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Robert A. Sungenis (born 1955) is an American Catholic author of apologetic and polemical works critiquing the Protestant doctrines of Faith Alone and Scripture Alone. He is the founder and director of Catholic Apologetics International Publishing and executive producer of the film The Principle.[1][2] Sungenis is known for his advocacy of geocentrism[3][4] and his controversial statements about Jews, Judaism, the Holocaust, and the United States Catholic Catechism for Adults.[5][6]

Biography

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Robert Sungenis was raised in a Catholic family, but became a Protestant at age 19.[7] He obtained his B.A. in religion from George Washington University, an accredited private research university located in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of Washington, D.C., in 1979, an M.A. in theology from Westminster Theological Seminary, an accredited Presbyterian and Reformed Christian graduate educational institution located in Glenside, Pennsylvania, in 1982, and a Ph.D. in religious studies from the Calamus International University (CIU),[7][8] a private, unaccredited[9][10][11] distance-learning institution incorporated in the Republic of Vanuatu. After spending roughly 18 years in several different Protestant denominations, Sungenis returned to Catholicism in 1992 at the age of 37. Having previously worked for and studied under Harold Camping during his time as a Protestant, Sungenis authored a book critiquing Camping's eschatology.[12] The story of his conversion to Catholicism is chronicled in the first of the Surprised By Truth books edited by Catholic apologist and author Patrick Madrid.[13]

Faith alone

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Sungenis is known for his defense of the Catholic Church's doctrine of justification and his critique of the Protestant doctrine of salvation by faith alone.

In 1997, he published Not By Faith Alone which has received praise from S. M. Hutchens (Senior Editor of Touchstone Magazines) and an endorsement from Fabian Bruskewitz (Bishop of Lincoln, Nebraska), but criticism from Robert N. Wilkin (Editor of Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society).[14][15][16] Sungenis has been interviewed by Michael Horton[17][18][19] on the Catholic Church's doctrine of justification and has debated James White[20] on whether or not sinners are justified by grace through faith alone apart from human works of merit.

Jews and Judaism

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Sungenis's controversial views of the Jewish people and Judaism have been sharply criticized by some fellow Catholics and by the Southern Poverty Law Center as being antisemitic.[21][22]

According to a September 2008 report in The Washington Post, Rhoades made Sungenis remove the word "Catholic" from the name of his organization.[21] In April 2008, Father Brian Harrison defended Sungenis, claiming that Sungenis was still a Catholic in good standing with the Church and had disobeyed no binding precept from his bishop. According to Harrison, Sungenis voluntarily removed the name "Catholic" from his organization in response to the dispute with Bishop Rhoades. Harrison further claimed that the bishop's command to silence Sungenis was revoked on July 2007 and the bishop's request that Sungenis remain silent did not constitute a singular precept (a legally binding order). Harrison acknowledged that a few of Sungenis' statements in "Catholic Apologetics International and Its Teachings on the Jews" were "unnecessarily combative and polemical in tone, and/or open to misinterpretation", however, he considered the bishop's statement regarding Sungenis' article not adhering to explicit Church teaching to be an exaggeration.[23]

In May 2014, Michael Voris interviewed Sungenis in order to help Sungenis promote his new movie, The Principle. During the interview, Voris defended Sungenis in regard to his views on the Jewish people and then asked him, "Are you a Holocaust denier?" and "Do you hate Jews?" Sungenis answered "no" to both questions.[24]

United States Catholic Catechism for Adults

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Sungenis has also been noted for being the first to voice concern about a controversial sentence regarding the Mosaic Covenant found in the United States Catholic Catechism for Adults (USCCA). He claims to have written to the Vatican and met with officials from the bishops' conference in order to voice his concerns that the sentence implied that people can be saved without believing in Jesus. In the summer of 2008, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) voted to remove the sentence "Thus the covenant that God made with the Jewish people through Moses remains eternally valid for them" and replace it with "To the Jewish people, whom God first chose to hear his word, 'belong the sonship, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; to them belong the patriarchs, and of their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ". Monsignor Daniel Kutys stated that the sentence was changed because of the confusion it was generating and not because of what Sungenis said. Kutys thinks that Sungenis may have been the first to raise the issue about the sentence, but he does not think Sungenis deserves credit for revising the catechism.[21]

Geocentrism

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Sungenis believes that the that the observable universe would fit a geocentric model, with the Earth immobile at the barycenter and everything else revolving around it. [25][26] Robert Sungenis has written the book series "Galileo Was Wrong" and other works describing his ideas on geocentrism.

