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
See, y'all don't know how to discuss nor argue and usually just fall back on the routine, traditional stuff you can't get away from.
Then your "discussion" usually downgrades rapidly into a mud fight about who Daddy loves best and ends, not in unity, but in self righteous division and animosity.
It's Cain vs Cain and both claiming to be Abel. That's the view from a concerned outside observer.
Hint? That ain't the Holy Spirit that's leading your band. If it was, the music would be sweeter and soothing to the soul.
I'm obviously no Biblical scholar, but even I know that much.
Catholic have the truth.
Jesus said, “I am the way the truth and the life.”
The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you.
As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”
And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them,
“Receive the Holy Spirit.
Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them,
and whose sins you retain are retained.”
From today’s Gospel reading (John 20:20-23).
Matthew 18
18 Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
We don’t pray to Mary, we beseech her to pray for us
We don’t pray to Mary, we pray to her to pray for us
These things have been rebutted with scripture and facts so many times it’s impossible to count...You guys are certainly persistent in putting out false information...It might work on a Catholic only site but of course won’t fly in a public forum...
“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?”
With all respect to you.. and I’m sorry to butt into this conversation - but isn’t JESUS our ‘mediator’ between us and God the Father? He did instruct us to pray for one another, but -to HIM.
The ‘saints’ in heaven are in the spiritual realm. We only have access to that through Jesus Himself. I don’t see a point in the notion of going to any others in order to get through to Jesus when He told us to go directly through Him.
Bless you bro!
“To me it seems like a miracle”
My prayers get answered, too. God takes good care of me. He is great and I am so thankful.
Jesus said, “I am the way the truth and the life.”
So now Jesus was a Catholic...STOP...You guys are killin' me...
And we are tired of see counter culture threads posted along this same line. LOL!
“Now this Pope is really disappointing me just like the Methodists.”
I’m a lifelong Catholic. Here’s one thing I know: Popes come and go. If you’re attracted to the Catholic faith, check it out and realize that the popes are not the faith itself. The faith will outlast this pope just like it will outlast all of us.
I know nothing about the geography of Kentucky. If you want to see what the Catholic faith is in the eternal sense - not just how it is being presented perhaps by this pope - look at this website and scroll down and see if there is a Latin Mass in your area:
http://www.ecclesiadei.org/masses.cfm
It doesn’t matter if you don’t know Latin. They’ll have booklets there you can follow along with I’ll bet. First time around you’ll be a little lost. It’s best if you go to a “High Mass” (where they sing the Mass) if possible.
What have you got to lose except some driving time?
That is purely assumtion.
It's entirely possible he was witness to the occurrance.
Additionally, relating an account of something to someone does NOT qualify it to be "tradition". "holy". or not.
Thanks for the info.
Thank You for the kind words and encouragement from both responses.
Tell you a great story about the Church of Christ.
Had a couple I was friends with, am the Godfather of their daughter. They had recently been saved, and returned to the Church, and invited my girlfriend at the time and me to attend their Church. It was a Church of Christ on Eastway Blvd. That Sunday came and I rode with them, and girlfriend was supposed to meet me.
She never showed, and I was worried (before cell phone days). We went back to their house which was preplanned for a cookout and to watch the race. When we got there my girlfriend was there and mad as a hornet.
She had gotten the instructions wrong, and had gone to the Eastway Church of God.
She said “I’m sitting there by myself, looking for you guys, service starts, people start jumping out of their seats like popcorn kernels, yelling, weeping rolling, on the floor. By the time she finished she was in tears. We joked later that the Church of God had literally “scared the hell out of her”.
I was very pleased with the Church of Christ service that I attended, but those were my “straying days” and never went back.
Baptists, and I have had some run ins over what I thought were petty issues. Try not to paint all with broad strokes, but issues took place at 2 different Churches.
Thanks for the advice.
Someone else suggested that. Thank You.
Thank you.
The single most important thing protestants are tired of hearing from Catholics: “You ain’t a Christian if you ain’t Catholic!”
The Catholic church must be hard up for money since there has been this full-court press to recruit again.
Here is why I say the Protestantism falls into the trap of legalism, seeing things only in the forensic or juridical terms of crime and punishment. Temporal punishment is not judicial punishment or debt owed because of sin. It is rather the consequences of the sins we commit. From the Catechism:
1472 To understand this doctrine and practice of the Church, it is necessary to understand that sin has a double consequence. Grave sin deprives us of communion with God and therefore makes us incapable of eternal life, the privation of which is called the "eternal punishment" of sin. On the other hand every sin, even venial, entails an unhealthy attachment to creatures, which must be purified either here on earth, or after death in the state called Purgatory. This purification frees one from what is called the "temporal punishment" of sin. These two punishments must not be conceived of as a kind of vengeance inflicted by God from without, but as following from the very nature of sin. A conversion which proceeds from a fervent charity can attain the complete purification of the sinner in such a way that no punishment would remain. (Cf. Council of Trent (1551): DS 1712-1713; (1563): 1820.)Every time that we sin we increase our disordered affection for sin. This is the temporal punishment of sin and it remains even after we are reconciled with God. This is what is cleansed through the penitential life or in purgatory after death. It is not a question of judgment and the payment of a debt of sin beyond that of our Lord on the Cross but rather of the cooperation with the healing grace of God.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.