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Errors of the Roman Catholic Church
Part 2
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3. Deuteronomy 4:16 "Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and MAKE you a GRAVEN IMAGE, the similitude of ANY FIGURE, the likeness of MALE or FEMALE." Question 6: Do Catholics make graven images of MALE or FEMALE? Yes. Mary is a female. Jesus and the apostles are males. 4. Deuteronomy 16:22 "Neither shalt thou SET thee UP ANY IMAGE: which the Lord thy God HATES." Question 7: Do Catholics SET UP ANY IMAGES? Yes. Question 8: Does God HATE IMAGES? Yes. 5. 1 Thessalonians 1:9 "How ye turned to God FROM IDOLS to serve the living and true God." Question 9: Did the early Christians turn FROM IDOLS? Yes. 6. Deuteronomy 27:15 "CURSED be the man that MAKES ANY GRAVEN or MOLTEN IMAGE, an abomination unto the Lord, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and putteth it in a secret place." Question 10: Does God put a curse on any person that makes any image? Yes. Question 11: Why does God call an image an ABOMINATION? Because He hates it. 7. Isaiah 40:18-19 "To whom then will ye liken God? or what LIKENESS will ye compare unto Him? The workman melts a graven image" Note: God has no visible form and we cannot liken Him to any material object. The Catholic answer is that they say that they do not worship images. God's reply is not to even MAKE IMAGES. 8. The early Christians had NO IMAGES Early Christian writers such as Irenaeus, Clement, Cyprian, Athanasius, and Jerome, wrote strongly AGAINST images, statues and any manner of prayer or veneration regarding them. The Council of Constantinople in 381 AD voted unanimously to remove all images from the churches. 9. The Catholic church removes the second commandment against MAKING graven images from the list of 10 commandments in Exodus 20:1-17. This presents them with the problem of only having 9 commandments. They resolve this problem by splitting commandment number 10 into 9 and 10. That is, 9: You shall not covet your neighbor's wife. 10. You shall not covet your neighbor's goods. This is seen in the book "A brief summary of the Ten Commandments" by the Daughters of St. Paul, p. 12-13: WHAT ARE THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD? The Commandments of God are these ten: "I am the Lord your God: 1. You shall not have strange Gods before me. 2. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. 3. Remember to keep holy the Lord's day. 4. Honor your father and your mother. 5. You shall not kill. 6. You shall not commit adultery. 7. You shall not steal. 8. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. 9. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife. 10. You shall not covet your neighbor's goods." Exodus 20:1-17 The number Two Commandment should be "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image." Exodus 20:4. Check your Catechism to see if they have left it out. Question: Why do you think they left it out? 10. Every Catholic institution has images of Mary, Jesus and male and female figures. An example of this are two statues at the French Papal Palace of Avignon, one of Jesus about 20 meters above ground level, and the other is an enormous statue of Mary, much larger, grander and higher up than that of Jesus. This gives the greater honor to Mary than Jesus. It also clearly breaks the second commandment forbidding making images of things in heaven. Question: Who do we believe, the Word of God or the Catholic Church? "We ought to obey God, rather than men." (Acts 5:29) ERROR 19: Mary Veneration (431 AD) There are many errors associated with Mary veneration, some of which are as follows: 1. Historical correction with Pagan mother and child worship.
