#12472 Is Annulment Required for All Divorced Catholics? Bible and Faith - Jim Blackburn

Summary

Catholic Answers Live – Episode #12472

Title: Is Annulment Required for All Divorced Catholics? Bible and Faith - Jim Blackburn
Date: November 25, 2025
Guest: Jim Blackburn
Host: Cy Kellett

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Episode Overview

This episode of Catholic Answers Live centers on critical questions about Catholic teaching regarding the authority and reliability of the Bible, the necessity for annulment in cases of divorce and remarriage, and related nuances in Catholic practice. Guest apologist Jim Blackburn uses listener call-ins to clarify common confusions around annulment, scriptural inerrancy, and other issues of Catholic faith, providing direct, doctrinally rooted answers and referencing both Scripture and Church documents.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Reliability and Inerrancy of the Bible

• [03:04]–[12:53]

  • How do Catholics know the Bible is reliable and inerrant?
    • The Church's recognition of the Bible is not circular; it stems from the authority given by Jesus to the apostles and their successors.
    • Jesus affirmed the Old Testament’s authority, and through apostolic authority, the Church defined the canon of Scripture.
    • The canon was solidified in the fourth century (notably 382 AD under Pope Damasus), long before the Protestant Reformation.
    • Protestant Bibles are missing seven books included in the Catholic canon because these were removed during the Reformation, not added by Catholics.
    • The Council of Trent infallibly declared the 73-book canon to be the inspired word of God.
    • Sacred Tradition is vital; through it, the Church understands which books are inspired.
    • Quoting Dei Verbum 11 (Second Vatican Council document), all that is asserted by the inspired authors is held to be asserted by the Holy Spirit, making Scripture inerrant in what God wills to convey for salvation.

  “We first believe that Jesus is who He said He was. He’s God. Jesus granted authority to people, the apostles and their successors … it was with that authority that the successors determine … this is the Bible.” – Jim Blackburn [08:01]

  • The Bible isn’t the sum total of divine revelation; sacred tradition carries equal authority.

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2. Jim Blackburn’s Role and the Catholic Questions Apostolate

• [14:16]–[18:36]

  • Jim celebrates 20 years as a guest on the show.
  • He founded CatholicQuestions.com after Catholic Answers closed its Q&A department, continuing to answer thousands of personal questions annually with a team of volunteer apologists.

  “We answer every question that we get and we welcome feedback or responses to our answers so that we can make sure that we’re really getting to the heart of what somebody's asking about.” – Jim Blackburn [17:35]

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3. Is Annulment Required for All Divorced Catholics?

• [19:00]–[25:57] Colin from Plymouth asks about USCCB guidelines

  • Annulment is required only if the divorced person is remarried.
  • The Church teaches (cf. Matthew 19:6) that only death dissolves a valid marriage.
  • If a divorced person is not remarried, an annulment is not universally required to become Catholic.
  • Civil divorce can at times be tolerated for serious reasons (e.g., abuse, abandonment, legal/civic matters), but it does not dissolve a sacramental marriage.
  • If a divorced person seeks to remarry (or has remarried), the Church must first examine whether the initial marriage was valid; if so, the new union cannot be recognized.
  • An annulment is a declaration that the first marriage was not valid due to a defect at the time of consent—not simply the fact of divorce or remarriage.
  • Even for divorced and remarried persons, if they agree to live in continence (“as brother and sister”) until the marital situation is resolved, they may participate in the sacraments (cf. Catechism 1650).

  "An annulment would be necessary ... if the church determines [the first marriage] was not valid ... then the church can go on to ... recognize [a] second marriage as a valid marriage." – Jim Blackburn [21:10]

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4. Translation Variations in Scripture

• [29:41]–[36:16] Henry from Vancouver notes the “vinegar” vs “wine” translation during the Passion

  • Translation differences are common due to source language ambiguity (Greek/Latin/Aramaic).
  • Translators may use more literal (word-for-word) or dynamic (thought-for-thought) methods, causing differences.
  • Both “wine” and “vinegar” may be correct depending on context and linguistic tradition; they reflect nuances of the original term.

  “Vinegar and wine aren’t completely different. There’s a relationship there. And the Greek word … can be translated either way.” – Jim Blackburn [30:41]

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5. Dreams, Visions, and Private Revelation

• [36:35]–[44:17] Dylan from Missouri shares a powerful dream of Jesus

  • The Church typically does not authenticate private revelations based on dreams alone.
  • Key question: Does the dream's content align with Church teaching and lead to a holier life?
  • In cases of confusion or profound impact, consulting a spiritual director is advised.

  “If it moves you to turn away from that sin, go to confession, and be a better, holier man … then to me, then it’s at least a good dream.” – Jim Blackburn [44:06]

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6. Annulment, Divorce, and Marital Infidelity: Scriptural Basis

• [46:55]–[54:34] Scott from Fargo, ND asks about the Church’s approach re: infidelity and the “exception clause” in Matthew 5

  • Infidelity after a valid marriage and consummation does not dissolve a sacramental marriage.
  • Annulment is not the dissolution of a valid marriage but a recognition that a marriage was null from the outset (due to some impediment or defect of consent).
  • Civil divorce may be necessary for safety or practical concerns but does not end the sacramental bond.
  • The so-called “exception clause” (“except for unchastity”) in Matthew 5 is interpreted by the Catholic Church not as an allowance for divorce due to adultery, but as referring to marriages that were invalid from the beginning, often due to unlawful or incestuous relationships, which could be dissolved.
  • Annulment might be possible if ongoing infidelity is evidence there was never the intent or ability to commit to a true marriage at the start.

