prepared by Randall F.
More, P. Eng.
March 2016
updated March 2018
Catholic Church Doctrines and the Bible (Part
I)
&
Abuses within the Catholic
Church (Part II)
The purpose of Part I of this
review is to examine and compare Catholic Church doctrine with the Word of God,
the Bible. It is the intent of this analysis to present the gospel in a manner
which is faithful to the truth of God’s Word. The underlying premise is the
belief that the Word of God is the sole authoritative, inerrant, and infallible
Word of God and is the source regarding all issues of the Christian faith,
doctrine, and practice. The challenge is to consider whether Catholics are
co-labourers in Christ or are they a mission field.
Part II highlights aspects of abuses that occur within the
Catholic Church and the primary causes.
PART I
Catholic Church Doctrines
and the Bible
Table of Contents (PART
I)
2. PAPAL and CHURCH INFALLIBILITY
4. POPE as the VICAR of CHRIST
5. PRIESTS and ROYAL PRIESTHOOD
9. SALVATION through the CATHOLIC CHURCH
10. SALVATION through the SACRAMENTS
13. SALVATION by FAITH and WORKS
14. WORSHIPPING the EUCHARIST and TRANSUBSTANTIATION
20. INFUSED or IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS
30. PRAYING to MARY and MARY WORSHIP
35. BEAUTIFICATION, CANONIZATION, and SAINTHOOD
37. CATHOLIC ICONS and TEN COMMANDMENTS
40. VOWS of POVERTY, CHASTITY, OBEDIENCE
47. CATHOLIC CHURCH AUTHORITY and GOD’S WORD
49. SOLA SCRIPTURA and ADDING to GOD’S WORD
PART I
Catholic Church Doctrines
and the Bible
Bible passages are from NASB unless noted.
Roman Catholics use one verse in Scripture to justify the
papacy:
Jesus said "... you are
Petros (a large rock or detached stone) and on this petra (a huge or massive rock)
I will build My church..." (Matthew 16:18).
Contrary to the Catholic notion, Jesus was speaking of
Himself in referring to petra, a huge rock, not to Petros (Peter), a smaller
rock.
Catholics claim the papacy as a legitimate institution for
most of their history but there is no single doctrine in the Christian faith
which is based on the words of only one verse. Each and every doctrine of the
Christian faith is supported and reinforced by multiple consistent passages throughout
Scripture, not just one verse. Otherwise, it is not worthy of being considered
as a doctrine (i.e. creation, marriage, salvation, Trinity, sin, fall of man,
redemption). That is just how each doctrine works. That is just how the God of
the Bible works.
There should be no misunderstanding. The apostle, Paul, reinforces
the view that it is Jesus who is the "Rock," not Peter, when he says:
...for they were drinking from a
spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ (I Corinthians
10:4).
Peter never refers to himself as the rock, pope, bishop, or
even leader of the apostles. He is a fellow apostle and that is it. Peter reveals
that he is not unlike any other man:
The elders which are among you, I
exhort, who am also an elder... (I Peter 5:1).
Simon Peter, a bond-servant and
apostle of Jesus Christ… (II Peter 1:1).
When Cornelius fell down to worship at Peter's feet, Peter
cautioned him that he was not to be held in any special esteem. Peter instructs
him by saying:
“Stand up; I too am JUST a man” (Acts
10:26).
Catholics have chosen to disregard Peter’s instruction to
Cornelius. Peter never accepted any superior ranking for himself. Nowhere in
Scripture does Peter claim supremacy over the other apostles or anyone else; nowhere
in the writings do the other apostles or writers proclaim any special authority
for Peter; nowhere in Scripture does any apostle, including Peter, state or
imply that any apostolic authority would pass to successors.
The early Church Fathers including Cyprian, Origen, Cyril,
Hilary, Jerome, Ambrose, and Augustine NEVER referred to or claimed Peter as
the pope or “the rock” upon which Jesus established His church… but Catholics have
ignored this basic tradition and truth. The erroneous notion was introduced a
few centuries later by Catholics, ignoring all the predecessors, but there is
no scriptural justification and it certainly wasn’t instituted at the outset.
It is simply a later man-made concoction. For the early Church Fathers, just as
for Jesus, it was Peter’s profound profession of faith which was referred to as
“the rock.”
Contrary to what the Catholics believe, the apostle, Paul,
wrote that the Church was not founded with Peter as the foundation stone:
For no man can lay a foundation
other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ (I Corinthians 3:11).
On the last night of Christ’s ministry, there was an
argument amongst the apostles as to which of them would be the greatest. The
very fact that the apostles had an argument amongst themselves without Jesus
clarifying any new superior role for Peter makes it clear that there was no
superior role.
Catholics say that Peter was the first bishop of Rome. There
is no biblical reference or historical evidence to indicate that Peter was a
bishop in Rome or even that he was in Rome, except possibly if his writing from
Babylon is actually a reference to Rome (I Peter 5:13). Further, we know
from the apostle, Paul, that Peter was considered to be the apostle to the
Jews, possibly in Jerusalem, but not to the Gentiles in Rome. The apostle, Paul,
wrote to the believers in Rome (Romans 18:3-15) and referred to 24
individuals by name but no mention was made of Peter in his greeting which
would not have been the case if Peter was the bishop of Rome.
Contrary to Catholic views there is not an uninterrupted
line of succession of popes that can be substantiated and traced back to Peter.
In fact, there is some historical evidence to indicate that the papacy was
contrived centuries after Peter’s death, possibly not until 366 A.D. with
Damasus or possibly not until 590 A.D. by Pope Gregory I (Saint Gregory the
Great). Siricius, who died in 399 A.D. was the first to refer to himself as
Peter’s heir.
Catholics use the expression, “one fold and one shepherd” to
sustain the doctrine of the papacy with the “one shepherd” referring to the pope
and the “one fold” representing the Catholic Church. The pope is not the one
shepherd. Jesus has a different story when He says:
“I am
the good shepherd… and they shall become one flock with one shepherd” (John
10:11,16).
In 1075 A.D. Pope Gregory VII made a decree called the
Dictatus wherein he included 27 powers which all popes possess as successors of
Peter, including the power to depose emperors. The pope has erred as there is
no such provision in Scripture. In fact, Peter rebukes such a notion:
Submit yourselves for the Lord’s
sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or
to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of
those who do right. For such is the will of God that by doing right you may
silence the ignorance of foolish men (I Peter 2:13-15).
For Catholics, the pope is deemed to be Christ's
representative on Earth. Notwithstanding what one billion or so Catholics
believe, one should be able to see that the pope is NOT Christ's representative
on Earth. For the Pope to usurp the headship of Christ on Earth is blasphemous.
Believers are Christ's representatives on Earth, not the pope,
and for believers, Christ left us His Holy Spirit to indwell, empower, and
transform us. He most certainly did not leave us the pope. As believers, we are
His ambassadors, not the pope:
…and pray on my behalf, that
utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with
boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador…” (Ephesians
6:19-20).
Peter betrayed Jesus, just as Jesus knew he would but after
the resurrection Peter finally acknowledged that He was the Christ. The first
15 chapters of Acts fully outline the tremendous work of the apostle, Peter,
after his own conversion. Once Peter truly came to realize that Jesus was the
Christ, he had an excellent ministry which went a very long way to establish and
build the early church of Christ but that was the end of Peter’s role. Peter’s
contribution in building the early church may have been as profound as that of any
other person in church history but his role was never re-assigned to any other
individual. If Catholics wish to hold to their singular substantiating verse,
they should conclude only that Peter did, in fact, greatly help to build
Christ’s church but his tremendous contribution ended by Acts 15. There was no
other ensuing legacy regarding any papacy or related succession.
The papacy was a concept created by sinful and fallible men
(just like you and I) except that they might not have been saved and certainly
weren’t under the power of the Holy Spirit. They conjured up a concept which
has no biblical basis. The papacy is a man-made concept, not something that was
ever ordained by God or His Word.
The great irony in all of it is that the apostle, Peter, who
Catholics deem to be the first pope, actually wrote more cautionary
instructions against falling prey to the falsehoods of man, many of which became
instituted by the Catholic Church.
2.
PAPAL and CHURCH INFALLIBILITY
The Catholic Church deems itself to have authority above
God's Word. No one, not God, not Jesus, not the Word of God gave the Catholic
Church any such authority or sanctioning. It is wrong and totally man-made and
it does a great disservice to God and His Word. The Catholic Church elevates
itself above God’s Word in regard to both the edicts of popes and the Catholic
counsels. Further, the Catholic Church deems that its rulings and the ex
cathedra (“from the chair”) pronouncements of the pope are infallible. The
notion of papal infallibility was decreed by the Vatican Council in 1870,
nearly 2000 years after Christ. It is rather strange that all the popes prior
to 1870 were fallible but suddenly thereafter they were infallible:
"The Pope has the power to
change times, to abrogate laws, and to dispense with all things, even the
precepts of Christ." (Decretal, de Tranlatic Episcop, Ferraris Ecclesiastical)
Catholicism is no different than Mormonism, Islam, Buddhism,
Hinduism, Scientology, Zoroastrianism, Shintoism, Taoism, Sikhism, Moonies, Jehovah
Witnesses, Seventh Day Adventism, or any other religion where fallible and
sinful men have chosen to supplement God’s Word with their own beliefs. God’s
Word is wholly sufficient. The Bible needs no supplement and it is heretical to
believe otherwise as the Bible makes clear.
This belief of Catholics works to undermine the authority of
Christ and the Word of God and to lead others away from the true gospel. It is
not God honouring. Man-made rules and traditions of the Catholic Church do not
supersede God’s Word.
As the Earl of Shaftesbury noted, it would only need for the
pope to be married for him to soon discover that he is most certainly not
infallible. The only sources of infallibility are Christ and God's Word, not
the pope, not the Catholic Church, nor anyone else, nor any other institution.
The Catholic Church is sometimes referred to
as the “Holy Mother Church.” This is heretical. The pope is declared by
Catholics to be “our Lord God” and to be “as king of heaven and of Earth.” This
is heretical. There is no biblical basis for such notions. It is an attempt to
usurp the sovereignty of God:
"To believe that
our Lord God the Pope has not the power to decree as he is decreed, is
to be deemed heretical." (the Gloss
"Extravagantes" o.f Pope John XXII Cum inter, Tit. XIV, Cap. IV. Ad
Callem Sexti Decretalium, Paris, 1685)
"Hence the Pope is
crowned with a triple crown, as king of heaven and of earth and of the lower
regions." (Ferraris,
«Prompta Bibliotheca», 1763, Volume VI, 'Papa II', p.26)
"The Roman Pontiff,
head of the college of bishops, enjoys this infallibility in virtue of his
office, when, as Supreme Pastor and teacher of all the faithful--who confirms
his brethren in the faith--he proclaims by a definitive act a doctrine
pertaining to faith or morals....The infallibility promised to the
Church is also present in the body of bishops when, together with Peter’s
successor, ‘they exercise the supreme Magisterium,’ above all in an Ecumenical
Council. When the Church through its supreme Magisterium proposes a doctrine
‘for belief as being divinely revealed,’ and as the teaching of Christ, the
definitions ‘must be adhered to with the obedience of faith.’ This infallibility
extends as far as the deposit of divine revelation itself." (Catechism of the Catholic Church, #891, 1994
edition)
Catholic Bishop John Purcell made his opinion known in 1837
and yet Catholics introduced the contrary notion of papal infallibility only 33
years later:
“No enlightened Catholic holds
the pope’s infallibility to be an article of faith. I do not; and none of my
brethren, that I know of do.”
Catholics should acknowledge that nowhere in the Bible does
God authorize the pope or anyone to supersede His Word.
Roman Catholics refer to the pope as Holy Father. No one,
not even Jesus is to be referred to as Holy Father, and the pope is most
certainly not given the sovereign title. Catholics elevate the pope to a
position which clearly God never intended. It is sacrilege to believe such:
"The Pope is of so
great dignity, and so exalted that he is not a mere man, but as it were God
and the vicar of God." (Ferraris
Ecclesiastical dictionary)
"The Pope is not
simply the representative of Jesus Christ. On the contrary, he is Jesus
Christ Himself, under the veil of the flesh." (Evangelical Christendom, January 1, 1895, p. 15,
published in London by J. S. Phillips)
"The Pope and God are the same,
so he has all power in Heaven and earth." (Pope Pius V, quoted in Barclay, Chapter XXVII, p. 218, Cities Petrus
Bertanous)
For the pope to be referred to as Holy Father is
blasphemous. There is only one reference to Holy Father in all of Scripture and
it most certainly does not refer to the pope. It is a title reserved for the
sovereign God:
“And I am no more in the world;
and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to Thee. Holy Father keep
them in Thy name, the name which Thou hast given Me, that they may be one, even
as We are” (John 17:11).
No human can rightfully take the title of “holy.” Only God, Christ,
and the Scriptures are holy. The pope has no more holiness than the rest of us.
4.
POPE as the VICAR of CHRIST
The pope is also referred to as Sovereign Pontiff, Holy
Father, and Vicar of Christ. These titles rightly belong only to Christ and God
the Father. The word “vicar” comes from the Latin word “vicarious” which means
“instead of.” In the Catholic Church, the vicar is the representative of a
higher ranking official having the same authority and power as that of the
official. In claiming to be the Vicar of Christ, the pope effectively promises
to do what Christ promised. The pope, however, has no biblical authority to do
so.
The pope has no authority or role as defined by the
Catholics. Contrary to the New York Catechism, the pope is most certainly not “God himself on Earth”
and there is no such divine right:
"The Pope takes the
place of Jesus Christ on earth...by divine right the Pope has supreme and full
power in faith, in morals over each and every pastor and his flock. He is the
true vicar, the head of the entire church, the father and teacher of all
Christians. He is the infallible ruler, the founder of dogmas, the
author of and the judge of councils; the universal ruler of truth, the arbiter
of the world, the supreme judge of heaven and earth, the judge of all, being
judged by no one, God himself on earth." (quoted in the New York Catechism)
"All names which in
the Scriptures are applied to Christ, by virtue of which it is established that
He is over the church, all the same names are applied to the Pope." (On the Authority of the Councils, book 2, chapter
17)
"The Saviour
Himself is the door of the sheepfold: 'I am the door of the sheep.' Into this
fold of Jesus Christ, no man may enter unless he be led by the Sovereign
Pontiff; and only if they be united to him can men be saved, for the Roman
Pontiff is the Vicar of Christ and His personal representative on earth." (Pope John XXIII in his homily to the Bishops and
faithful assisting at his coronation on November 4, 1958)
There is no vicar of Christ. There is only Christ Himself
and He has left us with His Holy Spirit, not the pope. In fact, the Bible
cautions against elevating anyone to the position as the Catholics have done:
Let no one in any way deceive
you, for it will not come
unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the
son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every
so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of
God, displaying himself as being God (II Thessalonians 2:3-4).