Mother and child worship started at the Tower of
Babel. Nimrod, King of Babel was killed for his great evil. His
wife Semiramis, fearing that she would lose control, devised a
plan to maintain the people's loyalty. She and everybody knew
about the future birth of a virgin born Messiah/Savior promised
in Genesis 3:15 as the "seed of the woman" who would
bruise satan's head. So Semiramis had an illegitimate son, whom
she named "Tammuz." She commanded that everyone worship
herself and Tammuz as the fulfillment of Genesis 3:15, claiming
that her son was supernaturally conceived and was the promised savior. When the people at Babel were scattered, they carried this mother and child worship with them wherever they went. This is why we see so much mother and child worship in so many ancient societies. For example, in the following ancient cultures, the mother and child were represented as follows:
They forsook the Lord, and served Baal and Ashtaroth. (Judges 2:13) When the early Christian church grew through the preaching of Paul and others, no compromise was made with pagan mother and child worship. When the Ephesians were truly converted, they destroyed their idols of the goddess Diana, so that the silversmith craftsmen were going out of business. (Acts 19:24-27) When the Roman Emperor Constantine professed conversion in 320 AD, he commanded that everyone in the Roman Empire become "Christian". At this time, half the empire were pagan worshippers of mother and child, and the other half professed to be Christian. It is obvious that you cannot pass a law to compel everyone to follow a certain religion, as people have their own free will. A compromise was reached which allowed the pagans to continue their mother and child worship, yet still give the appearance of being Christian. They simply changed their pagan mother and child worship to worship Mary and Jesus. This resulted in Mary worship becoming an official doctrine of the Roman Church in 431 AD at the Council of Ephesus. Since then, Mary worship has grown, so that Mary is now called the "Mother of God", the "Queen of Heaven", "Madonna", etc. Please note that Mary is NOT the "Mother of God", as God was around long before Mary was born. Mary is the mother of Jesus (Acts 1:14), she is never called the "Mother of God". Jesus never called Mary "mother", but "woman". She is the mother of Jesus' humanity, but not His Deity. Note also that Mary never claimed to be the "Queen of Heaven" as this was a pagan goddess that apostate Israelites made cakes to, thus provoking God to anger. "... the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the Queen of Heaven, ... that they may provoke me to anger." (Jeremiah 7:18 and 44:17-19, 25) In pagan religions, the mother was worshipped as much or more than her son, yet the Bible clearly shows that Christ is to be worshipped and NEVER Mary. 2. The Bible never mentions Mary interceding for us Who did the thief on the cross appeal to for salvation? Was it Christ or Mary? Jesus said: "Come unto ME, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28) "Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." (John 6:37) "No man cometh unto the Father, but by ME." (John 14:6) Praying to Mary is a device to turn people away from praying to Christ. Acts 4:12 states that there is no salvation in anyone but Christ. Luke records a woman saying to Jesus about Mary in Luke 11:27, 28, "Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked (Mary). But He said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the Word of God, and keep it." As a man, Jesus always said "No!" to Mary's requests. For example, in John 2:3-5, Jesus rejected Mary's request for more wine by saying: "Woman, what have I to do with thee?" Mary then told the servants "Whatsoever He saith unto you, DO IT." Jesus did not say "Yes mother, I will do anything you ask." 3. The Immaculate Conception Definition: "Mary was born sinless and led a sinless life". She was declared to be "infallible" and this was made official by Pope Pius IX in 1854. He said "There is no salvation to those who do not believe this dogma." Answer: Even St Augustine wrote that Mary's flesh was "flesh of sin" and that "Mary springing from Adam, died because of sin." Mary acknowledges that she is a sinner by calling God her Savior. Remember, only a sinner needs a Savior. "My spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior." (Luke 1:47) "For ALL HAVE SINNED and come short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23 "There is none righteous, no not one." (Romans 3:10) 4. Perpetual Virginity Definition: "Mary remained a virgin all her life, never having sex with her husband Joseph and therefore having no other children." Answer: This idea is found NO WHERE in the Bible. This idea was official dogma in 451 AD. Note these Bible verses disproving this false doctrine: a) "Joseph took unto him his wife: and knew her not TILL she had brought forth her firstborn son ..." Matthew 1:25. This means that Joseph knew Mary sexually in normal marriage relations after Jesus was born. b) Jesus' fellow Nazareth townsfolk who grew up with Him asked: "Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary? and his brothers, James, Joses, Simon and Judas? And his sisters, are they not all with us?" Matthew 13:55,56. Jesus here has brothers (adelphos) and sisters (adelphai). Catholicism attempts to explain these away as cousins. This cannot be valid because the Greek word for cousin is "anephios." Mark 6:3 also translates these as "brothers" and "sisters". c) Jesus had brothers: "Neither did his brethren believe in Him." (John 7:5) "These all continued ... with his brethren." (Acts 1:14) Nine times the Bible says that Mary was not a perpetual virgin. 5. The Assumption of Mary Definition: "Mary ascended into heaven in a bodily form." This was made official and "infallible" by Pope Pius XII in 1951. Answer: This is NOWHERE mentioned in the Bible. John 3:13 "No man has ascended up to heaven, but ... the Son of man ..." Ascended in the Greek means "go up of one's own power", not taken up as was Elijah or Enoch. Objection: Doesn't Revelation 12:1-7 describe a woman in heaven clothed with the sun, having the moon under her feet and a crown of 12 stars on her head, giving birth to a man child (Christ), refer to Mary?