  “Infidelity on the part of one of the spouses does not dissolve that marriage. ... An annulment doesn’t actually do anything to the marriage. It just recognizes: Did a valid marriage come into existence on the wedding day, or did it not?” – Jim Blackburn [50:04]

  • Jim refers listeners to his article "Did Jesus Allow Divorce?" at catholic.com for an in-depth treatment of this scripture.

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Notable Quotes

• On the Authority of the Bible [08:01]

  “We first believe that Jesus is who He said He was. He’s God. Jesus granted authority to people, the apostles and their successors … it was with that authority that the successors determine … this is the Bible.” – Jim Blackburn

• On Annulment and Remarriage [21:10]

  "An annulment would be necessary ... if the church determines [the first marriage] was not valid ... then the church can go on to ... recognize [a] second marriage as a valid marriage." – Jim Blackburn

• On Civil Divorce and the Sacraments [23:20]

  "If the person ... has not remarried, then he's not necessarily living in a state of an objective state of sin. ... If there's not an ongoing life of sin, that would seem to be the case." – Jim Blackburn

• On Infidelity and Indissolubility [50:04]

  “Infidelity on the part of one of the spouses does not dissolve that marriage. ... An annulment doesn’t actually do anything to the marriage. It just recognizes: Did a valid marriage come into existence on the wedding day, or did it not?” – Jim Blackburn

• On Dream Visions [44:06]

  “If it moves you to turn away from that sin, go to confession, and be a better, holier man … then to me, then it’s at least a good dream.” – Jim Blackburn

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Important Timestamps

• [03:04] – Why Catholics believe the Bible is true and not circular reasoning
• [08:01] – Jesus as the starting point for trusting the Church’s authority
• [19:00] – Is annulment required for all divorced persons?
• [21:10] – Distinction between civil divorce and Church annulment
• [23:20] – Remarriage, continence, and reception of the sacraments
• [30:41] – Translation differences: 'vinegar' or 'wine' during the Passion
• [36:57] – Guidance on dreams and private revelation
• [46:55] – Why infidelity does not nullify a marriage, Catholic and Protestant differences
• [52:48] – The “exception clause” in Matthew 5 and Catholic doctrine

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Tone & Style

The episode maintains its familiar, approachable and educational tone, using real-world caller scenarios to explore complex theological issues in clear, accessible language, seasoned with host Jim Blackburn's humility and professional, pastoral manner.

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Summary Takeaway

Annulment is not required for all divorced Catholics, only for those who wish to remarry in the Church. Valid marriages are indissoluble by any human power, including in cases of infidelity. The Church’s understanding of the Bible’s authority rests on the authority given by Christ and maintained through apostolic succession—not on circular logic. Personal experiences, such as significant dreams, should be discerned with spiritual guidance, always in reference to Church teaching.

Listeners are encouraged to contact CatholicQuestions.com for further personal guidance and to reference the Catechism and other documents for catechetical clarity.

Transcript

[A]

Buying or selling your home. Real Estate for Life can connect you with a pro life real estate agent. When Real Estate for Life receives a referral fee, they donate 65% to Catholic Answers. Learn more at realestateforlife.org. Welcome back, Catholic Answers Live. I am Cy Kellett, your host. Jeff, running the soundboard, making me laugh. Before I go. Do we still have the Jeff cam? Sometime I'll have to do Jeff cam again. Sometimes we put a camera in here and the camera goes on. Jeff shows him sleeping while he's supposed to be doing the soundboard. But that's not true, Jeff. I apologize for that. I apologize for impugning you. We don't have Darren because. Am I allowed to say why we don't have Darren? I don't know if I'm allowed to say why Darren's not around. What do you think, Siobhan? You're big, important. Yeah, I can say it. Yeah. Sometimes we let people have time off around here when they have their sixth child. So Darren didn't actually carry the child or deliver the child. His wife Rena did all that. But baby number six is with sixth. Sixth is with. I'm having trouble saying baby number six is with us. And we thank God for that and we pray for Rena and Darren and all the other kids who are super excited about getting a new sibling. They got another sister, right? So it's one boy followed by five sisters in that family and the sweetest people in the world. All right, well, tell you what we're going to do. Ask me anything this hour and Jim Blackburn is our guest. Jim has been a long time. As a matter of fact, I know exactly how long he's been doing this radio show. So we'll talk about that in a minute. But first, let me welcome Jim Blackburn. Hi, Jim Blackburn. Thanks for being here.

[B]

Hi, Sy. Thank you. It's always great to be here. And congratulations to Darren. That's amazing. I didn't know that. Hadn't heard that news.

[A]

And it's amazing because this is what I always think about with young families like that. Their oldest child is, I think, eight. So that means eight years ago, Darren's just a dude with no kids and just eight years pass and now he's the father of six. It's amazing that. The transformation.

[B]

Beautiful. Yeah.

