Frequently asked questions
The 40 questions people ask Dr. Robert Sungenis most, grouped by subject.
Geocentrism
What evidence today supports geocentrism?
Robert Sungenis points to four lines of evidence consistent with a stationary Earth: the null results of experiments built to detect Earth's motion, the daily rotation of the heavens, features of the cosmic microwave background that line up with the Earth, and the fact that relativity permits a rotating universe.
Read the full answerWhen was geocentrism disproved?
Robert Sungenis answers that geocentrism has never been disproved. He argues that no experiment has detected the Earth moving or the Sun standing still, and that Foucault's pendulum, stellar aberration and Michelson-Morley all depend on interpretation rather than a direct measurement of Earth's motion.
Read the full answerHow does relativity affect geocentrism?
Robert Sungenis argues that relativity supports geocentrism rather than refuting it. Because the theory treats every frame of reference as physically valid, the Earth can be taken at rest with the cosmos turning around it, and Einstein's equations describe that as readily as a Sun-centered system.
Read the full answerHow does Scripture support geocentrism?
Robert Sungenis shows that Scripture repeatedly describes a stationary Earth and moving heavens. He reads these passages as literal, citing the Hebrew and Greek terms for an Earth that is set firm and cannot be moved, while the Sun, Moon and stars travel their appointed courses.
Read the full answerWhat did the Michelson-Morley experiment show, and how do geocentrists read it?
Robert Sungenis answers that the 1887 Michelson-Morley experiment found essentially no motion of the Earth through the ether, and that the simplest reading, together with Airy's water-filled telescope, the Sagnac effect and stellar aberration, is that the Earth is not moving. He holds that the alternative requires contracting rulers, dilating clocks and a vanished ether.
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Creation & Evolution
Does Genesis teach a young earth, and did the 1909 Biblical Commission settle the age of creation?
Robert Sungenis answers that Genesis teaches a young earth, which he has defended for 23 years, and that the 1909 Pontifical Biblical Commission erred by allowing the days to be either 24 hours or long periods. He calls that an abdication, since about two dozen Fathers held 24-hour days, and says it opened the door to Catholic evolutionists.
Read the full answerIs it heresy to believe in the evolution of the human body?
Robert Sungenis answers yes, in the sense that Pius XII's Humani Generis (1950) forbade Catholics to hold polygenism, since original sin passes from one first couple to all. He holds that no one has reconciled polygenism with original sin, so although no pope has formally declared evolution a heresy, the requirement effectively rules it out.
Read the full answerWhat scientific argument disproves macroevolution, and what does Humani Generis say about it?
Robert Sungenis answers that evolution fails at the microscopic level, since no mechanism has been found to produce the complexity of DNA and cell division, and without micro there is no macro. He holds that Pius XII in Humani Generis forbade Catholics to teach evolution unless polygenism can be reconciled with original sin, which no Vatican-approved answer has done.
Read the full answerWhy is radiocarbon dating unreliable as proof of an old earth?
Robert Sungenis answers that radiocarbon dating reaches back only about fifty thousand years, and depends on a constant decay rate of carbon-14 that cannot be proved. He cites Mount St. Helens lava that dated at one to two million years old, and Mary Schweitzer's discovery of soft tissue in a T. rex femur, as reasons to treat the old dates with a grain of salt.
Read the full answerIs the creationist claim that no creature ate meat or died before the fall correct?
Robert Sungenis answers that the creationists are correct: no animal died or ate meat before the fall. He grounds it in Genesis 2:17 and in Scripture's pattern of punishing animals along with men, as in the flood, and holds that plants do not die in the biblical sense because only creatures given the breath of life are alive.
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Scripture & Tradition
Who decided which books belong in the Bible, and why does the Catholic Bible have more books?
Robert Sungenis answers that the Catholic Church decided the canon through councils beginning with Rome in 382 under Pope Damasus, and that the Catholic Bible is larger because the Reformers removed seven Old Testament books the Church had used for eleven centuries. He adds that disputed New Testament books such as Hebrews and James rest on the same authority.
Read the full answerDid the Church determine the canon of the Bible, or discover it through evidence?
Robert Sungenis answers that it was both: the Church weighed the evidence for each book, such as authorship, orthodoxy and agreement with the other inspired books, while also presupposing truths God had given. He explains that Trent issued the first infallible statement on the canon by confirming the seventy-three books already agreed at Rome, Carthage and Florence.
Read the full answerWhat is sacred tradition, and are the writings of the Church Fathers sacred tradition?
Robert Sungenis answers that sacred tradition means the apostles' oral teaching not written in Scripture, such as infant baptism, and that the Fathers carry that tradition alongside their own opinions rather than being it. He holds that we know the Fathers teach truth when they agree in consensus across East and West and the centuries, as they do on baptism.
Read the full answerIf we are not certain which manuscript reading is correct, how can we call the whole Bible inerrant?
Robert Sungenis answers that we do have the whole Bible: where manuscripts differ, as between "Jesus Christ," "Jesus" and "Christ," the correct reading is always among the ones we possess. He holds that uncertainty about which available reading is original does not mean any part of the text is missing, so the Bible remains inerrant.
