Robert Sungenis
Encyclopedia
Robert A. Sungenis is an American
Catholic
apologist
. He is the founder of The Bellarmine Report
, renamed from the Bellarmine Theological Forum in 2011, renamed from Catholic Apologetics International in August 2007. Sungenis is known for his apologetic works critiquing the Protestant
doctrines of sola fide
and sola scriptura
. More recently, he has become known for his advocacy of geocentrism and also for his beliefs about Jews
and Judaism
that have created controversy.
Christian at age nineteen. He held various posts (e.g., elder, preacher, adult Sunday school director) in several Protestant churches including a two-year employment under prophecy teacher Harold Camping
of Family Radio
. He obtained his B.A. in Religion from George Washington University
in 1979, and an M.A. in theology from Westminster Theological Seminary
in 1982. Sungenis obtained a Ph.D. in 2006 from the Calamus International University, an unaccredited
distance learning institution which is noted, according to Sungenis, "for its academic freedom and alternative science and religious curriculum". His 700-page dissertation was on the subject of geocentrism. He is currently enrolled for a Ph.D. at the Maryvale Institute
in Birmingham, UK and Liverpool Hope University
.
Sungenis returned to Catholicism in 1992 at the age of thirty-seven. In 1994 he was the principal author of a book critiquing the eschatological
views of Harold Camping
and a number of prominent fundamentalist Protestant preachers. 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
. He has debated many Protestant apologists, including James R. White
, Dave Hunt, Michael Horton, Robert Godfrey
and Robert Zins on doctrinal, theological, and historical issues such as sola scriptura
, the papacy and papal infallibility
, transubstantiation
and the Mass
, salvation
and justification
. He is the author of over a dozen books on theology and the Bible.
He has also begun his own non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation and publishing company, Catholic Apologetics International Publishing, Inc., of which Bellarmine Theological Forum is a "subsidiary".
that have been sharply criticized by some of his fellow Catholics as being anti-semitic. Facing such criticism in 2002, Sungenis stated that he is against Zionism
, but that he is not anti-semitic. "Anti-semitism
is a hatred for the Jewish race. There isn't a bone in my body that feels that way about Jewish people," he wrote. In 2008, Sungenis' bishop, Kevin C. Rhoades
, denounced his views of the Jewish people and Judaism as "hostile, uncharitable, and un-Christian" and required Sungenis to stop writing about them. He also directed him to stop using the word "Catholic" in his organization's name. Sungenis has stated that he will only comply with Bishop Rhoades' directive to stop writing about Jews and Judaism if he is forced to do so "under the aegis of a canonical trial
".
The Southern Poverty Law Center
has described Sungenis as "one of the most rabid and open anti-Semites in the entire radical traditionalist movement." The organization included him in its "Dirty Dozen" list after he published an article which repeated "a series of ancient antisemitic canards" on the subject of Jewish conversion. In a file on his website, he states that "the Jews control much of the politics, wealth, academia, media, sciences, arts, and culture today." In a review of 'The Israel Test' by award-winning author George Gilder
, he lambastes the Jews for their role in what he believes is the moral downfall of society. Sungenis speaks of how, "The humanist Jew has poisoned every area of our culture", and how "Gilder’s logic is the same reason that our Jewish-dominated culture had no tinge of conscience in removing Terri Schiavo
’s feeding tube or in continuing to litter our garbage cans with aborted fetuses." He goes on to claim that the Jews have an inherent sin due to their rejection of Jesus: "The place to begin is for the Jews to admit their own sins, both past and present, which will then allow them to see why God rejected their nation in the first place." He at least downplays, if not outright denies, the Nazi Holocaust - "it is becoming increasing difficult to believe that six million Jews were killed in Nazi internment camps." And, "The statistics show us that there was no large difference between the number of Jews living in 1939 as there were living in 1948, so how could six million Jews have died between those two periods?"
In 2008, Sungenis took credit for the fact that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops voted to remove a sentence from the next printing of the U.S. Catholic Catechism for Adults that involves the Jewish people and the Mosaic covenant ("Thus the covenant that God made with the Jewish people through Moses remains eternally valid for them", see also dual-covenant theology
). The bishops proposed to replace it with a sentence from the universal Catechism of the Catholic Church
. Sungenis expressed concerns about the original sentence at his website and said he wrote to the Vatican about it. The executive director of evangelization
and catechesis for the USCCB's committee on the catechism denied that the change occurred because of Sungenis' intervention.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Catholic
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
apologist
Apologetics
Apologetics is the discipline of defending a position through the systematic use of reason. Early Christian writers Apologetics (from Greek ἀπολογία, "speaking in defense") is the discipline of defending a position (often religious) through the systematic use of reason. Early Christian writers...