[A]

I have to say he looks a little tired. Like, only on Monday through Friday. That's the only time he looks tired to me. But I don't see him on the weekends. So he does look a little tired, though. I got a question I want to start with you, Jim. And then people can call and ask whatever they want. 888-318-7884. You can ask Jim whatever you like about the Catholic faith. 888-318-7884. But mine is about the Bible. And people ask us all this all the time. And I would like a good, succinct, clear answer about how do we know the Bible is accurate? How do we know that the Bible is reliable?

[B]

Okay, that's a great question. You know, a lot of non Christians probably ask that question. Want to know why do you think this book is so important? Why do you think this is free of error?

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Why do you hold so highly in such high regard? And even many Christians, especially non Catholics, don't understand why we recognize the Bible to be inerrant, why we recognize it to be the word of God. But it really goes back to Jesus. And Jesus, we believe he is God incarnate. We know that he is. We have the evidence for that in the resurrection and his miracles. And, and there's a lot more can be said about that. But because we know he is who he said he was, we can trust that what he taught and authority that he granted, we can trust that. And we know that Jesus often when he was quoting from scripture, he recognized the Old Testament, particularly the Septuagint, to be Scripture. In other words, to be inspired by God, to be, to have been written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. And in addition, Jesus sent out people with authority, the apostles first and the apostles would then appoint others in authority. And you know, this was all, by the way, before a word of the New Testament was ever written. But in the 4th century, that authority that God given authority that Jesus gave to the apostles and their successors determined what books are inspired and which ones they're going to leave out of that. They're going to not proclaim and set forth as being the inerrant word of God necessarily, but because they canonized, as we say, the books of the Septuagint for the Old Testament and the books of the New Testament that we still have today because they set forth this canon to be scripture. We trust that authority, that God given authority. Jesus gave that authority to these people, the hierarchy of the church. And this happened first in 382. Pope Damasus had a list, had a canon. That same canon was ratified in councils later in the fourth century and early in the fifth century and on down through the history of Christianity. Those same 73 books have been recognized to be the inerrant inspired word of God. And it wasn't until really the Protestant Reformation that some of these books came into more serious question. And that left Protestants with Martin Luther, starting with Martin Luther, leaving some books out of the Bible that we still have, of course, in the Catholic Church. So Protestant Bibles are lighter than ours because they have removed seven books from the Old Testament and parts of a couple of other books. So you might notice sometimes they don't have 73 books in their Bibles, they have 66 books in their Bibles. And that's not because Catholics added books to the Bible. It's because we have continued to recognize that same canon, but because the Protestants, the Reformers, removed books. The Council of Trent, which was a response, the Catholic response to the Protestant Reformation, infallibly declared the 73 book canon to be the inspired word of God. So we have that teaching coming to us infallibly by the authority that God gave the hierarchy of the Church. And there's no higher authority on earth when it comes to matters of truth. We can trust that. And we know that these are inspired by the Holy Spirit. We know them to be what we call the Bible. Today, it's the Catholic Bible again, seven more books than the Protestant Bible. We recognize that to be the word of God.

[A]

You know, as I listen to you, to me, this is convincing what you say, but I know that we get this. Well, that's circular reasoning. You're saying that the church says that the Bible is true, therefore the Bible is true. But people miss something in what you said. So I want to go back and have you emphasize it that you actually, it doesn't begin with a circular argument. It begins with becoming convinced about a fact. And the fact is about the person of Jesus. So would you just review that? Because otherwise I do think if people miss that part, they think that this is circular reasoning. And it is not at all circular reasoning.

[B]

No. And if you don't recognize Jesus to be the Son of God, if you don't recognize him to be who he said he was, and I think evidence proved that he was, then we don't have much of a leg to stand on. But once we recognize that, we can look at history, we can look at what he did. He appointed Peter first as the head of his church. And he said to Peter, you are the rock I'm going to build my church on. He didn't say my churches, he said my church. And we know historically that's the Catholic Church and Peter being the first head of that Church, his successors, we now today call the pope the apostles. Then later we see this in Matthew chapter 16, and again in Matthew chapter 18, Jesus sends forth all of the apostles. He gives them authority to bind and to loose. And he says, what you bind on earth will be bound in heaven. What you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. And part of that, that is authority to understand revelation and to define for the faithful what it is that we should believe. And again, that same authority, it was different people. It wasn't Peter and the apostles anymore, but it was their successors who first, under Peter's successor, Pope Damasus in the year 382, who finalized this canon of Scripture and declared this to be the Bible, as we call it today. So it's not circular reason, it's actually very linear. We first believe that Jesus is who he said he was. He's God. Jesus granted authority to people, the apostles and their successors. And it's with that authority that the successors determine for all of Christianity that. And it would remain for 1500 years that this is the Bible, These are the books. We can trust them. They're inerrant in what the sacred authors intended to convey, what they intended to assert. We know that they asserted without error under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. And if you want to read more about this, I mean, the Second Vatican Council document, DEI Verbum does a good job of kind of explaining some of this and going through why we believe that the Bible is without error. In fact, in paragraph 11 says, since everything asserted by the inspired authors and sacred writers must be held to be asserted by the Holy Spirit, it follows that the books of Scripture must be acknowledged as teaching solidly, faithfully and without error that truth which God wanted put into sacred writings for the sake of salvation. Therefore, all Scripture is divinely inspired. And it goes out, goes on to quote second Timothy there. But the DEI Verbum, the entire document, you can find it online, the Vatican website, where I just pulled it up. You can. You can read more about the Catholic understanding of the books of the Bible, of the. The canon of Scripture, and the inerrancy of Scripture and why we hold it up to be so important to us. Now, it's not the only word of God. It's not the only revelation. Jesus is the fullness of God's revelation. And as John says in his gospel twice, close to the end of his Gospel, he says that there are so many more things that if all the books were to be written down, the world couldn't hold them. But these things are written down, you know, for a particular purpose. And you know, because we know that we can't compact all of the word of God, all of divine revelation into just a book or a catalog of 73 books. We know that it's the teaching of the apostles that came along even before a word of the New Testament was written that we hold as true as well. And we call that sacred tradition in the Catholic Church. And that sacred tradition we hold on par with sacred scripture because it's teaching that was taught authoritatively by this God given authority that Jesus gave to the apostles and their successors. So it's really the canon of scripture we know to be what it is through sacred tradition. Sacred tradition tells us which books of the Bible are or that the 73 books of the Bible are inspired and inerrant in in what the secret authors intended to assert.

