Transcription
Is it true that I won't pray with Catholics?
Peace be with you. Friends, today I will be breaking my silence on a situation that has been brewing for nearly 2 years now. Back in May of 2024, I first spoke with Ryan from needgod.net with the intent to learn more about his theology. Little did I know what this conversation would entail and how it would grow. I knew that eventually God would grant me justice for the way I was treated by Ryan during our discussion. I had shown the video to Catholic Truth, who I worked for as a staff apologist at the time, but to no avail, and was unable to get the awareness that was needed to widely reveal Ryan's true sentiments towards Catholics. That is until I met Catholic Christian, who invited me to his channel's live stream to review some of the key moments of the discussion. Ryan himself appeared in the chat that day, and after a little banter, I thought that would be the end of it. But like a drop in the pond, the effects of this rippled further than anticipated. Enter Catholic Sam, a prominent Instagram personality and YouTuber who saw the reaction stream, then the debate itself, and responded to Ryan's uncharitable refusal to pray with me via Instagram. Ryan, upon realizing that he could no longer stay silent on this matter, made the same short we will be reviewing today in response. For full context, I will include the video created by Catholic Sam as well. All links to the abovementioned videos will be in the description. I will also take the opportunity to address some of the comments in Ryan's response video. Obviously, besides the one that Ryan personally endorsed, I do not believe these reflect his personal views. Only God can truly judge hearts, but I can come to a righteous judgment based on my observations and provide fraternal correction to some of these commenters. So, without further delay, let's begin.
God.net refuses to pray with a Catholic, calls him non-Christian, and even dams him to hell. Let's take a look at the clip.
Yeah. I just I want you to be saved. I just know that if you think baptism or any obedience is needed for heaven, heaven's not a gift. You're rejecting the gift.
Would you pray with me before I go?
I will pray for you. Yeah.
Would you would you mind maybe leading?
I don't think you're safe. So, at the moment, I I think
Well, well, agree to disagree. Your opinion doesn't doesn't [clears throat] matter on that regard. But if you you don't want to share prayer with me, uh,
no, I don't pray with unbelievers.
But Ryan then goes on to say, "Unless you believe in faith alone, you are not even a Christian." Let's watch the clip.
Only not only rejecting the Trinity makes you not someone not a Christian, but I think also someone who's not believing that they're justified purely by faith in Christ alone makes them not a Christian.
So according to Ryan from needgod.net, if you think you must be obedient to Jesus and be baptized to be saved, you're not a Christian, meaning you're going to hell. And also according to Ryan, if you don't believe in solafid, you're not a Christian. Therefore, you're going to hell according to Ryan. So my question to Ryan is, who gave you this authority to judge mill billions of people like you just? Who gave you this authority to send and cast people to hell? I'm very confused. So according to Ryan, every Catholic is not Christian. Every Orthodox is not Christian. Lutheran and Anglicans also aren't Christian because they hold to baptismal regeneration. All of the church fathers are in hell according to Ryan because they all all of them hold to baptism or regeneration and reject the Protestant definition of solafid. Ryan, who's going to heaven? How do you know this information? I just wanted to make this video saying if you're Catholic, yes, you're a Christian. Yes, the early church fathers are Christians. Yes, you're Christian if you're obedient to Jesus. Yes, you're Christian if you think baptism saves. And yes, you're a Christian if you reject solafided. God bless. Christ is Lord.
Is it true that I won't pray with Catholics? Let me explain.
Ryan from needgod.net refuses to pray with a Catholic. Would you pray with me before I go?
I will pray for you. Yeah. [clears throat]
Would you mind maybe leading?
I don't think you're safe. So, at the moment, I I think
Well, well, agree to disagree. Your opinion doesn't [clears throat] doesn't matter on that regard. But if you you don't want to share a prayer with me. Uh
no, I don't pray with unbelievers.
Now, first of all, I love Roman Catholics. I love Orthodox. I love Muslims. I love Hindus. Love everyone. But I want everyone to be saved.
