Posted on 02/20/2015 3:22:59 PM PST by NKP_Vet
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.
Well, that’s just a pope doing regular pope stuff. The Roman Catholics who are regular posters on FR shirley must NOT pray to and about Mary as does Francis. (It’s just his job.)
Regular RC posters on FR RF say they were the first Christians and I don’t believe they would say that unless it were true...or if they had been deceived for an entire lifetime while here on Planet Earth and really never had come to Jesus at all.
>>The nativity scenes are not about worship, but a reminder of what Christmas is about.<<
The same is true of our statues. A reminder...
Yep.
Oh. That was JP II and PP XII and not Francis the talking pope.
Oh.
That’s serious stuff then.
True, Jews also believe that salvation comes from faith AND works, rather than faith in God alone (ask any Rabbi), as well as religious authority coming both scripture AND tradition, rather than from sola scriptura. In fact, "bible alone" theology is known as Karaite Judaism, and it is considered a small fringe movement in the Jewish faith, rather than a mainstream Jewish viewpoint.
It's interesting all these evangelical protestants will bash Catholic traditions while heaping praise on Jews for doing the same thing.
You are right. Saints have had visions of hell with one saint saying souls were falling into hell like snowflakes.
If you really insist on me “proving it”, I will be able to produce dozens of threads on FR where protestants attack Catholics for not believing in “faith alone” and “sola scriptura”. Do you really want to play that game?
If you can locate a SIGNLE post where an evangelical protestant attacks the JEWISH faith for not believing in “faith alone” and “sola scriptura”, let me know.
A Catholic funeral is not Heaven—or a guarantee of Heaven. When the time comes, just ask the Kennedys!
The thing that is most annoying about “Catholics worship Mary” or “Catholics worship statues” is that the people who parrot these things never stop to think: “Are Catholics all morons?”
Wait. The thing that is MOST annoying is that when you EXPLAIN why Catholics DON’T worship Mary, or statues, 99% percent of these people just start yelling, “Yes, you do! Yes, you do! Yes, you do!”
we don’t have to worship a wafer. We worship the living God who offered Himself once for all, not who is perpetually sacrificed on RCC altars. And before you go there, I believe in the real presence of the Body and Blood in communion. But I don’t worship the elements, I worship the ONE present in the elements.
“If you can locate a SIGNLE post where an evangelical protestant attacks the JEWISH faith for not believing in “faith alone” and “sola scriptura”, let me know.”
I would refer you to the excellent exposition of Romans posted on FR today.
Not only that, but it’s a LIE that Luther “removed” books from his German translation of the Bible. I don’t know how many times THAT has been corrected here, but it’s funny that on a thread entitled things Catholics are tired of hearing, that whopper is certainly one we are tired of hearing.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/3259759/posts
Excellent thread about Salvation by faith, posted today - and specifically in the context of the Jewish nation.
“Wait. The thing that is MOST annoying is that when you EXPLAIN why Catholics DON’T worship Mary, or statues, 99% percent of these people just start yelling, “Yes, you do! Yes, you do! Yes, you do!””
Sure. Why should they believe their lying eyes, instead of your claims?
Art....do you bow down in front of a statue of Mary and pray to it? Do you call on her for help?
Why do you have to be so demeaning and insulting?
Does it make you feel better to say things like that?
I got an email newsletter from an LCMS church that I haven’t attended in a while and itt alked about the “new” worship leader and I couldn’t figure out what it was talking about. I knew a new pastor had not been called and I didn’t understand why the head pastor was not leading the service. Then I figured out that they were referring to the music portion of the contemporary service as being the worship and this person was the new music leader. I had always considered pretty much the whole of the traditional service as a worship
Anyway, I know who my enemies are and they aren’t Catholic.
I might kneel. Usually I sit. I say the Rosary, which consists mostly of the words of the angel Gabriel and Mary’s cousin Elizabeth:
Hail, Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
So? There is not a hint of a suggestion of a whisper of “adoration” in that prayer.
And, as I already pointed out, only a moron would give to a human being the worship that is due to God alone.
If you have ever asked your mother or one of your brothers or sisters to pray for you, then you have no basis for objecting to my asking Mary to pray for me. Mary is among the saints in Heaven, and Revelation tells us that the saints in Heaven pray for us who are here on earth.
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