[A]

That is our guest for this hour, Jim Blackburn. And you are welcome to call and ask whatever you like. 888-318-7884.

[D]

There's only one Catholic answers live.

[C]

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[B]

The most original Catholic content is on EWTN Radio. So what would be the occasion of anger in? I have to examine my conscience of that, of why am I getting angry? Is it worth losing my peace over? Is it worth offending God? Nothing is worth offending God.

[E]

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[A]

Welcome back. CATHOLIC Answers Live. Jim Blackburn is our guest. And it's Ask Me Anything with Jim Blackburn. I was going to say I know just exactly how long Jim's been doing this or I said earlier that I know just exactly how long Jim's been doing this on the air here at Catholic Answers because In January of 2006, he did his first guest appearance on this program, which means you were telling me just before this show today because we won't have you on another time that we know of between now and the end of the year. You are with this program Today concluding your 20th year as a guest on Catholic Answers Live.

[B]

Jim that's right. That's exciting to me. It's come and gone so quickly. I've always really enjoyed doing this aspect of apologetics because it puts me on the spot and helps me to try to be prepared, as St. Peter says, you know, in First Peter 3:15, always be prepared to give the right answers. And you know, when I'm not prepared to give the right answers, I will admit it, because I'm human and I am fallible. And I'm not going to sit here and say, I'm the Catholic Answers man because I've done the show for 20 years. But I. It's exciting that I've been allowed to be a part of it for so long.

[A]

And then you went on to found CatholicQuestions.com because part of your bailiwick here at Catholic Answers was what used to be called the forums, but we don't have it anymore because there was a sense in the apostolate that it was taking more than we had in order to maintain the forums and that book. I know that there was. That was a controversial decision, but you now have a whole apostolate of your own where you answered individual, personal questions, person to person, about the Catholic faith.

[B]

Yes. In fact, it wasn't just the forums. Although the forums were overseen by the department, the department that I was in was the Q and A department, the department at Catholic Answers where people could contact us by email or phone call or any other way and ask a question, talk to an apologist, or get an email response from an apologist. And I understand why Catholic Answers eventually had to reduce that department and not do that anymore. But when that happened five years ago, that's when I started Catholic Questions. I wasn't with Catholic Answers anymore at the time. I've always continued to do the show. I've done a lot of writing for Catholic Answers, but five years ago, when Catholic Cancers closed the Q and A department, that's when I thought, well, this is near and dear to my heart. I know that people still want to be able to contact an apologist, talk to an apologist, email us, and have one on one Catholic apologetics be able to go back and forth a little bit if necessary and get their questions answered so that they can move on with that. So we started that. Actually, we were just going to do it for the holiday season five years ago, and people insisted that we continue to do it. So me and several other volunteer apologists, we put our heads together and said, sure, let's just continue to offer this and as long as people want to do it. And here we are five years later, probably going to answer 10,000 questions this year. And there are eight of us apologists who answer these questions on a daily basis. And it's not just the website, CatholicQuestions.com, we also have apps for Apple and Android devices. We have a phone number. We have a mailing address. So any way you want to get in, contact us. We're here to help out. It might take us it's not as instantaneous as calling the radio show. It might take us a day or two to get back to you. But we answer every question that we get and we we welcome feedback or responses to our answers so that we can make sure that we're really getting to the heart of what somebody's asking about.

[A]

Check out CatholicQuestions.com, get their apps. There's one for, well, whatever kind of phone you got, you can get an app for it. Also, I would encourage you just call Jim right now, 888-318-7884, as Colin did, living in or calling from Plymouth, Michigan, listening on WDEO 990-AM. Glad to have you here, Colin. Go ahead with your question.

[F]

Hi, Sy Hi, Jim. Thanks for taking my call.

[A]

Hi, Colin.

[F]

The uscc hey, the USCCB website on annulment says unless one spouse has died.

[B]

The church requires a divorced person to.

[F]

Obtain a declaration of Nullity before actually becoming a Catholic. Is that correct?

