"RCs are like Muslims."
There is no Christian denomination that is in the least way like Islam.
You certainly are a greatly learned person to know everything about what every Catholic believes and studies about religion....Are you God?
What are you talking about? The Church Doctors wrote tomes on the Catholic faith and many have studied them. Children read rather long Catechisms (Baltimore 3). When I was a protestant, I learned very little about my faith. It was Catholicism that changed me. And you still havent answered the following question: What about RC is pagan?
Yeah, and I hear they cheat at golf, too!
Christ upon the cross symbolizes the sacrifice of the son of God for all mankind, salvation. The cross without the corpus symbolizes the crucifixion, remembering the act.
"That you have a Pope"
Wasn`t Peter the first "Pope"?
"...question my own stupid blind faith in my Church's traditions which plainly violate the Bible and the faith they purport to enshrine."
Like the foundation for your faith being King Henry`s faulty penis? Had he been able to father a male child there would have been no protestant church for Luther to "reform". They were "protesting" the church of Rome which wouldn`t allow Henry to have a divorce/annullment. How many books of the bible have been left out in your version because the authors were not "divinely inspired"? Who says? Were any of us there? Luther a man, among others decided that these books should be left out for what reason? Laziness?
"It sure takes a long to translate these things, if they weren`t so long it`d be a lot easier, so why not leave some of the lesser known books out."
"Yeah, and while we`re at it, why do we have to say it in Latin? And why do we have to do so much kneeling, that`s really hard on my knees, I`m not as thin as I used to be?"
What exactly IS monday, Thursday?(sp.?) Is that after tuesday wednesday?
Why do I have to be "born again"? What if God saw to it that I did it right the first time?
Look we can all sit here and insult each other`s religions until Armageddon is really here. We all have our faiths and our beliefs and they`re all centered around the idea that God is our creator and Jesus, his son is our savior.
You see what the differences are atari? The various sects and alternative divisions within Christianity are slightly different at least, worlds apart at most. We`re all the same in the fact that each thinks they`re right and the others are wrong. I honeslty don`t know. Well, no, actually I know the Hari Krishnas are wrong:) Ultimately, read a bible, talk to pastors and priests of various faiths in your neighborhood. If you`re looking for a faith or church, follow your heart, God put it there and it won`t steer you wrong.
Jack Chick, is that you??
LOL
To a certain extent, this is quite true, though not from lack of trying. Oftentimes, catechesis is poorly delivered or, for that matter, poorly received.
If anything, I am also astounded at the obtuse ignorance of christians regarding the Catholic Church. Perhaps we can help fill in the blanks for you and our friend, atari.
Nearly everything about Roman Catholicism is Pagan
CouncilofTrent asked you for specifics and I second that request.
That you leave Christ nailed to the cross while those who left your tradition in an effort to return to the faith of the Disciples have an empty cross.
Catholics realize and believe Jesus rose from the dead. However, it is still important to always remember what Jesus had to go through for us.
To actually see Him hanging on the cross gives us a constant reminder of what happened. Jesus was an innocent man with the purest heart, and He decided to die for all of us. He loved us then and Jesus continues to love us today. That is what we are all about and shouldn’t ever forget.
Seeing the Crucifix also gives Catholics encouragement that Jesus is always with us, and there is life after death. He rose again as He promised. Catholics often have Crucifixes in their homes or wear them on a necklace. They do this as a sign of their faith and a way to keep focused on Jesus.
That you practice Maryolatry.
Catholics believe that Christ is the only Way to the Father, and that people enter His sheepfold, ie. the Church, by Christ the Door. We call Mary the "Gate of Heaven" because she is the gate through whom Jesus came into the world from heaven, and we can also go to Jesus by her. She is not "another way" to Heaven apart from Jesus, but the one who brings us to Him so that He may then bring us to the Father. All devotions to Mary and the saints ultimately glorify their Creator, who made them what they are. Mary is God's great masterpiece, and all praise given to her is praise of Her Maker. When Elizabeth praises Mary, saying "Blessed art thou amongst women", Mary immediately replies "My soul doth magnify the Lord..." (Luke 1:42; 46). All the devotion which we offer her redounds to God's praise and glory.
That you have a Pope.