. He is the founder of The Bellarmine Report
The Bellarmine Report
The Bellarmine Report is a controversial American apostolate, in conflict with some of the Catholic hierarchy, founded by Robert Sungenis in 1993. Sungenis changed the name of Catholic Apologetics International to the Bellarmine Theological Forum in August 2007 when Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades...
, renamed from the Bellarmine Theological Forum in 2011, renamed from Catholic Apologetics International in August 2007. Sungenis is known for his apologetic works critiquing the Protestant
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
doctrines of sola fide
Sola fide
Sola fide , also historically known as the doctrine of justification by faith alone, is a Christian theological doctrine that distinguishes most Protestant denominations from Catholicism, Eastern Christianity, and some in the Restoration Movement.The doctrine of sola fide or "by faith alone"...
and sola scriptura
Sola scriptura
Sola scriptura is the doctrine that the Bible contains all knowledge necessary for salvation and holiness. Consequently, sola scriptura demands that only those doctrines are to be admitted or confessed that are found directly within or indirectly by using valid logical deduction or valid...
. More recently, he has become known for his advocacy of geocentrism and also for his beliefs about Jews
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
and Judaism
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
that have created controversy.
Biography
Robert Sungenis was raised in a Catholic family, but became a ProtestantProtestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
Christian at age nineteen. He held various posts (e.g., elder, preacher, adult Sunday school director) in several Protestant churches including a two-year employment under prophecy teacher Harold Camping
Harold Camping
Harold Egbert Camping is an American Christian radio broadcaster. He served as president of Family Radio, a California-based radio station group that broadcasts to more than 150 markets in the United States, since 1958. In 2011 he retired from active broadcasting following a stroke, but still...
of Family Radio
Family Radio
Family Radio, also known by its licensee name Family Stations Inc., is a Christian radio network based in Oakland, California, USA, founded by Lloyd Lindquist, Richard H. Palmquist and Harold Camping...
. He obtained his B.A. in Religion from George Washington University
George Washington University
The George Washington University is a private, coeducational comprehensive university located in Washington, D.C. in the United States...
in 1979, and an M.A. in theology from Westminster Theological Seminary
Westminster Theological Seminary
Westminster Theological Seminary is a Presbyterian and Reformed Christian graduate educational institution located in Glenside, Pennsylvania, with a satellite location in London.-History:...
in 1982. Sungenis obtained a Ph.D. in 2006 from the Calamus International University, an unaccredited
Educational accreditation
Educational accreditation is a type of quality assurance process under which services and operations of educational institutions or programs are evaluated by an external body to determine if applicable standards are met...
distance learning institution which is noted, according to Sungenis, "for its academic freedom and alternative science and religious curriculum". His 700-page dissertation was on the subject of geocentrism. He is currently enrolled for a Ph.D. at the Maryvale Institute
Maryvale Institute
The Maryvale Institute is a college of further and higher education, in Birmingham, UK. It specialises in the provision of part-time and distance learning courses to the lay faithful and ministers of the Roman Catholic Church....
in Birmingham, UK and Liverpool Hope University
Liverpool Hope University
Liverpool Hope University is a university in Liverpool, England. Two of its three founding colleges were established in 1844 and 1856, the third opening in the 1960s. It is the only ecumenical university in Europe. Based on two campuses, the main campus is located in Childwall and the second...
.
Sungenis returned to Catholicism in 1992 at the age of thirty-seven. In 1994 he was the principal author of a book critiquing the eschatological
Eschatology
Eschatology is a part of theology, philosophy, and futurology concerned with what are believed to be the final events in history, or the ultimate destiny of humanity, commonly referred to as the end of the world or the World to Come...
views of Harold Camping
Harold Camping
Harold Egbert Camping is an American Christian radio broadcaster. He served as president of Family Radio, a California-based radio station group that broadcasts to more than 150 markets in the United States, since 1958. In 2011 he retired from active broadcasting following a stroke, but still...
and a number of prominent fundamentalist Protestant preachers. 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
Patrick Madrid
Patrick Madrid , is an American Catholic author, radio host, apologist, the host of several EWTN television and radio series, and the publisher of Envoy Magazine....
. He has debated many Protestant apologists, including James R. White
James White (theologian)
James Robert White is the director of Alpha and Omega Ministries, an evangelical Reformed Christian apologetics organization based in Phoenix, Arizona. He is the author of more than twenty books and has engaged in numerous moderated debates...
, Dave Hunt, Michael Horton, Robert Godfrey
Robert Godfrey
W. Robert Godfrey is a minister in the United Reformed Church and the third President of Westminster Seminary California, where he is also Professor of Church History. He has taught at Westminster Seminary California since 1981 and has previously taught at Westminster Theological Seminary in...
and Robert Zins on doctrinal, theological, and historical issues such as sola scriptura
Sola scriptura
Sola scriptura is the doctrine that the Bible contains all knowledge necessary for salvation and holiness. Consequently, sola scriptura demands that only those doctrines are to be admitted or confessed that are found directly within or indirectly by using valid logical deduction or valid...