Now, as Catholics, we are called to give the most charitable benefit of the doubt that we can. But it's abundantly clear that Ryan is paying lip service regarding love. as is said in 1 John 3:18. Dear children, let us not love with words or speech, but with actions and truth. I will also point, of course, to 1 Corinthians 13 for a perfect thesis on what love is for a Christian. And it is demonstrable that Ryan does not meet the criteria for bearing the love we are required in his discourse. Not just with me but with multitudinous other Catholics, Orthodox, high-urch Protestants. Anyone that disagrees with Ryan is not treated with love as required. And I'll just read through the the beginning part of 1 Corinthians uh 13 just to give you that explanation, that example. If I speak in the tongues of men and angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging symbol. And if I have prophetic powers and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and I have all faith so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and I deliver my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful, is not arrogant or rude.
When for me, I don't have to do anything to keep myself saved. My answer though would simply be, I deserve hell, but I know Jesus already took the punishment for my s. I am going to heaven because Jesus already took the punishment for my sins. That's saving faith. That's a faith that will save someone.
Love does not insist on its own way. is not irritable or resentful.
Yeah. I just I want you to be saved. I just know that if you think baptism or any obedience is needed for heaven, heaven's not a gift. You're rejecting the gift. And so, I will pray for you, but I definitely won't pray for you. Heavenly Father, Lord, we pray for John who unfortunately didn't really come with that humble attitude of wanting to know the way to be saved, wanting to hold on to his obedience and baptism and other sacraments to stay saved or try and get saved. And yet, he still thinks he's not even saved at this point. He's not even sure if he's going to heaven. Lord, we see we we have sympathy and compassion for him, realizing that he's lost. I do pray that he would be humble and realize his lost condition because Lord, we have to come to that point to realize that we're lost before we can find salvation and find peace and reconciliation with you through Christ alone. So Lord, may John come to realize that it's nothing in his hands he brings. simply to the cross he clings. Not to his baptism, not to his confession, not to any sacrament, just the cross. Realize that Jesus is enough. Lord, soften his heart. May he not be like those who want to hold on to their own righteousness, but those who say the same thing as Paul and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith. Philippians 3:9. We leave them in your care. And we leave also the others that we spoke to today. Leave them in your care. Lord, bring them in. The gospel seems so foreign to people. But Lord, we know that you're still saving people. That you are softening people's hearts. Save um the ones that we got to speak to today. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Gospel is so easy that a child can understand it. And yet people can so often miss it. People can so often miss it. They want to establish their own righteousness.
It does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right.
All right, [laughter] there's a comment from someone. He rejected praying with him. I had to rewatch that. He was so mad about that. Great work, Ryan. [laughter] Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Which is why it's so appropriate that and almost prophetic really that Catholic Christian points out that Ryan does not understand the meaning of love. He does not know what that word means.
Telling Catholics that if they remain in their state or they remain Catholic, they're going to go to hell. So that's not love. It's just not. I don't think you know what that word means. No offense. And I don't really think you you know what rest in Christ means because the way you talk it sounds like you're just reducing everything in the Bible that is a warning against not persevering to just you know what n I think these passages over here mean that I'm gonna I'm gonna be fine regardless of these warnings of falling away and apostatizing. And I am happy to pray for anyone regardless of their background. But praying with someone is different to praying for someone. You see, I won't pray with a Muslim, but I'll pray for Muslims. The last two popes, Pope Francis and Pope Benedict the 16th, both prayed with Muslims in a Muslim mosque facing towards Mecca. Now, I would never do that. You're endorsing them and saying, "We're both worshiping the same God. We're both together in the truth." when we can't say that.
