TurretinFan writes…

John Lollard (which I presume is a psuedonym) has provided the following dialogue between a hypothetical truthseeker and a Roman Catholic:

Roman Catholic (RC): “Here, this book came from God. Read it and believe it.”

Truth Seeker (TS): “Okay! Hey, this book says X is true.”

RC: “What? Give me that!”

TS: “Right there, ‘X is true’.”

RC: “It doesn’t actually mean that. What it means is that X is false and Y is true.”

TS: “But, you said this book came from God?”

RC: “It did. But you should just listen to me, and not worry about what this book says.”

TS: “What? Why should I listen to you?”

RC: “Why, it says right there in the book, ‘the true believers’ – meaning me of course – ‘will never teach falsely’.”

TS: “But this book teaches X and you teach Y. Doesn’t that mean you do teach falsely?”

RC: “Look, I’m the one who gave you the book in the first place.”

TS: “Then thank you very much for the book that you claim came from God, please read it yourself and obey it.”

I have one criticism of this dialog, though. How many savvy Roman Catholics would suggest to a truth seeker to read and believe the Bible? Reading the Bible is not going to lead you Romeward, and I think most RC proselytizers realize that.