There is ample evidence in the New Testament that Peter was first in authority among the apostles. Whenever they were named, Peter headed the list (Matt. 10:1-4, Mark 3:16-19, Luke 6:14-16, Acts 1:13); sometimes the apostles were referred to as "Peter and those who were with him" (Luke 9:32). Peter was the one who generally spoke for the apostles (Matt. 18:21, Mark 8:29, Luke 12:41, John 6:68-69), and he figured in many of the most dramatic scenes (Matt. 14:28-32, Matt. 17:24-27, Mark 10:23-28). On Pentecost it was Peter who first preached to the crowds (Acts 2:14-40), and he worked the first healing in the Church age (Acts 3:6-7). It is Peter’s faith that will strengthen his brethren (Luke 22:32) and Peter is given Christ’s flock to shepherd (John 21:17). An angel was sent to announce the resurrection to Peter (Mark 16:7), and the risen Christ first appeared to Peter (Luke 24:34). He headed the meeting that elected Matthias to replace Judas (Acts 1:13-26), and he received the first converts (Acts 2:41). He inflicted the first punishment (Acts 5:1-11), and excommunicated the first heretic (Acts 8:18-23). He led the first council in Jerusalem (Acts 15), and announced the first dogmatic decision (Acts 15:7-11). It was to Peter that the revelation came that Gentiles were to be baptized and accepted as Christians (Acts 10:46-48).
Two important things were told the apostle. "Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven" (Matt. 16:19). Here Peter was singled out for the authority that provides for the forgiveness of sins and the making of disciplinary rules. Later the apostles as a whole would be given similar power [Matt.18:18], but here Peter received it in a special sense. Peter alone was promised something else also: "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 16:19). In ancient times, keys were the hallmark of authority. A walled city might have one great gate; and that gate had one great lock, worked by one great key. This symbolism for authority is used elsewhere in the Bible (Is. 22:22, Rev. 1:18).
That you pervert the remembrance of Christ through the ritual of Communion into the magic rite of transubstantiation.
John 6:30 begins a colloquy that took place in the synagogue at Capernaum. The Jews asked Jesus what sign he could perform so that they might believe in him. As a challenge, they noted that "our ancestors ate manna in the desert." Could Jesus top that? He told them the real bread from heaven comes from the Father. "Give us this bread always," they said. Jesus replied, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst." At this point the Jews understood him to be speaking metaphorically.
Jesus first repeated what he said, then summarized: "‘I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh.’ The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’" (John 6:51–52).
His listeners were stupefied because now they understood Jesus literally—and correctly. He again repeated his words, but with even greater emphasis, and introduced the statement about drinking his blood: "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him" (John 6:53–56).
Notice that Jesus made no attempt to soften what he said, no attempt to correct "misunderstandings," for there were none. Our Lord’s listeners understood him perfectly well. They no longer thought he was speaking metaphorically. If they had, if they mistook what he said, why no correction?
On other occasions when there was confusion, Christ explained just what he meant (cf. Matt. 16:5–12). Here, where any misunderstanding would be fatal, there was no effort by Jesus to correct. Instead, he repeated himself for greater emphasis.
In John 6:60 we read: "Many of his disciples, when they heard it, said, ‘This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?’" These were his disciples, people used to his remarkable ways. He warned them not to think carnally, but spiritually: "It is the Spirit that gives life, the flesh is of no avail; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life" (John 6:63; cf. 1 Cor. 2:12–14).
But he knew some did not believe. (It is here, in the rejection of the Eucharist, that Judas fell away; look at John 6:64.) "After this, many of his disciples drew back and no longer went about with him" (John 6:66).
This is the only record we have of any of Christ’s followers forsaking him for purely doctrinal reasons. If it had all been a misunderstanding, if they erred in taking a metaphor in a literal sense, why didn’t he call them back and straighten things out? Both the Jews, who were suspicious of him, and his disciples, who had accepted everything up to this point, would have remained with him had he said he was speaking only symbolically.
But he did not correct these protesters. Twelve times he said he was the bread that came down from heaven; four times he said they would have "to eat my flesh and drink my blood." John 6 was an extended promise of what would be instituted at the Last Supper—and it was a promise that could not be more explicit.
