INTENTION DOCTRINE MAKES SACRAMENTS UNCERTAIN
Catholicism says that there is no salvation without the sacraments. The
sacraments are given by men who must have the right intention - the intention to
let God give his grace and love to the recipient.
Liberals wonder if God is really that confined to the sacraments. But as God is
boss and runs all things it would follow that if somebody seems to really need a
sacrament is it is not available it is because God sees the person does not
really want it. If God is boss and the sacraments are the only way to Heaven
then nobody who really wants to be saved by a sacrament will be deprived.
What is an intention? An intention means you are doing something freely for a
reason. It is about the why. A desire is not the same thing. A proof of this is,
that you may intend to do what you don't want to do. You can also want to do
what you have no intention of doing.
It is said that intending also means you are sure you will do what you intend.
Rome has infallibly taught that no one can give a sacrament unless they mean to
permit the Holy Spirit to let his grace flow for the sake of God (Secrets of
Romanism, page 105-107, Council of Trent, Session 7, Canon 11). It is not enough
just to do the rite (page 90, 91, Dawn or Twilight?). This intention must be
present the second the rite is performed. If a moment before or after will do
then intention does not matter at all! A momentary distraction can prevent the
administration of a true sacrament. If God can assume that you would have the
right intention if you could then what if you never thought much about the
person you are giving the sacrament to and don’t know if you would withhold it
if you knew them? He can’t assume.
The correct intention is necessary for validity. If, for example, the bishop
when ordaining a priest does not have the necessary intention to make him one
the candidate won’t get the sacrament and so won’t be a real priest at all. The
intention doctrine ensures that there can be no consolation if you are a Roman
Catholic for you could get the sacraments and through their invalidity you could
still end up in Hell and it is such a terrible prospect you would be mad if you
were not deeply perturbed. The Church says that you need the sacraments for
salvation and then it has a doctrine that makes you unsure that they will be
valid. God wants us to be sure we are right with him and the Church is hurting
people.
What if priests give a sacrament for the wrong reason through forgetfulness or
nerves? The Church says that it is still valid for having the right intention is
at the back of their mind. Suppose the priest intended not to give a sacrament
and through distraction, mistakenly intended to give the sacrament when it was
time to give it. The sacrament will be invalidated by the mistaken intention
only if they made the wilful intention that the sacrament would not work. See
this teaching in What is Christianity? (page 16). The sacrament will still be
invalid. Commonsense says the sacrament will be invalidated by the mistaken
intention. It also says that if a priest is distracted and not concentrating
properly, he is not bringing himself to the intention so his intention is
invalidated. He is not bringing himself to the giving of the sacrament. If he
can give the sacrament, then what is intention needed for at all?
If a priest’s baptism was invalid he cannot be ordained or be capable of getting
any sacrament or its grace according to Roman Catholicism even if he thinks he
is a true priest and so do others. When the recipient has reached the age of
reason which is seven he must intend to receive a sacrament to get it. Many men
enter the priesthood even if they don’t believe because they are gay or misfits
or because of the financial security and power it confers. They cannot be truly
ordained. One can never be sure.
Many Roman Catholic marriages are null and void in the eyes of God for many
people think that a marriage that isn’t a sacrament is no marriage at all. No
sacrament can be given so the marriage is just a legally impotent ceremony. The
same should be true them of many priests, that their sacrament of ordination is
invalid.
Sacramentalism’s doctrine of intention makes it a gospel of misery. The
sacramentalists are never sure even if intention is possible that they have
received a true sacrament. Many priests have been Satanists who withheld the
intention to confer the sacraments in the Devil’s service. This withholding can
happen because of malice, because of tiredness or insanity. It can happen that
the priest who ministers the sacrament had a null and void ordination. God who
won’t forgive some repentant mortal sinners without confession will not absolve
anyone who incorrectly thought that they received a real absolution from the
priest for that would be unjust discrimination. If God will then Rome’s
intention dogma is false and it doesn’t matter if one intends to give a
sacrament or not for it will work regardless.