So, first off, this is not only a textbook red herring, but also a nonsequittor, both of which are logical fallacies designed to distract from the core issue at hand, which was intrafaith, not interfaith relations. Regardless, on the citation of the popes Benedict and Francis praying in the direction of Mecca, both prayed silently, and the direction or location of this prayer simply does not matter. They were praying to the triune God who is not limited to a cardinal direction or geographic local. According to Norate, Muslims much like Jews do worship the same God as we do, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. However, praying alongside them is not an endorsement of their faith. and pointing to the similarities in an effort to bring them to the fullness of the truth is not approval for them to persist in their faith any more than Paul and the other apostles ministering to the Jews and worshiping in the temple was tacid approval of remaining in the Jewish [music] faith. Likewise, when Paul ministered to the pagan Greeks in Acts, this was not approval of pagan Greek worship. Acts 17:23. For as I pass along and observe the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription to an unknown God. What therefore you worship as unknown. This I proclaim to you. Also, just by worshiping the same God does not imply God's reception, as a requirement for that is still acceptance of the lordship of the son. 1 John 2:23, "No one who denies the Son has the Father. He who confesses the Son has the Father also." John 8:19, "They said to him, therefore, where is your father?" Jesus answered, "You know neither me nor my father, for if you knew me, you would know my father also." In Luke 10:16, "He who hears you hears me, and he who rejects you rejects me, and he who rejects me rejects him who sent me." And both the Jews and Muslims worship what they do not know. John 4:22, you worship what you do not know. We know what we worship. That's what Jesus was telling them. I worship the triune God and pray to the triune God in my thanksgivings, adoration, petitions, intercessions, and confessions, which is a teaching of the Catholic Church. Why Ryan claimed this Muslim red herring despite knowing I do not deny the trinity. and why he had difficulty invoking the Trinity beside me, a Christian brother, I frankly will not know.
But it'll also be for somebody who believes in a faith and works gospel. I'll give you a scenario. If you're back in the first century and you've got these Judaizers who claim to be believers in Jesus, but yet are preaching a false gospel, a gospel of faith and works to the Galatian church. And what Paul does in Galatians 1:8 is that he pronounces an anathema upon them, meaning they're eternally condemned. Would you feel comfortable praying with those guys, the ones that the Apostle Paul has it pronounced an ana upon? What Ryan is saying here is wrong on so many different levels? For starters, Ryan conflates the works of God with the works of man, which is a category error, another logical fallacy, which leads me to conclude that the Holy Spirit is not guiding his tongue, as the Holy Spirit cannot guide someone to commit logical errors, as God is the source and wellspring of all logic and does not contradict himself. [music] Comparing the views of magisterial Protestants, Catholics, and Orthodox on this topic with the Judaizer heretics is a false equivalence fallacy. More evidence to allow us to discard Ryan spurious claims. Ironically enough, Ryan will claim faith and belief are his own doing when instead both are externalities given to us by God. You can see this in Matthew 16:17. And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon Barjonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my father who is in heaven." This is unique as it's showing that neither Andrew nor Nathaniel, who recognized Jesus as the son of God through human reason alone prior to Peter, were praised. But Peter was given this praise as a result of God the Father inspiring this belief. In John 6:29, Jesus answered them, "This is the work of God that you believe in him who has been sent." Ephesians 2:8-9, for by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing. [music] It is the gift of God, not because of works, lest any man should boast. Now, let's pivot on to the church of Galatia. Ryan is here implying that Galatians 1:89 is an eternal damnation. So, let's take a look at the text. Galatians 1:8-9. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to that [music] which we preach to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to that which you received, let him be accursed. Notice how the object of the anathema is towards the one preaching a contrary gospel, not to the church as a whole. This was a warning meant for correction, not a declaration of damnation. This is not the first time Ryan has aired on the Greek meaning of words either. So to help I will employ strong concordance. So what anathema means from anathema anathema which is a religious ban or excommunication of a thing or person um is what he was saying. So Paul was excommunicating them temporarily because an excommunication is not a permanent damnation. You can come back from an excommunication provided you hold to the orthodox little orthodox practis. And again, you can also tell that this was temporary because this was an active dispute in the church that was settled in Acts 15 at the council of Jerusalem when all the apostles and the elders got together to settle this in this first council. And this correction was not just held in Jerusalem because it was spread by Paul and Barnabas after the council. They went back to Galatia. So nothing in the in text again implies this to be permanent. It's not a permanent declaration of damnation. And Galatia was restored after the acceptance of the council when Paul and Barnabas returned to strengthen the brothers. So yes, we can comfortably say that Paul not only prayed with the Galatians, but we would be able to pray with them as well.