[B]

If that person is remarried, then that yes, that is correct. I'm not familiar with the USCCB the particular document you're talking about, but if someone the church, Matthew, chapter 19, verse 6, Jesus says that what God has joined together will not man put asunder. In other words, when two people are joined, when two Christians are joined in marriage, it's more than even just a commitment. It's a covenant. And it's something that civil law cannot break. That civil law cannot dissolve that. So if you have Christians, two baptized people get married and they consummate that marriage, then it is indissoluble by any human power. Only death dissolves that marriage. So it makes sense that the USCCB would say that if someone is divorced civilly but then has married someone else, in order for the church to recognize that marriage as being valid, we got to make sure that person wasn't valid so that that person was free to go on and marry someone else. And then the church can recognize that marriage. Well, that process of looking at that first marriage to determine was this a valid marriage. If it was, then the church is going to continue it to recognize it as a valid marriage and not recognize the remarriage as being a valid marriage. And that puts that person in at least an objective state of sin, of grave sin, because he's living with a woman as though he's married to her when he's not. It's an objective state of adultery in the eyes of the Church. So an annulment would be necessary. And the annulment is that process of looking at that first marriage to determine was that a valid marriage or not. If the Church determines that it was not a valid marriage, something was missing on the wedding day that prohibited a or prevented a valid marriage from coming into existence, then the Church will declare, well, that marriage was not valid. In other words, that marriage is null. It's a declaration of nullity. And by recognizing that fact, then the Church can go on to, through a procedure called convalidation, recognize that a second marriage or second attempt at marriage, let's call it as a valid marriage. And that would ordinarily be necessary for someone to become a Catholic, because in order to receive a sacrament, you must be in a state of grace, ordinarily. I mean, if you're a baptized Christian, then this person would need to go to confession, likely, and have his new marriage convalidated by the Church made valid in the Church so that this person is in good standing and living a moral life. He, of course, can go on and sin again. That's why we have confession. But in order for the Church to recognize that marriage, we've got to first recognize or look into that first marriage to determine whether it was valid or not. Does that help, Colin? That helps.

[F]

The USCCB website doesn't mention remarriage, just mentions, like every divorced person.

[B]

That they're. Now, that's not the Code of Canon law, I can tell you. It's not universal law of the Church that a divorced person must have an annulment. A There are times, even when we look at the Catechism of the Catholic Church, we see that the Church recognizes that civil divorce sometimes might be a necessary evil, if you will. We don't like it. But if there's abuse in the relationship, or one spouse has left the other spouse and gone on and civilly married someone else, had children, there may be a. A need to separate assets and provide for custody of the children, subtle civil matters, and that's usually done through civil divorce. So the Church recognizes that sometimes that's necessary. But if the person, the Catholic or the person entering the Church has not remarried, then he's not necessarily living in a state of an objective state of sin. And it's that person could theoretically at least go ahead then and become a Catholic. There might be a need for confession involved. But if there's not an ongoing life of sin, that would seem to be the case. If this person's remarried without an annulment, then it's and I encourage you, Colin, also check out paragraph 1650 in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. It mentions in there that even if a person is divorced and remarried civilly, if that person commits to marital continence, in other words, commits to, say, living as brother and sister with his current wife until this can all be ironed out, then that person is even free to enter the church and receive the sacraments, receive the Eucharist and go to conformity confession. But if a person isn't willing to do that, then in the church's eyes, that person is living at least in an objective state of sin and cannot even go to confession because priests cannot absolve the sins of someone who does not intend to amend his life, doesn't intend to abstain from that sin, stop sinning in that way. So I'd have to look at the at the document in more detail to see or in some detail to to try to get a better grasp on what the USCCB is saying here. But if you want to send that to me at Catholic Questions, send me an email at Jim Catholic. I'm sorry, jim.blackburnatholicquestions.com I'll be happy to take a look at it and then contact you off the air with maybe, you know, my explanation of what I see going on in that document.

[A]

Colin, thank you. I think we did at least get to the principles in play here. And so I thank you very much for the call. I hope that that was helpful to you. We have to take a quick break. We've got a couple lines open. If you've got a question, now's the time to call 888-318-7884.

[E]

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[A]

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[A]

Jim Blackburn, our guest and his name has the word black in it, so that makes me want to read this ad. It's Thanksgiving week and at the end of the week we come to Black Friday, crowds, craziness, traffic. @shop.catholic.com we have the antidote to that today and tomorrow. Visit shop.catholic.com and take advantage of our My Black Friday sale. Use the promo code myblackfriday and you score a cornucopia of deals. How do you like that cornucopia of deals. 25% extra off everything store wide and our prices are already discounted 10 to 25% free shipping on orders over $50. But you gotta live in the US to get no exclusions. For the first time ever, this promo code will work on everything in our shop. Don't miss out on this. Celebrate your Black Friday today. Remember the promo code My Black Friday at shop.catholic.com all right, back to the phones. We go for Jim Blackburn Our guest. And I think I'm going to, yeah, I'm going to Vancouver, Washington, where Henry's listening on modern day radio. Glad to have you. Henry, go ahead with your question.

[B]

Yeah. Hi, Henry.

[G]

Hi. I, I listen to your show every day.

[A]

Oh, well, thank you, Henry.

[F]

Yeah.

[G]

Yeah. The question is I went to France to a mass and at not Notre Dame de Paris, and I started to be really interested because I'm learning French. So I started every day on YouTube, read the Bible in French and listen to, to the mass. And yesterday the soldier, when he, when Jesus was on the cross, in the French the translation says vinegar. He gave him vinegar. But in the English, when I went to mass in my local church, it says wine. So the question is why there are two different translations, although both are Catholic churches and like a completely different word.