Answer: No. Because:
6. False Prophecies and Miracles attributed to Mary Many "visions", "miracles" and "prophecies" have been attributed to Mary. For example, the vision attributed to Mary at Fatima in 1917 told three shepherd children to repeat the rosary daily. It called for people to reform their lives and to build a chapel in her honor. Also, the message at Meddjugorje, Yugoslavia, attributed to Mary said that: "God is not looking for great believers, but simply for those who respect their faith and live peacefully. Peace is more important that conversion, fasting, penance or prayer." Question: Do you believe that every vision a person claims to have is true and from God? Answer: Satan can give false visions, miracles and prophecies to deceive people away from the gospel of salvation by faith in Christ. "Though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel, let him be accursed." (Galatians 1:8)
Notice how these visions turn people's attention AWAY FROM
CHRIST to something else, such as, saying the rosary
or peace. These visions have three errors in common:
Beware of satan transforming himself into an angel of light. To avoid being deceived, we must test everything by the Word of God. Charles Chiniquy, a former priest from Montreal, Canada, who became a Presbyterian minister, tells of the following conversation between himself and his bishop when doubts began to assail him regarding the place given to Mary: CC: "My lord, who has saved you and me upon the cross?" He answered, "Jesus Christ." CC: "And who paid your debt and mine by shedding His blood; was it Mary or Jesus?" He said: "Jesus Christ." CC: Now, my lord, when Jesus and Mary were on earth, who loved the sinner more; was it Mary or Jesus?" Again he answered that it was Jesus. CC: "Did any sinner come to Mary on earth to be saved?" "No." CC: "Do you remember that any sinner has gone to Jesus to be saved?" "Yes, many." CC: "Have they been rebuked?" "Never." CC: "Do you remember that Jesus ever said to sinners, 'Come to Mary and she will save you?'" "No", he said. CC: Do you remember that Jesus has said to poor sinners, `Come to me?' "Yes, He has said it." CC: Has He ever retracted those words?" "No". CC: "And who was, then, the more powerful to save sinners?" "O, it was Jesus!" CC: "Now my lord, since Jesus and Mary are in heaven, can you show me in the Scriptures that Jesus has lost anything of his desire and power to save sinners, or that He has delegated His power to Mary?" And the bishop answered "No." CC: "Then, my lord, why do we not go to Him, and to Him alone? Why do we invite poor sinners to come to Mary, when, by your own confession she is nothing compared with Jesus, in power, in mercy, in love, and in compassion for the sinner?" To that the Bishop could give no answer. (Fifty Years in the Church of Rome, p. 262). ERROR 20: Catholic Attitudes to the Bible (1229 AD) 1. The Roman Catholic church has a history of burning Bibles. 2. When it could not stop Bibles being printed, it denied anti-catholic scriptures by saying "that's your interpretation", meaning that the Bible has no authority if anyone can interpret it in any manner. 3. They allow Catholics to read the Bible, but teach that it is wrong and sinful to put any interpretation on scriptures that is contrary to Roman Catholic doctrine. In other words, don't think for yourself, you may discover that Catholic doctrine is full of error and contradictions. Just blindly accept everything Rome tells you, trust Rome. ERROR 21: Peter as the Rock The whole structure of the Roman church is built on the assumption that in Matthew 16:13-19, Christ appointed Peter to be the first Pope and so established the papacy. If we destroy the papacy of Peter, the foundation of the papacy is destroyed along with the whole Roman hierarchy. "And I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter (Greek 1) Petros, 2) masculine, 3) a person, 4) a large stone, 5) a piece or fragment of rock such as a man might throw); and upon this rock (Greek 1) Petra, 2) feminine, 3) not a person, but a 4) cliff, a mass of projecting immovable rock). I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. "And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and WHATSOEVER thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and WHATSOEVER thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." Catholicism claims several false doctrines from this passage:
Each of these six can be shown to be false as follows: 1. Peter is not the rock, because the 12 disciples, knowing well the Old Testament, recognized the Rock as a description or name for God. "He is the Rock, His word is perfect." (Deuteronomy 32:4) "The Lord is my Rock, and my fortress." (Psalm 18:2) "For who is a God save the Lord? Or who is a Rock save our God." (Psalm 18:31)
We see here that there is NO OTHER ROCK than God, not even
Peter. Jesus Christ is the foundation rock on which the church
is built:
Catholicism is saying that salvation is not in Christ, but in Peter as the first of a succession of Popes. Peter, however, contradicts this wrong idea by saying that, "Christ is the chief corner stone" in 1 Peter 2:4-8. "To whom coming, as unto a living stone. (v.4) Behold I lay in Zion a Chief corner stone ... he that believeth on Him shall not be confounded. (v.6) The stone which the builders disallowed is become the head of the corner. (v.7) And a stone of stumbling, and a rock offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient." (v.8) Even if we allow Catholicism to believe that Peter is a foundation stone upon which Christ built His church, Catholicism has to admit that other New Testament apostles and Old Testament prophets make up the foundation equally as much as Peter does, because: "And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone." Ephesians 2:20. And the wall of the city had 12 foundations, and in them the names of the 12 apostles of the lamb." (Revelation 21:14) Peter is given no greater importance than any of the other apostles. "Thou art Peter (Petros), and upon this rock (Petra) I will build my church." (Matthew 16:18) Answer: In the Greek, the word "Peter" is Petros, a person, masculine, a rock or stone that a man might throw. In the Greek, the word "Rock" is "Petra", not a person, but a cliff, a mass of projecting, immovable rock. It refers not to Peter, but to Peter's declaration of Christ's deity "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." "PETROS" means a small, moveable stone, but "PETRA" means an immovable foundation, in this case, Peter's statement on Christ's deity, upon which Christ would build His church.
Christ made two complete, distinct statements. He said:
Peter was not characterised by a "PETRA" immovable
foundation, as seen in these incidents:
God is called the "Rock" 34 times in the Old Testament. It was clearly a title of God. Every Jew would be shocked to call a man the "Rock". Therefore "Peter" and "Rock" are translated as two different words, with two different meanings. Note: In John 1:42 Jesus said "Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called CEPHAS, which is by interpretation, a STONE." Cephas (2786) is a Syriac surname given to Simon, which is "Petros" in greek, not "Petra". Peter did not call himself by his Syriac name (Cephas), but by his Greek name (1 Peter 1:1, 2 Peter 1:1). The word for rock (Petra) in Matthew 16:18 is the same word used for the rock fortress at Edom, known as "PETRA". It is 1.4 kilometers long, 226 meters high, 457 meters wide. Jesus did not say that Peter was the PETRA rock fortress, but that Simon was Petros, a piece of rock. Only God is called "a ROCK." Jesus is just saying to Simon "I will make you a firm and distinguished preacher in building my church."
2. Peter is NOT the first Pope, with supremacy over the Church
because of these reasons:
3. Peter was given the keys of the kingdom of heaven (Christian
profession in the Church Age), only in the sense that it was Peter
who opened the door of Gospel preaching opportunity to Israel
on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:38-42), and to the Gentiles in
the house of Cornelius (Acts 10:34-46). Peter opened the door,
and everybody who received Christ as Saviour went into the Kingdom
of God through Christ. ERROR 22: 15 Apocrypha Books Added to the Old Testament Bible (1546 AD) Roman Catholicism added these books in order to undermine Protestant belief in the Bible as sole authority. Some apocryphal books seemed to support Catholic dogma. We reject the Apocrypha for these reasons: Reason 1: The Jews never received these books. They were rejected by both Jews and all Christians up till 400 AD. Jesus never quoted from the Apocrypha.