Catholic leaders speak of “the primacy of Peter” and the
“primacy of the pope” but only Christ has primacy in everything as the apostle,
Paul, writes. This leaves nothing for the pope:
He is also head
of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,
so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything (Colossians
1:18).
In claiming that the pope is the Vicar of Christ, the Roman Catholic
Church rejects the sufficiency and supremacy of Christ’s priesthood on Earth and
it endeavours to supplant the work of the Holy Spirit. In fact, as the apostle,
Paul, wrote, each one of us as born-again believers is Christ’s representative
on Earth, but most certainly not the pope:
Therefore, we are ambassadors for
Christ (II Corinthians 5:20).
Catholics claim that the pope is the visible head of the
Church and that Christ is the invisible head. By using the two references, visible
and invisible, Catholic leaders avoid having the pope stand in opposition to
the headship of Christ. Both Christ and the apostle, Paul, however, made it
clear that there is only one head of the church both in heaven and here on Earth
and that is Christ Himself:
“All authority has been given to
Me in heaven and on earth” (Matthew 28:18).
…and He is the head over all rule
and authority (Colossians 2:10).
There is no biblical basis for any individual to claim to be
the representative of Christ on Earth. Christ never delegated His authority to
any person. He did, however, following His ascension, as He had promised, leave
His Holy Spirit to indwell and empower His apostles and all believers. It is
blasphemous for any pope to believe that he can take the place of Christ who
gave His life as a sacrifice for each one of us. No pope has ever sacrificed
his life for anyone.
5.
PRIESTS and ROYAL PRIESTHOOD
There is no biblical justification for the Catholic Church
to permit or sanction priests as officials or leaders of the Church.
It goes even further in that Catholics believe that God is
obliged to follow the judgment of the priests. This is truly preposterous and blasphemous:
"And God himself
is obliged to abide by the judgment of his priest and either not to pardon
or to pardon, according as they refuse to give absolution, provided the
penitent is capable of it." (Liguori, «Duties and Dignities of the Priest», p.27)
In the Old Testament, priests were chosen by God to present
sacrifices to God and to be mediators between God and man. The priesthood was a
representation of the coming ministry of Christ but it was no longer necessary
when Christ sacrificed Himself on the cross once as a permanent sacrifice for
each one of us. We no longer need a priest representing ourselves to God as we
have direct access through His Son, our great High Priest.
As believers, we are privileged as a specially chosen
people, partakers of His royal priesthood, who no longer have any need to
approach Him through any earthly priest:
Since then we have a great high
priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold
fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize
with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet
without sin (Hebrews 4:14-15).
…you also, as living stones, are
built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual
sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ… But you are a CHOSEN RACE, A
ROYAL PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR GOD’S OWN POSSESSION (I Peter
2:5,9).
…and He has made us to be a
kingdom, priests to His God and Father, to Him be the glory and the dominion
forever and ever (Revelation 1:6).
“And Thou hast made them to be a
kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth” (Revelation
5:10).
The Catholic Church instituted a system wherein its
officials are referred to as “father.” This is a system that is not supported
by the words of Jesus:
“And do not call anyone on earth
your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven… And do not be called
leaders; for One is your Leader, that is Christ” (Matthew 23:9,12).
Jesus was not speaking about biological fathers who have
primary fatherly responsibilities for their own children, to be the moral and
spiritual leaders in their own homes. In fact, God has ordained that we are to
be good and godly fathers to our own children but He doesn’t assign the role
for spiritual leadership to any other earthly human being, and certainly not to
the Catholic Church or to its priests.
Jesus was denouncing the scribes and Pharisees for rejecting
Him as Messiah, specifically in their desire to elevate themselves in
leadership roles above others with titles as “master” or “teacher.” In a
similar way, they desired to be considered as “father” in the role as spiritual
leader and the source of spiritual truth but in the New Testament it is Christ
who is the head of His church. No single person, as priest or “father,” is to
take the role of Christ who is the spiritual leader to all New Testament believers.
Catholic doctrine demands that confession of sin be made to
a priest as a sacrament of Penance:
"the poor sinner
kneels at his confessor's feet. He KNOWS he is not speaking to an ordinary man
but to 'ANOTHER CHRIST,' He hears the words: 'I absolve thy sins... and the
HIDEOUS LOAD OF SINS DROPS FROM HIS SOUL FOREVER." (William Doyle, Shall I be a priest, p. 14, 15)
There is no biblical basis for confession to a priest and
most certainly not to believe that the confession is being made to “another
Christ.” There is only one mediator between God and the sinner… and it is not
the pope and it is not a priest:
For there is one God, and one
mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus (I Timothy 2:5).
Celibacy was enforced for priests and bishops in 1079 A.D.
Prior to this they were permitted to marry. The parameters for Catholic Church
leadership run contrary to the directives provided by the apostle, Paul:
An overseer, then, must be above
reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent… He must be one who
manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all
dignity (but if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will
he take care of the church of God?)… Let deacons be husbands of one wife, and
good managers of their children and their own households (I Timothy
3:2,4-5,12).
Paul then provides a very stern warning to those who forbid
marriage:
But the Spirit explicitly says
that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to
deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars
seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, men who forbid marriage
and… (I Timothy 4:1-3).
Catholics believe that the apostle, Peter (Simon), was the
first pope and many believe that he was never married. These understandings are
both erroneous:
Now Simon’s mother-in-law was
lying sick with a fever; and immediately they spoke to Him about her (Mark
1:30).
9.
SALVATION through the CATHOLIC CHURCH
The Catholic Church teaches that there is no salvation apart
from the Catholic Church, its sacramental system, the priesthood, and the pope:
"This is our last
lesson to you: receive it, engrave it in your minds, all of you: by God's
commandment salvation is to be found nowhere but in the Church; the
strong and effective instrument of salvation is none other than the Roman
Pontificate." (Pope Leo
XIII, Allocution for the 25th anniversary of his election, February 20, 1903;
Papal Teachings: The Church, Benedictine Monks of Solesmes, St. Paul Editions,
Boston, 1962, par. 653)
This is wrong, unbiblical, and blasphemous. Salvation is
found only in the finished work of Jesus Christ. It is apostate to believe
otherwise. Salvation is about personal repentance, the forgiveness of sin, and
faith in Christ. Only Christ has the power to forgive sin. The Catholic Church wrongfully
believes that it has that power to forgive:
"This judicial
authority will even include the power to forgive sin." (The Catholic Encyclopaedia Vol xii, article
‘Pope’ p. 265)
When the thief on the cross demonstrated personal faith in
Christ, Jesus responded:
“Truly I say to you, today you
shall be with Me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43)
For the thief, belief in Christ was sufficient for his salvation.
When the thief asked to enter into Christ’s kingdom, Jesus did not say that he
must first become a member of the Catholic Church and observe the seven
sacraments and do good works and be baptized, and, and, and… Of course not;
there was no Catholic Church at the time and there was no need for the Catholic
Church ever. For all who believe in His finished work on the cross, Christ made
the route to salvation very clear and very easy.
After singing and praising God while in prison, as the
prison doors opened due to the earthquake, Paul and Silas were about to escape.
The jailer asked what he needed to do in order to be saved and the answer left
no doubt:
“Believe in the Lord Jesus, and
you shall be saved…” (Acts 16:31).
It could not be simpler. One can be sure that, as in this
verse and countless others, contrary to the Catholic Church, the thief, the jailer
and any other seeker of the Christian faith does not need to become a member of
the Catholic Church or be baptized or observe the seven sacraments in order to
be saved. Today, salvation is available to all in the same manner as it was to
both the thief and the jailer. A person is saved through repentance and
believing and trusting in the finished work of Christ. At the moment of
salvation, Christ takes upon Himself our sin, forgives us, and imputes to us
His righteousness. The Catholic Church, the priests, and the pope are unable to
do this. The Catholic Church has nothing to do with a person’s salvation and it
is heretical to teach otherwise.
10. SALVATION
through the SACRAMENTS
The Roman Catholic Church teaches that sacraments are
necessary for salvation:
“The Church affirms that for
believers the sacraments of the New Covenant are necessary for salvation.”
(Catholic Catechism)
The Roman Catholic Church instituted seven sacraments which it
believes were instituted by Christ and which are necessary for salvation. The
sacraments include baptism, confirmation Eucharist, Penance, anointing of the
sick, matrimony, and holy orders.
Catholics believe that each of the sacraments conveys
sanctifying grace but this belief is not supported with scripture. Christians
should be baptized as an act of obedience but baptism does not bestow special grace
upon us. Confirmation of the practices of the faith is good but it does not
infuse us with grace. Christians should partake of the Lord’s Supper but doing
so does not confer grace upon us. Confession of sin to God (or to a priest) is
important but it does not infuse us with grace. Similarly, anointing the sick,
matrimony, and being approved as a Church leader are important in the life of a
Christian but there is no biblical reason to believe that any of these events
bestow any grace upon anyone or that they contribute to salvation.
In fact, by the pronouncement of the Catholic Church, if anyone
says that the sacraments are not necessary for salvation then that person is
considered to be an anathema which is a formal curse by a pope or a council of
the Roman Catholic Church. Such a pronouncement is heretical and is not
supported by Scripture.
The view that sacraments result in grace and salvation is not
supported by the Bible. We are saved solely through our personal faith in the
Lord Jesus Christ:
"I say to you, he who believes
has eternal life" (John 6:47).
"Believe in the Lord Jesus, and
you shall be saved..." (Acts 16:31).
...if you confess with your mouth
Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you
shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness,
and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation (Romans 10:9-10).
The Catholic Church leaders have believed for nearly two
thousand years that baptism is essential for salvation:
“We believe in one baptism for
the forgiveness of sins.” (Nicene Creed A.D. 381)
There is no biblical basis to believe that baptism is
necessary for salvation or that it results in salvation. Catholics believe that
baptism washes away sin. Baptism does not wash away sin. It is Christ’s blood
that washes away sin:
…if we walk in the light as He
Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of
Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin (I John 1:7).
The act of baptism is emblematic of salvation but it does
not result in or contribute to salvation. Water baptism by immersion represents
the believer’s identification with Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection.
The immersion into the water symbolizes dying and being buried with Christ.
Coming up out of the water illustrates being raised with Christ. Most
Catholics, however, are baptized as infants by the process of sprinkling water
instead of being baptized by complete immersion into water.
Baptism is an act of obedience for one who has first made a
personal decision to commit his or her life to Christ and to follow Him. It is
an important step in the life of the believer but it does not result in
salvation and is not a necessary condition for salvation:
“Surely no one can refuse the
water for those to be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit…” (Acts
10:47).
First comes salvation by faith at which time the believer
receives the Holy Spirit… and baptism is to follow as an act of obedience and
as an outward expression of the inner transformation that has already begun to take
place.
Any notion of the mandatory requirement for baptism for
salvation constitutes a faulty works-based salvation. Christ requires nothing
from us for salvation, except that by faith we believe in His finished work on
the cross. Baptism does not cleanse anyone of sin; it merely bears witness to a
person’s repentance and a new life in Christ.
Catholics generally refer to six Bible passages (Mark
16:16, John 3:5-6, Acts 2:38, 22:16, Galatians 3:25-27, I Peter 3:21) in
order to support the notion that baptism is necessary for salvation. If Peter,
for example, was saying that the act of being baptized is what saves us then he
would be contradicting countless other scriptural passages. Being immersed in
water may wash away dirt but it does not wash away sin. It is the prior act of
the profession of faith and repentance which results in salvation. Baptism is
an indicator of salvation; but it is not the cause of salvation. Baptism is an
outward and visible sign and proclamation of the identification with Christ.
Water baptism is the outward testimony of the believer’s inner faith. The
ritual of baptism itself does not save:
“He who has believed and has been
baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned” (Mark
16:16).
Baptism may seem synonymous with salvation, but that is
primarily because in the early New Testament church baptism very often followed
immediately after a person’s acceptance of Christ as Saviour and being sealed
in Christ with the gift of the Holy Spirit.
This verse and the other similar verses to which Catholics
refer say nothing about baptism being essential for salvation. This verse
establishes that belief is required for salvation, not baptism, and that
disbelieving is a problem. The Bible does not teach that salvation is
conditional upon baptism. Throughout the Bible, in every dispensation, every
believer in both the Old and New Testament was saved but not necessarily
baptized (i.e. Abraham, Jacob, David, Solomon, thief on the cross, Paul’s
jailer). Christ is to be the object of our faith for salvation, not baptism.
Baptism is a subsequent testimony and confirmation of that belief, an act of
obedience. If baptism was necessary for salvation it would mean that water and a
baptiser would always have to be present for salvation to occur. Of course,
this would be ludicrous, most especially in the case of a dying soldier or a
person in a tragic accident who is soon to die. Nowhere in Scripture is it
written that if a person is not baptized he or she would not be saved… but it
does say that if one does not believe then that person will not be saved.
There are no less than 143 Bible passages which clearly
indicate that salvation results by faith alone in Christ alone by God’s grace
alone for God’s glory alone without the need for baptism. Catholics erroneously
use only a very few verses to present their position but it is important to
examine the consistency of what the Bible teaches on the subject in all verses…
which is that salvation is based on faith in Christ, not by any works,
including that of baptism. Contrary to the Catholic notion, there are no
biblical references which speak about baptism being a necessary condition for
salvation.
Baptism is a manifestation of God’s inner working of washing
away sin; it is symbolic of the change in a person’s life. Baptism is not the
cause of the change; it is evidence of the inner transformation.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church states:
“The Lord himself affirms that
baptism is necessary for salvation.”
Jesus never affirms this. To the contrary, Jesus affirms
that salvation is by faith alone in Christ alone.
In the verses penned by Luke there is no stipulation that baptism
is necessary for salvation, only that baptism and salvation are intricately
linked which no one would deny:
So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and there were
added that day about three thousand souls (Acts 2:41).
...and many of the Corinthians when they heard were believing and being
baptized (Acts 18:8).
For Catholics,
baptism occurred by immersion up until 1311 A.D. but was changed for some
unknown reason to sprinkling thereafter. Baptism, as biblically mandated, is
based on immersion.
The word “baptize” stems from the Greek word meaning “to
submerge in water.” Baptism for anyone, including infants, by sprinkling water
on the person does not have biblical support. Baptism is intended to be an act
of obedience for the one who has made a decision and profession of faith in the
Lord Jesus Christ. An infant is not capable of making such a decision.
The Catholic Church believes that the act of baptism
forgives sins, grants spiritual rebirth, and makes one a member of the Church.
There is no biblical justification for this perspective. There was no infant
baptism until the start of the 4th century.
Catholics teach that an unbaptized child who dies goes
either to hell or to Purgatory. Notwithstanding the fact that there is no
biblical support for the concept of Purgatory, there is no biblical basis to
believe in the destiny of an infant as defined by Catholics.
