Errors of Roman Catholicism and the Truth of Christianity.
Is Roman Catholicism just another branch of Christianity or is it an organization full of heretical teaching?
There are a number of teachings in the Roman Catholic church that are quite obviously in contradiction to scripture.
This blog highlights just some of these teachings and beliefs.
Error: Catholics are taught to call their priests, "Father", as a religious title of respect. Christians in the first century never called their leaders, "father". This first happened hundreds of years later.
Truth: "Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. Matthew 23:9
Error: Catholics pray repetitive words with Rosary Beads that were first invented in 1090 AD, by "Peter the Hermit" and made popular by St. Dominic in 1208 AD.
Catholics believe that Mary appeared to St. Dominic in 1208 AD, at the church of Prouille and revealed the Rosary Beads to him. From this time, Catholics prayed 15 sets of 10 consecutive "hail Marys" in a row (150 times), in the Rosary.
However, in 2003 AD, Pope John Paul added a new set of Mysteries, so now it is 20 sets of 10 "Hail Marys", (200 times in the Rosary, in total.) Catholics will vainly appeal to Psalm 136, that alternates the same phrase 26 times with 26 different blessings God gives us. It is not 26 in a row as with the rosary! This is also a song, not a prayer. Revelation 4:8 has "angels singing" not "men praying". This is an example of teaching based on traditions of men.
Truth: "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
Error: Roman Catholics are taught that the virgin Mary never had sex after Jesus was born and that Jesus had no brothers and sisters. The Pope teaches that Mary is the mediator between God and man.
Catholics also engage in more praising of Mary than Jesus Christ himself and actually pray to her to have their prayers answered. Rosary Beads graphically represent how Roman Catholics heap 10 times more praise upon Mary than God himself. Of the 59 total beads of the Rosary, 53 beads are "Hail Marys", but only 6 beads are "Our Father". The Rosary most often ends with a "Hail, Holy Queen" prayer to Mary, not God.
Mary holds a very high position in the Roman Catholic Church, so much so that she is like a goddess. Even though Roman Catholics will not agree with the statement of goddess-like abilities, the fact remains that Mary is highly exalted.
According to Roman Catholicism, Mary is "the all-holy ever-virgin Mother of God" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, hereafter referred to as "CCC" 721),
the "Queen over all things" (CCC 966),
our "Advocate, Helper, Benefactress, and Mediatrix" (CCC 969),
who is "full of grace" (CCC 722),
the "Mother of God and our mother" (CCC 2677),
the "new Eve" (CCC 726),
and the "seat of wisdom" (CCC 721).
She had no original sin (CCC 508),
and never committed sin (CCC 493).
She is second only to her Son" (Vatican II, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, par. 66) and sits "on the right hand of the majesty on high" (Pope Pius X, Ad Diem Illum Laetissimum, 14).
In fact, "no man goeth to Christ but by His Mother" (Pope Leo 13th, Octobri Mense).
It was Mary who "crushed the poisonous head of the most cruel serpent and brought salvation to the world" (Pope Pius IX, Ineffabilis Deus).
It is she who "delivers our souls from death" (CCC 966),
and "continues to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation" (CCC 969).
"Mary, by her spiritual entering into the sacrifice of her divine son for men, made atonement for the sins of man," (Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma 4, Ott, page 213).
Therefore, we can "entrust all our cares and petitions to her" (CCC 2677),
"give ourselves over to her now" (CCC 2677),
"pray to her" (CCC 2679),
and have devotion to her (CCC 971).
She was "taken up body and soul into the glory of heaven" (CCC 974).
When speaking of the Church, "we can find no better way to conclude than by looking to Mary," (CCC 972).
In her, the church is holy (CCC 867). "Mary is the Church's model of faith and charity" (CCC 967).
Finally, in paradise the church gathers "around Jesus and Mary" (CCC 1053).
Truth: "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? Where then did this man get all these things?" Matthew 13:55-56
Mt 12:46 While He was still speaking to the multitudes, behold, His mother and brothers were standing outside, seeking to speak to Him.