In May 2015, Sungenis initiated the heliocentric challenge claiming that $100,000 would be awarded to anyone who could provide qualified experimental proof that the Earth revolves around the Sun.[3]

Documentary: The Principle

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In 2014, Sungenis was an executive producer production of a film called The Principle, a documentary exploring the Copernican Principle, which features interviews with Lawrence Krauss, Michio Kaku, Max Tegmark, Julian Barbour, and George F. R. Ellis. There was some controversy surrounding the film and some of its poarticipants after a trailer was released on YouTube. [27]

Publications

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  • Not By Faith Alone: The Biblical Evidence for the Catholic Doctrine of Justification, Queenship Publishing (1996), 774 pp. ISBN 1-57918-008-6
  • Not By Scripture Alone: A Catholic Critique of the Protestant Doctrine of Sola Scriptura, Queenship Publishing (1997), 650 pp. ISBN 1-57918-055-8
  • How Can I Get to Heaven? The Bible's Teaching on Salvation Made Easy to Understand, Queenship Publishing (1997), 334 pp. ISBN 1-57918-007-8
  • Not By Bread Alone: The Biblical and Historical Evidence for the Eucharistic Sacrifice, Queenship Publishing (2000), 450 pp. ISBN 1-57918-124-4
  • The Gospel According to Matthew (Catholic Apologetics Study Bible, Vol. 1), Queenship Publishing (2003), 427 pp. ISBN 1-57918-236-4
  • The Apocalypse of St. John (Catholic Apologetics Study Bible, Vol. 2), Queenship Publishing (2007), 544 pp. ISBN 1-57918-329-8
  • The Epistles of Romans and James (Catholic Apologetics Study Bible, Vol. 3), CAI Publishing, Inc. (2009), 665 pp. ISBN 0-9818660-6-9
  • The Book of Genesis: Chapters 1 – 11 (Catholic Apologetics Study Bible, Vol. 4), CAI Publishing, Inc. (2009), 692 pp. ISBN 0-9818660-7-7
  • The First Epistle to the Corinthians (Catholic Apologetics Study Bible, Vol. 5), CAI Publishing, Inc. (2009), 423 pp. ISBN 0-9818660-8-5
  • Galileo Was Wrong: The Church Was Right: The Scientific Evidence for Geocentrism, (CAI Pub. Inc, 2009, 653 pages). ISBN 0-9818660-4-2
  • Speaking in Tongues: Sign of Blessing: Sign of Judgment: A Critical Analysis of the Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements, (CAI Pub. Inc. 2010, 80 pages). ISBN 0-9841859-5-X
  • Catholic/Jewish Dialogue: Controversies and Corrections, CAI Publishing, Inc. (2010), 734 pp. ISBN 0-9841859-3-3
  • Bob's Dictionary of Big Words (smaller version), CAI Publishing, Inc. 2011 ISBN 0-9841859-8-4
  • Bob's Dictionary of Big Words (larger version), CAI Publishing, Inc. 2011 ISBN 0-9841859-7-6
  • The Consecration of Russia: How Seven Popes Failed to Heed Heaven’s Command and Brought Turmoil to the Church and the World, Hometown Publications, Inc. copyright 2013, 384 pages, ISBN 978-0-9841859-9-3.
  • The Gospel According to John, CAI Publishing, Inc. copyright 2011, 497 pages, ISBN 978-0-9841859-1-7.