Read the full answerAre the Gospels historically reliable?
Robert Sungenis answers yes: the Gospels were written by eyewitnesses or men who drew directly on them, most before Jerusalem fell in AD 70, with John around AD 80. He holds that liberal critics need a late date to deny the Gospels' reliability, and that the quest for the historical Jesus collapsed, conceding that the miracles cannot be subtracted without erasing the history.
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The Church & the Papacy
What does papal infallibility actually mean, and what does it not mean?
Robert Sungenis answers that papal infallibility protects the pope from error only when he meets the four conditions of Vatican I: he intends to teach, uses his supreme apostolic authority, addresses faith or morals, and directs the teaching to the universal Church. He stresses that it does not make the pope sinless, inspired or right in all he says, and that popes have taught error.
Read the full answerWhat is apostolic succession and where is it in the Bible?
Robert Sungenis answers that apostolic succession is the unbroken line of authority from Christ to the apostles to the bishops they appointed and on to today, seen in germinal form in Acts 1:20 to 26, Acts 14:23, Titus 1:5 and 2 Timothy 2:2. He cites St. Optatus, who answered the Donatists by reciting the Roman succession and asking them for the origin of their chair.
Read the full answerDo immoral popes break apostolic succession?
Robert Sungenis answers no: a pope's personal sins, however grave, do not affect the validity of the office Christ instituted. He points to Peter, who denied Christ and was later rebuked by Paul for hypocrisy yet remained head, and holds that only the Church, not private individuals, can judge that a man never held or has lost the office.
Read the full answerWhat is the best argument against an Eastern Orthodox claim that the Roman Catholics are the ones who broke away?
Robert Sungenis answers that the whole question turns on the papacy: the record of the first eight centuries, including the seven councils the Orthodox accept, shows the pope exercising final authority again and again. He holds that since the Catholic Church still has the unbroken papacy and the Orthodox do not, the Orthodox are the ones who left.
Read the full answerHow should I respond to Latin Mass Catholics drifting toward sedevacantism and doubting the Novus Ordo?
Robert Sungenis answers that the worst response to sin in the Church is to leave it, which is what the devil wants, since Scripture never supports starting a new church out of disgust. He holds that declaring Vatican II, the Novus Ordo and its ordinations invalid makes oneself the authority, and that such groups can become cult-like, pressuring people against the ordinary form.
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Salvation & the Sacraments
Is the Eucharist really the body and blood of Christ?
Robert Sungenis answers yes: after consecration the whole substance of the bread and wine becomes Christ's body, blood, soul and divinity under their appearances. He argues from John 6, where Jesus doubles down when the Jews object, and from over three dozen Fathers, including Irenaeus, noting that no formal objection arose until Berengarius, as he sets out in Not By Bread Alone.
Read the full answerDo works save you, or do works reveal that you are saved?
Robert Sungenis answers that both are true, and that Scripture nowhere teaches salvation by faith alone. He reads Romans 3:28 as saying the relationship with God begins by faith rather than works of the law, as with Abraham, and holds that works then mature and strengthen that relationship, so the two kinds of works must be kept distinct.
Read the full answerWhy do Catholics confess their sins to a priest?
Robert Sungenis answers that in John 20:21 to 23 Jesus breathed the Holy Spirit on the apostles and gave them power to forgive or retain sins, which they cannot do without being told the sins. He reads the Greek as a permanent bestowal expecting people to confess to them, and holds that mortal sin cannot simply be handed to God directly.
Read the full answerWhat does the Catholic Church teach about purgatory?
Robert Sungenis answers that purgatory is where unforgiven venial sins are justly accounted for, if not here through indulgences or good works, and where the soul is purified at the same time. He cites Revelation 21, that nothing impure enters heaven, and 1 Corinthians 3 on dross drawn from gold, and holds that the soul enters heaven once it is pure.
Read the full answerWhat is required for a valid baptism, and does baptism save you?
Robert Sungenis answers that a valid baptism needs real, natural water, the Trinitarian formula of Matthew 28:19, and a minister who intends to do what the Church does, and that baptism truly saves by washing away original sin and infusing grace. He cites Trent's anathemas on denying natural water and on calling baptism optional, and defends infant baptism from the household baptisms.
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Mary
Does the word 'until' in Matthew 1:25 disprove Mary's perpetual virginity?
Robert Sungenis answers no: the Greek heos hou, until, can either end the action of the main verb or continue it, depending on context, so it proves nothing by itself. He holds that in Matthew 1:25 it continues the action, and that adelphos can mean any relative, so the brethren of Jesus need not be Mary's children.
Read the full answerWhy did Mary need to be immaculately conceived, and why must a Catholic believe it?
Robert Sungenis answers that Catholics must believe the Immaculate Conception because the Church defined it infallibly, and that Mary needed it so original sin would stop with her and not pass to Jesus. He holds that it applies to the soul, so both Jesus and Mary remained subject to bodily death as children of Adam, which is why Jesus could die as our sacrifice.
