I will say overall, if a person is Catholic and believes that Jesus is ALL they need to get into heaven, they are saved. However, if they believe they are saved by grace AND works then they are not.
Paul says in Eph. 2:8, " For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast."
What did the Catholic church rule at one point?
| 1546 AD | Justification by human works of merit |
One has to believe that the only answer we can give God for why he should let us into heaven is JESUS. That's it. He is our ticket. We did nothing to deserve that ticket. We did nothing to justify that ticket. It is ONLY by the power and blood of Jesus that we are saved.
Also something important to note:
| 1545 AD | Apocryphal books added to Bible (Council of Trent) |
http://www.bible.ca/cath-new-doctrines.htm
What does the Bible say about adding anything to Scripture? The same could be said about the "Apocryphal" as I said before about the "Book of Mormon."
Rev. 22:18 states, "I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll."
Something to keep in mind.
Regarding the Catholic church in general, much of their doctrinal formation was really an attempt to gain more and more POWER over the people. I heard in a sermon once that "sexual drives are not basic, the will to power is basic....People want to dominate and control other people." And the Catholic church effectively did this. Little by little they inserted more and more doctrines with which to control the masses with. You cannot pray just to Jesus, you have to come to the church and pray to Mary as well. You cannot just confess your sins to God, you must come to the church and confess them to a priest. As soon as your baby is born you must depend on the church to baptize them and save their soul. It was/is a grand web or system of control. God would not be pleased with what they have done, just as Jesus was furious with the Pharisees of his day who functioned EXACTLY the same. They wanted CONTROL over the masses. And they got it.
| 1864 AD | Syllabus Errorum [Syllabus of Errors] proclaimed that "Catholic countries" could not tolerate other religions, (no freedom of religion), conscience, separation of church and State condemned, asserted the Pope's temporal authority over all civil rulers (Ratified by Pope Pius IX and Vatican Council) condemned |
| 1870 AD | Infallibility of Pope (Vatican council) |
I found the following concept to be troubling:
"The official Roman Catholic doctrine of salvation is that the grace of God is infused into a baby at baptism -- making him/her justified before God.1 This justification can be lost through sin and must be regained by repeated participation in the many sacraments found in the Roman Catholic Church. "
http://carm.org/are-roman-catholics-christian
| 1190 AD | Sale of Indulgences or "tickets to sin" (punishment of sin removed) |
What was the main reason the Catholic church started the idea of needing sacraments to atone for current sins committed? Money. They literally sold "indulgences" to cure yourself of any current sin you were committing. This was when Luther came on the scene and IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE MOVIE LUTHER, WATCH IT! The selling of indulgences to make money off the people obviously made him very angry and he set out to correct many faulty beliefs in the Catholic church.
Also, we are NOT saved by baptism. We also are NOT saved by sacraments in the church. We are saved when we put our faith in Jesus. That's it. It's as simple as that.
Rom. 10:9 says, "If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your HEART that God raised him from the dead, you WILL be saved."
Are babies capable of doing this? No. Therefore there is no way that a baby is saved through infant baptism.
| 250 AD | North Africa region is first to practice infant baptism and reduced the age of baptism from minors to all newborns. This is opposed by other regions. |
Another passage that proves that it is not baptism that saves us is the following. What happens in the conversation with Jesus and the thief on the cross?
Luke 23 gives the account:
"One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”
40 But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? 41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”
42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
43 Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
How could this man have gone with Jesus that day into paradise when he was never baptised? Could it be because baptism is not required for salvation? We basically only get baptised because Jesus did it. Jesus showed us by his example that it was important. But it does not save a person.
I have always felt that a wedding ceremony is the perfect analogy for a baptism. The man and woman already know that they love each other and want to spend the rest of their lives together, but the wedding ceremony is a declaration to the rest of the world what they are feeling inside. A baptism is the same. It is your declaration to the whole world that you LOVE God with your whole mind, heart, body and soul. It shows that you are devoted to Him and Him alone, just as a wedding shows that each person is devoted to the other and only the other, no one else.
Here are some issues in which aspects of the Catholic church contradict scripture. If Catholicism is right on everything then why does the Bible teach the opposite on so many aspects of Catholicism?
Why does the Bible condemn clerical dress? (Matt. 23:5-6).
| 320 AD | Special dress code of the clergy in worship |
"Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; 6 they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; 7 they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others."