[B]

Yeah, well, vinegar and wine aren't completely different. There's a relationship there. And the word, the Greek word that is used there can be translated. Either way, we have to remember when we're looking at translations, vernacular translations of the Bible, that it's the original, what we call the autographs, the original autographs of the Bible, the original documents that were written by the inspired authors that are inerrant and are what the church has declared to be part of sacred scripture. But we don't all read Greek or Hebrew or in some cases there's even some Aramaic in the Old Testament in particular. So we have to translate. Translators have to take those original languages and translate those into the various different languages around the world. And sometimes translators will use a kind of a, well, a very literal type of translation where they're trying to do a word for word, what does this Greek word mean in French or English? And they'll try to prepare a vernacular language Bible that is very literal in its translation. Well, at the other end of the spectrum, you have translators who will say, well, what is the sacred author saying here? What does he mean by this? What do I think happened here? And I'll put that somewhat into my own words and translate it that way. That's called a dynamic equivalence type of translation. And we have both of these in the Catholic Church. We can't say that one is necessarily always better than the other. In fact, the one we might read for more inspiration might be the one that's more the thought for thought type of translation. Whereas if we're doing a serious study of a book of the Bible, we might want a more literal translation so that we can hopefully get to a better theological understanding of what's going on. Here. If we really want to be serious about our study of the Bible, then we also want to look into those original languages. While we don't have the original autographs anymore, we do have what we have found because there have been so many copies done down through the ages that we have very reliable documents, codexes, as they're called, in the original languages that we can look at and rely on for when we're doing our translations. So a very serious study of the Bible is probably going to start. A very serious theological study is going to start with a literal translation and even having access to the original languages where possible, to try to see what the best translation would be. You'd have to go to the translator and the publisher of a particular Bible to ask your question, why was this word translated as vinegar in your version? In your translation of the Bible, to get to a full understanding, you might have a footnote that explains that to you. In the French one that you're using, do you know what version the, that you were reading in France was being read from?

[G]

I don't know exactly what, but there is an application similar to the. What's called the one that ETW input or pro date, like online applications.

[B]

Okay, well, in the US by the.

[G]

Diocese of Paris, they put. It's their application.

[B]

Okay. But I don't know historically in the.

[G]

United States where it came from.

[B]

Okay, you might want to look into that. If you read and understand French, you might want to look into the history of that particular translation. I know that the new American Bible that we use typically during Mass here in the United States, it falls somewhere between the dynamic equivalence and the, the very literal. In fact, it leans probably more towards the dynamic equivalence type of translation. So you might look at the particular version that was being read at Mass in France and see if you can figure out what they're doing there. But always look for footnotes when you can, because when there are variations in translations, oftentimes the translators will attach a footnote explaining, well, this is why we use this word versus this word. But I'm sure the. I don't have the verse in front of me, but we could look and see what the Greek is that's being translated as winer, as vinegar. And probably either one is an acceptable translation into English and why some translators will use one over the other. They'll probably explain that in the footnotes.

[A]

Henry, I'm going to leave it there and try to get some more folks on with our guest, Jim Blackburn. This hour, it's Ask Me Anything with Jim Blackburn on Catholic Answers Live. Dylan is calling from Southeast Missouri, where He's watching on YouTube. Dylan, welcome. Go ahead with your question for Jim.

[F]

Hi, Jim. I had a dream, I guess you would say, where I spoke to Jesus for a little bit. And I told some people, some other religious people about this, to which they responded to me saying that more than likely it wasn't Jesus, it was something evil instead. And I just. I don't know how to tell. So I was just curious what you.

[B]

Might think about that. Well, maybe, Dylan, maybe it was just a nice dream. Maybe. Maybe it wasn't a Jesus actually appearing in your dream. Maybe it wasn't a demon either. Maybe you were just having a nice dream, imagining that Jesus was appearing to you. It could be that. I don't think we want to rule really any of those out. But if you want to research it to determine if. If it can be determined, I'd recommend you talk to a spiritual director about it, especially if you can remember what Jesus said to you in your dream. That might go a long way in helping determine, well, could this be from Jesus? Because if. If Jesus was telling you something that's contrary to what we know, contrary to the doctrine of the church, then we know that wasn't him. That doesn't necessarily mean it was demonic. It could just be, in your own mind, an error being made. But we know if Jesus did indeed appear to you, he would not have steered you in the wrong direction on anything, and he would have been consistent with what the church teaches. So you might explore those things with a spiritual director. Talk about, could be, Dylan, that we'll never know. It probably more likely was just a nice dream, because I haven't heard of a lot of these types of things being authenticated in the Catholic Church. I don't know that a simple dream is something that the church could even authenticate as being a revelation. But we do know private revelations have. There have been private revelations in the history of the church that the Church has determined to be worthy of belief. But no one is obligated to believe that some private revelation that the church has authorized is necessarily private revelation. And you might not ever know with certainty on this side of the veil whether that was actually Jesus coming to you or not. But I would consider what did he say? And start there. Because if he was reassuring you in something that the church teaches, then it may very well have been Jesus reassuring you in that way. On the other hand, if it's the opposite of that, if it's leading you away, then it could Just be an error happening in your dream, or I suppose it could be demonic. But unless something like that continues to happen and it becomes a serious matter for you, you're probably not going to have anyone do a serious exploration of it, examination of it to determine what's going on. But talk to a spiritual director. Spiritual directors can often help you work through these things and. And figure out, you know, what. What does this mean to me and how should I understand this? And it could be that it was just a. Hopefully it was just a. It was at least a good dream, a nice dream.