, the papacy and papal infallibility
Papal infallibility
Papal infallibility is a dogma of the Catholic Church which states that, by action of the Holy Spirit, the Pope is preserved from even the possibility of error when in his official capacity he solemnly declares or promulgates to the universal Church a dogmatic teaching on faith or morals...
, transubstantiation
Transubstantiation
In Roman Catholic theology, transubstantiation means the change, in the Eucharist, of the substance of wheat bread and grape wine into the substance of the Body and Blood, respectively, of Jesus, while all that is accessible to the senses remains as before.The Eastern Orthodox...
and the Mass
Mass (liturgy)
"Mass" is one of the names by which the sacrament of the Eucharist is called in the Roman Catholic Church: others are "Eucharist", the "Lord's Supper", the "Breaking of Bread", the "Eucharistic assembly ", the "memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection", the "Holy Sacrifice", the "Holy and...
, salvation
Salvation
Within religion salvation is the phenomenon of being saved from the undesirable condition of bondage or suffering experienced by the psyche or soul that has arisen as a result of unskillful or immoral actions generically referred to as sins. Salvation may also be called "deliverance" or...
and justification
Justification (theology)
Rising out of the Protestant Reformation, Justification is the chief article of faith describing God's act of declaring or making a sinner righteous through Christ's atoning sacrifice....
. He is the author of over a dozen books on theology and the Bible.
He has also begun his own non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation and publishing company, Catholic Apologetics International Publishing, Inc., of which Bellarmine Theological Forum is a "subsidiary".
Views on Jews and Judaism
Sungenis has become known for controversial views of the Jewish people and JudaismJudaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
that have been sharply criticized by some of his fellow Catholics as being anti-semitic. Facing such criticism in 2002, Sungenis stated that he is against Zionism
Zionism
Zionism is a Jewish political movement that, in its broadest sense, has supported the self-determination of the Jewish people in a sovereign Jewish national homeland. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Zionist movement continues primarily to advocate on behalf of the Jewish state...
, but that he is not anti-semitic. "Anti-semitism
Anti-Semitism
Antisemitism is suspicion of, hatred toward, or discrimination against Jews for reasons connected to their Jewish heritage. According to a 2005 U.S...
is a hatred for the Jewish race. There isn't a bone in my body that feels that way about Jewish people," he wrote. In 2008, Sungenis' bishop, Kevin C. Rhoades
Kevin C. Rhoades
Kevin Carl Rhoades is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He is the ninth Bishop of Fort Wayne-South Bend, having served as Bishop of Harrisburg from 2004 to 2009.-Early life:...
, denounced his views of the Jewish people and Judaism as "hostile, uncharitable, and un-Christian" and required Sungenis to stop writing about them. He also directed him to stop using the word "Catholic" in his organization's name. Sungenis has stated that he will only comply with Bishop Rhoades' directive to stop writing about Jews and Judaism if he is forced to do so "under the aegis of a canonical trial
Ecclesiastical court
An ecclesiastical court is any of certain courts having jurisdiction mainly in spiritual or religious matters. In the Middle Ages in many areas of Europe these courts had much wider powers than before the development of nation states...
".
The Southern Poverty Law Center
Southern Poverty Law Center
The Southern Poverty Law Center is an American nonprofit civil rights organization noted for its legal victories against white supremacist groups; legal representation for victims of hate groups; monitoring of alleged hate groups, militias and extremist organizations; and educational programs that...
has described Sungenis as "one of the most rabid and open anti-Semites in the entire radical traditionalist movement." The organization included him in its "Dirty Dozen" list after he published an article which repeated "a series of ancient antisemitic canards" on the subject of Jewish conversion. In a file on his website, he states that "the Jews control much of the politics, wealth, academia, media, sciences, arts, and culture today." In a review of 'The Israel Test' by award-winning author George Gilder
George Gilder
George F. Gilder is an American writer, techno-utopian intellectual, Republican Party activist, and co-founder of the Discovery Institute...
, he lambastes the Jews for their role in what he believes is the moral downfall of society. Sungenis speaks of how, "The humanist Jew has poisoned every area of our culture", and how "Gilder’s logic is the same reason that our Jewish-dominated culture had no tinge of conscience in removing Terri Schiavo
Terri Schiavo
The Terri Schiavo case was a legal battle in the United States between the legal guardians and the parents of Teresa Marie "Terri" Schiavo that lasted from 1998 to 2005...