Priests in the church are very much like the Pharisees in Jesus' day. It was all about what they looked like on the outside. Jesus says, "They love the place of honor." Likewise, Catholic priests like to be called "Father."
Mt. 23:9 says, "Do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven."
Catholic priests want to look good on the outside, but the question is, what does their heart look like? For God looks at the heart of a man, not on his outward appearance.
Why does the Bible teach against the adoration of Mary? (Luke 11:27-28).
| 379 AD | Praying to Mary & Saints. |
| 430 AD | Exhalation of Virgin Mary: "Mother of God" first applied by the Council of Ephesus |
"As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you.”
28 He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”
Jesus was flat out saying that it is not his mom who should be praised, but whoever obeys the Word of God is to be praised.
Also Mt. 12 says, "Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.”
48 He replied to him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” 49 Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers."
Jesus is again clearly saying that it does not matter who his biological mother was. What matters more is who does the will of God. He was saying this to illustrate to us now that many times are biological family is not saved, but our real family is the family of God.
This is the most crucial heresy in the Catholic church; almost holding Mary up to the status of God the Father and Jesus. She was only a human being. She even called Jesus crazy on one account. She was not meant to be worshipped by any means.
Mark 3 states, "When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.”
If Mary was to be worshipped and to be thought of in such high regard then why is this account recorded in the Bible? Why do we see that she literally said about Jesus, "He is out of his mind." That does not sounds like something saintly to do, do you think? She was just as confused as the Pharisees about Jesus for a time, even though she was told by an angel she would give birth to the Messiah. Clearly, she was just as human and fallen as any of the rest of us are.
Why does the Bible show that all Christians are priests? (1 Pet. 2:5,9).
"You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ....you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession."
Peter is speaking in this letter to all Christian, not just the leadership. He says that we are ALL in the priesthood. Not just a select few, not just "special" people, ALL of us.
Why does the Bible condemn the observance of special days? (Gal. 4:9-11).
"But now that you know God—or rather are known by God—how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable forces? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again? 10 You are observing special days and months and seasons and years! 11 I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you."
Paul was concerned that the early converts in the church were reverting from the new covenant of grace back to the old covenant that they used to follow. He saw that they were slipping back into thinking they needed to follow the Jewish law.
Paul says, "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
2 Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. 3 Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law."
The yoke of slavery he is referring to is the law. Yes we are still to try our best to follow the law as Christians, but we are neither saved nor SANCTIFIED by the law. Meaning it does not grant us access to heaven nor does following the law correct sins we currently commit. Jesus' blood covered ANY sins we have, are and will commit!
He says if those who are free try to follow the law they would have to follow the whole law, which we know is impossible. His point is either you think and know you are saved by Jesus' free gift of salvation or you think you can do it by yourself. The danger is when we start to think we can get ourselves into heaven by how good we are. This is a heresy. We can do nothing before or after salvation that will justify our salvation.
Rom. 3:10 says, "There is no one righteous, NOT EVEN ONE." No matter how good we "think" we are, we are never actually good. WE can NEVER be perfect. Only God is perfect!
Why does the Bible condemn the making and adoration of images? (Ex. 20:4-5).
| 608 AD | Pope Boniface IV. turns the Pantheon in Rome into a temple of Mary ad martyrs: the pagan Olympus into a Christian heaven of gods. |
"You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God."
In most catholic churches I have seen there are several statues; of Mary and of the saints. One of the ten commandments is that you are not to "make for yourself an image in the form of anything." Perhaps because the statues are of people of the faith the Catholic church thinks it is ok. But it is not! This is expressly prohibited in Scripture.
"You shall now bow down to them." I have seen people bow to these statues in Catholic churches. That should never be done! We only bow to God as he is the ONLY one worthy of our worship.
God says that he is "a jealous God." Our modern understanding of jealousy is that it is not good. But EVERYTHING in God is good. He cannot have something not good in Him. Jealousy can also be a feeling of anger when something that is rightly yours is drifting away. GOD DESERVES to have our full devotion, our whole hearts, and our whole worship and sacrifice. Any time we deviate from that, and we start to give our hearts to other things or worship other things, God's jealousy flares against the idols we have chosen to replace Him. We need to be careful to guard out hearts from anything that might draw it away from complete love for our God. This includes Mary or idols of Mary or anything else.