[A]

What do you think, Dylan?

[F]

Well, I. Well, the thing about it is, is, like, in my heart, it's like I. I know what it was. I know it was real. And as a matter of fact, he kind of, in a sense, gave me, like, real world proof because he. At one point in time, he. He said. He said something to me, like, especially for me to remember, and it was in a different language. And, you know, when I woke up, I was, like, blown away and everything. And I ended up looking it up. And when I did look it up, that was just like, you know, just like, freaked me out because it had special cryptic meaning to me. And I remember a lot of what he said, actually. And, like, soon as I saw him, I immediately knew who he was. And, like, everything else was. Everything else that was around was just gone. It was just me and him. And I just feel like it was very. I don't know, it was the most amazing thing ever. And, like, ever since it happened, I have, you know, I think about it every day, every single day, and tell people about it.

[B]

You know, do you tell Dylan. Do you tell people the subject matter that Jesus was talking to you about? Do you get into that? Yeah. Yeah. Okay.

[F]

I remember most of what he said.

[B]

Would you say that what he said to you would lead you to be a better Catholic or better Christian? Or would you say it would lead you. Steer you away from that? No, He.

[F]

He told me when I first saw him, he told me he was saying things that I shouldn't have been doing. He wasn't even looking at me. He was pacing back and forth and he was saying bad things. He was like, he shouldn't have did this. He shouldn't. You know, he shouldn't have did that. And then I thought to like to ask him who he was. And when I thought that, he stopped and he walked up to me and he grabbed me by my wrist and he said, quote, he said, alan. Oh, I know you, Alan. And then he he, he started saying, like a bunch of good things. He told me that he made me. He told me what ethnicities he used to make me. And at one point in time, he kind of like, he stepped away from me and put his arms up in a joking manner and he was like, what, are you surprised to see me? You're the one who asked to see me. And it's true, I did pray to see him in a dream. And, and then he said that cryptic thing to me, a different language and, you know, a few other things. And, and I never got to speak, actually. It was like every time I had a thought to say something to him, he just remembered it or he read my mind. He knew what I was going to say and answered it.

[B]

All right, yeah. Dylan or Allen, talk to a spiritual director about this. It sounds like whatever he was talking about was something maybe that was a sin that you're committing in your life. And if it moves you to turn away from that sin, go to confession and be a better holier man because of it, then to me, then it's at least a good dream. And was it, was it actually Jesus? I couldn't tell you. A spiritual director might be able to help you more with that. If you eventually become certain that it was, then that can be a beautiful thing. But I don't think, unless that type of thing, revelation continues to happen, that it's something, something that can be investigated and, and verified. Really, I don't think you're ever going to have an official declaration from the church telling you that that's what happened. But that doesn't mean it can't happen. And especially if it's leading you down a better path of life, a more Christian life, a more Catholic life, then I would at least view it as a good thing and leave yourself open to the possibility that indeed Jesus did appear to you in your dream and take it seriously and become a holier man because of it.

[A]

Thank you very much for the call. I hope you will take that advice to find someone who is a wise spiritual director and get some help thinking through this one and doing that discernment again. Thank you very much for the call. We gotta take a very quick break. Right back with more questions for Jim Blackburn on Catholic Answers Live.

[B]

It's all about the truth.

[A]

Catholic Answers Live.

[B]

Underwriting for Catholic Answers Live is provided by Real Estate for Life. Real Estate for Life connects home buyers and sellers to real estate agents while supporting pro life organizations. On the [e-mail] hi, this is Father.

[C]

Mike Schmitz, I invite you to listen to Bible in a Year and Catechism in a Year here on EWTN Radio. On Bible in a Year, we're reading all the way from Genesis through Revelation, plus time for explanations and reflections to help us go deeper into God's word, encounter his voice and learn how to live life through the lens of scripture.

[E]

Bible in a Year and Catechism in a Year with Father Mike schmitz tonight at 10pm Eastern, 7pm Pacific on EWTN Radio.

[D]

The catechism defines evangelization as the proclamation of Christ and his gospel by word and the testimony of life. But what does that look like in real life? It looks like St. Paul street evangelists out in the public square sharing the good news. We're a Catholic nonprofit that starts conversations by handing out free sacramentals. Then we employ our method of listen, befriend, proclaim and invite. Catholic Answers is supported in part by St. Paul Street Evangelization. Visit streetevangelization.com to learn more.

[C]

Foreign.

[A]

Welcome back. CATHOLIC Answers live. I'll tell you what, we got time to get to you if you want to dial right now because there are lines open, 888-318-7884. I'm going to go back to the phones and then if you call right now, you will probably be the next caller I will get to after that. 888-318-7884. Whether you're Catholic or not, whether you're religious in any way or not, you're welcome to call with your questions about the Catholic faith. Jim Blackburn, as we just established earlier, been doing this on the air for almost exactly 20 years. So he's happy to talk with you about any aspect of the Catholic faith. Again, 888-318-7884. Going to Fargo, North Dakota, where Scott is listening on 98.3 FM. Glad to have you, Scott. Go ahead with your question.

[B]

Thank you.

[H]

Sorry for taking my call. Sorry we have a snowstorm tomorrow. It's not going to be winter in Fargo without you.