13. SALVATION
by FAITH and WORKS
Catholics believe that salvation is achieved through faith
in Jesus Christ in addition to good works, good deeds, and sacraments. To
believe this is to misunderstand and to not accept the good news of Jesus
Christ. To believe this is to believe that the death of Christ on the cross was
insufficient and not good enough for salvation. To believe this is to believe
that we have some meritorious works that we can offer to a holy and righteous
God. However, we have nothing that is worthy to offer Him except our hearts and
lives:
“I say to you, he who hears My
word, and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life, and does not come into
judgment, but has passed out of death into life” (John 5:24).
“I say to you, he who believes
has eternal life” (John 6:47).
For by grace you have been saved
through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a
result of works, that no one should boast (Ephesians 2:8-9).
Salvation does not require good works. Good works, however,
will be evident in the life of the believer following conversion as a
reflection of the genuine love for the Lord.
It is believed by Catholics that the apostle, James, speaks
of works as being a necessary condition for salvation:
What use is it, my brethren,
if a man says that he has faith, but he has no works? Can that faith save him?
(James 2:14).
James is NOT saying that salvation is by faith PLUS works.
James is saying that a person who is truly justified by faith will show good
works in his life as a result of his faith. Genuine faith produces good works; dead
faith does not. The good works will become the evidence of one's faith, not the
cause for one's salvation. Faith in Jesus Christ is necessary AND sufficient
for salvation.
Both apostles, Paul and James, are consistent in their
doctrine of salvation by faith alone. Paul was speaking to unbelievers about
the need for faith for salvation whereas James was addressing those who already
claimed to be believers but who demonstrated little fruit in their lives as
they clung instead to the world and its values. James was cautioning that the
life of a believer will show evidence of good works as a result of his or her
salvation and the new position in Christ.
Paul and James both refer to the faith of Abraham and Rahab
whereby their genuine faith in God was manifested through their works. Their
works were evidence of their faith, not the cause of their salvation. Noah,
too, built the ark, not as works in order to earn salvation, but it was a clear
indicator that he had a powerful faith demonstrated in his belief and trust in
God.
No personal merit will ever help us gain eternal life as it
is a free gift. We are incapable of providing any meritorious works to a holy
and righteous God as far as salvation is concerned. The prophet, Isaiah,
clearly reminds us of the value of our own human goodness and places it in
proper perspective:
All our righteous deeds are
like a filthy garment (Isaiah 64:6).
None of us would ever come to a saving faith if works was
part of salvation because none of us have any works which have any merit to a
holy and righteous God. It would be rather presumptuous of us to think that we
have any meritorious works that we can offer to God. Not once does Jesus ever
ask us to do anything for our salvation apart from belief and faith in what He
has accomplished on the cross.
For those who erroneously believe that salvation requires
works in order to be complete, they, for the most part, often live a life in
fear of judgment rather than with the eternal and glorious hope that Christ has
freely provided His gift of salvation for us.
Paul, Luke, Peter, and John expect just as much of the
changed or transformed life of the believer as does James, but for Paul, Luke,
Peter, and John it is already a basic understanding. Paul refers to the
believer as a new creation in Christ who will desire to do good things as the
evidence of his position in Christ and as a result of his love for the Lord,
not as the cause for his position:
Therefore if any man is in
Christ; he is a new creature (II Corinthians 5:17).
Genuine faith inevitably produces good deeds. Paul
emphasizes that the purpose of faith is to bring us to salvation; James
emphasizes that the result of faith is a changed life.
Paul, in his letter to the Philippians, reminds us that we
are to work hard to show the fruit of our salvation but not that works is a
necessary part of the free gift of salvation, but it is evidence:
…work out your
own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is
God who is at work in you,
both to desire and to work for His good pleasure
(Philippians 2:12-13).
The innumerable Scripture passages are consistent. We need
to have the Son of God to have salvation and eternal life. We do not need to
have the Son of God plus anything else. He and He alone is sufficient.
Any belief in justification or salvation by works destroys
God's grace. God's free gift of grace cannot be earned by good works. If
earned, it would no longer be a free gift; it would be an affront to God and
God would not get the glory.
As the Bible clearly states, if you choose to live by the
Law then you will die by the Law but the bad news is that you will die outside
of Christ because NO ONE can uphold the entire Law... and that is the entire
reason that Christ came... to save you and I from the Law.
If good works alone was necessary for justification, it
would mean that Christ died needlessly.
Heaven is not reserved for good people. It is reserved for
undeserving, forgiven sinners who have recognized their great need. No one gets
to heaven by any personal merit whatsoever... only by faith in what Christ has
already accomplished on the cross.
Apart from James's cautionary remarks, there is NO biblical
basis for believing that salvation requires faith plus works. If works was a
necessary part of salvation then it would mean that:
- salvation
is not a free gift
- Christ
died needlessly
- God
would not get all the glory
- we
have an erroneous belief that we have some works or effort that we can
offer to God which have merit to a holy and righteous God
Jesus and the apostles never instruct or command us to add
some good works in order to be saved.
In every biblical reference to salvation: believing,
receiving, hearing, serving, being born again, eating the bread, eating His
flesh, drinking His blood, keeping His word, following Him, fearing God, doing
His will, thirsting, repenting, or being baptized, these are acts of obedience motivated
by our love for Him without any requirement for works.
The fact that works plays no part in salvation couldn't be
any more clearly stated than that by the apostle, Paul:
... I may gain Christ and may
be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but
that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God
on the basis of faith (Philippians 3:8-9).
Why would anyone in the world make salvation more
complicated than what Jesus offered? Salvation could not be any simpler, as
Luke notes:
"Believe in the Lord
Jesus, and you shall be saved..." (Acts 16:31).
At the moment of salvation, the believer is filled with the
Holy Spirit who has the power to act in one's life and it is that life which is
designed to be lived out with His direction and power, not to be lived out in
the flesh.
He is the One who preserves us. Eternal security is a
spiritual truth, even if we don't fully understand it. When we accept Christ as
Saviour and make Him Lord of our life, we are given the Holy Spirit to work in
and to transform our life... to conform us to the image of Christ. As we
surrender the control of our lives to His Spirit, we rely less on our fleshly
desires.
For the believer, growing and continuing assurance of
salvation comes from seeing and experiencing the Holy Spirit transform the life
of that person such that the fruit of the Holy Spirit shows in that life:
But the fruit of the Spirit is
love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,
self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).
Being a Christian has not so much to do with what one does;
it mostly has to do with what Christ has already done and what He promises to
do.
The apostle, John, wrote an entire epistle (I John)
primarily so that we could KNOW that we are saved (with 23 references to
"know"). John wants us to know that we have no excuse not to
understand that we already have assurance of our salvation... and when one is
saved, it will be demonstrated in one's life.
14. WORSHIPPING
the EUCHARIST and TRANSUBSTANTIATION
“Eucharist” is a Greek word meaning “thanksgiving.” In the
gospel accounts of the Last Supper, Jesus “had given thanks” before breaking
the bread (Luke 22:19). In the administration of the Eucharist in the
Mass, the Roman Catholic Church teaches that the priests literally bring down
Christ into the bread and wine, such that Christ is deemed to become physically
present in the sacrament. In the Mass, Catholics believe that there is a
transubstantiation of the bread and wine into the actual body and blood of
Christ Himself. In this way, Christ is offered repeatedly, as a sacrifice over
and over.
Every week, the Mass is conducted millions of times in
Catholic Churches across the globe. Christ died ONCE for ALL. It is wrong for
the priest to do, and to believe that he is literally bringing Christ down into
the bread and wine during each Mass. Christ did NOT offer Himself repeatedly.
He offered Himself ONCE for ALL and that is sufficient.
Transubstantiation was first practised by pagan religions in
Egypt, the Middle East, Mexico, and Central America. The notion that one would
be eating the flesh of deity is heretical.
In the Last Supper, Jesus was using metaphorical language
just as He did throughout Scripture when He referred to Himself as the “bread”
(John 6:35), “the light” (John 8:12), “the door” (John 10:9),
“the vine” (John 15:5), “the root” (Revelation 22:16), and “the
bright morning star” (Revelation 22:16). The celebration of the Lord’s
Supper was intended as a memorial to what Christ has done and was never
intended to be a repetition of a literal sacrifice of His body:
“…do this in remembrance of Me” (Luke
22:19).
The Bible clearly teaches that Christ offered Himself as a
sacrifice once for all people… for all time. His sacrifice never needs to be
repeated and for Catholics to believe otherwise or to insist on this is to not
understand the sacrifice of Christ and the true gospel message:
…so Christ also, having been
offered once to bear the sins of many (Hebrews 9:28).
By this will we have been
sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all… He,
having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand
of God (Hebrews 10:10,12).
For Christ also died for sins
once for all, the just for the unjust… (I Peter 3:18).
With the Mass, the perfect and sinless sacrifice of Jesus
who poured out His blood in dying a very real and brutal death on the cross is
deemed by Catholics to be insufficient for the forgiveness of sin. The
representation in the form of the Eucharist as an unbloody sacrifice is wrongly
considered by Catholics to do what Christ could not do.
For about 1700 years, from the third century until 1965, the
Catholic Church often conducted its mass services entirely in Latin, a language
that virtually no one in the recent era understands. For those in the pew, the
spoken Latin words of the service were usually meaningless. The Catholic Church
eventually acknowledged the fruitless results of insisting on a language that
few people could understand. The apostle, Paul, wrote:
But in a church meeting I would
rather speak five understandable words to help others than ten thousand words
in an unknown language (I Corinthians 14:19 NLT).
Latin was introduced into the Church in Rome because it was
the language of Rome but there was no biblical justification for its use. The
bulk of the Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew with small sections
having been written in Aramaic (portions of Ezra, Daniel, Jeremiah). The New
Testament was written in Greek, the language at that time of classical authors
including Plato and Aristotle.
For 770 years, up until 1970, Catholics, except for the
church leaders, were forbidden to participate in drinking from the communion
cup of the Lord’s Supper. This is unbiblical and only goes to demonstrate that
the church leadership did not understand the commands of Christ and the
importance of properly remembering Him and His finished work on the cross:
And while they were eating, Jesus
took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave thanks, and gave it
to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; for this is my blood of the
covenant, which is shed on behalf of many for forgiveness of sins” (Matthew
26:26-28).
But let a man examine himself,
and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup (I Corinthians 11:28).
Penance is designed as an act of devotion intended to show
sorrow for a repentance of sin. Penance is one of the sacraments of the
Catholic Church which is used as a form of discipline or punishment imposed on
a person as the sin is confessed to a priest. Scripture does not teach that
performing works or punishment of oneself makes restitution for sin. The Bible
teaches repentance, to change our mind or our attitude toward God. It is the
blood of Christ which makes us right with God, not any works or Penance.
The Catholic Church teaches that only the Magisterium of the
Catholic Church, which includes the pope and the bishops in communion with him,
has the right to interpret Scripture. There is no biblical justification for
this notion. It is a man-made construct. It is the responsibility of the Holy
Spirit to teach us:
“But the Helper,
the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all
things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you” (John 14:26).
But when He, the
Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth… (John 16:13).
Original Sin can be defined as that sin and its guilt that each
of us possess as a direct result of Adam’s sin in the Garden of Eden. It is an
inherited condition. It never leaves us.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that baptism
erases all sin, both actual and original. There is no biblical support to the
notion that baptism erases any sin, and certainly not Original Sin. Original
Sin is that in which we are born, in which we are conceived and which we have
for the duration of our lives. It is part of our fallen nature, a nature which
has the propensity to sin and to live in rebellion against God, all part of the
God-given gift of free-will.
20. INFUSED
or IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS
Infused Righteousness and Imputed Righteousness are
terms that are not found in the Bible. Imputed Righteousness, however, is a
fundamental doctrine of the Christian faith related to the doctrine of
Justification whereby, at the moment of salvation, Christ takes the sin of the
believer upon Himself and in exchange He clothes the believer in His
righteousness. We are not and will never be righteous by our own merit, because
of our inherent sin nature and because we fall so far short of the holiness of
God, but we are declared to be righteous because of our faith and trust in what
Christ has done for us on the cross. At the moment of salvation, Christ takes
all our sin (past, present, future) and places it upon Himself. Christ imputes
His righteousness to the believer. In the process, the sinner is
"justified" before God and is thereby counted or considered as having
the righteousness of Christ. When God, the Father, then, looks at the
believer, He sees the righteousness of His own Son.
Christ takes our sin upon Himself and He places on
us His righteousness, not because of anything that we have done… but because of
what He has already done for us. The righteousness is not the believer’s own
but instead it is Christ’s own righteousness imputed to the believer.
The Roman Catholic Church, however, subscribes to
the doctrine of Infused Righteousness, but there is no biblical support for
this. It is not a reflection of the true gospel. With Infused Righteousness,
the righteousness of Christ and the saints is gradually infused, over time,
into the sinner through the sacraments. With Infused Righteousness, God is
deemed to justify the Catholic with a righteousness which is based on the
ongoing good works of the sinner and the merits of Christ. Biblically, no one
can earn salvation or righteousness. It would be arrogant for anyone to believe
that he or she has some meritorious conduct that would satisfy a holy and
righteous God. It is another aspect of a false religion of works.
With Infused Righteousness, Christ is deemed to be
giving the Catholic His Spirit over time in dribs and drabs as His grace is
earned. Christ, however, does not keep giving us small bits of His
righteousness until we have "earned" it all. That would not be
genuine grace. Genuine grace is undeserved and unmerited. Grace is not
something that can be earned... or it would not be grace. For the
Catholic, Infused Righteousness either gradually dissipates as the believer
takes part in worldly sins or it is enhanced by good works. If the Catholic
dies, without having the fullness of righteousness, coming in part from
the Last Rites, that person will temporarily spend time in Purgatory until
the sinful status is purged from his or her record. The dogmas of Infused
Righteousness, Last Rites, and Purgatory, however, have no biblical basis.
The Last Rites are intended to prepare the dying person’s
soul for death by providing absolution for sins by Penance, relief of suffering
through anointing, and the final administration of the Eucharist. All of this
may provide great comfort for the dying person but the actions alone do not
facilitate salvation for the dying person, as is believed by Catholics. No one
can bestow salvation on another person. Salvation is determined by personal
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Catholic Church teaches that after death, the soul of
each person who has sinned (which biblically is everyone) will go to Purgatory
where they will face punishment for their sins. This is completely contrary to
Scripture whereby Christ has already paid the penalty for the sins of the
believer. There is no intermediary place, such as Purgatory, for the believer
who has just died. Immediately upon death, the believer resides in heaven.
Contrary to the Catholic notion of a deceased person spending time in
Purgatory, instead, upon death, the believer is immediately in the Lord’s
presence, already fully freed from sin and fully forgiven:
Therefore, being always of good
courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from
the Lord… we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from
the body and to be at home with the Lord (II Corinthians 5:6,8).
For to me, to live is Christ, and
to die is gain (Philippians 1:21).