Also, our modern graven images could be.... our cars? How many people worship cars or their own car? lol
Why does the Bible teach that baptism is immersion instead of sprinkling? (Mt. 3:16).
| 257 AD | Baptism by sprinkling for adults instead of immersion first used as an exception for those on sick beds, but it caused great dispute. |
| 1311 AD | Baptism by sprinkling accepted as the universal standard instead of immersion for all, not just the sick. (Council of Ravenna) |
"As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him."
Jesus gave us the example of how baptism should be done. He was immersed in water by John the Baptist. It was not a sprinkling of water. The reason it is immersion is that this is to signify the total cleansing of our mind, body, soul and spirit by the blood of Jesus. It covers us completely, as the water covers us completely in immersion baptism.
Also it symbolizes a death and re-birth. When we go under water that physically shows that we are dying to our old selves and coming to new life in Christ.
2 Cor. 5 says, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!"
Romans 6:6 says, "For we know that our OLD SELF WAS CRUCIFIED with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin."
Eph. 4:22 says, "You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to PUT OFF your OLD SELF, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds."
Col. 3:9 says, "Do not lie to each other, since you have TAKEN OFF your OLD SELF with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator."
If you really think about it, a baptism looks like one person's attempt to drown another person. Funny isn't it. Well it is to show that we are DYING to the old self, our old ways of doing things. It shows a commitment that will no longer be the person we used to be now that we are covered by the blood of Jesus. We recognize that we have been reborn! We are a brand new creation!
We are also willingly letting someone immerse us into water, which totally goes against our survival instincts, to show our complete obedience to Christ. It makes the statement that God can do with us whatever he wants. We will submit to his will from here on out. We will not resist even when he takes us to places that seem unsafe. We will trust in Him, as we trust the person baptizing us to raise us back out of the water.
If one is just sprinkled with water it does not have the same psychological effect. We do not then think how Jesus' blood cleanses us completely and wholly making us white as snow, or that we died to the old man to live in Christ. There is no trust involved in that act. It is to easy, to simple, to quick.
This is why it is crucial that baptism be by immersion.
Why does the Bible teach that there is one mediator instead of many? (1 Tim. 2:5).
| 995 AD | Canonization of dead saints, first by Pope John XV |
Many catholics, and even some protestant sects, pray to saints. But what does the Bible say?
"For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus."
| 1268 AD | Priestly power of absolution |
It was not until 1268 that the Catholic church ruled that priests had the power to absolve sins. So that is a fairly recent doctrine. They had to establish other smaller heresies before they could introduce this one, as it would have met with much resistance earlier in history.
Bottom line, we are NOT to confess to a priest and have him forgive our sins. We are not to pray to Mary. We are not to pray to the saints. There is only one being we should be praying to, God. And there is only one being that can mediate to the father for our sins, Jesus!
Why does it teach that a bishop must be a married man? (1 Tim. 3:2, 4-5).
| 325 AD | At the general council of Nice, 325, it was proposed indeed, probably by the Western bishop Hosius, to forbid entirely the marriage of priests; but the motion met with strong opposition, and was rejected. |
| 385 AD | In the West, the first prohibition of clerical marriage, which laid claim to universal ecclesiastical authority, proceeded in 385 from the Roman church in the form of a decretal letter of the bishop Siricius to Himerius, bishop of Tarragona in Spain. |
"Now the overseer is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach..."
"He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him, and he must do so in a manner worthy of full respect. 5 (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?)"
These verses are assuming that a person in leadership will be married and will have children.
However, Paul does say it is better to be single than married. Why does he say this?
In 1 Cor. 7 he says, "Now about virgins: I have no command from the Lord, but I give a judgment as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy. Because of the present crisis, I think that it is good for a man to remain as he is."
Notice this is not a command from the Lord, as the rest of scripture is. He explicitly states that this is his own personal advice. Also he says that the reason he is giving the advice is due to the present crisis. Several Christians in the early church were tortured and killed for their faith. That was not a good context to start a family in, obviously. So it makes sense that Paul would then give this advice in light of the time they were living in.
Paul goes on to say, "But if you do marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. But those who marry will face many troubles in this life, and I want to spare you this."
