My mom knew a nun and she wanted her to come over for a Bible study. The nun said she couldn't? Why? Because the Catholic church is so cult-like it won't let its members read the Bible on its own. Only clergy can teach the Bible to its members.
The Catholic church has become an abomination to God.
And, yes, the teachings of Paul make it clear that salvation is by faith and faith alone. The Bible is standard which articulates salvation, not Catholic doctrines.
Ephesians 2:8-9
New King James Version
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.
Obviously, you judge the Catholic Church by a few sinners, including homosexuals. Sunday’s Gospel Jesus touched one of the unclean outcasts, a leper and became an outcast Himself (unable to enter a town openly). Jesus came to save sinners. Luke 19:10 The mission as the Catholic Church (Mt 28:19-20) directed by Jesus is to lead all to eternal salvation.
Yes, there is sexual abuse in the Catholic Church and the Church has taken steps to correct it. Yes, sexual abuse is the way of the world and we haven’t stopped it or the many other sinful ways of man. As the Blessed Mother told us in 1965 in private revelation that Cardinals, Bishops and priests will lead many to perdition. She also told us the few would enter Heaven. She told us to repent, do penance and pray.
Catholics are not prohibited from protestant bible studies if they are aware that some protestant interpretations are not God’s truth. While we should all study the Bible, Catholics may not be comfortable with protestants beliefs that are contrary to what Jesus taught.
Catholics, based on their Tradition, study the Bible with different premises:
The authority of the apostles and the Church preceded the Bible, and the Tradition of the Church is an equally infallible authority (2 Thess. 2:15; CCC 80–83). The Bible is part of the apostolic Tradition.
The authoritative interpretation of the Bible is the prerogative of the Catholic Church (1 Tim. 3:15; Matt. 18:17; CCC 85-88).
The Bible is not always easy to understand (2 Pet. 3:15-16) and needs to be understood within its historical and contextual framework and interpreted within the community to which it belongs.
Individuals can and should read the Bible and interpret it for themselves—but within the framework of the Church’s authoritative teaching and not based on their own private interpretation (2 Pet 1:20-21).
Your comment: “Because the Catholic church is so cult-like it won’t let its members read the Bible on its own. Only clergy can teach the Bible to its members.”
Again, you are misinformed, The Catholic Church has no prohibition against Catholics reading the Bible. The Church does have the authority of Jesus to interpretate the scriptures.Mt 18:17
Your comment: “The Catholic church has become an abomination to God.” Again, your personal opinion based on the ways of the world. As Christ was hated by he world, so too will Catholics be hated by the world. Mark 13:13
your comment: “And, yes, the teachings of Paul make it clear that salvation is by faith and faith alone. The Bible is standard which articulates salvation, not Catholic doctrines.”
So you are the authority and not Jesus Christ. Jesus never said that you are saved by faith alone. Christ said you need Baptism, my Sacraments including the Eucharist, not follow false prophets, works as I have done, keep my commandments and endure till the end (in the state of grace).
Following Paul, the Catholic Church teaches that justification comes by faith. Only it says that it doesn’t come through faith alone. If you look carefully at Paul’s writings, you will notice that he never says that our righteousness comes from faith alone—only that it comes from faith apart from works.
Romans 3:28 is a key verse in the differences between traditional Protestants and Catholics. You will notice that Paul says a man is justified by faith (pistei in Greek). When Martin Luther translated the letter to the Romans into German in the sixteenth century, he added the word alone —but alone is not in the original Greek text. The phrase “faith alone” does occur in the New Testament: one time, in James 2:24. There the inspired apostle denies that justification is from faith alone. Let me quote it: “You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.”
Paul speaks about Christians fulfilling the law by following the command to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Gal. 5:14). He then explains that we must show the “fruit of the Spirit” (Gal 5:16–26) and bear one another’s burdens (Gal. 6:1ff) as a way of fulfilling the “law of Christ” (Gal. 6:2). All Paul’s teaching comes down to this: Our own works can never justify us, but works that grow out of faith in Christ are part of our justification. That’s why Paul says in Philippians 2:12 you must “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” And that squares with James’s teaching that works that grow from faith justify.
https://www.catholic.com/magazine/print-edition/arent-we-saved-by-faith-alone
My question to you: If someone only believes in some of Christ’s teachings and rejects others (specifically the Sacrament of the Eucharist) does one have true faith in Jesus Christ to receive eternal salvation in Heaven?