Certainly, if the believer was to go to Purgatory upon
death, that would not be a gain, as the apostle, Paul, writes. To believe that Catholics
are still required to pay for their sins is to believe that what Christ
accomplished on the cross is insufficient and incomplete. The blood of Christ
cleansed us from all unrighteousness. Further, under Catholic doctrine, the
sinner can have his or her time in Purgatory reduced or eliminated by someone
paying an Indulgence but, to the contrary, the gift of salvation is a free
gift. Christ has already paid the price through His sacrifice. The concepts of
Purgatory and Indulgences are completely contrary to Scripture and are methods
conjured up by the Catholic Church to raise money for itself:
…Christ died for our sins
according to the Scriptures (I Corinthians 15:3).
For it was fitting that we should
have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and
exalted above the heavens; who does not need daily, like those high priests, to
offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins, and then for the sins of the
people, because He did once for all when He offered up Himself (Hebrews
7:26-27).
The Catholic Church does a very serious disservice to God,
His Son, and the Bible with the notion of Purgatory and Indulgences. It is an
indication that the Catholic Church does not understand salvation or the true
saving work of Christ.
The very good news of Jesus Christ is not something that can
be bought or sold. His sacrifice is a free gift for all who believe. His
sacrifice is complete and sufficient. It is wrong and arrogant to believe
otherwise.
The root of the word “limbo” is “the edge of a hem on a
garment.” The word implies that there is a place which borders another. In the
Catholic Church, Limbo is a speculative notion regarding the afterlife of those
who die in Original Sin without being assigned to hell and yet not in heaven.
This realm between heaven and hell, known as Limbo, is a variation of Purgatory
but there is no biblical justification for the practice.
An Indulgence is a payment made to the Catholic Church in
order to purchase an exemption from punishment, known as Penance, for some
sins. The customers for Indulgences were Catholics who feared that if one of
their sins went unconfessed they would spend extra time in Purgatory before
reaching heaven or reaching hell for failing to repent.
Catholic Church leaders justified Indulgences by arguing
that good works earned salvation and that paying money was as worthy as
performing good works. Indulgences effectively were designed to function as
“confession insurance.”
Martin Luther’s increasing disdain for the abuses of the
Catholic Church, particularly the sale of Indulgences, resulted in Luther’s
posting his ninety-five Theses on the door of the cathedral in Wittenberg
Germany on October 31, 1517 which ultimately led to the Protestant Reformation.
The Reformation then spread quickly throughout the world.
Baptism for the dead is the practice of Catholics whereby a
living person is baptized in place of the deceased person. There is no biblical
basis for such a practice.
Baptism for the dead was common practice in pagan religions
of Greece and is still practised today by some cults and by the Mormons.
Baptism for the dead does not accomplish anything spiritual because a person’s
spiritual destiny is determined while the person is alive, not dead.
In order to be saved, one must be born again. Jesus made
this clear to Nicodemus, a Pharisee, a ruler of the Jews:
Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I
say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus
said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second
time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?” Jesus
answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the
Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh
is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:3-6).
Catholics acknowledge the importance of being born again but
they refer to being born again as the transformation that occurs at the time of
baptism. Being “born of water” does not refer to water baptism. It refers to
our physical, natural birth. Being born again occurs at the time of repentance,
at the time of acknowledging Christ as Saviour. At such a time, the believer is
filled with the indwelling Holy Spirit. This occurs prior to baptism. Baptism
is to be an act of obedience following conversion. It is an identifier for the believer
who has a newly found faith.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church says:
“Mary was… from the first moment
of her conception… preserved immune from all stain of original sin.”
This is a completely man-made notion. There is no biblical
basis to believe any such dogma and no reason whatsoever to incorporate any doctrine
of Immaculate Conception, that Mary was born without sin, into any belief
system. Catholics are known to say that God wouldn't use a "dirty
vessel" in order to bear His Son. Why is that? That is solely because the
Catholic Church says so. Mary was a
sinner, just like you and me. Since the beginning of time, apart from His own
Son, God has ONLY used sinners, including Mary, to accomplish what He desires
to accomplish. It was in His divine wisdom that he specially chose Mary for the
birth of His Son, regardless of the fact that Mary was a sinner.
One can also be sure that if God used the Mary whom the
Catholics have chosen to characterize, God would have ensured that His Word
properly recorded it. Catholics have apparently decided that they don't like
the person whom God chose to bear His Son and so they made up a character which
suited their own criteria to define whom they want her to be. One can only
imagine God's perspective of such a distortion of His truth.
Can anyone explain that if Mary was born without sin, as the
Catholics believe, how did that happen? Was she, too, conceived by her mother
with the Holy Spirit? No.
The notion of Immaculate Conception was contrived by the
Catholic Church contrary to Scripture. It is little wonder, with the
unwarranted adoration of Mary, that Catholics have also elevated Mary to be
Co-Redeemer with Christ. This is blasphemy and idol worship. One cannot make up
such notions except in a man-made religion constructed by sinful and fallible man.
Catholics have chosen to make Mary in their own image instead of accepting the
Mary of the Bible. This is simply very wrong.
Catholics created the concept of Perpetual Virginity in
1950, that Mary was a virgin for her entire life. This is in direct
contravention to the Bible where it is recorded that Jesus indeed did have
brothers and sisters as biological children of Joseph and Mary and therefore Mary
could not have been a virgin following the birth of Jesus. Catholics refuse to
believe this but instead say that these siblings were actually cousins of
Jesus. This is wrong and only works to undermine God's Word. No one, nor the
Catholic Church, has any authority to rewrite scriptural truths. The primary
basis for this erroneous notion is through the writings of one of the books of
the Apocrypha. This fact alone should speak volumes about the lack of truth of
the Apocrypha and its inconsistencies compared to the Bible.
Three gospels and the apostle, Paul, record that Jesus had
brothers and sisters:
“Is not this the carpenter's son?
Is not His mother called Mary, and His brothers, James and Joseph and Simon and
Judas? And His sisters, are they not all with us?” (Matthew 13:55-56).
“Is not this the carpenter, the
son of Mary, and brother of James, and Joses, and Judas, and Simon? Are not His
sisters here with us?” (Mark 6:3).
And someone said to Him, “Behold,
Your mother and Your brother are standing outside seeking to speak to You” (Matthew
12:47). (Also refer to Mark 3:32 and Luke 8:19-20.)
These all with one mind were
continually devoting themselves to prayer, along with the women, and Mary the
mother of Jesus, and with His brothers (Acts 1:14).
But I did not see any other
apostles except James, the Lord’s brother (Galatians 1:19).
Of course, it is Jesus's own brother, James, born of Joseph
and Mary, who wrote the Book of James. The Bible would not have referred to
Jesus as Mary’s first-born son if she did not have other sons:
And she gave birth to her
first-born son… (Luke 2:7).
Matthew clearly notes that Joseph had sexual relations with
Mary after the birth of Jesus and therefore she did not remain a virgin:
And Joseph… kept her a virgin
until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus (Matthew 1:24-25).
During Christ’s time on Earth, cousins were sometimes
referred to as brothers and sisters but there is no reason to believe this to
be the case for Jesus’s siblings. Mary did not continue as a virgin after the
birth of Jesus. For Catholics to arbitrarily insist upon Mary’s Perpetual Virginity
is to believe that Catholics find something sinister regarding sexual relations
between a husband and his wife. In fact, for Joseph and Mary not to have had
sexual relations following the birth of Jesus would mean that they were not
fulfilling their God ordained marriage covenant. The notion of Mary’s Perpetual
Virginity is one that originated in the hearts and minds of sinful and fallible
man, not God, and it is certainly not biblical.
It appears that the real Mary was never good enough for the
Catholic Church and so she had to be re-made in the image of Catholicism. This
is wrong... for one to be embarrassed by Mary of the Bible... for Mary to be
re-made in some erroneous image other than the real Mary accurately described
in the Bible and specially chosen by God for His special purpose.
Ultimately, we either accept the notion of fallible men and
their traditions or we trust in God’s Word.
The Assumption of Mary is a doctrine of the Roman Catholic
Church which teaches that after Mary died, she was resurrected, glorified, and
taken bodily to heaven. This doctrine had its beginning around the 6th
century. The word “assumption” is from the Latin word meaning “to take up.”
There is no biblical basis, however, for the Assumption of Mary.
The problem with this doctrine is that it is a man-made
attempt to elevate Mary to a position comparable to that of her Son,
essentially proclaiming her deity, making her worthy of veneration, worship,
and adoration in the eyes of Catholics without any biblical basis. It is wrong
and it is heretical.
30. PRAYING
to MARY and MARY WORSHIP
Consistent with their views of the Immaculate Conception, Perpetual
Virginity, and the Assumption of Mary, Catholics have elevated Mary and have
assigned her the titles of Mother of God, Mother of the Church, Mother of the
Incarnate Word, Mother of Mercy, Holy Mother, the All Holy, Mother of the
Living, Seat of Wisdom, Queen of Heaven, Gate of Heaven, Mediatrix, Co-Redemptrix,
Co-Redeemer with Christ, Helper, Benefactress:
"The foundation of
all our confidence is found in the Blessed Virgin Mary. God has committed to
her the treasury of all good things, in order that everyone may know that
through her are obtained every hope, every grace, and all salvation. For
this is His will: That we obtain everything through Mary." (Pope Pius IX)
"To such extent did
Mary suffer and almost die with her suffering and dying Son; to such extent did
she surrender her maternal rights over her Son for : man's salvation . . that
we may rightly say she redeemed the human race together with Christ." (Benedict XV, Inter Sodalicia, 1918)
"O Mary, the
guardian of our peace and the dispensatrix of heavenly graces." (Leo XIII, Supremi Apostolatus, 1883)
"In fact, by being
assumed into heaven she has not laid aside the office of salvation but
by the manifold intercession she continues to obtain for us the grace of
eternal salvation." (John Paul
II, Dives in Misericordia, 1980, quoting Lumen Gentium)
All of this is without biblical justification. It is a false
teaching. Each of the titles ascribed to Mary is blasphemous. Our salvation is
not obtained through Mary. Mary has not redeemed the human race with Christ. Christ
does not need a helper. Mary does not dispense heavenly graces. Catholics have
chosen to exalt Mary above any position provided for in God’s Word. Catholics
are also encouraged to pray to Mary for her intercession. This all constitutes
idol worship, blasphemy, and usurps the authority and headship of Jesus Christ
and it is unbiblical.
Mary was, indeed, a wonderful, faithful, young woman; a
“favored one” (Luke 1:28) who was specially chosen by God, was obedient
to Him, honoured Him, and who bore His Son. Mary, however, was a sinner just
like you and I… also in need of the Saviour. Mary acknowledged her own need:
And Mary said: “My soul exalts
the Lord, And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior” (Luke 1:46-47).
Jesus ensured that there was no misunderstanding regarding
Mary’s role or position:
…while He said these things one
of the women in the crowd raised her voice, and said to Him, “Blessed is the
womb that bore You, and the breasts at which You nursed.” But He said, “On the
contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God, and observe it” (Luke
11:27-28).
Jesus had many opportunities to elevate Mary if that was to
be her rightful position but He did not do so. Mary is not to be worshipped and
there is no biblical reason to believe that Mary has ever heard the prayers of
anyone in the past 2000 years. Catholics have conjured up the non-biblical
notion… and for no good or honourable reason. It is a counterfeit Mary to whom
Catholics pay tribute.
In the Bible, any reference to praying to dead saints is in
the context of witchcraft, divination, and sorcery, all of which are strictly
forbidden and strongly condemned in Scripture:
“There shall not be found among
you anyone… who calls up the dead” (Deuteronomy 18:10-11).
The pope says that only very special dead Catholics qualify
as “saints.” This is wrong and it is not biblical. The biblical mandate is that
every believer, whether alive or no longer alive, is a saint, not just specially
selected dead ones. We can be sure that when Paul wrote to the Christians, greeting
them in Rome, Corinth, Ephesus, and Philippi, he was writing to living saints,
not dead ones:
…to all who are beloved of God in
Rome, called as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord
Jesus Christ (Romans 1:7).
…and He who searches the hearts
knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints
according to the will of God (Romans 8:27).
…to the church of God which is at
Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling,
with all who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their
Lord and ours (I Corinthians 1:2).
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus
by the will of God, to the saints who are at Ephesus, and who are faithful in
Christ Jesus… (Ephesians 1:1).
Paul and Timothy, bond-servants
of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi,
including the overseers and deacons… (Philippians 1:1).
Catholics believe in praying for the dead. This is not a
biblical concept. Prayers have no bearing on anyone who has died. One’s eternal
destiny is determined prior to earthly death. The Bible instructs that the
eternal state of an individual is determined by his or her decisions and
actions during the person’s time on Earth. A person does not have his or her
spiritual condition changed by anyone after death, whether through prayer or
otherwise:
And inasmuch as it is appointed
for men to die once and after this comes judgment (Hebrews 9:27).
Jesus made it clear that salvation is to occur while we are
here alive on Earth. There is not a later time, after death, which ever results
in salvation. Jesus’s admonition was recorded by Paul in his letter to the Corinthians:
…now is “THE ACCEPTABLE TIME,”
behold, now is “THE DAY OF SALVATION” (II Corinthians 6:2).
Each of us has one life and we are responsible for how we
live that life. Once our physical life is over, we have no other choice except
to face heaven or hell.
Catholics apply the notion of praying to the dead as a
result of one of the books of the Apocrypha (2 Maccabees 5:6,8), through Church
tradition, and through the Council of Trent. None of the apostles or any of the
New Testament authors ever referred to any books of the Apocrypha.
Death is final and no amount of praying by anyone thereafter
will result in the dead person’s salvation.
Catholics are encouraged to ask their famous “saints” to
intercede for them, believing that asking special dead people to pray for them
is no different than asking someone here on Earth to pray for them. Of course,
the two scenarios are very different. Dead people are not able to hear the
requests or prayers of anyone. The Bible does not instruct believers to pray to
anyone other than to God. No one has more direct access to God than believers
here on Earth through His Son as the only mediator and intercessor between God
and man. Paul reminds us:
For there is one God, and one
mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus (I Timothy 2:5).
“Rosary” means “Crown of Roses.” It is believed by Catholics
that each time a Hail Mary is recited, using Rosary beads in order to keep
track of the number of prayers, it is as though Mary is bestowed with a crown
of roses. Catholics are encouraged to pray the Rosary with its Hail Marys and
to repeat it over and over. Repetitive praying is wrong and praying to Mary is
idol worship. Mary has never heard the prayer of anyone. For each praise of God
in the Rosary there are ten praises of Mary. It is Christ who is to be praised
and only Christ, not Mary.
Catholics do not seem to understand Jesus's admonition:
And when you are praying, do not
use meaningless repetition, as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will
be heard for their many words (Matthew 6:7).
Praying the Rosary gives attributes to Mary that God never intended.
To call Mary “holy” is not biblical. That attribute is reserved for God, the
Father. In praying the Rosary, Mary is referred to as “Holy Queen.” Every
prayer in the Bible is directed to God, not to Mary, and the references in the
Bible referring to the “Queen of Heaven” (Jeremiah 7:18; 44:17-19,25)
are derisive in nature having pagan roots and references.
