Before reading this article, you should know of my motivation for writing it. I have come to these conclusions not to to stir up dissension or hate, but to stir up discussion. Most people who are not Christians look at Catholicism and Christianity as the same religion. I do not. I see Catholicism as a faith that has drifted far from the foundation of the gospel with religiosity and has replaced a genuine love for Christ with an elaborate system of rules and regulations. Having said that, I love Catholics. I admire there moral character and clarity of conscious. I respect there pro-life stance and a desire to live a Godly life. I just love them too much to ignore some severe anti-Bible teachings that have become doctrines in their churches. Please do not misunderstand me.
1. Salvation is Absolutely Gained by Faith Alone.
Catholic teachers will tell you differently. Their path to salvation is one of constant good works mixed with faith in order to merit some kind of favor in God's eyes. The Bible speaks with incredible clarity in dealing with our inadequacies and inability to gain any sort of favor with good deeds. Remember, the good deeds that are presented to God on a proverbial platter are disgusting to Him. He says in Isaiah that our righteous acts are as filthy rags. Not to graphic or anything...well what the heck..."filthy" in the context is more accurately translated as 'menstrul rags.' Lets just say that He doesn't want anything to do with em.' Catholic readers be warned. Any reliance on good works to gain righteousness before God will not work! Only faith pleases God.
2. Jesus is the Only Mediator Between God and Man
Not the Pope or Mary, just Jesus. If the situation was different then 1 Timothy 2:5 would read something like, " Behold there are many mediators between God and Man. There is the Pope and Mary and don't forget about the saints! Plus a hole slew of priests that give penance in confession booths." Well, the verse doesn't read like that. It says there is only one Mediator between God and man, the man Jesus Christ. He is the only one who speaks to God on our behalf. The Pope, I'm sorry but he doesn't really care about your aunt Myrtle. And Mary, she's been dead for like 2,000 years. Leave her alone already!
3. Indulgences are From the Pit of Hell
In my mind, there is a special judgement awaiting all those who burden humanity with selling the afterlife. Even the thought of purchasing rights after death is so immediately offensive that my vision starts to blur. Talk about perverting the free gospel message. Jesus had to deal with a similar issue when he overturned the tables at the temple and drove off the merchants with a whip. His message was and always will be free to anyone who wants it.
4. Praying to Saints is Not Only False, It's Weird.
Besides being weird, it's idolatry. Statues and figurines depicting the saint of choice presents innumerable spiritual problems. One of the ten commandments specifically relates to upholding graven images. It's totally forbidden. God is a very jealous God and He really wants to be the center of our attention. If we pray and give our respect to saints then the strong focus we should have on God gets blurred. I know one can argue that many things and ideas can become an idol in our lives and I totally understand that. That's a topic for another day. However, having statues of saints and praying to them should be an easy sin to recognize for people who actually read their Bibles.
5. Repetitious Prayers are Un-Biblical
Jesus taught very specifically on the proper way to pray. In His time, there were the highly 'spiritual' Pharisees that would pose on the street corners and shout out there long winded and verbose prayers. Jesus looked at them and used them as an example of how NOT to pray! He taught to go in private and pray specifically for needs. He taught us to pray in secret, not out in the public as a display for others to see. To me, there is no difference from the religious Pharisee on the corner in Jesus' time to the religious Catholic rounding out his 19 Hail Mary's for all to see. God loves to listen to our honest, heart-felt prayers from the prayer closet. He is all about the deep personal relationship, not the repetitious moaning's of religious drones.
In Conclusion...
All of these objections raised come not from any second hand source or book. I have expressed my opinions based on THE source, that is the Bible (not apocrypha). No other anti-Catholic book or piece of literature was used. The Bible says in 1 John, to compare and test the spirits to see if they are of God. And further on in Revelation, John commends the Church of Ephesus for testing and evaluating the 'would be' apostles of the day to the ultimate standard of scripture. I challenge anyone, Catholic or not, to fully test doctrines for what their church holds themselves accountable to. And if something doesn't line up with scripture then have the balls to stand for what is right!
Catholicism
Objections That Martin Luther Would Be Proud Of...
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