impulses like a young man/woman, fasten your attention on holiness, faith, love and peace, in union with all those who call on the Lord with pure minds. - 2 Timothy 2:22 -  

The love of money is the root of all evils and there are some who, pursuing it, have wandered away from the faith, and so given their souls any number of fatal wounds. But, as a man/woman dedicated to God, you must avoid all that. - 1 Timothy 6:10-11 - 

- Sacred Tradition - (CCC # 375-83)

Sacred Tradition should not be confused with mere traditions of men, which are more commonly called customs or disciplines. Jesus sometimes condemned customs of disciplines, but only if they were contrary to God's commands. - Mark 7:8 - He never condemned sacred Tradition, and he didn't even condemned all human tradition.

Sacred Tradition and the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible are not different or competing revelations. They are two ways that the Catholic Church hands on the gospel. Apostolic teachings such as the Trinity, infant baptism, the inerrancy of the Sacred Scripture, purgatory, and Mary's perpetual virginity have been most clearly taught through Tradition, although they are also implicitly present in (and not contrary to) the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible. The Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible itself tells us to hold fast to Tradition, whether it comes to us in written or oral form. Stand firm, then, brothers/sisters and keep the traditions that we taught you, whether by word of mouth or by letter. - 2 Thessalonians 2:15 - You have done well in remembering me so constantly and in maintaining the traditions just as I passed them to you. However, what I want you to understand is that Christ is the head of every man, man is the head of woman, and God is the head of Christ. - 1 Corinthians 11:2-3 -

Sacred Tradition should not be confused with customs and disciplines, such as the rosary, priestly celibacy, and not eating meat on Fridays in Lent. These are good and helpful things, but they are not doctrines. Sacred Tradition preserves doctrines first taught by Jesus to the apostles and later passed down to us through the apostles' successors, the bishops.

- The Magisterium - (CCC # 85-87, # 888-892)
Together the Pope and the bishops form the teaching authority of the Church, which is called the Magisterium (from the Latin for "teacher"). The Magisterium, guided and protected from error by the Holy Spirit, gives us certainty in matters of doctrines. The Church is the custodian of the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible and faithfully and accurately proclaims its message, a task which God has empowered it to do. 

The Church has remained One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic - not through man's effort, but because God preserves the Church He established. - Matthew 16:18, 28:18-20 - God guided the Israelites on the escape from Egypt by giving them a pillar of fire to light their way across the dark wilderness - Exodus 13:21 - Today the Lord Jesus Christ guides us through His One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. 

The Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible, sacred Tradition, and the writings of the earliest Christians testify that the Church teaches with Jesus' authority. In this age of countless competing religions, each clamouring for attention, one voice rises above the din: the Catholic Church, which the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible calls "the pillar and foundation of truth." - 1 Timothy 3:15 -

Jesus assured the apostles and their successors, the Pope and the Bishops, "He/She who listens to you listens to me, and he/she who rejects you rejects me." -Luke 10:16 - The Lord Jesus Christ promised to guide His Church into all truth. Jesus chose the apostles to be the earthly leaders of the Universal Church. He gave them his own authority to teach and to govern. That is why Catholics call their spiritual leaders "father." In doing so we follow Apostle/Saint Paul's example: "I became your father in Jesus Christ through the gospel." - 1 Corinthians 4:14-15 - 

The apostles, fulfilling Jesus' will, ordained bishops, priests and deacons by laying hand on their head and thus handed on their apostolic ministry to them - the fullest degree of ordination to the bishops, lesser degrees to the priests and deacons. Jesus gave Peter Simon special authority among the apostles - John 21:15-17 - and signified this by changing his name from Simon to Peter, which means "Rock". The Lord Jesus Christ said: Peter was to be the 'Rock' on which Jesus Christ would build His Universal Church. - John 1:42; Matthew 16:18 - In Aramaic, the language Jesus spoke, Simon's new name was "Cephas" -which means a massive rock - Later this name was translated into Greek as 'Petros' - and into English as Peter. The Lord Jesus Christ gave Peter alone the "keys of the kingdom" and promised that Peter decisions would be binding in heaven, symbol of His authority to rule the Universal Church on earth. - John 1:42; Matthew 16:19 - 'I tell you solemnly, whatever you bind on earth shall be considered bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall be considered loosed in heaven. - Matthew 18:18 - Luke 22:31-32 - Acts 2:1-41; 15:7-12 - 

Early Christian writings tell us that Peter's successors, the bishops of Rome (who from the earliest times have been called by the affectionate title of "POPE" which means "PAPA") continued to exercise Peter's ministry in the Universal Church. The Pope is the successor to Peter, also known as Simon Peter, as bishop of Rome. The world's other bishop are successors to the apostles in general.