No dead person, including Mary, has ever heard the prayers
of anyone. Catholics borrowed the idea of praying with beads from pagan
religions, first from Hindus which had already been using the practice for five
hundred years and later from Buddhists. Catholics only began to use beads in
the last thousand years of the Catholic religion.
35. BEAUTIFICATION,
CANONIZATION, and SAINTHOOD
Beautification and canonization are events which occur within
the Catholic Church when a deceased person is considered to have led a holy
life. Catholics can then request through prayer that the beautified or
canonized person (saint) intercedes to God on the person’s behalf. None of
this, however, is biblical. There is no reason to believe that any dead person
can intercede for any other person. Praying to or consulting with the dead is
strictly forbidden in Scripture. We are to pray only to God:
“There shall not be found among
you anyone… who casts a spell, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up
the dead” (Deuteronomy 18:10-11).
Contrary to the teaching of the Catholic Church, saints are
not specially selected individuals of some merit. Biblically, all believers are
considered as saints as noted by Luke and Paul:
But Ananias answered, “Lord, I
have heard from many about this man, how much harm he did to Thy saints at
Jerusalem…” (Acts 9:13).
…to the church of God which is at
Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling,
with all who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their
Lord and ours (I Corinthians 1:2).
…for the equipping of the saints
for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ (Ephesians
4:12).
All believers are equally precious in the sight of God and
the righteousness of the believer is that which Christ has imputed to each one at
the moment of salvation. Believers, as saints, as described in the Bible, constitute
the Christian church.
Marriage is considered by the Catholic Church to be a
sacrament, one of seven. If there is a particular problem with a marriage, the
Catholic Church can issue an annulment, sometimes referred to as a Declaration
of Nullity. The annulment declares that the sacrament was not valid from the
beginning and it is considered as though the person never received the
sacrament. One of the reasons that annulments are granted is because the
Catholic Church does not permit divorce.
There are two problems with this. Firstly, the sacrament is
not a biblical concept. Secondly, the Catholic Church refuses to grant divorces
even though Jesus very clearly makes a provision for divorce for the case of adultery
which Jesus says is ultimately rooted in the hardness of our hearts:
“…but I say to you that every one
who divorces his wife, except for the cause of unchastity, makes her commit
adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery” (Matthew
5:32).
They said to Him, “Why then did
Moses command to GIVE HER A CERTIFICATE AND DIVORCE HER?” He said to them,
“Because of your hardness of heart, Moses permitted you to divorce your wives;
but from the beginning it has not been this way” (Matthew 19:7-8).
“And I say to you, whoever
divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another commits adultery”
(Matthew 19:9).
The Catholic Church provides many reasons for an annulment,
none of which are sanctioned by the Bible but annulment is not biblically permissible.
However, the real irony is that the Catholic Church does not permit divorce in
the instance of adultery which is the only reason for which Jesus made a
provision.
37. CATHOLIC
ICONS and TEN COMMANDMENTS
Catholics have been led by the Church to believe that the
use of relics, paintings, symbols, statues, idols, and other icons as aids in
their worship is acceptable and, in fact, encouraged. The Catholic Church began
the process of allowing idolatrous images by revising the Ten Commandments. The
Bible’s Second Commandment is:
“You shall not make for yourself
an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on earth beneath or in
the water under the earth” (Exodus 20:3).
Catholics, however, because of their acceptance of the use
of symbols and idols have chosen to reject this commandment and have eliminated
it from their own Bible. So that they would still have ten commandments,
however, and not nine, the Catholics have taken the Tenth Commandment and
separated it into two components. This is wrong. There is no rightful justification
for this.
God does not want to be worshipped through a mad-made image
of Himself. There are bone fragments reportedly belonging to dead saints and
pieces of wood reportedly to be part of Jesus’s cross that are used in worship.
Catholics do not believe that they are committing idolatry when using such religious
icons but they are. The Catholic worship or veneration of idols conveys a reverence
and honour to icons where none is warranted and all detract from the true
worship of God.
Physical icons and images for the purpose of assisting in
worship is a violation of the command to worship:
“’God is spirit; and those who
worship Him must worship Him in spirit and truth’” (John 4:24).
The Catholic Church divides sin into two categories, mortal sin
and venial sin. For Catholics, mortal sin is one causing spiritual death and loss
of salvation. Venial sin is one that can be forgiven. There is, however, no
biblical basis for any differentiation of sins. All sin, seemingly big or
small, separates us from God and results in eternal death. Biblically, the
remedy is the same in all cases, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, believing in His
finished work on the cross for the propitiation of our sins. Biblically, for
one who is redeemed, no sin separates him or her from the love of Christ and
His provision for salvation.
Contrary to the Catholic position, no earthly restitution is
required by the offender; forgiveness for all sins of the believer has already
been provided by Christ. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ
Jesus. The Bible makes it clear that the penalty for sin is not based on the
actions of the sinner, but on the finished work of Christ with the believer’s eternal
destiny being secure, not something about which to continue to worry or doubt. For
the person who trusts in Christ as Lord and Saviour, all of his or her sins
have been forgiven, the sins committed prior to salvation and those that will
be committed after salvation:
“He who believes in Him is not
judged…” (John 3:18).
"My sheep hear My voice, and I know them and they shall never
perish; and no one shall snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given
them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the
Father's hand" (John 10:27-29).
There is therefore now no
condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1).
And when you were dead in your
transgressions… He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our
transgressions (Colossians 2:13).
For Christ also died for sins
once for all, the just for the unjust, in order that He might bring us to God,
having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit (I Peter
3:18).
Catholic concepts of mortal and venial sin place the
responsibility for the penalty of sin on the offender but the Bible teaches that
all sins of one who trusts Christ as Saviour are forgiven because of the cross.
There is no longer any condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus because
the death of Christ satisfied God’s righteousness requirement for the
punishment of sin.
Notwithstanding the above, there is one sin that is
unforgivable… and that is the rejection of Christ as Lord and Saviour. This is
the sin of unbelief and is known as the unpardonable sin. Rejecting the only
means of salvation is unpardonable and it is that which makes it the greatest
sin of all:
“Truly I say to you, all sins
shall be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they utter; but
whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty
of an eternal sin” (Mark 3:28-29).
Shockingly, even Catholics
acknowledge that many of their practices are rooted in paganism:
"It is interesting to note
how often our Church has availed herself of practices which were in common
use among pagans...Thus it is true, in a certain sense, that some Catholic
rites and ceremonies are a reproduction of those of pagan creeds."
(The Externals of the Catholic Church, Her Government, Ceremonies, Festivals,
Sacramentals and Devotions, by John F. Sullivan, p. 156, published by P..J.
Kennedy, NY, 1942)
"It has often been
charged... that Catholicism is overlaid with many pagan incrustations. Catholicism
is ready to accept that accusation - and even to make it her boast... the
great god Pan is not really dead, he is baptized."
(The Story of Catholicism p. 37)
"The use of temples, and
these dedicated to particular saints, and ornamented on occasions with branches
of trees; incense, lamps, and candles; votive offerings on recovery from
illness; holy water; asylums; holydays and seasons, use of calendars,
processions, blessings on the fields; sacerdotal vestments, the tonsure, the
ring in marriage, turning to the East, images at a later date, perhaps the
ecclesiastical chant, and the Kyrie Eleison [Note 17], are all of pagan origin,
and sanctified by their adoption into the Church. (374)"
(An Essay on the The Development of the Christian Doctrine John Henry, Cardinal
Newman, p. 359)
"The penetration of the
religion of Babylon became so general and well known that Rome was called the New
Babylon." (Faith of our fathers 1917 ed. Cardinal Gibbons, p. 106)
"In order to attach to
Christianity great attraction in the eyes of the nobility, the priests adopted
the outer garments and adornments which were used in pagan cults."
(Life of Constantine, Eusabius, cited in Altai-Nimalaya, p. 94)
"The Church did everything
it could to stamp out such 'pagan' rites, but had to capitulate and allow
the rites to continue with only the name of the local diety changed to some
Christian saint's name." (Religious Tradition and
Myth. Dr. Edwin Goodenough, Professor of Religion, Harvard University. p. 56,
57)
"The popes filled the place
of the vacant emperors at Rome, inheriting their power, their prestige, and
their titles from PAGANISM." (Stanley's
History, p. 40)
Roman Catholic dogma cannot rightfully be justified when predicated
on pagan practices. Pagan practices were introduced and have evolved over the
years. Peter warned that false teachers and prophets would come. Jesus, Paul,
and Peter each caution against worship and teaching which is contrary to His
Word:
“God
is spirit; and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth” (John
4:24).
For the wrath of
God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men,
who suppress the truth in unrighteousness (Romans 1:18).
But false
prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers
among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the
Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves (II Peter
2:1).
40. VOWS
of POVERTY, CHASTITY, OBEDIENCE
There is nothing wrong with priests or nuns making vows of
poverty, chastity, or obedience except if such vows are made with the intention
of achieving salvation through such “good works.” Salvation is solely the
result of faith in what Christ has done.
The Catechism of the Roman Catholic Church teaches that consecrated
virgins, including nuns, are mystically betrothed to Christ. A marriage
ceremony is conducted wherein the young virgin, dressed in white, makes a
public vow to the Catholic Church. The young woman is told that she has become
the bride of Christ and must consecrate herself to God until death. Through
this process, the Roman Catholic Church is effectively offering the woman a
substitute for marriage to a man.
This ritual is not substantiated by any teaching in the
Bible. In fact, it is inconsistent with God’s plan for marriage as outlined in
Genesis.
The biblical imagery is such that the body of believers in
Christ, the church, is the bride of Christ, not individual Catholic females who
have made a special commitment. Christ is the Bridegroom. At Christ’s second
coming, the true church of Jesus Christ, the bride, will finally be united with
the Bridegroom, Christ Himself, and the official wedding ceremony will take
place with the eternal union of Christ and His bride:
“Let us rejoice and be glad and
give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has
made herself ready”… “‘Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper
of the Lamb’” (Revelation 19:7,9).
There is an abundance of documentation which outlines the
sin, debauchery, and immorality of popes throughout history. This fact alone
should be sufficient to convince anyone that the pope most certainly does not
represent Christ on Earth.
The apostle, Paul, reminds us of the standard that applies
to each believer, and most certainly to those who have been considered as
popes:
…whatever is true, whatever is
honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is
of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise,
let your mind dwell on these things (Philippians 4:8).
There are countless documented instances wherein the conduct
of popes throughout history has been far from what would be considered as
beyond reproach, certainly not conforming to the biblical standard.
Roman Catholic Bibles include eleven additional books (I Esdras,
2 Esdras, Tobit, Judith, Wisdom of Solomon, Ecclesiasticus, Baruch, Letter of
Jeremiah, Prayer of Manasseh, 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees) known as the Apocrypha
or Deuterocanonical books compared to the conventional Old Testament. Apocrypha
means “hidden” and deuterocanonical means “second canon.” These books were deemed by the Catholic
Church in 1546 to be inspired, more than a thousand years after the Bible was
canonized by the Jewish rabbis, scholars, and early Christians.
Some of the reasons why Christian scholars believe that the
Apocrypha is not inspired and therefore is not to be included in the Bible are:
·
Unlike the Old Testament, none of the books were
written in Hebrew.
·
There was virtually universal agreement of the
canon of Hebrew Scriptures by 250 A.D. and yet the Catholic Church didn’t
canonize the Apocrypha until 1546 A.D.
·
Each of the Apocrypha books originated after the
cessation of prophecy.
·
None of the books were ever referred to by
Christ or the apostles.
·
None of the writers claim inspiration.
·
These books were never acknowledged as sacred
Scriptures by the Jews.
·
None of these books were permitted a place among
sacred books during the first four centuries of the Christian church.
·
The books contain statements which contradict
canonical Scriptures.
·
The Apocrypha provides doctrines that are
inconsistent with the Bible including prayers for the dead and sinless perfection.
·
It was important for Catholics to include the
Apocrypha because they had many practices and doctrines which were unbiblical
but which needed to be substantiated by the Apocrypha.
·
Catholics needed to include the Apocrypha as a
means of refuting the Protestant Reformers.
·
The Apocrypha contains offensive material which
is inconsistent with God’s authorship (i.e. birth of a daughter is a loss;
iniquity is insignificant compared to wife’s iniquity; sin had its beginning
from a woman; alms giving to purge sins of the dead; smoke of a fish drives devils
away).
·
The Apocrypha teaches immoral practices as being
acceptable including lying, suicide, assassination, and magical incantations.
·
The Apocrypha has errors and incorrect
historical information (i.e. Judith incorrectly noted that Nebuchadnezzar was
the king of the Assyrians when he was actually the king of the Babylonians) and
as a result it cannot be considered as inspired by the Holy Spirit.
There are 263 quotations in the New Testament which refer to
the Old Testament. There are no references to the Apocrypha in the New
Testament. There is no justification to include the Apocrypha in any Bible. The
Apocrypha is not inspired and therefore the Roman Catholic Church has erred.
The Catholic Catechism provides a mandate which makes a
false provision for Muslims:
“The plan of salvation also
includes those who acknowledge the Creator, in the first place amongst whom are
the Muslims…”
This is heretical and preposterous. Amongst other false
beliefs, Muslims do not believe that Jesus is the Son of God. If nothing else,
this grievous Catholic error should convince each Catholic that there is no
legitimate doctrine of Church or papal infallibility.
When Catholics are challenged to defend their faith, they
are often unwilling or unable to defend what they believe and the reasons that
they believe. They most often suggest that it is the priest who needs to be questioned
as he has the answers. Priests and bishops seldom encourage open discussions
regarding biblical issues. Catholics do not seem to understand the importance
of God’s Word and the need for each person to learn, understand, and apply it:
"The Scriptures
indeed is a divine book but it is a dead letter, which has to be explained, and
cannot exercise the action which the preacher can obtain." (Our Priesthood, p. 155)
"The very nature of
the Bible ought to prove to any thinking man the impossibility of its being the
one safe method to find out what the Savior taught." (Council Tolosanum, Pope Gregory IX, Anno. Chr.
1229, p. 67)
"The simple fact is
that the Bible, like all dead letters, calls for a living interpreter." (The Faith of Millions, p. 155)
"The Bible was not
intended to be a textbook of Christian religion." (Catholic Facts, p. 50)
Contrary to the Catholic position, the Bible is very much a
divine book in that it was inspired by the Holy Spirit; it is fully what the
Saviour taught; it calls for the Holy Spirit to be the interpreter; it is
infallible and inerrant; it is wholly and solely sufficient as a complete manual
for the Christian faith.
Contrary to the intention of God who desires that we come to know Him
through His Word, Catholics have historically been forbidden to read or study God’s
Word. This made-up dogma is outside of God’s desire for us with dire
consequences threatened for violators. In fact, Catholics have been
indoctrinated with unbiblical beliefs and mind control:
"It is forbidden
for laymen (common man) to read the Old and New Testaments. - We forbid them
most severely to have the above books in the popular vernacular. The lords of
the districts shall carefully seek out the heretics in dwellings, hovels, and
forests, and even their underground retreats shall be entirely wiped out." (Council Tolosanum, Pope Gregory IX, Anno. Chr.
