Roman Catholicism: The One True Church?

Rapture Ready ^ | Stephen Meehan

[Old Yeller]

For years, growing up as a Roman Catholic, we were taught that we were members of the one true church. It was impressed upon us regularly by the parish priest during Mass while giving his homily; by the nuns all throughout my Catholic parochial school years of second through seventh grade.

It was impressed upon us during our preparation to receive for the first time the sacraments of Penance, Communion and Confirmation. And while attending CCD classes all the way through high school. (CCD is the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, an association established at Rome in 1562 for the purpose of giving religious education, normally designed for children.)

It was an established fact that we understood and we never questioned the validity of it. And to be honest, it was a matter of pride, that we were privileged enough to be members of the correct church, while all others had belonged to something else that didn’t quite measure up to the status of the Roman Catholic Church.

After all, how could it be possible that Roman Catholicism is not the one true church?

Look at what Rome has to offer: It has the priests, the nuns; the bishops; the cardinals; and of course, the Pope. They have the Sacraments; the statues; the holy water; the incense; the Stations of the Cross; the Eucharist - in which Chris supposedly physically manifests Himself into the wafer after the consecration by the priest during the Mass; the Marian apparitions—which appear mainly to Roman Catholics.

And they have the Vatican, where the Vicar of Christ (who they believe is Christ’s representative on earth), governs the faithful and makes infallible proclamations and doctrine. How can this not be the one true church? No other organization on the face of the earth comes close to offering to its flock what Rome provides for its faithful.

But, of course, to be true, one must adhere to what has been established as truth and not teach or practice what is contrary to the truth. We read in Scripture a few passages that declare what is truth and what is not. Jesus proclaimed in John 14:6:

“I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes to the Father, but by me.”

[Iscool]

Worshipping an other than the Triune God is AUTOMATIC EXCOMMUNICATION.

But nobody points out or reprimands the person doing the worshiping...They just keep on keepin' on...So three fourths or more of your Church may already be 'ex-communicated'...They just don't know it...

What a farce...

[Resettozero]

In other words, Mary, by an act of HER will, made it possible for God the Son to take flesh.

If only you could see that your words place Mary above the Almighty God. God needed Mary only or, you say, there was no other way He could have acted.

[metmom]

how many time have I explained to directly that any Catholic who worships Mary is AUTOMATICALLY EXCOMMUNICATED from the Catholic Church ‘Latae sententiae’ which is a Latin phrase, meaning “sentence (already) passed”, used in the canon law of the Catholic Church.

Is the church's cowards way out of dealing with sin in the church.

Instead of having the backbone to deal with sin straight on, they hide behind, *you did it to yourself*.

There's no respect for someone who abdicates their allegedly God given responsibility.

Course, considering what the clergy engages in and church history, they're in no position to go pointing any fingers.

[Resettozero]

Mary said to the angel Gabriel, “Be it done unto me according to thy word”?

Yes, that was Mary's response to this awesome news. Gabriel was sent by God to TELL Mary what would be happening. God knows the end of things from the beginning. Mary was INFORMED of her part in the birth of Jesus Christ and she responded with these words.

[metmom]

In other words, Mary, by an act of HER will, made it possible for God the Son to take flesh. I.e., ALL GRACE entered the world through MARY’s willing it.

What a joke!!!!

If Mary could have thwarted God's plan, then Mary is above God and y'all have a pretty impotent Catholic god.

SO are you saying that there was no grace before Mary came along? If grace entered the world through Mary, then she could not have been graced before that herself.

And Scripture teaches otherwise about the source of grace.

Ephesians 1:3-10 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

Romans 5:1-2 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

John 1:14-17 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

[Resettozero]

When you can't refute truth, belittle the poster.

Reminds me of other liberal posters on Free Republic. Posters who say they are conservatives yet are not. I think that their social conservatism pertains to advocating male/female marriages with no abortions ONLY; the former laws of the Land all Christians supported.

Other than that, many seem to speak as political liberals. The speech patterns in their postings are familiar to one who still has ears to hear.

[Iscool]

All protestants should get up every morning and face your direction in awe of the boy wonder.

Got a little envy going on there, eh???

Perhaps you haven't noticed but Daniel doesn't spend much time trying to convince people that his understanding of the scriptures is correct...But what Daniels does do is present history...Real history, and both sides of it...With sources, citations and whatever is available to back up what he says...Or more correctly, the citations speak for themselves...

Take an envy pill, or something...

[Iscool]

In other words, the GOSPEL teaches precisely what all those saints you quoted are saying: That the grace that comes from Jesus Christ is made available to us by the consent and cooperation of Mary.

Do you sell used cars on the side???

God didn't need Mary...God didn't even need Jesus Christ to make grace available to us...In fact, speaking of the Trinity, it was not Jesus who provided the Grace, it was God...And he provided it all thru out the Old Testament (and New) without the presence of the mother of Jesus...

I realize it's your job to repeat what your religion tells you but man, do you ever pick up a bible???

[HossB86]

Reminds me of other liberal posters on Free Republic.

So (sadly) very true.

Hoss

[HossB86]

In other words, Mary, by an act of HER will, made it possible for God the Son to take flesh. I.e., ALL GRACE entered the world through MARY’s willing it.

Uh... no. Do you REALLY think she could have said no? Really? Gabriel TOLD her what God was going to do. He didn't say, "Hey, Mary -- God wants to know if he can use you to give birth to a baby who you can call Jesus."

Sheesh.