Read the full answerDid our Lady actually die before being assumed into heaven?
Robert Sungenis answers that the 1950 definition of the Assumption does not settle it, so the question stays open, though comparing Pius XII's text with the Immaculate Conception definitions suggests Mary died and was then raised. He holds that Mary and Jesus in their human nature were subject to the death that came from Adam, which is why Jesus could die on the cross.
Read the full answerWhy did the Vatican reject the titles "Mediatrix" and "Co-Redemptrix" for Mary?
Robert Sungenis answers that the Vatican judged the titles liable to confusion: in their minimal sense they are orthodox, since Mary freely cooperated in bringing the Savior and united her will with His sacrifice. He holds that the maximal sense, in which all graces pass through her or she is a partner in redemption, would undermine Christ's unique mediation, which Scripture and the Fathers never do.
Read the full answerIf Jesus is the new Adam, is Mary the new Eve?
Robert Sungenis answers that Scripture calls Jesus the last Adam in 1 Corinthians 15, but nowhere calls Mary the new Eve. He explains that Adam, not Eve, was the pivot on which mankind's blessing or curse turned, while Eve only precipitated his choice, and likewise Mary cannot save anyone but brought Jesus onto the stage where He won our salvation.
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The End Times
What will the Antichrist be like?
Robert Sungenis answers that the Antichrist will be a man wholly but politely possessed by Satan, genteel in manner, working miracles, knowing Scripture and dogma better than the pope, and claiming to complete Christ's work. He holds that his coming is the last predicted event before Christ's return, lasting a little season, and that history's tyrants will seem small beside him.
Read the full answerWhat triggers Christ's second coming?
Robert Sungenis answers that the clearest sign, from 2 Thessalonians 2, is the man of sin sitting in the holy place, calling himself God, working miracles and ruling the world. He adds the fig tree in leaf of Matthew 24:32, which he takes as national Israel since 1948, still without fruit, and population growth the world cannot sustain.
Read the full answerWhy did the early Fathers hold premillennialism, and how did Augustine change it?
Robert Sungenis answers that early Fathers such as Justin Martyr, Irenaeus and Papias read the thousand years of Apocalypse 20 literally, because the apostles left them little on eschatology. He holds that Augustine rightly placed the thousand years at Christ's first coming, making it symbolic of the reign of the Church, which is what the Catholic Church has taught.
Read the full answerWill the reign of the Antichrist and false prophet last three and a half or seven years?
Robert Sungenis answers that neither figure is given: the seven-year tribulation belongs to premillennial and dispensational teaching, which he holds has no truth to it. He notes that Apocalypse 20:3 says only that the devil will be loosed for a little season, so the length of the Antichrist's reign is unknown, though he offers his own view in his Apocalypse commentary.
Read the full answerDid the Second Coming already happen in the first century, so that we are now in Satan's 'little season'?
Robert Sungenis answers no: the Second Coming has not happened and is still future. He reads the little season of Apocalypse 20:3 as a short period after the thousand years, run by the man of sin of 2 Thessalonians 2, and holds we are living in the millennium now, from the cross to the Second Coming, so the little season comes just before Christ returns.
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Morality
Why is contraception a sin?
Robert Sungenis answers that contraception is a sin because God commanded man to be fruitful and multiply to create a race in His image to love Him for eternity, so preventing such creatures thwarts His plan. He holds that a person may choose not to marry, but that marriage involves a vow to bear children where possible, which contraception breaks.
Read the full answerIn Matthew 19, does the "exception clause" allow divorce and remarriage?
Robert Sungenis answers no: the exception in Matthew 19:9 attaches to the divorce, allowing an innocent spouse to separate after fornication, but never to remarriage, which remains adultery while the spouse lives. He notes that Matthew 5:32, Mark 10:11 to 12 and Romans 7 give no exception, and that what God has joined no man may put asunder.
Read the full answerHas the Church changed its teaching on capital punishment?
Robert Sungenis answers that, as far as Pope Francis is concerned, yes: the Catechism now says capital punishment is never allowed. He holds that the traditional teaching was never infallible, so the pope could change it, and that DNA evidence, which has exonerated about 265 convicted Americans since the 1980s, gives a reason to think twice about the death penalty.
Read the full answerShould we ignore IVF, or is it a moral concern?
Robert Sungenis answers no: IVF is a moral concern, and the Church has taken a clear stand against it as an intrusion on the womb outside the marital act. He argues that when people break the order God has set for conception and the body, they meet either natural ill effects or God's punishment, because God built safeguards into the mechanism itself.
Read the full answerDoes the Bible condemn homosexuality itself, or only when it is tied to other sins like temple prostitution or pederasty?
Robert Sungenis answers that Scripture condemns homosexual acts themselves, not only pederasty or temple prostitution. He explains that arsenokoitai in 1 Corinthians 6:9 means male intercourse with no limit of age, and that the abomination for which Ezekiel says Sodom was destroyed was sodomy itself, so homosexuality is not one of the lesser sins.
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