That your priests are celibate when Paul, Peter and James clearly state it should be otherwise.
Actually, some Catholic priests are married.
Although most people are at some point in their lives called to the married state, the vocation of celibacy is explicitly advocated—as well as practiced—by both Jesus and Paul.
So far from "commanding" marriage in 1 Corinthians 7, in that very chapter Paul actually endorses celibacy for those capable of it: "To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is well for them to remain single as I am. But if they cannot exercise self-control, they should marry. For it is better to marry than to be aflame with passion" (7:8-9). Paul’s conclusion: He who marries "does well; and he who refrains from marriage will do better" (7:38).
After Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 19 on divorce and remarriage, the disciples exclaimed, "If such is the case between a man and his wife, it is better not to marry" (Matt 19:10). This remark prompted Jesus’ teaching on the value of celibacy "for the sake of the kingdom":
"Not all can accept this word, but only those to whom it is granted. Some are incapable of marriage because they were born so; some, because they were made so by others; some, because they have renounced marriage for the sake of the kingdom of God. Whoever can accept this ought to accept it" (Matt. 19:11–12).
That you even have priests at all when Christ Himself said "Call no man father."
The imperative "call no man father" does not apply to one’s biological father. It also doesn’t exclude calling one’s ancestors "father," as is shown in Acts 7:2, where Stephen refers to "our father Abraham," or in Romans 9:10, where Paul speaks of "our father Isaac." There are numerous examples in the New Testament of the term "father" being used as a form of address and reference, even for men who are not biologically related to the speaker. A careful examination of the context of Matthew 23 shows that Jesus didn’t intend for his words here to be understood literally. The whole passage reads, "But you are not to be called ‘rabbi,’ for you have one teacher, and you are all brethren. And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Neither be called ‘masters,’ for you have one master, the Christ" (Matt. 23:8–10).
So What Did Jesus Mean? Christ used hyperbole often, for example when he declared, "If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away; it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell" (Matt. 5:29, cf. 18:9; Mark 9:47). Christ certainly did not intend this to be applied literally, for otherwise all Christians would be blind amputees! (cf. 1 John 1:8; 1 Tim. 1:15). We are all subject to "the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life" (1 John 2:16).
Since Jesus is demonstrably using hyperbole when he says not to call anyone our father—else we would not be able to refer to our earthly fathers as such—we must read his words carefully and with sensitivity to the presence of hyperbole if we wish to understand what he is saying.
Christ has always emphasized the danger of false religion.
Indeed! Jesus said his Church would be "the light of the world." He then noted that "a city set on a hill cannot be hid" (Matt. 5:14). This means his Church is a visible organization. It must have characteristics that clearly identify it and that distinguish it from other churches. Jesus promised, "I will build my Church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it" (Matt. 16:18). This means that his Church will never be destroyed and will never fall away from him. His Church will survive until his return.
Among the Christian churches, only the Catholic Church has existed since the time of Jesus. Every other Christian church is an offshoot of the Catholic Church. The Eastern Orthodox churches broke away from unity with the pope in 1054. The Protestant churches were established during the Reformation, which began in 1517. (Most of today’s Protestant churches are actually offshoots of the original Protestant offshoots.)
Only the Catholic Church existed in the tenth century, in the fifth century, and in the first century, faithfully teaching the doctrines given by Christ to the apostles, omitting nothing. The line of popes can be traced back, in unbroken succession, to Peter himself. This is unequaled by any institution in history.
Even the oldest government is new compared to the papacy, and the churches that send out door-to-door missionaries are young compared to the Catholic Church. Many of these churches began as recently as the nineteenth or twentieth centuries. Some even began during your own lifetime. None of them can claim to be the Church Jesus established.
The Catholic Church has existed for nearly 2,000 years, despite constant opposition from the world. This is testimony to the Church’s divine origin. It must be more than a merely human organization, especially considering that its human members— even some of its leaders—have been unwise, corrupt, or prone to heresy.
Any merely human organization with such members would have collapsed early on. The Catholic Church is today the most vigorous church in the world (and the largest, with a billion members: one sixth of the human race), and that is testimony not to the cleverness of the Church’s leaders, but to the protection of the Holy Spirit.
Sources: various