Posted on 07/07/2015 10:33:57 PM PDT by Morgana
1.“Catholics worship statues.” This stereotype is painful to hear. Not only is this completely false, but it is ludicrous. Despite the fact that there are 801 millions Protestants world-wide, according to the Pew Research Center, my rant will be geared towards our brothers and sisters in the United States. In this country, approximately 51.5% of people are Protestant Christians. Realistically, most of these families have pictures in their home, which is completely normal, right? Right. They have pictures of their loved ones, both living and deceased. Is it not hypocritical then to say that Catholics are idol worshipers, when these families have portraits of their loved ones on the walls? If these Protestant families can have pictures of Uncle Bernie and Mawmaw hanging on the wall, then most certainly the Church can present pictures of our beloved Jesus, his disciples, and the saints.
2.“Catholics pray to Mary instead of God.” This is a very common misconception throughout the Protestant community, and while I can understand why it is, I am also disheartened that many jump to such a harsh conclusion of the Catholic faith. We don’t pray to Mary, we ask her to pray for us, just as a Protestant asks their deceased grandparent/parent to watch over them.
3. “The saints can’t hear your prayers, because they are dead.” I beg to differ. Since when is anyone who is in Heaven considered dead? We call it the afterLIFE for a reason. In fact, there is biblical proof that the saints can hear our prays: -Revelation 5:8 “And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people.” -Revelation 8:3-4 “Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God’s people, on the golden altar in front of the throne. The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God from the angel’s hand.”
4. “Mother Mary isn’t important; she’s just like anyone else.” If our Blessed Mother isn’t important, then every female would have had an immaculate conception. For this reason, that is why the declarative statement above doesn’t make sense. Of course Mother Mary is important, she gave birth to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. What is so amazing about the Catholic faith is the fact that we recognize the importance of Mary, and we honor her accordingly. She is a role model and saint for all Christians to look up to, because she submitted to God completely. Until the day another woman gives birth to Jesus, no one will ever be just like Mary. She is a very special, holy woman.
5. “Catholics made up all their rules.” Every single tradition we have in the Catholic Church, namely during Mass, has biblical roots. Not to mention the fact that Jesus was the founder of our Church. I don’t know about you, but Jesus doesn’t make mistakes.
6. “God said to confess sins to Him, not a priest.” This one is a personal favorite of mine. Drum roll please. -James 5:16 “Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.” It is true that we pray directly to God, and ask Him to forgiveness, however for sins (mortal) we do as Jesus commands and confess it to one another (our priests). Jesus said this directly to his disciples, so through Him, they were able to forgive sins. This power passed down to every priest, and so on and so forth. That felt good.
7. “Catholicism is a cult.” Jesus Christ founded this Church more than 2,000 years ago, I would hardly call it a cult.
8. “Catholics aren’t Christians.” The word Christian is associated with anyone who follows Christ’s teachings, and since the Catholic Church does just that then we are to be called Christians. Not to mention Catholics were actually the first Christians.
9. “Catholics added books to the Holy Bible.” This one is so hilarious it hurts. For 300 years there was no Bible, only random writings from the prophets like St.Peter etc, until the Catholic monks compiled and canonized what is now known today as the Holy Bible. (That is until the Protestant Reformation occurred, in which one man *Martin Luther* removed 7 books). Ouch.
10. “Catholics believe you can pay your way into Heaven.” We definitely do not. That is a huge misconception which occurred during the Protestant Reformation.
Despite the many stereotypes that hang over our faith, the important thing to remember is our Church has stood the test of time and remained for more than 2,000 years. Whether you are Catholic or Protestant-- we are all followers of Christ, and He is the ultimate goal.
“The truth is like a lion. You don’t have to defend it, let it loose, and it will defend itself.” -St. Augustine of Hippo
I am not religious...i belive in God and the bible. I have disagreements with the theology of every religion.
I have the least disagreements with the catholic church...but it is a major one.
I disagree with confessing sins to a priest...who then passed judgement on the price to be paid for said sin. The bble clearly states judgement is Gods job. It also states that i am to clearly confess my sins to Him.
Now, that being said....i believe it important to confess sins to those who are transgressed by those sins, but i do not believe its right to confess sins to a priest who then passes judgement.
“Again, the concept of confession of sin to a priest is nowhere taught in Scripture. We are to confess our sins to God (1 John 1:9). As New Covenant believers, we do not need mediators between us and God. We can go to God directly because of Jesus’ sacrifice for us. First Timothy 2:5 says, “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”
If people needed to expiate their own sins, it would take all eternity to do that, and still that would not be long enough.
Receiving Holy Communion, Jesus' Body and Blood, is something to behold.
Jesus is calling you....please listen to him.......NOT some goofy socialist.
Why would any Christian think you are nuts??? That IS how God works....”ask and you shall receive”.....”Seek and you shall find”.....Knock and it will be opened to you”!!! All from Jesus....why wouldn’t every Christian believe this?
That would be “ELEVEN Things Catholics Are Tired of Hearing”.
#11: The Truth
My ransom was paid for in full on the cross. All I had to do is sign the paper acknowledging it.
#12 Too numerous to count crimes against humanity for 1500 years... Crusades, Spanish Inquisition, Nazi sympathism, etc., etc., etc.
The same thing applies to the Baptists, as far as I know.
There are still a lot of good Catholics out there, even if the pope isn't impressing any of us.
Yes indeed....What a Savior!
No, unity first.
Rather TWELVE things that Catholics are tired of hearing
12: Opinions.
I can attest to that as well. Always leaves me in awe of Him and a great deal of gratitude.
But I do think there’s an ongoing communication as we think and go about our day...we just aren’t quite as aware as we’re occupied.
....And the saints who are home with God as well.
Martin Luther fired up the Reformation because of these indulgences
The Catechism of the Catholic Church states,... "An indulgence is obtained through the Church who, by virtue of the power of binding and loosing granted her by Christ Jesus, intervenes in favor of individual Christians and opens for them the treasury of the merits of Christ and the saints to obtain from the Father of mercies the remission of the temporal punishment due for their sins." The Church does this not just to aid Christians, "but also to spur them to works of devotion, penance, and charity" (CCC 1478).
Amen!!!
Is that what you call a gotcha?
You stated “I disagree with confessing sins to a priest...who then passed judgement on the price to be paid for said sin.”
You hit on one of the most important issues I have with the Catholic church.
How many times in your life have you told someone a “secret” that if disclosed would ruin your life? Now, knowing that that person knows your deep dark secret its possible that if you “piss them off” they will tell someone about it.
Whether or not they do is not the point...the point is that you know they know and the possibility is there...forever. It gives them power over you and each and every time you see them and look them in the eye, you have the feeling that they now have some type of special power over you....the secret, or worse yet, the secrets.
When in confession, the priest knows who you are. He can see you through the screen and can know you by your voice.
Confession is physiological manipulation to hold you from leaving the faith (or not abiding by it) and it has worked very well for the church.
Amen
Try the lutheran church missouri synod (LCMS) sound doctrine, formal traditional services (if you want) and biblically sound. no snake handling, very conservative, but without Mary worship, prayers to saints, salvation by works. Just good doctrine and worship.
You don’t ask or wish others living on earth to pray for you? Do you pray for others?
If you believe the saints are alive in heaven, why not ask them to add to these prayers?
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