47 And someone said to Him, "Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside seeking to speak to You."
Mk 3:31 And His mother and His brothers arrived, and standing outside they sent word to Him, and called Him.
32 And a multitude was sitting around Him, and they *said to Him, "Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are outside looking for You."
Lk 8:19 And His mother and brothers came to Him, and they were unable to get to Him because of the crowd.
20 And it was reported to Him, "Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, wishing to see You."
Matthew 1:24-25 And Joseph arose from his sleep, and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took her as his wife,
25 and kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus.
As clear as if it said, "kept a virgin until the wedding day."
The word “until” suggests that there was marital intimacy after the birth of Jesus.
Also, there would have to be a consummation of the marriage between Joseph and Mary.
Error: From 1200-1970 AD, Roman Catholic laity were forbidden to drink the blood.
This is known as communion under one kind, or communion of one species.
During this time, Roman Catholics are permitted to eat the bread (body) of the Lord's Supper, they are generally not allowed to drink the wine (the representation of the blood) of the Lord's Supper, as any Catholic knows from his own experience from attending Mass. (Except on rare special occasions.) The laity (the people in the pews) are withheld the cup of the Lord and it is usually reserved for church leaders only. Yes there are denominations within the Roman Catholic "communion" where some RC sects actually offer the juice, but most Mass attending Catholics know they rarely drink the cup of wine.
Catechism of the Catholic Church notes:
Since Christ is sacramentally present under each of the species, communion under the species of bread alone makes it possible to receive all the fruit of Eucharistic grace. For pastoral reasons this manner of receiving communion has been legitimately established as the most common form in the Latin rite.
Truth: Matthew 26:26-28; 1 Corinthians 11:23-28
To the disciples: "Drink from it, all of you" Matthew 26:27
To the whole church in Corinth: "in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup." 1 Corinthians 11:28
While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, "Take, eat; this is My body. "when He had taken a cup given thanks, He gave it to them,
saying, "Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins." Matthew 26:26-28
"For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me." In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me. "as
often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes. Therefore eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup." 1 Corinthians 11:23-28
ERROR: OF TRANSUBSTANTIATION (1215 AD).
Definition: The whole substance of the bread and wine is converted into the actual and real entire body and blood of Christ. Radbertus first invented this doctrine in the 9th century. Catholics support this by a literal view of Matthew 26:26-29. "Take eat; this is my body. For this is my blood of the new testament which is shed for many for the remission of sins."
Truth:
1. Jesus, after saying "this is my blood" in Matthew 26:28 also said "I will not drink henceforth of this FRUIT OF THIS VINE" in Matthew 26:29, showing that the grape juice was STILL WINE and had not been changed to blood.
2. Jesus often referred to Himself in symbols. So why see Him as literal in a symbolic context?
John 10:7 "I am the door." Did Jesus mean he was literally wooden? No.
John 14:6 "I am the way." Did Jesus mean he was literally a road? No.
John 15:5 "I am the vine." Did Jesus mean he was literally a tree? No.
John 8:12 "I am the light." Did Jesus mean he was literally a torch or a sun? No.
John 6:48 "I am the bread of life." Did Jesus mean he was literally a loaf of dough? No.
John 6:63 states clearly that Jesus was speaking spiritually, not literally: "The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life."
Error: The Pope says only very special dead Catholic people qualify to be called "saints". For example, Pope John Paul II could not make Mother Teresa a saint (official canonization) until after she was dead. The average Catholic in the pew is never called a "saint" dead or alive! In fact if a pew dwelling Catholic started calling himself a "saint", he would be rebuked by the parish priest!
Truth: All who are born again are saints.
Romans 1:7 "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."
Error: The Pope decided to reserve the title of "priest" to be worn by church leaders only. The average pew dwelling Catholic never refer to themselves as "priests". In fact if a lay Catholic started calling himself a "priest", he would be rebuked by "the parish Priest"!
