| Question Title | Posted By | Question Date |
|---|---|---|
| The Spanish Armada | Tony | Thursday, May 11, 2017 |
Question: A Protestant pastor was saying on tv that England's defeat of Catholic Spain's Armada in the 16th century is evidence that God is on the side of Protestantism. He said that the sea was calm when the Armada was approaching England and all of a sudden, a storm by the hand of God appeared at sea and put a halt to Spain's ability to invade Protestant England. The pastor also said that the extremely devout Catholic King Philip II of Spain relied on God for the success of his invasion and that God didn't help him. Supposedly, King Philip acknowledged that God didn't answer his prayers and intervened so that Spain would be defeated. He then went on to say that if England would have returned to Catholicism following an invasion by Spain, all of the Americas would have been Catholic and the Gospel of salvation wouldn't have been preached by the many Protestant pastors the United States has given to the world. How should we Catholics refute this claim making us look like our Gospel isn't one of salvation? |
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| Question Answered by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OMSM(r), LTh, DD
Dear Tony: This pastor is obviously knee-jerking his bias against the Catholic Church. God does not guarantee the victory in any battle. He does or He doesn't as He wills. The naval Battle of Lepanto was won over an overwhelming Muslin naval force when the Catholic sailors stopped to pray the rosary. That is where be get the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. This battle saved Europe from the invading Muslims. I wish England had returned to Catholicism. Then the Americas would be Catholic and have the true Gospel preached to the Americans and more people would be members of the Church that Jesus founded under Peter. As for the Spanish Armada, one has to be very careful about what history is read. Almost all histories written by Protestants and a majority written by secular historians will not be accurate. The Catholic Church, and its scholars today, are most honest, even about the Church's warts. That is one of the reasons I became Catholic — the Church tells the truth about its history. For a brief accounting of the battle of the Spanish Armada see the 1917 Catholic Encyclopedia. Three other resources for accurate rendering of Church History are:
You can view my picks for Church History here. This story of the Spanish Armada has no relationship to the fantasy-history of this Protestant pastor. As for apologetic on how to answer Protestant Objections, I recommend: Our own Defending the Faith Q&A
Hope this helps. God Bless, Footer Notes: This forum is for general questions on the faith. See specific Topic Forums below: Spiritual Warfare, demons, the occult go to our Spiritul Warfare Q&S Forum. Liturgy Questions go to our Liturgy and Liturgical Law Q&A Forum Liturgy of the Hours (Divine Office) Questions go to our Divine Office Q&A Forum Defenfing the Faith Questions go to our Defending the Faith Q&A Forum Church History Questions go to our Church History Q&A Forum
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