1229)
To the contrary, however, the Bible encourages believers to
understand the promises of God by studying, learning, and applying His Word:
…sanctify Christ as Lord in your
hearts, always being ready to make a defense to every one who asks you to give
an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence (I
Peter 3:15).
In 1545, the Council of Trent declared that Catholic Church
tradition was of equal authority to the Bible. This unilateral declaration is a
man-made edict, is heretical, and is idolatry. No other writings have the authority
of the Word of God. The only legitimate traditions are those practised by the
apostles, any and all of which are consistent with the Word of God, not those
which have been conjured up by the Catholic Church, many of them within the
past two hundred years which most certainly means that they are not actually
real, historical events or traditions.
The Greek word for tradition is “paradosis” which can be translated
as “ordinance,” “precept,” or “law.” Scripture provides many stern warnings
against traditions which are contrary to God’s written commands:
“…you hypocrites, as it is
written, ’THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY
FROM ME. BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF
MEN.’ Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men.” He
was also saying to them, “You nicely set aside the commandment of God in order
to keep your tradition” (Mark 7:6-9).
“…thus invalidating the word of
God by your tradition which you have handed down; and you do many things such
as that” (Mark 7:13).
…your faith should not rest on
the wisdom of men, but on the power of God (I Corinthians 2:5).
…in us you might learn not to
exceed what is written (I Corinthians 4:6).
Be imitators of me just, as I
also am of Christ. Now I praise you because you remember me in everything, and
hold firmly to the traditions, just as I delivered them to you (I
Corinthians 11:1-2).
See to it that no one takes you
captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of
men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according
to Christ… and He is the head over all rule and authority (Colossians 2:8,10).
…keep aloof from every brother
who leads an unruly life and not according to the tradition which you received
from us (II Thessalonians 3:6).
Catholics acknowledge that all Scripture is inspired by God.
Many Catholic traditions, however, are contrary to the Word of God and so are
clearly not inspired by God and are not the traditions, laws, or precepts of
the apostles. The Catholic Church Catechism demands that Scripture and
tradition be accepted and honoured with equal reverence. There is no equal,
however, to God’s Word. God’s magisterial sovereignty is what governs all, not
the magisterium of the Roman Catholic Church. Catholicism is rooted in the
traditions of men but without biblical justification.
Catholics often use Scripture to justify their traditions:
So then, brethren, stand firm and
hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by
letter from us (II Thessalonians 2:15).
There is nothing wrong with traditions but only so far as
they are consistent with God’s Word and the teaching of the apostles. However,
many of the traditions of the Catholic Church are not substantiated by God’s
Word and that is wrong.
The early church leaders rejected the teaching of any
apostolic oral tradition which was independent of Scripture and considered it
as a gnostic heresy. Additionally, there are specific teachings of oral
tradition of the Catholic Church which contradict Scripture. This would not be
the case if tradition was genuinely inspired as is claimed.
In His teaching and ministry, Jesus always appealed to the
written Word of God, not to oral tradition, in order to settle disputes.
Catholics have chosen to elevate the traditions of the Church above the Word of
God where, historically, traditions have always been subordinate to the inspired
Scripture. Nowhere does the Word of God ever convey the notion that tradition
is inspired, as the Catholic Church believes.
Catholic Church claims that sacred traditions do not transgress or
contradict the commands of God but that is not true.
Biblical passages support the doctrine that the infallible
Word of God, the Bible, is the sole authority for faith and practice, not the
Catholic Church, not the pope, and not traditions of the Catholic Church.
Contrary to the Catholic Church, nowhere does the Bible argue for traditions to
have an authoritative equivalency with Scripture:
1)
The apostle, Paul, writes that Scripture is
inspired by God. Nowhere is it written that the Catholic Church or its
traditions are inspired:
All Scripture is inspired by God
and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in
righteousness (II Timothy 3:16).
2)
Jesus and the apostles often appealed to
Scripture in defense of their teachings. Nowhere do they appeal to traditions.
We are admonished to examine the Scriptures to determine truth and falsehoods:
“Or have you not read in the
Law…” (Matthew 12:5). (Matthew 19:4; 22:31; Mark 12:10)
3)
The church is commended to combat error that was
bound to occur, by examining Scripture, not unwritten traditions. The church is
cautioned to be cognizant of deceptive teaching:
Jesus
said to them, “Is this not the reason you are mistaken, that you do not
understand the Scriptures, or the power of God?” (Mark 12:24).
“I know that after my
departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from
among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away
the disciples after them” (Acts 20:29-30).
4)
Infallibility is not a characteristic that was
ever given to any person or Church apart from Jesus Christ Himself.
5)
Jesus acknowledges the Scriptures as God’s Word
but He condemns traditions when they are not consistent with His Word. Jesus
never uses traditions to support His teachings. In fact, Jesus specifically
rebukes treating the “precepts of men” as doctrines:
And He answered and said to
them, “And why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake
of your tradition?” (Matthew 15:3).
“You hypocrites… ‘BUT IN VAIN DO
THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS THEIR DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN’” (Matthew
15:7,9).
6)
Scripture promises that Scripture will never
fail and that all that is written in His Word will be fulfilled. This promise
is never given in regard to the traditions of the Church:
“For
truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter
or stroke shall pass away from the Law, until all is accomplished. Whoever then
annuls one of the least of these commandments, and so teaches others, shall be
called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he
shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:18-19).
“Heaven and earth will pass
away, but My words will not pass away” (Luke 21:33).
7)
Scripture is the instrument of the Holy Spirit,
not the Catholic Church and not Catholic traditions, to bring about transformed
lives. It is Scripture which provides one with all the knowledge required for
salvation:
For the word of God is living
and active and sharper than any two-edged sword… (Hebrews 4:12).
And
take the HELMUT OF SALVATION, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of
God (Ephesians 6:17).
The apostle, Peter, warns us of the consequences of false
teachings. The false teachings include the teachings of the Catholic Church
which are not consistent with the Word of God:
But false prophets also arose
among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will
secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who brought
them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. And many will follow their
sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; and in
their greed they will exploit you with false words… (II Peter 2:1-3).
47. CATHOLIC
CHURCH AUTHORITY and GOD’S WORD
For Christians, God’s Word, the Bible, is the only
authoritative and infallible source of truth which pertains to and is intended
to govern the life of a believer. The Bible is solely and wholly sufficient.
The Roman Catholic Church, however, claims that the Catholic
Church alone is the ultimate truth and authority on all issues of faith and
practice. There is, however, no biblical basis for this edict. It is apostate.
In fact, the Catholic Church condemns to hell anyone who does not believe this
and who disagrees with the Church’s teaching. The Roman Catholic dogma teaches
that Scripture alone (sola scriptura) is insufficient. This dogma is heretical.
Sola scriptura is clearly demonstrated in the life and teaching of Christ and
throughout all of Scripture. In fact, sola scriptura was the universal teaching
of the church leaders through to the Middle Ages. The Protestant teaching of
sola scriptura is, in reality, a continuation and reaffirmation of the
practices of the early church.
The sad irony in the 2000-year long Catholic journey is that
if the Catholic Church had followed the teachings of the early Church Fathers,
as had been the case for the first few hundred years following Christ, there
would never have been a need for Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Knox, or any others
to protest against the abuses of the Catholic Church through the Protestant
Reformation. The true catholic (universal) church would have prevailed from the
beginning through all times. Contrary to the present Roman Catholic Church, the
early Catholic Church Fathers were strict adherents to the clear teachings and
truth of God’s Word and God’s Word alone. Roman Catholicism wandered from the
truth of God’s Word in its man-made creation of its own dogmas.
Martin Luther was a Catholic priest and professor of
theology when he began to realize that the Roman Catholic Church had become too
corrupt to provide people with the necessary guidance for salvation. Luther
outlined his concerns in his ninety-five Theses which he posted on the door of
the cathedral at Wittenburg, Germany on October 31, 1517. Luther began his work
primarily as a result of his annoyance that Indulgences were being sold as a
method to pay for the building of the Vatican.
The Reformation became a movement that reminded the world of
the importance of returning to the true gospel of Jesus Christ after nearly
1500 years.
The very good news is that God ensures that He will preserve
a remnant of His true church which will remain and be present in the world to
guard and uphold His truth for all time.
49. SOLA
SCRIPTURA and ADDING to GOD’S WORD
The Catholic Church adheres to doctrines that are clearly
not sanctioned by the Bible which Christians recognize as the sole
authoritative Word of God. Catholicism makes every attempt to wrongly supersede
the Word of God with no apologies:
"The Pope has the
power to change times, to abrogate laws, and to dispense with all things, even
the precepts of Christ. The Pope has the authority and often exercised it,
to dispense with the command of Christ." (Decretal, de Tranlatic Episcop. Cap. (The Pope can modify divine law.)
Ferraris' Ecclesiastical Dictionary)
"The authority of
the church could therefore not be bound to the authority of the Scriptures,
because the Church had changed...the Sabbath into Sunday, not by command of
Christ, but by its own authority." (Canon and Tradition, p. 263)
"The belief in the
Bible as the sole source of faith is unhistorical, illogical, fatal to the
virtue of faith, and destructive of unity." (The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume XIII, Protestantism, Section III A -
Sola Scriptura ("Bible Alone"), Nihil Obstat, February 1, 1912 by
Remy Lafort, D.D., Censor, Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New
York)
"The Pope is of
great authority and power that he can modify, explain, or interpret even
divine laws... The Pope can modify divine law, since his power is
not of man, but of God, and he acts as vicegerent of God upon earth." (Lucius Ferraris, Prompta Ribliotheca, Papa, art.
2, translated)
"The doctrines of the
Catholic Church are entirely independent of Holy Scripture." (Familiar
Explanation of Catholic Doctrine, Rev. M. Muller)
The Catholic Church, for the most part, is predicated on the
rulings and edicts of the Church hierarchy. The magisterium of the Catholic
Church, which is the authority of the Catholic Church, establishes its own
teachings. That authority is vested by the pope and the bishops. When the pope
speaks ex cathedra, such pronouncements are considered by Catholics as
authoritative and infallible, free from any mistake, error, or misunderstanding.
It is for this reason that even if the Catholic hierarchy eventually come to
believe that they have made a mistake in the past, they cannot admit it as it
would nullify their doctrine of infallibility.
There is, however, no biblical basis for any such doctrine
of Catholic Church infallibility. The Roman Catholic edicts are heretical. The
magisterium conveys the idea that God did not sufficiently or completely reveal
Himself. Catholics should more correctly be encouraged to accept that which God
has revealed in His Word as being wholly sufficient. The Bible clearly teaches
against man-made rules and edicts that are extraneous to God’s Word. There are
stern warnings for those who teach a contrary gospel:
“You shall not add to the word
which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the
commandments of the LORD your God which I command you” (Deuteronomy 4:2).
Every word of God is tested; He
is a shield to those who take refuge in Him. Do not add to His words Lest He
reprove you, and you be proved a liar (Proverbs 30:5-6).
As we have said before, so I say
again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to that which we
have preached to you, let him be accursed (Galatians 1:9).
I testify to everyone who hears
the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God shall add
to him the plagues which are written in this book; and if anyone takes away
from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from
the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book (Revelation
22:18-19).
Genuine Christian faith is based on the Bible, the Word of
God… nothing more and nothing less. Nothing should be added to God’s Word and
nothing should be subtracted from God’s Word in order to prescribe genuine
faith. This is the essence of “sola scriptura” which is from Latin meaning
“alone” and “writings.” Sola scriptura means that Scripture alone is
authoritative for the faith and practice of the Christian:
All Scripture is inspired by God
and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in
righteousness (II Timothy 3:16).
The Catholic Church has made its traditions, edicts,
rulings, and liturgy superior to the authority of the Bible even though much of
it is contradictory to the Bible. Any church traditions which violate Scripture
are wrong and heretical.
Solas of the Christian faith:
·
sola scriptura: Scripture alone
·
sola fide: faith alone
·
sola gratia: grace alone
·
solo Christo: Christ alone
·
soli Deo gloria: to the glory of God alone
Exegesis and eisegesis are two conflicting approaches to
studying the Bible. Exegesis is the exposition or explanation of a text based
on a careful, objective analysis. The word exegesis means “to lead out of”
wherein the interpreter is led to his conclusions by following the text.
Eisegesis is the opposite approach to studying Scripture
where the interpretation of a passage is based on a subjective, non-analytical
reading. The word eisegesis means “to lead into” whereby the interpreter
injects his own ideas into the text, making it whatever he chooses.
Only exegesis does justice to the text whereas eisegesis
results in a mishandling of the text, a misinterpretation, and error. Exegesis
is concerned with discovering the true meaning of the text whereas eisegesis is
only concerned with making a point from one reference.
It seems that as the Catholic hierarchy introduces its
dogmas and “traditions” over time, it uses eisegesis to provide erroneous
scriptural justification. The passages selected are then deemed to conform to
the newly introduced dogma. The Word of God needs to be properly interpreted
and not used to justify a preconceived concept:
Be diligent to present yourself
approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling
accurately the word of truth (II Timothy 2:15).
Catholics believe that they are saved by the seven
sacraments including that of baptism. There is no biblical basis for such a belief.
Salvation results from a personal decision and confession of faith in the
finished work of Jesus Christ and His sinless and substitutionary death on the
cross. Catholics generally do not understand the power of the indwelling Holy
Spirit present at the moment of salvation to act, empower, and transform the
believer’s life.
Catholics have elevated oral tradition and practices and the
erroneous notion of the infallibility of the papacy and the Roman Catholic Church
above that of the solely and fully authoritative inerrant and infallible Word
of God even when in contravention with the Bible. Of course, there is no
biblical basis for such a position. The Bible is the supreme authority for all
issues of the Christian faith and practice.
The Catholic Church and its priests remind the Catholic of his
or her sin. Jesus, instead, reminds the person of His mercy and grace.
If one makes the decision to believe that there is something
other than God’s Word which governs the Christian life then that is a decision
that the person can choose to make but it is wrong. The Bible is wholly and
completely sufficient. Nothing is to be added.
The most important truth is that for every person, Catholic
or otherwise, salvation and eternal life are available to each and every person
who acknowledges himself or herself as a sinner and puts his or her faith and
trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. That person is made a new creature in Christ. Go
then and allow Him to work in your life.
It is a reasonable conclusion that, with some exceptions, Catholics
generally are not co-labourers in Christ but, in fact, should be considered as
a mission field. As believers we have a responsibility to share the gospel of
Jesus Christ with our Catholic friends.
PART II
Abuses within the Catholic
Church
In recent years, thousands of individuals of both
genders from across the globe have been subjected to sexual abuse perpetrated
by priests in the Roman Catholic Church. There are a number of practices within
the Church which have contributed to this pervasive problem and the problem has
continued far back into history.
