Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church The Catholic Church is one of the closest religions to true Christianity, because it does not reject the Trinity, the deity of Jesus Christ, the Virgin Birth, the sinless ness of Christ, and his atonement for sin on the cross. Rather, they added to Scripture over the years, so that many Catholics can no longer seethe teaching of God’s Word in their faith. What they see instead are the rituals and traditions that have been piled on top of God’s Word over hundreds of years by the Catholic Church. Many of these rituals and traditions have kept Catholics from knowing the simplicity of God’s true Word. The Catholic Church has added doctrines, traditions, and ideas of men which are not found in Holy Scripture and which are, in fact, contrary to Scripture. The false teaching of the Catholic Church some of these Catholic traditions that Bible- Believing Christians reject includes such teachings as- The church was built on Peter, who is called the first Pope. The doctrine of purgatory after death, to purge a person of sin. Prayers to Mary, and dead Saints to mediate on our behalf. Images to kneel and pray before. Confession to a priest for absolution of sins. The Mass and sacraments as necessary for salvation. Salvation comes only through the Roman Catholic Church. If this was true than Jesus die in vain The Eucharist of the Mass and transubstantiation, the teaching that the bread and wine literally become the blood and body of Christ when taken at Communion. Penance and the selling of indulgences. Veneration and worship of Mary, which has greatly increased in recent years. Holy water. How can man make holy water is beyond me. Canonization of dead saints. Celibacy of the priesthood. The Rosary. All of these are traditions that came into the Roman Catholic Church over the years and became part of the Church. The Church has continued to teach them as if they were scriptural. It was not until 1545, at the Council of Trent, that the Roman Catholic Church declared for the first time its official position that tradition was to be considered equal in authority with God ’s word, the Bible. Once the Church made tradition equal in authority with God’s Word, it had the freedom to add more and more traditions, including such ideas as the immaculate conception of Mary, that she was born without original sin, that Mary lived a life of sinless ness, that she was lifted into Heaven, that she did not die. In the eyes of Roman Catholics, Mary truly became the Mother of God and the Mother of the Church. We can add to this lengthy list such concepts as monks, nuns, monasteries, convents, a 40-day Lent, Holy Week, Ash Wednesday, and all saints day. Now I want to deal with the subject of {The Rosary}. {The Rosary is a repetitive justification process for the forgiveness of sin.} The priest will tell you after your confessional session that you must say so many Hail Mary’s, or so many Our Father’s as punishment for the sins you have committed. So you live holy for a day and since the punishment is so light, you leave church and end up in the bar. This is like trying to go around Jesus to have forgiveness. This is a false teaching. You can’t go around Jesus to have forgiveness. You must go to him. Only he can forgive sin. This is found in the book of Matthew 9:6 where Jesus said {But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins, Get up, take your mat and go home.} Jesus also said in Matthew 6:7 {when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.} And did you know that going to a priest in the first place for forgiveness is against Biblical Scripture. The Bible says that {there is only one God and only one mediator between God and man, the Man Christ Jesus.} 1 Timothy 2:5. Next we will talk about not calling anyone Father. They call the Pope, the Holy Father, and they kneel to him and kiss his ring, this is out right blasphemy, no man should ever be called Holy Father, only God in Heaven has that title. This is found in Matthew 23:9 Jesus said {Do not call anyone Father for you have only one Father and he’s in heaven. Now about Mary, the mother of God. Mary was a very righteous woman, because she found favor in the eyes of God. But she was not holy because she was born into sin like every one else, and she said herself that she was a servant of God which means that she is inferior to God. Even though she was chosen to give birth to the Son of God, she was still a sinner that needed a savior. In Luke 1:47 Mary says {my spirit rejoices in God my savior.} this means that she needed a savior. Do not pray to anyone else but Jesus Christ, which means you do not pray to Mary or any of the other Prophets, or any angel, because they can’t help you. Only Jesus can answer your prayers. You can find this in Revelation 19:5 John fell down at the feet of the angel that had been showing him all these things to worship him and he said to John {do not do it ! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God. The False Teaching of Purgatory-- Purgatory is suppose to be a place where you go after death because you were not pure enough to make it to Heaven. This is where your family is suppose, to pay for a mass to get you out of purgatory so you can go all the way to Heaven. But since no one knows when the decease person is actually free from purgatory, you could be paying for masses your whole life. Mass was dreamed up by the Catholic Church to get rich. The truth is that there is no purgatory, you either go to Heaven or Hell and there is nothing else. Your proof is in Hebrews 9:27 {Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.} and in Luke 23:24 Jesus said {today you will be with me in paradise.} he was a sinner, a thief and he went to Heaven with Jesus. Nowhere in the Bible do you hear anywhere about purgatory. Images and Idols the Catholic Church is full of images, statues, and the worst of it is that they will kneel before them and ask for favors. This is against Scripture. In Exodus 20:4 says {you shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in Heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water below.} Conclusion Only bow to the word of God, The Bible can be trusted. There is only one word of God. So be careful not to believe Catholic Tradition, they are only rules taught by men. And they have added many other books into the Catholic bible, books that were rejected by bible scholars, and do not trust in any other doctrine outside the Bible. The purpose of this letter was not to condemn Catholics, rather to shed Biblical light on the false doctrines that men has added to Biblical Scripture over the years. There is only one way to make sure that you are absolutely going to heaven. It all comes down to making sure you have been born again of the Spirit and not of the flesh. And if you are truly born again Jesus will not contradict his own Holy word, he will never contradict his Bible, after all he is {The Word Became Flesh}.
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