’s feeding tube or in continuing to litter our garbage cans with aborted fetuses." He goes on to claim that the Jews have an inherent sin due to their rejection of Jesus: "The place to begin is for the Jews to admit their own sins, both past and present, which will then allow them to see why God rejected their nation in the first place." He at least downplays, if not outright denies, the Nazi Holocaust - "it is becoming increasing difficult to believe that six million Jews were killed in Nazi internment camps." And, "The statistics show us that there was no large difference between the number of Jews living in 1939 as there were living in 1948, so how could six million Jews have died between those two periods?"
In 2008, Sungenis took credit for the fact that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops voted to remove a sentence from the next printing of the U.S. Catholic Catechism for Adults that involves the Jewish people and the Mosaic covenant ("Thus the covenant that God made with the Jewish people through Moses remains eternally valid for them", see also dual-covenant theology
Dual-covenant theology
Dual-covenant theology is a Liberal Christian view that holds that Jews may simply keep the Law of Moses, because of the "everlasting covenant" between Abraham and God expressed in the Hebrew Bible, whereas Gentiles must convert to Christianity or alternatively accept the Seven Laws of Noah...
). The bishops proposed to replace it with a sentence from the universal Catechism of the Catholic Church
Catechism of the Catholic Church
The Catechism of the Catholic Church is the official text of the teachings of the Catholic Church. A provisional, "reference text" was issued by Pope John Paul II on October 11, 1992 — "the thirtieth anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council" — with his apostolic...
. Sungenis expressed concerns about the original sentence at his website and said he wrote to the Vatican about it. The executive director of evangelization
Evangelization
Evangelization is that process in the Christian religion which seeks to spread the Gospel and the knowledge of the Gospel throughout the world. It can be defined as so:-The birth of Christian evangelization:...
and catechesis for the USCCB's committee on the catechism denied that the change occurred because of Sungenis' intervention.
Geocentrism
Sungenis has become known for his advocacy of geocentrism. He believes that physics and the Bible prove that the sun and all the planets orbit the Earth and that the Earth does not rotate. In support of his beliefs, Sungenis published the book Galileo Was Wrong in the hope that people will "give Scripture its due place and show that science is not all it's cracked up to be." Mainstream scientists reject this cosmological view as demonstrably false and untenable.Publications
- Not By Faith Alone: The Biblical Evidence for the Catholic Doctrine of Justification, Queenship Publishing (1996), 774 pp. ISBN 1579180086
- Not By Scripture Alone: A Catholic Critique of the Protestant Doctrine of Sola Scriptura, Queenship Publishing (1997), 650 pp. ISBN 1579180558
- How Can I Get to Heaven? The Bible's Teaching on Salvation Made Easy to Understand, Queenship Publishing (1997), 334 pp. ISBN 1579180078
- Not By Bread Alone: The Biblical and Historical Evidence for the Eucharistic Sacrifice, Queenship Publishing (2000), 450 pp. ISBN 1579181244
- The Gospel According to Matthew (Catholic Apologetics Study Bible, Vol. 1), Queenship Publishing (2003), 427 pp. ISBN 1579182364
- The Apocalypse of St. John (Catholic Apologetics Study Bible, Vol. 2), Queenship Publishing (2007), 544 pp. ISBN 1579183298
- The Epistles of Romans and James (Catholic Apologetics Study Bible, Vol. 3), CAI Publishing, Inc. (2009), 665 pp. ISBN 0981866069
- The Book of Genesis: Chapters 1 – 11 (Catholic Apologetics Study Bible, Vol. 4), CAI Publishing, Inc. (2009), 692 pp. ISBN 0981866077
- The First Epistle to the Corinthians (Catholic Apologetics Study Bible, Vol. 5), CAI Publishing, Inc. (2009), 423 pp. ISBN 0981866085
- Galileo Was Wrong: The Church Was Right: The Scientific Evidence for Geocentrism, fifth edition (CAI Pub. Inc, 2009, 653 pages)
- Galileo Was Wrong: The Church Was Right: The Historical Evidence for Geocentrism, fifth edition (CAI Pub. Inc. 2009, 451 pages)
- Galileo Was Wrong: The Church Was Right: The Abridged Version, (CAI Pub. Inc. 2010, 739 pages)
- Galileo Was Wrong: The Church Was Right: A Synopsis of the Scientific and Historical Evidence for Geocentrism, (CAI Pub. Inc, 2010, 100 pages)
- Speaking in Tongues: Sign of Blessing: Sign of Judgment: A Critical Analysis of the Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements, (CAI Pub. Inc. 2010, 80 pages)
- Catholic/Jewish Dialogue: Controversies and Corrections, CAI Publishing, Inc. (2010), 734 pp. ISBN 0984185933