Reason 2: They have many errors of time, history, geography,
as well as contradictions to the Bible. Examples of errors are:
Reason 3: Christ and the apostles in the New Testament quote 260 times from 35 out of 39 Old Testament books, yet they never quote from the Apocrypha. Reason 4: Josephus in 90 AD listed all the 39 Old Testament books, yet he did not include the Apocrypha. The Catholic church only added them at the Council of Trent to defend the Protestants attack on purgatory, where 2 Maccabees 12:40-45 tells of Judas Maccabeus offering a sacrifice for soldiers who died while guilty of the mortal sin of idolatry. ERROR 23: Names of Blasphemy (350 AD) Officials of the Roman Catholic church take names for themselves that are reserved to God, the Lord Jesus Christ such as:
ERROR 24: Rosary Prayer Beads (1090 AD) Saying the rosary is often assigned to a person after he has been to confession as a penance or as a means of storing up merit in heaven. The rosary may be defined as:
The Bible teaches that the true believer should pray to God from the heart reverently, thankfully, humbly, thinking of what he is doing, and of God to whom he is speaking. Buddhists and Moslems use a prayer device similar to rosary beads. Reject the rosary. ERROR 25: Low Moral Standards The Protestant moral code comes directly from the Bible. For example, "Don't steal" means "Don't steal." The Roman Catholic moral code is mainly based on Catholic canon law, and only secondarily on the Bible. For example, "Don't steal" means "stealing is alright provided that the value of the thing stolen is not excessive." (Liguori). The authority of the church as interpreted by the priest is what matters. The Catholic standard of morality is not to stir the conscience to decide right and wrong for itself, but to let the Papal church decide what is right and wrong. Drinking liquor and gambling considered as vices by Protestants, are not counted as evil by Romanist's except when indulged to excess. Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits states that "if anything shall appear white to our eyes which the church has defined as black, we likewise must declare it to be black." This means "DON'T THINK, just accept whatever Rome tells you." Consider these moral sins perpetrated by Roman Catholicism:
ERROR 26: Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Mary This is simply false, having no foundation in the Bible, yet why do Catholics accept this so blindly? ERROR 27: Crossing Oneself (300 AD) This is a practice that is not found in the Bible either. Jesus never crossed Himself, nor did the apostles, nor should we. ERROR 28: Was Peter the First Pope? No, because:
ERROR 29: Roman Catholic Lies, Immorality, Corruption More than 50 Popes show themselves to be atheists or unbelievers. The history of the Popes records homosexuality, rape, murder, adultery, drunkenness, selling religious offices, etc. This is hardly behavior fitting a "Holy Father" or "The Vicar of Christ". Examples include the following:
The Catholic church has much to be embarrassed about in it's history, as seen from the sample of 20 Popes actions. ERROR 30: The Inquisition, Torture, Massacres, Murders, Wars (1184 AD) So openly corrupt was the Catholic church, that many noble people left in protest, looking to Jesus Christ for salvation and to the Bible for truth, while rejecting the false claims of the Popes. These were called heretics and bitterly opposed and tortured by the Roman Catholic church. Pope Innocent IV in 1252 approved torture and ordered civil authorities to burn "heretics" in the "Ad exstirpanda" Bull. This torture was reinforced by Popes Alexander IV, Clement IV, Nicholas IV, Boniface VIII and others from 1254-1303. Roman Catholic documents revealed that they murdered around 68 million protesters from 1100 to 1800 AD when the Inquisition stopped. The following torture devices were used against protesters:
Truly, the Roman church is "drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus." (Revelation 17:6) Two Roman Catholic devices to muzzle opposition are:
ERROR 31: 15 Evidences that the Roman Catholic Church is Mystery Babylon the Great, the Whore of Revelation 17 Who is the whore/woman in Revelation 17? God has given us similarities to prove conclusively that she is the Roman Catholic church. What are these similarities of the whore with the church of Rome? 1. The WOMAN which thou sawest is that great CITY, which reigns over the kings of the earth. (Revelation 17:18) Question: Which city reigned over the kings of the earth in the first century? Answer: Rome, no doubt. The Roman emperors were called "Pontifix Maximus". So too are the Popes called by the same title. 2. She is called the "GREAT WHORE". (17:1) A whore is unfaithful to one husband, by having relationships with many suitors. So is the Roman Catholic church, unfaithful to God's Word as seen by her adopting so much false, unbiblical doctrine. 