When sin is defined as insanity by the Church it follows that sinners are mad
and cannot have the right intention to give a sacrament any more than a crazy
person can be guilty of murder.
If God is so understanding of mistakes that he will accept the person who does
wrong thinking that it is good then surely he will confer a sacrament despite a
priest omitting the intention though an understandable mistake? God would if he
is good for helping people is more important than thinking about mistakes. Rome
dogmatises that he can’t. If he did there would be no such thing as an invalid
sacrament and a layperson who makes the mistake of thinking that a layperson can
ordain bishops can do so. Rome has rejected the validity of Anglican orders and
those of nearly all Protestant churches. It is an article of Roman dogma that
the laity can only give two sacraments, baptism and marriage, and can never give
the rest. Otherwise, you could ordain yourself a bishop.
A God who wants all to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth (1
Timothy 2:4) would not have made the salvation and spiritual development of many
depend on the will of the Church for it is too risky.
The Church maintains that the sacramental system is not risky because she is
very careful and has made regulations to make the reception of invalid orders
and sacraments almost impossible. But this contradicts her rule that nobody but
God has the right to say what is in anybody’s heart.
There have been cases where investigations were conducted into certain
ordinations to determine if they were valid or invalid. If we have free will we
can refuse to let a sacrament give power although we go through the rite.
If the Church is particular about sacraments being valid then why does it not
have two or more priests doing baptism at the one time or at least TWO bishops
laying hands on ordination or confirmation candidates and why is there no system
for repeating the rite for anybody who thinks they might have taken it invalidly
through some defect in themselves? It would if it cared deeply enough for God.
Nobody is encouraged to take the sacrament again conditionally. When a
surprising number of marriages can be annulled why can’t the same be done for
other sacraments? The Church is changing the rules to suit itself all the time.
The Church says that fake sacraments will be found out before long which simply
cannot be true. If a good Catholic is deceived with an unconsecrated communion
wafer he or she feels and experiences that it is the body of Christ as much as a
person who receives a consecrated one does.
The Bible says that there will be a religion headquartered in Rome that will be
the whore of Babylon. The Bible says the Church of Rome is the whore now but
believers in Catholicism imagine that the whore that masquerades as the Roman
Church is still to come. For the apostate Catholics to set up the whore they
have to refrain from intending to give valid sacraments assuming that the
sacraments are really signs of grace. Bible prophecy then forbids reliance on
the sacraments.
The Bible teaches that faith in God’s saving power is necessary for salvation
(Hebrews 11:6). Rome replaces this faith with uncertainty for you have no idea
if you have received sacraments or not. It contradicts the Bible.
Roman Catholic sacramentalism is not only irrational but also unchristian. It
advocates unjust discrimination against those who are ordained over the Internet
or who ordain themselves. Roman Catholicism says it believes in salvation by
grace. It believes more in salvation by intention. Even an intention that is not
inspired by God can channel a sacrament. A religion teaching such a thing is
worse than a religion teaching that you earn salvation by good works. The
sacraments are the core of Catholicism thus Catholicism is not truly Christian
or godly. As Jesus might say, it does a form of godliness but which has no real
God power in it.