References

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  1. ^ "Mic'd Up "The Principle: Is Earth Really the Center of the Universe?"". Youtube. ChurchMilitantTV. 10 January 2014. 2:40 mark(Executive Producer), 59:01 mark(Ellis). Retrieved 14 September 2014.
  2. ^ "About". Catholicintl.com. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  3. ^ a b Sungenis, Robert. "The $100,000 Heliocentric Challenge". Galileo Was Wrong. Catholic Apologetics International Publishing. Retrieved 29 May 2015.
  4. ^ Krauss, Lawrence (8 April 2014). "I Have No Idea How I Ended Up in That Stupid Geocentrism Documentary". Slate. Retrieved 9 April 2014.
  5. ^ Strand, Paul (26 October 2014). "Shocker! Does the Universe Revolve Around Earth?". CBN News Health & Science. Christian Broadcasting Network. CBN News. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  6. ^ Gray, Sarah (8 April 2014). "Scientist has no clue how he ended up in Holocaust-denier's creationism documentary". Salon. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  7. ^ a b "Biography". Catholic Apologetics International. Archived from the original on March 9, 2010. Retrieved 2010-12-13. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help) (Note: Site for Catholic Apologetics International, catholicintl.com, re-directs to Mr Sungenis' own website.)
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference Athanasius was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ "Unaccredited Universities". Foreigncredits.com. Retrieved June 28, 2016.
  10. ^ Several states have had lists of unaccredited institutions which include CIU.
    Maine: "Maine DOE - List of Non-Accredited Schools - C". Maine Department of Education. Retrieved June 24, 2016.
    Michigan: "Colleges and universities not accredited by an accrediting body of the Council on Higher Education Accreditation" (PDF). State of Michigan. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 28, 2011. (no longer being maintained)
    Texas: "THECB - Institutions Whose Degrees are Illegal to Use in Texas". Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. Retrieved June 24, 2016.
  11. ^ Brown, George (2004), "Protecting Australia's Higher Education System: A Proactive Versus Reactive Approach in Review (1999–2004)", in Carmichael, Rob (ed.), Proceedings of the Australian Universities Quality Forum 2004, Australian Universities Quality Agency, pp. 89–98, CiteSeerX 10.1.1.117.9504, ISBN 1877090336, retrieved June 28, 2016
  12. ^ Sungenis, R.; Temple, S.; Lewis, D.A. (1994). "Shockwave Two Thousand! The Harold Camping 1994 Debacle". New Leaf Press. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  13. ^ Madrid, P. (1994). Surprised by Truth: 11 Converts Give the Biblical and Historical Reasons for Becoming Catholic. Basilica Press. ISBN 978-0-9642610-8-2.
  14. ^ A Response To Robert Sungenis's Not By Faith Alone
  15. ^ Faith Without Ethics
  16. ^ "Not By Faith Alone: The Roman Catholic Doctrine of Justification" (Interview). White Horse Inn. September–October 2007. pp. 42–46. Retrieved 2013-07-10.
  17. ^ "White Horse Inn- Roman Catholics and Justification Part 1". YouTube. White Horse Inn. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
  18. ^ "White Horse Inn- Roman Catholics and Justification Part 2". YouTube. White Horse Inn. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
  19. ^ "White Horse Inn- Roman Catholics and Justification Part 3". YouTube. White Horse Inn. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
  20. ^ "The Great Debate V - Justification by Faith - Sungenis". YouTube. Alpha & Omega Ministries. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
  21. ^ a b c Burke, Daniel (September 13, 2008). "Catechism Edit 'Troubling,' Jewish Leaders Say Deletion of Passage on Moses in Catholic Handbook Questioned". The Washington Post. pp. B09. Retrieved 2009-04-10.
  22. ^ "The Dirty Dozen". Intelligence Report. Southern Poverty Law Center. Winter 2006. Retrieved 2009-04-10.
  23. ^ Harrison, Brian. "Dr. Robert Sungenis Has Disobeyed No Binding Precept Of His Bishop". Culture Wars. Fidelity Press. Archived from the original on August 22, 2013. Retrieved 17 June 2013.
  24. ^ "Mic'd Up "The Principle, Under Attack"". Youtube. ChurchMilitantTV. 30 May 2014. 6:50 and 41:30 mark(Jewish issues), 15:10 and 35:20 mark(Tegmark), 19:30 mark(Krauss), 25:05 mark(Barbour), 29:20 mark(Kaku). Retrieved 15 June 2014.
  25. ^ Cite error: The named reference T was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  26. ^ "Interview Request from Der Spiegel in Germany on Geocentrism". Retrieved 13 April 2014.
  27. ^ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Principle
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Category:1955 births Category:Living people Category:American Roman Catholics Category:American Holocaust deniers Category:Christian apologists Category:Christian creationists Category:Converts to evangelical Christianity from Roman Catholicism Category:Converts to Roman Catholicism from Evangelicalism Category:Westminster Theological Seminary alumni Category:Galileo affair

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