3. "With whom the KINGS OF THE EARTH have committed fornication. (17:2) The Roman Church has always sought to further her purposes by controlling politicians, kings and governments. She is the state church in so many countries like Spain, Portugal, Italy, Poland, South America and Ireland. She seeks to control governments in every country. In Revelation 17:3, she is sitting on a beast, as a rider sits on a horse controlling it. The early Church kept separate from the State because its task was to win people to Christ, baptize and teach God's Word. The Roman Catholic Church's association with governments is outside God's instructions, hence God calls this relationship "fornication" with the kings of the earth. 4. "Inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication." (17:2) It is very hard to reason with a drunk person. The alcohol controls his mind so that he cannot see reason. So it is with many Catholics world wide, who are so convinced of the false doctrine of the Roman Catholic church, even though the Bible so clearly oppose it. They cannot see the truth of God's Word and salvation. They will not search the Scriptures to see if the Bible's claims are true. (Acts 17:11) They are controlled by false doctrine, like alcohol controls a drunkard, so they cannot see Bible truth. 5. She sits on MANY WATERS. (17:1) 17:15 tells us that "The WATERS which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples and multitudes, and nations and tongues." The Roman Catholic church has an influence in many, if not every nation in the world. 6. She is FULL OF NAMES OF BLASPHEMY. (17:3) Rome claims titles and attributes which belong only to God, such as 1) "Holy Father", 2) "Father", 3) "Monsignor" = my Lord, 4) "Mother of God", 5) "Pontifix Maximus", 6) "Pope" = Father of Christians, 7) "Reverend", 8) "His Holiness", 9) "Filii Vicarii Dei" = in the place of the Son of God. 7. "The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sitteth." (17:9) Rome is well known as being built on seven hills. 8. The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color. (17:4) Popes, cardinals and priests dress in scarlet on festival occasions. 9. Decked with gold and precious stones. (17:4) Much gold and wealth is possessed by the Roman church. 10. Having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication. 17:4. Much sexual immorality is committed by priests such as fornication, homosexuality, child molestation etc. This is hateful to God. 11. "Mystery". (17:5) Much mystery exists in her services. For example, Latin services, converting bread to body of Christ, how long must people spend in purgatory etc. 12. Babylon the Great. (17:5) Roman Catholic mother and child worship was adopted from the ancient mystery religion of Babylon's mother and child worship. As Rome conquered counties, it adopted their religions. 13. The Mother of Harlots (17:5) Rome has given rise to many other religions, with practices similar to herself. 14. The woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. (17:6) The Roman church has constantly persecuted, tortured, and burned at the stake, any people who disagree with Papal control and who try to break away. For example, John Huss, Savonarolla, etc. 15. The ten horn nations that the Roman church tries to control, turn on Rome, hate her, strip her wealth, EAT HER FLESH, and burn her with fire. (17:16) Eating her flesh is a very clever judgment on a system that claims to eat Christ's flesh every day. As Roman Catholicism eats Christ's flesh, so too will the antichrist eat Roman Catholicism's flesh in the future seven year Tribulation. ERROR 32: Who Gave Us the Bible? God or the Roman Catholic Church? The Roman Catholic Church claims that it gave us the Bible, and that it determined which books should comprise the New Testament and Old Testament. Their argument is as follows: "The church existed before a word of the New Testament scriptures was written. After they were written, the church determined the Canon. Therefore the church is the authoritative voice that must be obeyed, for without the church, we would not have the Bible." "Q.17 Who can determine what books make up the Bible? Just as Christ's infallible church alone can assure us that the Bible is divinely inspired, so the church alone possesses the authority to indicate which books are included in it." "This is Catholicism", John Walsh (Garden City, NY, Image Books, 1959) p. 177. Is this argument correct? Did the Catholic church produce the Bible, or did it come into existence some other way? Catholicism claims that by its authority we have the Bible, and therefore it alone is the official interpreter of scripture. If we want to know the true meaning of the Bible, we are told that we must listen to the church that gave us the Bible. This Catholic church claim is false because: 1. The Catholic Church today with its many man made doctrines is an entirely different system as to the first century church. 2. Nowhere in the Bible does the church claim to have given us the Bible. The Bible came as follows: From God, to the Apostles and Prophets, and then to the Churches. The Churches submitted to the Apostles and Prophets, who submitted to God. The Bible is an expression of the mind of God. The Bible is authoritative as God. The Church is not of higher authority than God. God gave the Bible for the church to submit to it not for the Bible to submit to the church. True, the Apostles and Prophets were part of the church, but even they submitted themselves to the Word of God. 3. The Old Testament Canon of 39 books of scripture was established by 400 BC, well before the Roman Catholic church was started, as seen by the Dead Sea Scrolls containing all Old Testament books except Esther. 