BOOKS CONSULTED
A GREAT LEGACY, Rev RJ Coates, Irish Church Mission, Dublin
A PATH FROM ROME, Anthony Kenny Sidgwick & Jackson, London, 1985
A ROMAN CATECHISM WITH A REPLY THERETO, John Wesley Protestant Truth Society,
London
A WOMAN RIDES THE BEAST, Dave Hunt, Harvest House, Eugene, Oregon, 1994
ALL ONE BODY – WHY DON’T WE AGREE? Erwin W Lutzer, Tyndale, Illinois, 1989
AN ACCOUNT OF ARCHBISHOP JAMES USHER 1581-1656, ND Emerson MA PhD, Townsend
Street, Dublin
APOSTOLICAL SUCCESSION, James Heron, Outlook Press, Belfast
BIBLICAL EXEGESIS AND CHURCH DOCTRINE, Raymond E Brown, Paulist Press, New York,
1985
BUT THE BIBLE DOES NOT SAY SO, Rev Roberto Nisbet, Church Book Room Press,
London 1966
CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH, Veritas, Dublin, 1995
CATHOLICISM AND CHRISTIANITY, Cecil John Cadoux, George Allen & Unwin Ltd, 1928
CATHOLICISM AND FUNDAMENTALISM, Karl Keating, Ignatius Press, San Francisco,
1988
CHRISTIANS GUIDE TO ROMAN CATHOLICISM, Bill Jackson, Colonial Baptist Press,
Louisville, Kentucky, 1988
CITY OF GOD, St Augustine, Penguin Books, Middlesex, 1986
DAWN OR TWILIGHT? HM Carson, IVP, Leicester, 1976
DEAR CATHOLIC FRIEND, John R Rice, Sword of the Lord, Murfreesboro, Tennessee,
1989
DIFFICULTIES, Mgr Ronald Knox and Sir Arnold Lunn, Eyre & Spottiswoode, London,
1958
DOCUMENTS OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH, edited by Henry Bettenson, Oxford University
Press, Oxford, 1979
ENCHIRIDION SYMBOLORUM ET DEFINITIONUM, Heinrich Joseph Denzinger, Edited by A
Schonmetzer, Barcelona, 1963
EVANGELICAL CATHOLICS A NEW PHENOMENON, Stanley Mawhinney, Christian Ministries
Incorporated, Dundrum, Dublin, 1992
FUTURIST OR HISTORICIST? Basil C Mowll, Protestant Truth Society, London
HANDBOOK TO THE CONTROVERSY WITH ROME, Karl Von Hase, Vols 1 and 2, The
Religious Tract Society, London, 1906
HOW SURE ARE THE FOUNDATIONS? Colin Badger, Wayside Press, Canada
HOW TO CHOOSE YOUR VOCATION IN LIFE, Thomas Artz C.SS.R, Liguori Publications,
Missouri, 1976
INFALLIBILITY IN THE CHURCH, Patrick Crowley, CTS, London, 1982
IS THE CATHOLIC CHURCH A BIBLE CHURCH? John Hamrogue, C.SS.R, Liguori, Missouri,
1983
IS THERE SALVATION OUTSIDE THE CATHOLIC CHURCH? Fr J Bainvel SJ, TAN, Illiniois,
1979
LETTERS TO A ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST, H A Ironside, Loizeaux Brothers, New Jersey,
1982
LION CONCISE BOOK OF CHRISTIAN THOUGHT, Tony Lane, Lion, Herts, 1984
LIVING IN CHRIST, A Dreze SJ, Geoffrey Chapman, London-Melbourne 1969
LOOK! THE DOUAY BIBLE AGAINST ROME, Connellan Mission, Dublin
MORAL PHILOSOPHY, Joseph Rickaby SJ, Stonyhurst Philosophy Series, Longmans,
Green and Co, London, 1912
NEW CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA, The Catholic University of America and the
McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., Washington, District of Columbia, 1967
OUGHT I TO SEND MY CHILD TO A CONVENT SCHOOL? Rev Walter H Denbow, Protestant
Truth Society, London, 1969
ROMAN CATHOLIC CLAIMS, Charles Gore MA, Longmans, London, 1894
ROMAN CATHOLIC OBJECTIONS ANSWERED, Rev H O Lindsay, John T Drought Ltd, Dublin