Now this doesn't mean that I think that every Roman Catholic is going to hell. I think there are many Roman Catholics who will go to heaven because they don't believe their official church's teachings. They actually just read the Bible and they believe, "Yeah, I'm saved by grace through faith and what Christ did and not based on any works." And those people go to heaven. And I would even be happy to pray with them. But for those who think it's faith and works like the gentleman in that clip, then I'm not going to pray with him because that's going to give an endorsement that I think he's saved. Praying with somebody is in a way like a spiritual partnership. So yes, do good works, get baptized, go to church, but just don't think that those things get you to heaven in any capacity. That's the point I'm making because if you think that they do, you won't be let in. So trust in Christ alone today. This will be the last one before I get to the comments. Once again, Ryan relies heavily on misunderstanding scripture or rather reading his preconceived notions into it. This is called isoges Jesus. It is not a tenable way of reading the scriptures. He is predicating his personal conviction on the idea of disobeying [music] the church Christ founded which is by extension disobedience to Christ. So you can see this in Acts 94-5. And he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? And he said, who are you, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. And he's talking about the church. Because the church is the body of Christ. There's no differentiation. So by again Ryan encouraging Catholics to be disobedient to the church that Christ founded his body, he is encouraging people to disobey Christ which is not a teaching of God. So Ryan is actually advocating for being a son of disobedience which [music] we can see in Ephesians 2 1-2. and you he made alive when you were dead through the trespasses and sin in which you once walked following the course of this world following the prince of the power of the air the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience so we know the father of disobedience is the devil as we can see not only from his own fall which in turn led to the fall of Adam and Eve because you can see in Romans 5:19 for as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners ers. So by one man's obedience, many will be made righteous. And we can see that obedience is the virtue that brings us back into relationship with God and is the most pleasing thing to him. 1st Samuel 15:22. And Samuel said, "Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams." For Ryan to dismiss the commandments and not realize that through the fulfillment of Christ, we are required to keep them is so dangerous to the souls of those who follow him. Matthew 22:34:40. But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they came together. And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law? And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind." Recalling the Shama, "This is the great and first commandment, and a second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets." So Christ made it very clear in the great commission what he wants of us. Matthew 28:16:20. Now the 11 disciples went to Galilee to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him, they worshiped him. But some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations." One, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Two, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. three and lo, I am with you always to the close of the age. So to sum this all up, you can say that well Ryan uh if we're looking at the parable of the two sons is a perfect image of the son who paid lip service to the father but did not obey. Matthew 21:28 32. What do you think? A man had two sons and he went to the first and said, "Son, go and work in the vineyard today." and he answered,"I will not." But afterwards he repented and went, "The obedient son." And he went to the second and said the same. And he answered, "I go, sir," but did not go. That's Ryan. "Which of these two did the will of the father?" They said, "The first." Jesus said to them, "Truly I say to you, the tax collectors and harlots go into the kingdom of God before you? For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him. But the tax collectors and the harlots believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterwards repent to believe him." Jesus once more was clear with what the implications of disobedience were [music] and what belief actually entails in John 3:36. He who believes in the son has eternal life. He who does not obey the son shall not see life, but the wrath of God rests upon him. One last verse or one last set of verses for Ryan, which is 1 Corinthians 13 at the end. Uh Ryan predicates his salvation on knowledge that he is saved, on the work of reading the Bible, and presupposes a spiritual stagnation that is never seen in scriptures. So I will close with this. Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away. As for tongues, they will cease. As for knowledge, it will pass away. For all knowledge is imperfect, and our prophecy is imperfect. But when the perfect comes, the imperfect will pass [music] away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child. I thought like a child. I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish things. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part. Then I shall understand fury fully even as I have been fully understood. [music] So faith, hope, love abide. These three, but the greatest of these is love. I will also share the last thing I said to Ryan before the comments from the Catholic Christian live stream. Actually,
table. John, did you have anything to say? I yapped for way too long.
