About Paul Edwards

Paul is the Executive Director of the Center for the Study of God and Culture in Detroit, Michigan and Founding and Teaching Pastor at Redeemer Church of Waterford, Michigan.

On Purgatory

Joe called The Paul Edwards Program on Friday to ask where Catholics get their support for purgatory.  I surmised in response that the idea of an intermediate state for the purging of sins must come from  extra-biblical sources like tradition, the Church Fathers, and/or the Magisterium, since there is certainly no Scriptural support for such a teaching. 

A friend had me consult The Gospel According to Rome by James G. McCarthy which points to the apocryphal book of Second Maccabees as the source Catholics use to support a belief in purgatory.  Seems there is a story there about a battle, a lot of people being killed, and the survivors sending off a penitential monetary offering to secure the souls of those killed.  McCarthy points out how one really has to twist the exegesis to arrive at a defense of purgatory in this passage. One could just as easily arrive at the conclusion that the offering was one of thanksgiving for the living. In fact, the latter interpretation makes much more sense upon a simple reading of the text.  Beyond that, apocryphal books are not considered part of the inspired canon. 

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Hugh Hewitt Monday on The Paul Edwards Program

Nationally syndicated talk radio host and editor of Townhall.com Hugh Hewitt joins Paul in The Center for the Study of God and Culture on Monday to discuss the presidential candidacy of Mitt Romney.  Hugh is the author of the just released A Mormon in the White House?: 10 Things Every American Should Know about Mitt Romney. Listen live in Detroit from 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm on AM 1500 WLQV.  Stream it live via the Internet at www.godandculture.com.

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First Dobson, now Falwell

Newt GingrichNewt Gingrinch has admitted to having had an affair in 1998, the same time period when he was leading the charge as Speaker of the House for Impeachment against President Clinton.  James Dobson offered Gingrinch a national platform to showcase his “repentance” for two days last week on Focus on the Family.  Now word from Jerry Falwell that Gingrinch actually had previously confessed to him. Dr. Falwell has invited Speaker Newt to speak to the students of Liberty University.

Newt is not a declared candidate for President in 2008.  One cannot help but wonder if fear is building on the religious right of a Mitt Romney candidacy.   It seems that the power brokers in the evangelical community have become very anxious to help Newt unload the excess baggage that makes him a less than palatable candidate for the evangelical community. Seems they’d rather offer grace and forgiveness to Newt than try to explain to their constituency their support for a candidate who is a member of what many evangelicals consider to be a cult. Will this same dispensation of grace be offered to Rudy, or is grace conditioned on one’s position on social issues?

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