The fact is: even the oldest government is new compared to the papacy. The churches: belonging to a past period of time comparatively close to the present - that is, Protestant churches that send out door to door missionaries are recent, young, compared to the Catholic Church. Many of these Protestant churches began new and as recently as the nineteenth or twentieth centuries. Some even began during your own lifetime. 

Hence, none of them can claim to be 'the Church' Jesus Christ established.

                                         

The Catholic Church has existed for more than 2,000 years, despite constant opposition from the world. This is testimony to the Church's divine origin. It must be more than a merely human organization, especially considering that its human members - even some of its leaders - have been unwise, corrupt, or prone to heresy. Any merely human organisation with such members would have collapsed early on. The Catholic Church is today the most vigorous Church in the world, that is, testimony not to the cleverness of the Church's leaders, but to the protection of the Holy Spirit. If we need to locate the Church founded by Jesus Christ, we need to locate the one that has 'Four' chief marks or qualities of His Church. The Church we seek must be One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic. 

The Church is One - Romans 12:5; 1 Corinthians 10:17, 12:13; CCC 813-822 - The Lord Jesus Christ established only 'One Church' never and not a collection of differing churches (Lutheran, Baptist, and so on). The Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible says the Church is the bride of Christ - Ephesians 5:23-32 - Jesus can have but one spouse, and His spouse is the Catholic Church. His Church teaches just one set of doctrines, which must be the same as those taught by the apostles - Jude 3 - This is the unity of belief to which Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible call us - Philippians 1:27; 2:2 - 

Although some Catholics dissent from officially-taught doctrines, the Church's official teachers - the Pope and the bishops united with Him - have never changed any doctrine. Over the centuries, as doctrines are examined more fully, the Church comes to understand them more deeply - John 16:12-13 - but it never understands them to mean the opposite of what they once meant. 

The Church is Holy - Ephesians 5:25-27; Revelation 19:7-8; CCC 823-829 - By his grace Jesus makes the Church holy, just as He is holy. This doesn't mean that each member is always holy. Jesus said there would be both good and bad members in the Church - John 6:70 - and not all members would go to heaven. - Matthew 7:21-23 - But the Church itself is holy because it is the source of holiness and is the guardian of the special means of grace Jesus established, the sacraments. - Cf. Ephesians 5:26 - 

The Church is Catholic - Matthew 28:19-20; Revelation 5:9-10; CCC 830-856 - Jesus' Church is called catholic ("universal" in Greek) because it is his gift to all people. He told his apostles to go throughout the world and make disciples of "all nations." - Matthew 28:19-20 - 

The Church is Apostolic - Ephesians 2:19-20; CCC 857-865 - The Church Jesus founded is apostolic because He appointed the apostles to be the first leaders of the Church, and their successors were to be its future leaders. The apostles were the first bishops, and since the first century, there has been an unbroken line of Catholic bishops faithfully handing on what the apostles taught the Christians in Scripture and oral Tradition. - 2 Timothy 2:2 -

 -     WELCOME TO SACRED SCRIPTURE / WORD OF GOD / HOLY BIBLE READER'S COMMUNITY     - 

Wishing you, 'Happy Reading', and may God, the Father, the Son of the living God, Jesus Christ, fills your heart, mind, thoughts, and grants you: The Holy Spirit, that is, Wisdom, Knowledge, Understanding, Counsel, Piety, Fortitude, Fear of the Lord, and also His fruits of the Holy Spirit, that is, Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Trustfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control. Amen! God blessing be upon you!

Why do you call Me, "Lord, Lord" and not do what I say?' "Everyone who comes to Me and listens to My words and acts on them - I will show you what he/she is like. He/She is like a man/woman who when he/she built his/her house dug, deep, and laid the foundations on rock; when the river was in flood it bore down on that house but could not shake it, it was so well built. But the one who listens and does nothing is like the man/woman who built his/her house on soil, with no foundations: as soon as the river bore down on it, it collapsed; and what a ruin that house became!" - Luke 6:46-49 - 

If we live by the truth and in love, we shall grow in all ways into Christ Jesus, who is the head by whom the whole body is fitted and joined together, every joint adding its own strength, for each separate part to work according to it function. So the body grows until it has built itself up, in love." - Ephesians 4:15-16 - 

I still have many things to say to you but they would be too much for you now. But when the spirit of truth comes, he will lead you to the complete truth, since he will not be speaking as from himself, but will say only what he has learnt; and he will tell you of the things to come. He/She will glorify me, since all he/she tells you will be taken from what is mine. Everything the Father has is mine; that is why I said: all he/she tells you will be taken from what is mine." - John 16:12-15 -

Your generous contribution and support is profoundly cherish. I sincerely pray that: God blessing be upon you, always. Amen! Bank transfer: Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah - Public Bank Berhad account no. 4076577113 - Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.