4. Jesus endorsed the 39 books of Old Testament Scripture as being the authentic Word of God, well before the Roman Catholic church ever came about. 5. The main criterion in determining whether a book should be included in the Canon of scripture pertained to its author. If the author was a known prophet of God, his works were preserved. This was at the direction of God, not the Catholic Church. No Pope ever said: "Thus saith the Lord." The Old Testament was accepted by the people of God because it was written by the Prophets of God. Though the people of God were involved in gathering these sacred writings, this never gave the people authority over or equal with the scripture. 6. By 96 AD, the early church had accepted the 27 New Testament books as canonical, as seen from early church writings. The early church accepted the scriptures because it believed them to be from God. The early church saw itself as subject to the Bible's authority, not the other way around. The Catholic church maintains that the books comprising the New Testament Canon were determined at the Council of Carthage in 397 AD. THIS IS INCORRECT. This council simply affirmed and restated what the early churches had always accepted. We must not make the mistake of thinking that the Scriptures received their authority because some council made a public statement of their acceptance. The early church of pastors, deacons and people all submitted to the Bible as authority because it came from God. Though the church existed before the New Testament was written, this does not give the church authority over or equal to the Scriptures. The church must always be subject to the authority of God's written Word. 7. Israel as a nation existed before the Old Testament was written, yet it would be wrong for Israel to claim authority equal to or greater than the Old Testament. The same must apply today, that no institution (like the church, home or government, even though it is older than the New Testament) can claim authority greater than the New Testament. 8. To support its position, the Catholic church advances the error that the scriptures never claimed to be adequate to meet all our needs, based on John 21:25 "And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written." John here never hints this idea. He just says that people could write an unlimited number of commentaries on all Christ's words. Paul says the opposite to the Roman Catholic church in 2 Timothy 3:16, 17 "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, (not by the Roman Catholic church) and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be PERFECT, (or complete) thoroughly furnished unto ALL good works. Here the Bible can furnish us to all good works. Peter says that the Bible is sufficient to meet all of our needs: "His divine power has given unto us all things
that pertain unto life and godliness". 9. The procedure which God used to gather these books did not give the collecting agency an authority equal to the scriptures. God gave us the scriptures as our final and only authority in all matters of faith or morals. ERROR 33: They Turn People Away From Christ to Honor Twelve Other Things 1 Peter 4:14. Christians in history who were reproached for the name of Christ, were martyred, glorifying Christ by their death. The Roman Catholic Church, who martyred these Christians for their love and faith in Christ, is referred to as: "on their part He is evil spoken of, but on your part He is glorified." The Roman Catholic Church speaks evil of Christ as follows:
By turning people from Christ to other things, truly the Catholic Church is speaking evil of Christ. As such, they can be justly called an antichrist. CONCLUSION God says: "COME OUT OF HER, MY PEOPLE, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues." (Revelation 18:4) Religion may make a person feel comfortable and righteous, but God reminds us that "all our righteousness are as filthy rages." (Isaiah 64:6) Nicodemus was one of the most religious men in Israel, yet he needed to be born again. Religion is man's efforts to reach God by good works and sacraments, but salvation is trusting in Christ's blood sacrifice on the cross as the full payment for our sins. You can be religious, yet not saved and still go to hell. Receive Christ as your Savior and you'll then become a son of God.
There are seven possible reasons why some people
choose to remain in the Roman Catholic church:
Lack of knowledge of the Word of God.
Fear of rejection by family and friends.
Fear of going against ancestors.
Fear of becoming a social outcast.
Habit.
Fear of going to hell.
Fear of change to the unknown.
Choose Christ to save you rather than a church. Choose the Bible to guide you rather than a man made system. |
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