Truth: "you (all Christians) also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. " 1 Peter 2:5
"But you (all Christians) are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvellous light; " 1 Peter 2:9
"Jesus has made us (all Christians) to be a kingdom of priests to His God and Father—to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen." Revelation 1:6
"You have made them (all Christians) to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth." Revelation 5:10
Error: In 1079 AD celibacy was first enforced for priests and bishops by Pope Gregory VII. Before this time, they were permitted to marry.
The first written mandate requiring priests to be chaste came in AD 304. Canon 33 of the Council of Elvira stated that all"bishops, presbyters, and deacons and all other clerics" were to "abstain completely from their wives and not to have children."
A short time later, in 325, the Council of Nicea, convened by Constantine, rejected a ban on priests marrying requested by Spanish clerics.
The practice of priestly celibacy began to spread in the Western Church in the early Middle Ages. In the early 11th century Pope Benedict VIII responded to the decline in priestly morality by issuing a rule prohibiting the children of priests from inheriting property. A few decades later Pope Gregory VII issued a decree against clerical marriages. The Church was a thousand years old before it definitively took a stand in favour of celibacy in the twelfth century at the Second Lateran Council held in 1139, when a rule was approved forbidding priests to marry. In 1563, the Council of Trent reaffirmed the tradition of celibacy.
Truth: "A bishop, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not addicted to wine or pugnacious, but gentle, peaceable, free from the love of money. 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?)" 1 Timothy 3:2-5
Error: Most Catholics believe that Apostle Peter was the first Pope and was not married. As one Roman Catholic leader said, "if Peter had a wife when he first met Jesus, he got rid of her quick!"
Truth: "Now Simon's mother-in-law was lying sick with a fever; and immediately they spoke to Jesus about her." Mark 1:30
"Do we not have a right to take along a believing wife, even as the rest of the apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas?" 1 Corinthians 9:5
(Cephas was another name for Peter)
Error: The Roman Catholic church has invented an entire yearly calendar of non Biblical holy Days like Lent, Easter, Christmas.
Truth: "You observe days and months and seasons and years. I fear for you, that perhaps I have laboured over you in vain." Galatians 4:10-11
Error: Catholics regularly bow down to idols, icons and images of Jesus, Mary and the apostles, kissing the feet of the statues and praying to them.
Now Catholics get very upset when you accuse them of worshipping Mary. They deny they are worshipping Mary with loud illogical and irrational protests. What these need to understand, is that the Bible teaches that WE ONLY PRAY TO DEITY and Christians considers it paganism and polytheism to pray to anyone EXCEPT the Father, Son or Holy Spirit. So while Catholics pray to Mary, they fail to comprehend that only deity is to be prayed to, and this is the underlying reason why non-Catholics correctly lay the charge they worship Mary AND ALL THE SAINT, they pray to.
The Bible clearly teaches that all dead humans, though conscious in the spirit world, are unable to know anything, much less hear prayers addressed to them.
Bowing down to icons and kissing them etc. so closely resemble idol worship it is actually shocking that any Roman Catholic would attempt to defend the practice. But again, they simply do the practice but deny it is worship.
To illustrate the point, Muslim’s deny they are worshipping the moon god as their "Allah" as moon worship is even condemned in the Koran. However, the fact of history is that Muhammad rid the Kaaba in Mecca of the 365 gods inside the cubical building, but retained the one on the roof known as the moon god "Hubal". Muhammad simply took the moon god from the roof, denied it was the moon god and called Hubal,
Allah". The historical vestage of this origin is confirmed in that every mosque in the world has a crescent moon on the roof… just like the original Hubal moon god on the roof of the Kaaba.
Muslims get mad when you point out that Allah is really the moon god and Catholics get mad when you point out they are worshipping the Mary and the saints when they pray to them. When a child stands in the middle of a room and puts his hand over his eyes and says, "you can't see me", that doesn't mean they are invisible, except in the mind of the child. Roman Catholics put their hands over their eyes and say, "We do no worship idols and we do not consider praying to Mary and act of worship". Saying so doesn't make it so.