[A]

No, it is going to have to be perfectly good winter in Fargo without me. I know how important I am to the weather systems in Fargo, but you're going to have to get through this winter without me. I ain't coming back to Fargo this winter.

[B]

Oh man, it's going to be tough.

[A]

Scott is saying this in part because I joked about Fargo weather when I was there. I think this is why Scott is saying this. And I got a blizzard dropped on me before I could get out don't joke about weather in Fargo.

[H]

Jim, my question has to do with, in part, a previous caller talking about annulments and divorce. And I'm interested in why the Catholic Church does not recognize a divorce or an annulment in the case of marital infidelity.

[B]

Okay, great question. And we have to remember, I'm thinking.

[H]

Specifically of Matthew 5 as opposed to Mark 10.

[B]

Okay. Infidelity is something that. That I think you're probably talking about, infidelity after the wedding. You know, a couple gets married and then they consummate the marriage, and then somewhere down the road, one of the spouses cheats. Is that the type of thing you're talking about?

[G]

Yes.

[B]

Okay. We have to remember and always keep in mind that a valid marriage comes into existence on the wedding day. So on the wedding day, they either validly married and were. They became one, a covenant came into place. They became one. And when they consummated that marriage, that ratified that covenant, and it's now indissoluble by any human power, even if one of the spouses becomes a cheat or an abuser or you name it, no human power will dissolve that marriage. Only. Only the death of one of the spouses will dissolve that marriage. Now, an annulment is not a divorce. It's not a disillusion of a marriage. The Catholic Church cannot dissolve Christian marriages. The infidelity that took place is a terrible thing. But if the marriage is valid and consummated, then you're not going to get grounds for an annulment. You might have grounds for a civil divorce. The couple may separate civilly, divorce, settle custody agreements regarding the kids and divide up the property, those kinds of things in a civil matter. But the marriage, the two became one, no human power can stop that, can dissolve that. So even infidelity on the part of one of the spouses does not dissolve that marriage. So it's really. I think what we need to understand, Scott, is there's a very big difference between annulment and disillusion. An annulment doesn't actually do anything to the marriage. It just recognizes. Did a valid marriage come into existence on the wedding day or did it not? If it did and it was consummated, then infidelity down the road does not dissolve that marriage. You can't nullify a marriage because of that. It's a valid marriage, and the church is going to continue to recognize it as such until death do the couple part. On the other hand, if, let's say this couple got married and Very early on in the marriage, one of the spouses became a serial cheater. And just say the husband started having girlfriend after girlfriend and was just never true to the marriage. That could be evidence. That could be evidence, you know, showing, coming to. Into. Into view later down the road that he didn't enter that marriage with the commitment that's necessary, that it's. That it's a covenant between he and his wife, that it's just the two of them. Now, if he did not, not that it is, of course, supposed to be, that fidelity is involved, if he entered into that marriage without that understanding, without that level of commitment, he intended all along that this is how he was going to live his married life. If that can be proven, then it could be proven that a valid marriage didn't come into existence on the wedding day. And the church could proclaim, could declare that marriage to be null, and that would be an annulment. But it's not, because it wasn't the cheating that happened later on down the road that that allowed for this. It was the cheating later on down the road that was evidence that he did not invalid the entrance to the marriage on the wedding day. Does that make sense? You see the distinction there? I'm talking about Scott.

[H]

Yes, I do see the distinction, but I still stub my toe in Matthew 5, 31 and 32, where Jesus seems to make an exception. And if you're saying that he's making a distinction between annulment and divorce, there may be a frame of mind, but you understand what I'm saying.

[B]

Yeah, I do. And some people, especially in the Protestant communities, recognize this as an exception clause. Clause. An exception clause to the indissolubility of marriage. In the Catholic Church, we don't translate that as infidelity. We recognize that as unchastity, that this was a marriage that took place, that should never have taken place, that it was unchaste for this couple to actually marry each other. Oftentimes in the first century, this would happen. When people married too closely to each other, too closely related to each other. That was a lot more common than it is today back then. But if we're too closely related to each, a brother and sister can't get married. That would be an unchaste relationship. And if they attempted to get married, then that marriage could be dissolved due to unchastity. That's not adultery, though. That's not infidelity to the couple, because the couple shouldn't be in this type of relationship to begin with. Now, I wrote an article for Catholic Answers magazine many years ago where I go into much more detailed explanation of this. And Scott, I invite you to go to catholic.com and just type in my name, Jim Blackburn, and you'll see the list of articles that I that I wrote. And one of those is called Did Jesus Allow Divorce? Did Jesus Allow Divorce? By Jim Blackburn. Check that out, Scott. And I think that'll help you get to the bottom of this from a Catholic perspective. And then you can always contact [e-mail] if you want to talk more about it.

[A]

Thank you, Scott. Appreciate that. Jim Blackburn has been our guest. I know he'd like you to find him. That's at Catholic Questions, but we're always happy when we find them here. Jim, thanks. Appreciate the conclusion of your 20 years. We start when we see you next time. It'll be your 21st year of doing this.

[B]

Looking forward to it. Have a happy Thanksgiving. God bless you.

[A]

Happy Thanksgiving. All right. That'll do it for us. We got new shows all week, but we gotta go now. We'll see you next time, God willing, right here on CATHOLIC Answers live.