You know, you know, I I will Ryan, I'll tell you exactly what I told you almost two years ago. Um, it's a good thing that you're not God because God does have mercy and in his judgment and you don't have the epistemic privilege to say who's going to hell and who's not. You don't. And taking the knowledge that belongs to God alone puts you in danger. And it is slander. And slander does put you in a position where you may be disinherited from the kingdom. That's not me judging you. That's just me telling you scripture. I still pray for you. I've been praying for you since the day we debated. So that's where I I'll leave it at that.
Yeah.
Now, on this video and the other instantiations of it on Instagram and Facebook, people left some pretty disparaging comments. I would even go so far as to say that they were uncchristian in the way that they behaved and attacked me, not knowing who I am, my motivations, or my heart. And this is by no means my victimization. And as such, I will address some of these verses that have been repeatedly used in the comments on these videos. These involve taking verses far out of their context as a means to an end, which is the end being attacking me. And so I'll start by dismantling them with the full context of these verses. So let's get started with John. 2 John 10:11 has been thrown around quite a bit. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into the house or give him any greeting. For he who greets him shares his wicked work. So on the face without any context, this sounds pretty convincing, right? But the reality is that this doctrine is not specified within these two verses. one. Two, Ryan has this live stream which while not his house, he's inviting anyone on as an open forum. So, he invited me on there anyway because he accepted me in from the backstage and um well, he greeted me. So, I guess if you would say that he did share in my wicked work if we were to grant that to him, which I do not because if we look from verse 8, we can see the fuller context. So verse 8, look to yourselves that you may not lose what you have worked for, but may win a full reward. Anyone who goes ahead and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine has both the father and the son. Now to abide in the doctrine of Christ means, as we showed earlier, to obey him. So, ironically enough, this very verse being used to condemn me speaks more to Ryan and his false teachings than it does to anything I've done. Another verse that's been coming up several times is 2 Corinthians 6:14. Do not be mismaded with unbelievers, for what partnership have un uh righteousness and iniquity? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? Once again, on the face sounds pretty good given their paradigm, but when you see it in the full context, you realize that that's not the case. Uh so reading from 15. What accord has Christ with bleel? Or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God as God said, "I will live in them and move among them and I will be their God and they shall be my people." This is talking about yoking with actual unbelievers and practices of business and worship in opposition to Christ, which does not apply here at all because I am a follower of Christ. He does dwell in me and I in him. And I'm not worshiping anything other than the triune God. So lastly, I would caution all of those casting wanting judgment to seriously consider what the implications of that judgment are on one's soul and whether one should judge recklessly or reserve judgment altogether. And see what Paul has to say on this in 1 Corinthians 4 1-5. This is how one should regard us as servants of Christ. and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy. But with me, it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. I do not even judge myself. I'm not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore, do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness, and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then every man will receive his commendation from God. For those of you that have made it to the end, thank you for your tenacity and perseverance. You are truly and surely gentlemen and gentle ladies and scholars. This video for better or worse is a result of Brandolini's law and practice. Would I say that Ryan should have prayed with me at the end of the day? No. He should not if his personal convictions do not allow it. Are his convictions biblically mandated or supported though? No. That is why I made the video to correct the error and to state my side because as you can see in Proverbs 18:17, he who states his case first seems right until the other comes and examines him. So, please like, comment, and subscribe if you enjoyed this. Feel free to share this around and do not hesitate to join my little Discord community where we pray the rosary and fellowship. Whether you're Protestant, Orthodox, a Catholic, all are welcome. Thank you again, and may God bless and keep you.