ROMAN CATHOLIC TEACHING CONTRASTED WITH BIBLE TEACHING, Bernard Burt, The Bible
Student Press, Coventry
ROMAN CATHOLICISM TESTED BY THE SCRIPTURES, John A Coleman, New Litho Pty. Ltd,
Victoria, 1987
ROMAN CATHOLICISM WHAT IS FINAL AUTHORITY? Harold J Berry, Back to the Bible,
Nebraska, 1974
ROMAN CATHOLICISM, Lorraine Boettner, Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing
Company, Phillipsburg, NJ, 1962
ROMANISM AT VARIANCE WITH THE BIBLE, Rev James Gardner, Protestant Truth
Society, London, 1987
ROME HAS SPOKEN, A GUIDE TO FORGOTTEN PAPAL STATEMENTS AND HOW THEY HAVE CHANGED
THROUGH THE CENTURIES, Maureen Fiedler and Linda Rabben (Editors), Crossroad
Publishing, New York, 1998
ROME THE GREAT PRIVATE INTERPRETATOR, Peter S Ruckman Penascola Bible Press,
Palatka, Florida, 1969
SALVATION, THE BIBLE AND ROMAN CATHOLICISM, William Webster, Banner of Truth,
Edinburgh, 1990
SECRETS OF ROMANISM, Joseph Zacchello, Loizeaux Brothers, New Jersey, 1984
THE ADVANCE OF ROMANISM, S M Houghton, Cotswold Bible Witness, 1964
THE BIBLE OR THE CHURCH? Ken Camplin, Printland Publishers, India, 1996
THE BIBLE REFUTES ROMANISM Philip H Rand Protestant Truth Society, London
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH HAS THE ANSWER, Paul Whitcomb TAN, Illinois, 1986
THE CHURCH AND INFALLIBILITY, BC Butler, The Catholic Book Club, London, undated
THE CHURCH OF ROME AND THE WORD OF GOD, Rev Eric C Last, Protestant Truth
Society, London
THE DEVELOPMENTS OF ROMAN CATHOLICISM, John A Bain MA, Oliphant Anderson &
Ferrier, Edinburgh and London, undated
THE EARLY CHURCH, Henry Chadwick, Pelican, Middlesex, 1987
THE GREAT MEANS OF SALVATION AND OF PERFECTION, St Alphonsus De Ligouri,
Redemptorist Fathers, Brooklyn, 1988
THE MOTHER OF GOD AND OUR INTERIOR LIFE, Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, OP, TAN,
Illinois, 1993
THE PRIMITIVE FAITH AND ROMAN CATHOLIC DEVELOPMENTS, Rev John A F Gregg BD,
APCK, Dublin, 1928
THE RICHES OF ROME AND THE UNSEARCHABLE RICHES OF CHRIST Robert D Browne,
Protestant Truth Society, London
THE STUDENT’S CATHOLIC DOCTRINE, Rev Charles Hart BA, Burns & Oates, London,
1961
THE TRUE CHURCH AND THE FALSE, The National Union of Protestants, Suffolk
THE VATICAN PAPERS, Nino Lo Bello, New English Library, Kent, 1982
TRADITIONAL DOCTRINES OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH EXAMINED, Rev CCJ Butlin,
Protestant Truth Society, London
TREASURES FROM GOD’S STOREHOUSE, Dr Bill Jackson, Colonial Baptist Press,
Louisville, Kentucky, 1991
VICARS OF CHRIST, Peter De Rosa, Corgi Books, London, 1993
WHAT HAPPENED! Francisco Lacueva, Evangelical Protestant Society, Belfast
WHY BE A CATHOLIC? Fr David Jones OP, Catholic Truth Society, London, 1996
WHY I AM NOT A ROMAN CATHOLIC, Rev Canon McCormick DD, Protestant Truth Society,
London, 1968
YOU CAN LEAD ROMAN CATHOLICS TO CHRIST, Wilson Ewin, New England Mission, Nashua
1980
BIBLE VERSION USED
The Amplified Bible
THE WWW
The Anti-Catholic Bible
www.catholic.com/library/The_Anti_Catholic_Bible.asp
Christians versus the Lies of Catholicism
www.cephasministry.com