The high degree of authority and inherent respect
for the priest is a compounding problem whereby it is difficult for a young
male or a female to resist the sexual advances of a priest. Many pedophiles
view the priesthood as a ready access to unsupervised children.
Once there is a problem, it is often further
compounded by the fact that there is a cover-up of the priest’s sexual
transgression coupled with a reluctance of the Catholic Church hierarchy to
defrock an immoral priest. Often the abusive priest is shuffled off to another
parish whereby he can perpetuate his own horrible activities.
Nuns, in many countries throughout the world, have
suffered sexual abuse by priests, including rape, often resulting in pregnancy,
abortion, and infanticide. Women are sometimes forced by priests into sexual
liaisons in order to obtain recommendations required to work in some parishes. Priests
in isolated areas where HIV is prevalent, particularly in Africa, often
perceive nuns, who do not carry the virus, as “safe” sexual partners. African
attitudes towards a liberal interpretation of celibacy and traditional female
subservience contribute to the abuse. In the African context, ridiculously,
celibacy bars priests from being married but not from having children. In
addition, the perversions are augmented by the fact that priests in Africa are
usually better educated than the nuns and are therefore readily able to
persuade the nuns using false theological arguments in order to have sex with
them, again, ridiculously, using the excuse that sex between two celibate
religious people does not violate vows of celibacy.
Some of the primary causes of abuse within the
priesthood include:
·
The conditions of the priesthood violate New Testament instructions because
we have direct access to God through His Son. No priest or any other mediator
is required.
·
The unbiblical requirement that priests be celibate is a problem which
contributes to sexual abuse within the Catholic Church. Men, whom God never
intended to be celibate, are forced into celibacy resulting in abnormal and
unnatural sexual tensions. It is completely unbiblical for any church to
require celibacy of its leaders. There are many references of the apostle Paul which
convey that bishops, elders, overseers, and deacons will be married and have
children. Some men with abnormal sexual tendencies view the priesthood as a
means of keeping their desires under control but for some these external rules
do not change the heart and when the priest gives into sexual temptations it results
in immoral acts including homosexuality, pedophilia, and fornication.
·
The practice of confession, always secret, often sexually explicit, lies
at the heart of priestly abuse. The Catholic Church has a sex obsession that is
powered by enforced celibacy and this sex obsession sometimes finds a perverse
outlet in the dark box of confession.
·
There are a great many priests who are not saved and as a result they
are motivated by their sinful, flesh driven desires rather than having lives
which are being directed and subject to the work of the Holy Spirit.
The fact is that innumerable sins of lust are
committed within the Catholic Church in the name of the law of celibacy. There
is no difference between the human nature of a Catholic priest and that of an
ordinary layman, but priests who are bound by celibacy solve their sexual
problems in defiance of God’s commands. The Catholic Church with its law of
forced celibacy is not only anti-social but it is also anti-Christian.
Hypocritical priests preach on the sanctity of
lives but they deceive Catholics into believing that the doctrines of holiness
are prevalent in many of their own private lives.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
A priest who left the priesthood after he
recognized the bankruptcy of it all wrote, “Forced celibacy, auricular
confession and some aspects of the priest’s training render a Roman priest a
sexually-abnormal person or a sex pervert” and that “This vow of celibacy is
the greatest hoax invented by Romanism.” (Lucien Vinet, I Was A Priest, The Canadian Protestant League, 1949)
Other factors contributing to the perversions
within the Catholic Church include:
·
Sexual Control – The Vatican would like to control each Catholic’s
sexuality.
·
Guilt – Promoting guilt has been a method of raising funds for the
Catholic Church.
·
False Hope – A person recognizing that he or she has a problem
gravitates to the Catholic Church believing that the Church offers a solution
by promising an omnipotent entity that can solve the problem. It is a false
hope for those who are desperate for a cure.
·
Convenient Cover – Positions of trust and authority within the Catholic
Church provide the best cover for someone who should not be trusted. Rather
than removing abusive priests from the priesthood, the Catholic Church often
transfers the abusive priest to different parishes.
·
Temptation – An organization which plays a public role provides many
opportunities for interaction with people who can be persuaded to “return a
favour” with organizations that focus on children which naturally attracts pedophiles.
·
Abuse of Power – In the role of “father” and “representative of God”
priests are readily able to manipulate targeted victims who can be bullied by
agreeing to be silent in exchange for a payoff.
·
Evasion of Responsibility – The Vatican’s response to the pedophilia
scandal is to largely evade responsibility through blaming victims, permissive
cultures, gays, and the devil. The Vatican’s insistence on church-state
separation allows the Catholic Church to do anything it wants without
consequences.
·
Complicity of the Laity – Religious tolerance has meant that systematic
abuses of the Catholic Church have largely gone unpunished by the legal system.
Some of the perversions of the popes within the Roman
Catholic Church include:
·
Pope Stephen VI ( ? -897) (pope 896-897)
o dug up rotting
corpse of his predecessor, Pope Formosus, put body on trial in court, had three
fingers of his right hand hacked off, dragged corpse through streets of Rome,
threw corpse into the Tiber River
·
Pope Sergius III ( ? -911) (pope 897-911)
o had an illegitimate
son by a prostitute, Marozia, 30 years his junior
o illegitimate son
became next pope
o only pope to have
ordered another pope’s death
·
Pope Lei VI (880-929) (pope 928-929)
o assassinated by his
mistress because he had begun a relationship with another woman
·
Pope John XI (910-935) (pope 931-935)
o illegitimate son of
Pope Sergius III
·
Pope John XII (937-964) (pope 955-964)
o sired by his
grandfather
o charged with raping
pilgrim girls
o accused of having
sex with his two sisters
o converted Lateran Palace
into whorehouse
o took his mother as
his lover
o stole church
offerings
o toasted the devil
o murdered and
mangled multiple people
o assassinated by a
man when caught in the act of adultery with the man’s wife
·
Pope Benedict IX (1012-1056) (pope 1032-1044,1045,1047-1048)
o sold papacy in 1044
to highest bidder
o after returning to
papacy, sold it again in 1045 to marry his cousin
o accused of rape,
adultery, homosexuality, and bestiality
o excommunicated in
1048
o Pope Victor III
claimed of Pope Benedict that “his life as a pope was so vile, so foul, so
execrable, that I shudder to think of it.”
o Saint Peter Damian
spoke of him as “a wretch who feasted on immorality; a demon from hell in the
disguise of a priest.”
·
Pope Urban II (1035-1099) (pope 1088-1099)
o imprisoned
unlawfully married cardinals for life and sold their families into slavery
o started First Crusade
and war against Muslims which lasted 500 years
o for first time in
history, cardinals elected a new pope and Urban II moved to France and killed
his adversaries
·
Boniface VIII (1230-1303) (pope 1294-1303)
o indulged in menages
with married woman and her daughter
o known through Rome
as a shameless pedophile
o boasted that having
sex with young boys was no more of a sin than rubbing one hand against the
other
·
Clement VI (1291-1352) (pope 1342-1352)
o known for number of
mistresses and severity of his gonorrhea
·
Pope Urban VI (1318-1389) (pope 1378-1389)
o psychopath who reportedly
complained when the cardinals who conspired against him didn’t scream loud
enough while being tortured
·
Pope Sixtus IV (1414-1484) (pope 1471-1484)
o had six
illegitimate children including one with his sister
o created a Church
tax on prostitutes and charged priests for having mistresses
o increased
prevalence of homosexuality
o authorized the
Spanish Inquisition and forms of torture to convince Jews, Moors, and heretics
that Catholic love was the way to God
o apparently suffered
from syphilis
·
Pope Innocent VIII (1432-1492) (pope 1484-1492)
o acknowledged having
eight illegitimate sons, papal bastards, known as “nephews” and probably more
o remembered as the
Golden Age of Bastards
o began the
Inquisition
·
Pope Alexander VI (1431-1503) (pope 1492-1503)
o had incest with 2
sisters as he became father of sister’s child and then fathered child with his
daughter, Lucretia
o believed to have
fathered seven illegitimate children with many mistresses
o allocated funds for
church by framing and murdering rich citizens
·
Pope Julius II (1443-1513) (pope 1503-1513)
o first pope to
contract syphilis from Rome’s male prostitutes
o on Good Friday 1508
he was unable to allow his foot to be kissed by the faithful as it was
completely covered with syphilitic sores
·
Pope Leo X (1475-1521) (pope 1513-1521)
o he stated that
“Since God has given us the papacy, let us enjoy it.”
o his extravagant
spending and sale of Indulgences angered Martin Luther which planted the seeds
of the Protestant Reformation
·
Pope Paul III (1468-1549) (pope 1534-1549)
o sold offices to
highest bidders
o became a de facto
pimp while pimping out his sister, Giulia
o had incestuous
relationship with his daughter
·
Pope Julius III (1487-1555) (pope 1550-1555)
o looted the Church
treasury in order to renovate his mansion in Rome
o had love of young
boys and proclivity for sex with children
o his mansion had statues
and frescoes of boys having sex with each other
o flaunted his
passion for molesting children
o boasted of the
sexual prowess of his nephew, Innocenzo, in bed
“Lord, give me chastity
and self-control – but not yet.”
(prayer of Saint
Augustine c. 330 A.D.)
These and countless other perversions throughout
the history of the Roman Catholic Church should cause each person to recognize the
illegitimacy of the papacy. These men were most certainly not Christ’s
representatives on Earth, contrary to that which the Catholic Church falsely claims.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Recently, priests in various countries of the world
have been brought to accountability through the legal system. The perversions
within the priesthood of the Catholic Church have been known for hundreds of years,
possibly for thousands. Direct references from “The Priest, the Woman, and the
Confessional” by Charles Chiniquy (Ontario, California: Chick Publications, first
published 1880), a former priest, highlight many such abuses within the Church primarily
in regard to the priesthood and the confessional. Even though such abuses were
documented over a hundred years ago, many continue even more so to this day:
Perhaps the world
has never seen a more terrible, desperate, solemn struggle than the one which
is going on in the soul of a trembling young woman, who, at the feet of that
man has to decide whether or not she will open her lips on those things which
the infallible voice of God, united to the no less infallible voice of her
womanly honor, and self-respect, tell her never to reveal to any man! (p. 16)
I had soon to
silence the voice of my conscience, which was telling me, “Is it not a shame
that you, an unmarried man, dare to speak on these matters with a woman?” Do
you not blush to put such questions to a young girl? Where is your
self-respect? Where is your fear of God? Do you not promote the ruin of that
girl by forcing her to speak with a man on such matters?” (p. 17)
But, there, in that
confessional-box, I was not the servant of Christ, to follow His divine, saving
words, and obey the dictates of my honest conscience. I was the slave of the
Pope! (p. 23)
…very few priests
escape from falling into the pit of the most horrible moral depravity the world
has ever known, through the confession of females. (p. 33)
In the presence of
God those priests acknowledge that they have not sufficient fear of those
constant temptations, and they honestly confess that these temptations come
from the hearing of so many scandalous sins. Here the priests honestly
acknowledge that those constant temptations, at the end, destroy forever in
them the holy virtue of purity… They would understand that the confessional is
a snare, a pit of perdition, a Sodom for the priest. (p. 41)
…auricular (i.e.
auditory) confession is the most powerful invention of the devil to corrupt the
heart, pollute the body, and damn the soul of the priest and his female
penitent! (p. 43)
Pagan nations have
not known any institution more depraving than Auricular Confession. (p. 49)
…my twenty-five
years’ experience in the confessional has taught me of the unspeakable secret
corruption of the greatest part of the so-called respectable ladies, who have
unconditionally surrendered themselves into the hands of their holy confessors.
(p. 54)
The confessor is
the master, the ruler, the king of the soul: the husband, as the
graveyard-keeper, must be satisfied with the carcass! (p. 62)
The more auricular
confession is practiced, the more the laws of public and private morality are trampled
under foot. (p. 64)
…the immorality of
the confessional is of a more dangerous and degrading nature than that which we
attribute to the social evil of our great cities. The injury caused to the
intelligence and to the soul in the confessional… is more of a dangerous nature
and more irremediable, because it is neither suspected nor understood by its
victims. (p. 66)
All the notions of
modesty, purity, and womanly self-respect and delicacy, are set aside and
forgotten to propitiate the god of Rome… Yes, the soul and the intelligence
defiled and destroyed in the confessional are often hopelessly defiled and
destroyed. (p. 67)
Pagan antiquity has
never seen any institution more polluting than the confessional. I know nothing
more corrupting than the law which forces a female to tell her thoughts,
desires, and most secret feelings and actions to an unmarried priest. The
confessional is a school of perdition. (p. 68)
The confessional is
in the hands of the devil. (p. 69)
…the confession is
nothing else but a school of perdition, even among those who make a profession
to live in the highest regions of Roman Catholic holiness – the monks and the
nuns. (p. 75)
Yes! Auricular
confession is a public act of idolatry. It is asking from a man what God alone,
through His Son Jesus, can grant: forgiveness of sins. (p. 81)
…confession is the
most degrading of a person’s life. I can imagine nothing so well calculated to
destroy forever one’s self-respect, as the modern invention of the
confessional. (p. 95)
Jesus says to every
sinner, “Come to me and I will give ye rest.” Christ has never said and He will
never say to any sinner, “Go to my priests and they will give you rest.” (p.
107)
…auricular
confession was invented by Satan to ruin both the priest and his female
penitents, for time and eternity. (p. 122)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Conditions and abuses and the negative impact of the Catholic Church are
further elucidated in “Thirty Years in Hell or From Darkness to Light” by
Bernard Fresenborg, ex-priest, originally written in 1904 (St. Louis, Missouri:
North-American Book House). More than a hundred years have past and yet we are still
slow to effect changes that are so very necessary to stop and prevent the abuses
and perversions:
Some of the Abomination of
Catholicism Carried on in the Name of Blessed Saviour
When
America learns that the majority of the convents and monasteries of this
country are used for the purpose of shielding and protecting Catholic
criminals, and for the purpose of Catholic dignitaries to glut their lust upon
the female inmates of these institutions, and will exact and demand laws that
will force a rigid examination every thirty or sixty days of these
institutions, then the world at large will know and thoroughly understand that
these institutions are practically the homes of depravity and licentiousness.