He states marriage is not a sin. Then why does the Catholic church seem to think it very taboo for a priest to have a wife? This primarily comes from the beliefs of Augustine, one of the founding church fathers. I have read the book Confessions by Augustine and it tells the story of his life. Before Augustine was saved he had quite a problem with the ladies. lol He was a bit promiscuous. Therefore he started the idea in the church that sex was ONLY to be for procreation and not to be enjoyed. He literally thought if you enjoyed sex in marriage you were lusting and sinning. How odd huh? Therefore, Augustine's beliefs were the reason sex and marriage became a taboo issue in the church. It was NOT because scripture stated that these things were wrong. It was due to the fact that Augustine's life before he got saved was debauched, so he could not see marriage and sex as pure and a gift from God.
However, Paul does say, from his personal opinion, that "those who marry will face many troubles in this life." Why does he say that? Well anyone who has been married knows exactly what he means right? lol Marriage is not easy. When you combine two very sinful people in a close relationship there are bound to be issues. Our sins combined seem to multiply rather then just add together. Feelings get hurt; people say things they do not mean to. However, what else does Scripture say about marriage? Is there a good side? Yes, look at the entire book of the Song of Solomon! That is NOT meant to be an allegory of God and the church as some like to say. It is meant to show HOW BEAUTIFUL love in marriage can be. :)
The fact is, God is in a relationship himself, and he created us to be in relationships. God said, "It it NOT good for the man to be alone."
God is in relationship with himself constantly. The holy trinity consists of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. They constantly enjoy fellowship with each other.
Marriage is God's way of showing us what this is like. You will never have the potential to be closer to anyone on the earth then the person you are married to. This is why Scripture states, "The two become one flesh."
As the trinity is one, so a husband and wife become one. And it is truly beautiful, if you allow God to be Lord over your marriage. It can be incredibly amazing. :)
Why does the Bible teach that communion is only to be done in remembrance of Jesus?
| 1217 AD | Adoration and Elevation of Host: ie. communion bread (Pope Honrius III) |
Starting in 1217 the Catholic church taught that the bread and wine literally turned into Jesus' body and blood. They taught that you MUST take communion as it will absolve you of any sins you had committed that week or month. Another way to control the masses and make them depend on the church.
What did Jesus say?
Luke 22 states, "He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”
We are to take communion to REMEMBER Jesus, not to have our sins forgiven again. They were already forgiven when we believed that Jesus is Lord. We do not need to be saved a second time. This is what the Catholic church taught regarding communion. A person was not saved once and that covered all their sins, they had to continually be forgiven. That is not biblical.
"He whom the son sets free is free indeed!" "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus!" Amen?
Why does the Bible oppose the idea of purgatory? (Luke 16:26).
| 593 AD | The Doctrine of Purgatory popularized from the Apocrypha by Gregory the Great |
Jesus told the following story in Luke 16:
"There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. 20 At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21 and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.
22 “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24 So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’
25 “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’
This plainly states, that if one was to try to "work their way" into heaven in the after life, that would be impossible. Either you are in or you are not. It is decided in this life where you will go. You make that decision yourself. There is no changing that after you die. Either you believe in this life or you are destined for hell. That is the cold, hard truth.
Why is the Bible completely silent about infant baptism, indulgences, confession to priests, the rosary, and many other things in the Catholic Church?
| 1090 AD | Rosary beads: invented by Peter the Hermit |
The Bible only talks about baptizing adults. "Indulgences" are when we pay something to atone for a sin. That is completely un-biblical because Jesus paid the full price for ANY sin we ever did and ever will commit on the cross. Regarding confessing to a priest, we should only look to God to forgive our sins, as laid out earlier. Regarding the rosary; when Jesus gave the example of the Lord's prayer he did not mean that was the prayer we needed to repeat every time we prayed.
Example: If you said the same exact speech to your spouse every day would your relationship grow AT ALL? No, it would not. It is the same with God. He does not want to hear to same thing from us EVERY day.
He wants us to pour our heart out to Him in prayer. He wants to know EVERYTHING we are thinking about. Well, he already knows everything we are thinking, but He still wants to hear us say it. Relationships grow the more two people talk to each other. It is the same with God. He talks to us through his word and that is how we grow to understand WHO HE IS, and we respond by praying to him. "Pray without ceasing," Paul says. God is ALWAYS there. He is ALWAYS listening. So talk to him as you would just talk to your best friend. He wants to be your best friend. :) And HE is the best, best friend you could EVER have! :)
http://www.bible.ca/catholic-doctrine.htm
For further reading: Some False Doctrines Throughout the History of the Catholic Church
http://www.bible.ca/cath-new-doctrines.htm
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