Since there seems to be such an issue with context in Roman Catholicism, here it is:

" 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

34 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”

35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. 36 And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.”"

Luke 1:31-37

Doesn't seem to be too much "asking" going on there...

So... Mary, being a believer, will say.... no? Really? God chose her. All she did was acknowledge it. And her answer isn't an, "hey, Gabriel -- tell God it's good by me!" it's an acquiescence:

Verse 38:

"And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her."

"Servant" is more like Bondservant. Not voluntary accomplice. "Let it be to me according to you word" is an acquiescence, not an allowance. A bondservant does not allow his master to do something to him; he belongs to his master.

Context is your friend, friend.

Hoss

[Elsie]

As I said there are those on this thread who would kill because of how another sings his psalms to God no mater that they believed in the birth and the death, the resurrection and the saving Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

---

As I was walking across a bridge one day; I saw a man standing outside the railing, about to jump off.

 

So I ran over and said, "Stop! Don't do it!"

"Why shouldn't I?" he said.

 

I said, "Well, there's so much to live for!"

He said, "Like what?"

 

I said, "Well...are you religious or atheist?"

He said, "Religious."

 

I said, "Me too! Are you Christian or Buddhist?"

He said, "Christian."

 

I said, "Me too! Are you Catholic or Protestant?"

He said, "Protestant."

 

I said, "Me too! Are you Episcopalian or Baptist?"

He said, "Baptist!"

 

I said,"Wow! Me too! Are you Baptist Church of GOD or Baptist Church of the Lord?"

He said, "Baptist Church of GOD!"

 

I said, "Me too! Are you Original Baptist Church of GOD, or are you Reformed Baptist Church of GOD?"

He said,"Reformed Baptist Church of GOD!"

 

I said, "Me too! Are you Reformed Baptist Church of GOD, reformation of 1879, or Reformed Baptist Church of GOD, reformation of 1915?"

He said, "Reformed Baptist Church of GOD, reformation of 1915!"

 

I said, "Die, heretic scum", and pushed him off.

-- Emo Phillips

[Elsie]

Please explain how this is a good thing?

You made the claim; YOU 'explain' it.

[Elsie]

I believe that we are very close to such a time will you standby maybe even assist?

OOOooooh!

[Resettozero]

...will you standby maybe even assist?

Killing other parts of the Body of Christ...?

You ARE just flailing here, of course.

[Elsie]

Yet I consider ALL who accept Jesus Christ as the Son of God, and that His death on the Cross and Resurrection reconciled mankind to the Father.

Sadly; there are MANY who say "Lord, Lord".

There are MANY who use the name Jesus Christ to spread falsehood.

There are MANY who claim that we MUST do certain rituals to be RECONCILED to GOD. (read my homepage)

All that glitters, is not gold.

[Elsie]

What we have here is the typical shallow Protestant response.

Now we'll get the DEEP Catholic response of many words.

[HossB86]

Worshipping an other than the Triune God is AUTOMATIC EXCOMMUNICATION.

Do Roman Catholics pray TO Mary?

If so, they are Latae sententiae also -- prayer to anyone OTHER than God is worshipping. Argue all you want that it's veneration, but show me in Scripture where Christ taught the disciples to pray to anyone OTHER than God Almighty. Then I'll listen.

Mary is dead physically and in Heaven... but she's not omniscient. She's too busy worshipping God, just as all the other saints (not the "Saints" canonized by the Cult, but all those who are saved and with God). Praying to her, in my estimation, means God, who is ACCESSIBLE to all of his children, is somehow not as good as Mary.

Really?

Everytime I read the bilge about, "if you asked your Mom to pray for you, is that bad? Is it? Is it?" I have to laugh at the outright stupidity of the question. Of course it's okay... your Mom is still alive and here, PRAYING DIRECTLY TO GOD on your behalf. She can hear you, see you, and if you haven't bathed, smell you -- Mary cannot. So your Mom praying for you is exactly what we're told to do to--to pray for one another.

So... if I have DIRECT ACCESS TO GOD, why pray to anyone else to pray for me when all I have to do is to approach God in prayer?

Praying to anyone other than God is idolatry. And stupid. Pray to God who hears you!

Hoss

[Elsie]

She gets perpetual virginity. She gets to be glorified before anyone else. She gets protected from original sin. She gets appointed Mother of the Church and Queen of Heaven. Why? Just because He loves her, and that is reason enough.

What wishful thinking by Catholics!

Every bit of this is totally made up by Rome, and yet the duped swallow it whole!

---

Here is the creature that Rome has created...

Joseph:  Mary; are you asleep?

Mary: You bozo; you KNOW I have to do my prayers.

 

Joseph:  I was just wondering if....

Mary: You hornytoad;  you KNOW I have had this HEADACHE for nigh unto these 12 years or so!

 

Joseph:  A fella can HOPE eternally; can't he?

Mary: Hope all you want; you ain't gettin' it:   I HAVE to remain a VIRGIN for my FOLLOWERS!!

 

Joseph:  What 'followers'?

Mary: The ones who will be bombarding me forEVER with their heartfelt requests!!!

 

Joseph:  I may as well be dead...

Mary: What did you just mumble?  I ain't DEAD; just FRIGID.  Now roll OVER and go to sleep. 

 

 

 

 

Mary: Son? are  You listening??   I've got a bunch more good, Catholic prayers for you to deal with.  Ready?

 

 

 

 

[HossB86]

Now we'll get the DEEP Catholic response of many words.

Yup. Break out the hip-waders. We'll need 'em.

Hoss