(p. 41)
All Children of Protestant Parents Are Declared
Bastards by Catholicism
The
Catholic Church declares that all of those who contract marriage otherwise than
in the presence of a Catholic Priest, that such marriages are null and void. Catholicism
further declares that your darling child, which is the fruit of your marriage,
is nothing more nor less than a common bastard. (p. 51)
Your
darling baby boy or girl is branded as an illegitimate offspring by
Catholicism, simply because their parents were not united in wedlock by a
Catholic Priest, who perhaps is as immoral as hell itself. (p. 52)
Innocent Girlhood at the Confessional Box
Imagine
the power that a Catholic priest has over a young girl in her teens--yea, over
any female member of their congregation, when you take into consideration the
fact that from infancy these girls and women have been taught that it is almost
an absolute impossibility for a priest to commit a sin. (p. 83)
Priests
always try to impress their members with the idea that they are infallible and
that it is impossible for them to sin. (p. 84)
A
priest once said: "Nobody should be surprised when we priests, bishops and
popes sink into the bottomless abyss of immorality, for the celibacy of the
priestcraft is only a cudgel in the hands of Catholic officials to drive us to
the haunts of immorality." (p. 85)
A
priest once said "that the Confessional is one of the most damnable
institutions that was ever permitted to exist, as these Confessionals are only
traps to lead the piously and morally-inclined priest to the plains of
immorality, for a priest is naught but man, and when he is forced to compel
women penitents to pour into his ears their every thought, feeling, desire,
emotion and act, it kindles the fires of unholy thought upon the altars of his
better ambitions and before he knows it he has committed adultery and not only
ruined his own soul, but has been the implement in the hands of the devil to
destroy the virtue of innocent womanhood." (p. 85)
The
Confessional Box of the Romish Church is one of the darkest ages of the dark
history of Catholicism, and if this hideous chapter was removed from Romanism,
three-fourths of her diabolical deeds would be eradicated. (p. 94)
The Nations Completely Dominated
by the Power of the Pope Are Nations of Illegitimacy
To
every ten thousand inhabitants under the Roman Catholic school system, there
are 1,400 illiterates, 410 paupers and 160 criminals, while in the public
school system we only find to every ten thousand inhabitants 350 illiterates,
making a difference of 1,050 to every ten thousand. Thus you see that what we
have said in previous chapters of this book in regard to Romanism being founded
upon the mountains of ignorance is true. (p. 99)
Italy,
for instance, which is the home of the Pope and which has been the home of the
Catholic Church since the existence of her abominations, is one of the most
immoral countries that ever besmirched the face of the earth. (p. 104)
The
first lesson that a Catholic child is taught is "hate," and
that lesson is directed at Protestantism; therefore, is it any wonder that the
education of Catholicism only reaches out far enough to hoodwink the student
and does not elevate him or her above the festering mess which surrounds it?
(p. 104)
In
European countries where Protestantism is taught there is but one out of every
ten that cannot read and write, but in the same countries, where Catholicism
has absolute sway, there is but one out of every 125 that can read and write.
(p. 106)
In
six leading Protestant countries of Europe there are 315 inhabitants to every
newspaper or magazine, while in six Roman Catholic countries in Europe there is
but one newspaper to every 2,715 people. (p. 106)
It
is estimated that at least seven-eighths of the twenty million inhabitants in
Spanish-America, which consists of the countries of Mexico, Cuba, Central
America and the north and west parts of South America, are unable to read, and
in Mexico alone 90 per cent of the inhabitants cannot read nor write, neither
do they know their alphabet; thus you can see what Roman Catholicism does for
the countries which she controls. (p. 106)
It
makes my heart sick when I realize that the Government of the United States has
spent hundreds of millions of dollars upon the Islands of Cuba, Porto Rico and
the Philippine Islands, and, after all, these Islands are still in the grasp
and the filthy embrace of the Vatican at Rome. (p. 109)
The Power of the Popes in Cuba, Porto
Rico and the Philippine Islands
It
matters not how godly nor how piously a Protestant may have lived, Catholicism
teaches that it is an abomination to bury a Protestant in a Catholic cemetery,
and one of her laws is that to bury a heretic (which means Protestant) in a
Catholic cemetery is unlawful, and the Catholic Popes instruct that the remains
of any Protestant buried in a Catholic cemetery shall, if they can be
distinguished, be removed, and if they can not be distinguished, that the
cemetery shall be cleansed by sprinkling holy water over the ground, and bear
in mind that this holy water is to receive its cleansing power from some priest
or bishop, who perhaps is as immoral as hell. (p. 116)
Monasteries Are Often the Abode of
Criminals, and Nunneries the Slaughter Pens of Virtue
I
also believed that anything that was done between the walls of a Nunnery was
sanctified by the approval of those who were higher in authority in the
Catholic Church than myself; therefore, the things which I now realize are both
criminal and immoral, as well as utterly detestable, I at one time considered
righteous, simply because my education had been confined to the narrow channels
of bigotry, and the effulgency of Biblical knowledge had never penetrated
my Romish-inspired perceptibilities. (p. 128)
Un-Married Cussedness of the Roman Priest Craft
I,
like thousands of these poor nuns whom I have just written about, was raised to
believe that the teachings of Catholicism were right and the only road that
lead to eternal glory; therefore I look with pity and compassion upon those
black-garbed nuns when I behold them tramping the streets of our large cities,
as I realize that they actually believe they are performing God's work, when
the truth of the matter is that they are only following the practices of
heathen nations. (p. 166)
I
desire to say that so long as Roman Catholicism demands that her priestcraft
shall not wed, just so long the priestcraft will remain vultures of virtue and
just so long convents will be turned into carnivals of vice. (p. 167)
Both
the priestcraft and the inhabitants of our convents are brought up from
childhood to believe in the absurdities of Roman Catholicism, and to believe
that all of their many sins can be pardoned by the cungerings of this Romish
doctrine. (p. 167)
A Brazen Insult to God
The
Bible says, "There are none pure; no, not one." Now, if the claim of
Catholicism that the Pope of Rome is infallible, is true, then the Bible is a
myth and a mockery. (p. 171)
We
want to prove to our readers that this claim is one founded upon fallacious
grounds, as the Pope of Rome is elected by the cardinals of the Catholic
Church, who are human and who are often as immoral as the devil; therefore the
infallibility of the Pope rests in human hands, for it is by these cardinals
that the Pope is created, therefore you will see that by the ballot of these
cardinals the Pope derives his infallibility, and not from any power of God
Almighty, consequently this proclaimed infallibility of the Pope rests in the
hands of these cardinals. (p. 172)
Now,
any man or woman of ordinary "horse sense" can see that God Almighty
has nothing whatever to do with filling the office of the Pope, and this
infallibility rests altogether with the pulling power that the candidate for
Pope exercises over the cardinals, as it is an indisputable fact that there is
as much political chicanery in the election of a Pope as there is in the
election of a justice of the peace at a township election. (p. 173)
What
can we expect of the followers of Catholicism who believe in this hellish
doctrine, and what can we expect of a nation which is controlled by those who
teach and preach such abominations? (p. 179)
An
institution which will teach such damnable ignorance and practice such
superstitious paganism is a plague spot and a curse to any country, and the man
or set of men who claim that the Pope is infallible offers "a
brazen insult to God." (p.
180)
The Characters of the Followers of Catholicism,
Compared to the Followers of Protestantism
Catholicism
poisons the very atmosphere that surrounds her followers, and she is not
satisfied by confining her contaminating influences to her own followers, but
she is everlastingly stretching her filthy grasp to pull Protestantism down to
her degraded level. Catholicism lowers the standard of public opinion. She
makes war on morality and virtue, which destroys character. Catholicism
countenances wrong-doings. Catholicism tolerates evil and rewards vice, and it is
a well-known fact that "evil communications corrupt good manners,"
and if this is the case, then is it any wonder that the characters of the
followers of Catholicism cannot, nor never will, favorably compare to the
followers of Protestantism? (p. 185)
I am
about to make an assertion that will perhaps shock those who are not familiar
with the teachings of Catholicism, but I make it without fear of contradiction,
as I know whereof I speak, as I have traveled the Papist road for thirty years,
and I declare to you with all sincerity and honesty that Rome would not go far
wrong if she counted in her membership 95 per cent of the men and women who are
on their road to hell, and if this assertion is true, and if I have not
overdrawn my estimation, then, pray, tell me what we can expect in the future
in this country should such characters as I have just portrayed be permitted to
dominate this government. (p. 186)
Every
Roman Catholic that is born in the world comes into the world alienated from
God and God's teachings, and is taught from infancy not to depend upon God
Almighty for guidance, but to depend upon Romanism for their everlasting
future, and with such doctrines everlastingly funnelled into childhood, what
can we expect of the child when it has grown to maturity? (p. 187)
The
followers of Catholicism are taught that by the payment of a few dimes they can
have their sins remitted and pardoned; thus you will see that crime has no
terrors for such a class, as they believe that when they have committed a crime
all they have to do is to go to the priestcraft and have their sins pardoned,
in exchange for perhaps a part of the, money which they gained in their
criminal transaction. (p. 187)
To
rule such men, no religion is required. A Romanist does not look to God
Almighty for his salvation, but to the church, and the church gives him her
unbounded sanction to commit sin, provided that he returns after he commits the
crime and pays a few dollars to have his sins pardoned. (p. 188)
A
Roman Catholic can swear, break the Sabbath, dishonor his parents, lie, steal,
commit adultery, get drunk and commit any other crime that he chooses, provided
that he returns to the confessional box and pays for having his sins pardoned.
(p. 188)
Now,
what can you expect of a class of men and women who believe in this doctrine,
and can you expect to find anything but the character of a criminal or a
degenerate? If you do, you are undoubtedly as ignorant as the followers of
Romanism, as it is a physical impossibility to reasonably expect a man or woman
who has been taught these abominations to ever make men and women of character
who will adorn this or any other nation. (p. 188)
One
of the rulers of England, Charles II, died with prostitutes about him and died
a disgrace to England and to himself, but Rome glorified in him as one of her
converts. The more of Rome a man or woman possesses, and the less of God, the
more the Roman Catholic Church glorifies in him. (p. 189)
Why
Teachers in Our Public Schools Should Not Be Selected from the Ranks of
Catholicism
The
Catholic world does not hesitate in declaring that our public schools in this
country are "Sinks of Iniquity," "Schools of Vice," and
"Nurseries of Hell;" then why should the followers of Catholicism be permitted
to teach in our public schools? (p. 193)
This is a
question that ought to vitally interest every Protestant father and mother in
this land, and the time is not far distant until they will become interested,
for just as sure as God reigns, the time is not far in the future when
Catholicism will endeavor to close up the public schools of this land and
establish her nurseries of darkness and superstition in their stead. (p. 193)
If the
public schools of this country are not good enough for the children of Catholic
parents, it seems to me that the Protestant parents of this country should see
to it that their children are too good to be taught by Catholic teachers. (p.
194)
The Influence of the Priesthood of America Upon the
Morals of This Country
If
this country is a home for those who love liberty, then the influence of the
priesthood of America is detrimental to the fundamental principles of America,
as Catholicism does not teach patriotism and loyalty of country, as the burden
of her teachings is, "Loyalty to the Pope," and the Pope of Rome, who
is at the head of the Catholic Church, is a despot pure and simple--yea, he is
worse than a despot, as he rules his followers by a superstitious belief, which
teaches that not only the body of Rome's followers is subject to the Pope's
every whim, but the soul as well is directly under the control of this despotic
sovereign. (p. 224)
I
say without fear of contradiction that the priestcraft of this and every other
country are, as a whole, a set of men whose morality is below par; however, I
sincerely believe that there are some few who are chaste, but I am sorry to say
that this class is greatly in the minority; and why should it be otherwise, as
the priesthood is composed of men who are mortal, and the vow of celibacy which
they must take before they enter the priesthood is an unnatural and an
unreasonable vow …you will see at once that the priestcraft is a cancer upon
the body of morality, for whenever the young and rising generation learns that
those who are supposed to teach them in chastity and morality, are men who will
commit the very sins which they have been taught, are heinous. (p. 225)
The Chastity of the Home Invaded by the Lustfulness
of the Priest-Craft
Catholicism
begins to teach her children from their infancy that no act of their officials
is impure; thus their followers grow up to believe that any advancement made by
these officials are made in behalf of the salvation of their souls,
consequently it is an easy matter for the Priestcraft to make the female
members of their congregation believe that whatever they may do or say is done
and said through a righteous motive, and no stigma of disgrace can possibly
attach itself to the act. (p. 239)
With
this erroneous doctrine funneled into the minds of the female members of the
Catholic Church, is it any wonder that the Priestcraft exerts a wonderful power
over these members? And is it any wonder that thousands of trusting and
confiding wives and daughters are forced to the level of immorality by this
belief? (p. 239)
When
we take into consideration the fact that all of the teachings of Catholicism
lead to not only implicit confidence in the purity of the priestcraft, but
carry with them the cudgel of destruction of the soul of her followers, if they
do not submit to her teachings and demands, we can then realize why it is that
the chastity of the home becomes a rendezvous for those of the priestcraft who
deliberately ravish virtue to gratify their inhuman lust. (p. 254)
Nations
Which Have Been Disgraced by the Toleration of Popish Rule
There
are many countries in South America that have been Priest-ridden for centuries,
and who are as heavily burdened to-day with this ancient parasite as ever, who
offer not a single protest, but the only reason for this is that
Catholicism has always forbidden these priest-ridden nations to make any
advancement towards Protestantism. (p. 255)
The
intelligent statesmen of France have learned that Catholicism is only another
name for ignorance and superstition. (p. 256)
If
Catholicism is such a glorious creed, why is it that France is so anxious
to get rid of her influence? Ah! France has learned by coming in contact with
Protestant countries that she need not expect to ever become a great nation if
she permits popery to control her affairs. (p. 257)
Italy,
the home of the Pope, has begun to wince under the Vatican's rule, as her
national back is getting raw by the saddle of this diabolical creed. The
inhabitants of Italy have been for the past few years protesting against the
high-handedness of Catholicism, and the officials have begun to take notice of
this vulture of humanity. (p. 257)
All of our
large cities are infested more or less with this "scarlet-robed hag of
hell," and more especially our eastern cities, as this foreign herd of the
Pope's followers land in eastern ports and spread themselves out like a
blanket, reeking with a moral stench over the eastern borders of this country,
and they make a specialty of settling in our eastern cities. (p. 258)
Several
notorious cases of open defiance of civil law and violation of civil rights by
the tools of popery have recently occurred in Boston. One of these is the
escape of two girls from the so-called "House of the Good Shepherd,"
in Roxbury, and the re-capture of these girls by a policeman. (p. 259)
Now, bear
in mind that this "House of the Good Shepherd" is a Catholic
institution, pure and simple, but these girls who escaped from this
"plague house," were arrested by the police and returned to this
Catholic dungeon without the semblance of law. (p. 259)
On
questioning "The Mother Superior," she said that the girls were not
committed to the institution by the courts, but by "the church." The
question then arose: Has the Roman Catholic Church the right to give sentence
of imprisonment? (p. 259)
Nearing the Trenches of Physical Strength
We
can only judge the future of nations and institutions by the past and present,
and if we are to judge Catholicism by her past, and if we art honest with
ourselves, we cannot paint a future without producing a panoramic view that is
dreadful to behold, as Catholicism in the past has been an institution which
always endeavored to rule by the tyranny of oppression, and her decisions and
mandates to-day are the same as they were during the inquisitorial days when
our Protestant forefathers were burned at the stake for disobeying the commands
of Catholic officials. (p. 281)
There is nothing more antithetical to
Christ’s message to the world than priests abusing nuns, children, and other
parishioners, most often through their position of trust and through the
confessional.
NOTE
If any portions of
this writing are in error, the writer would be grateful to be informed.
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