Roman Catholic apologists who harshly criticize protestants who accuse them of worshipping idols and Mary, need to take a close look in the mirror and be honest with reality.
At the very least, they could tone down their ranting against protestants misrepresenting Catholic faith" with a bit of self-reflection and a good history lesson.
Truth: "You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them." Exodus 20:4-5
Error: Infant Baptism: The Catholic church baptizes babies by sprinkling a little water on them. Believing that baptism saves.
Catechism of the Catholic church:
ARTICLE 1 THE SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM
1213 Holy Baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life in the Spirit (vitae spiritualis ianua),4 and the door which gives access to the other
sacraments. Through Baptism we are freed from sin and reborn as sons of God; we become members of Christ, are incorporated into the Church and made sharers in her mission: "Baptism is the sacrament of regeneration through water in the word."5
I. WHAT IS THIS SACRAMENT CALLED?
1214 This sacrament is called Baptism, after the central rite by which it is carried out: to baptize (Greek baptizein) means to "plunge" or "immerse"; the "plunge" into the water symbolizes the catechumen's burial into Christ's death, from which he rises up by resurrection with him, as "a new creature."6
1215 This sacrament is also called "the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit," for it signifies and actually brings about the birth of water and the Spirit without which no one "can enter the kingdom of God."7
1216 "This bath is called enlightenment, because those who receive this [catechetical] instruction are enlightened in their understanding . . . ."8 Having received in Baptism the Word, "the true light that enlightens every man," the person baptized has been "enlightened," he becomes a "son of light," indeed, he becomes "light" himself:9
Truth: Baptism is for those who have repented of their sin and believed on Jesus Christ as their Saviour. It is a sign of regeneration not the means of.
Matthew 3:16 "After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him"
Acts 8:38-39 "And he ordered the chariot to stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away."
"Brethren, what must we do?" Peter said to them, "Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:37-38
Error: Catholics say that infants inherit their parent's sin at conception and are therefore spiritually condemned and totally wicked.
Whilst it is true that all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God and there are none righteous no not one.
A child has not committed any physical sin.
Truth: "The person who sins will die. The son will not bear the punishment for the father's iniquity, nor will the father bear the punishment for the son's iniquity; the righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself." Ezekiel 18:20
"And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, and said, "Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 18:2-3
All men, women and children must be born again to inherit the Kingdom of God.
John 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Error: Catholics are taught that only the priests can understand the Bible and the common man in the pew cannot understand the Bible without the priests help.
Truth: "By referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ" Ephesians 3:4
Error: The Pope teaches that he can change what is in the Bible if he wants.
Ex cathedra is a Latin phrase, meaning not "from the cathedral," but "from the chair." The phrase does have religious origins though: it was originally applied to decisions made by Popes from their thrones. According to Roman Catholic doctrine, a Pope speaking ex cathedra on issues of faith or morals is infallible.
Truth: "'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 are experts at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition." Mark 7:7-9
Error: RC teaches that there are many mediators between man and God. i,e Mary is a Mediatrix. The Pope is the Vicar of Christ on earth. Saints are prayed to as mediators between mean and God.
Truth: 1 Timothy 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
Conclusion:
Roman Catholicism is not just another branch of Christianity. It is a heretical organization that is leading millions of people to hell.
Roman Catholicism is a false religion, teaching erroneous doctrine. It keeps its adherents by fear.
It teaches Idolatry, the continuous sacrifice of Jesus Christ in the mass.
It teaches a salvation through works and obedience to the Roman Catholic Church.
It teaches a place of Purgatory after death, from which one can be released after a certain time, lighting candles and payments of money, can buy a soul out of Purgatory.
There is no unity between true born again believers and the Roman Church.
Revelation 18:4 And I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues.
See Blog 26 https://jeffreyunsworth.wixsite.com/teleiosbibleblogs/thewhoreorbabylon
