Sadly, the amount of misconceptions and blatant falsities present here is overwhelming. I will do my best to answer each.
Christiangirl0909 said:
I have been studying differant denominations, and have discovered that the Catholic church includes rules, regulations, and activities in their service that are mentioned no where in the Bible. Here are some:
Before I go on, can you tell me where the Bible SAYS everything has to be in the Bible? It is ironically unbiblical to assert everything is in the Bible.
According to the book written by a Roman Catholic Plain Facts for Fair Minds, tradition is held as the highest authority in the Catholic church, even above the Bible. I conclude for myself that many unbiblical practices are done in the Roman Catholic Church (see below). However, we see in Matthew 15:3, 6-9, Traditions of men make void the word of God. We also read in Deuteronomy 4:2 and Isaiah 8:20 that we are not to add onto or take away from the scripture.
Christian Tradition is INDEED held in the highest regard, but then again, the Bible IS Christian Tradition! Have you ever wondered where you got your Bible? The Councils of the Catholic Church outlined the list of Inspired Books! Hence YOU Believe in a Catholic Tradition!
In The Catholic Dictionary on pg. 82, we find that "the Bible is not to be read by all; The Pope forbids it; all must not read it". However, we know that scriptures are to be read and understood by everyone. Ephesians 3:4, John 5:39, Acts 17:11 and I Peter 2:2.
I have not read this and it is most likely taken way out of context. All I can say is that EVERY SINGLE CATHOLIC is both encouraged and allowed to read th Bible by the Pope.
According to Faith of our Fathers on pg. 78, Peter is said to have established the first [Catholic] church; he was the first pope and his successors were popes. Peter denied in I Peter 2:4-6 that the church was built by him or on him. Jesus is the builder and head of the church, Matthew 16:18. In I Peter 5:1 and Acts 15: 13-19, we see that Peter is not superior to the other apostles. Peter was also a married man (Matthew 8:14 & I Corinthians 9:5) and popes are not allowed to marry.
Jesus built the Church ON PETER!! Did you just ignore that part of Matthew 16? He even gives Peter the KEYS TO THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN! But of course Jesus is the founder of the Church. NO Catholic would say otherwise, clearly you simply do not understand Catholicism. Also, Priests not being married is a DISCIPLINE of the Church, not a dogma. Even today, certain exceptions are allowed, i.e. certain episcopalian converts who were already married. Priestly celibacy was not ALWAYS a discipline of the Church and could theoretically change again, although I doubt it will anytime soon.
A priest is considered "another Christ", being the means of access between a sinner and God. But I Peter 2:5-9 and Revelation 1:5-6 tells us that all Christians are 'priests' who have access to God through Christ.
A priest is NOT considered "another Christ" at all. That is ridiculous. Also, all Christians do take part in Christian priesthood, but certain members of the Church are called to the special Sacrament of the Priesthood.
Catholics believe in Purgatory, which is supposedly where the dead go to suffer punishment until they can be purified. According to Hebrews 9:27, prayers of saints and others cannot change our destiny after death. Purgatory is never mentioned in the Bible.
Purgatory is NOT a second chance, it is a place where those who are in the State of Grace--thus warranting Heaven--but who still have either minor sins or temporal punishment due to sins are purified before entering Heaven, since "Nothing unclean shall enter"
The Trinity is never mentioned in the Bible. Do you believe in that? Try 1 Cor 3: 10-15. That is just about as explicit of a teaching of purgatory as you could find. Also, Jews always believed in a place such as Purgatory (see 2 Macabees). Did Jesus eradicate that teaching? NO! Jesus and the Apostles HAMMERED every Jewish teaching which was no logner necessary for Christians, and yet they NEVER condemned the practice of praying for the souls departed.
The Roman Catholic church began the Crusades, which were basically wars against Musims and sometimes Jews or Protestants- just people with other faiths in general. Matthew 5:38-45 tells us to love our enemies and pray for them.
The Crusades were just wars on Muslims? The Crusades were DEFENSIVE WARS! The Muslims had attacked and conquered the Holy Land, and the Crusades were attempting to reclaim that land. Obviously, your info on the subject is biased, unscholarly work not meant to inform but to indoctrinate. Were there problems in the Crusades? Sure. In any war there will always be abuses. But the core of the Crusades was just. And either way, it does not MATTER, as the Crusades have nothing to do with the teaching of Faith and Morals, or of Salvation, the purpose of the Church.
According to the Manual of Christian Doctrine pg. 444, Catholics are allowed to lie if by doing so it furthers their religion. Exodus 20, Colossians 3:9, and Ephesians 4:15 all clearly forbid lying.
I am not exactly sure what you are talking about here. I have never been aware of such a doctrine, and if you could find it for me in the Catechism I would be happy to answer it for you. But I assume what the author meant is that lying can be okay under certain cirumstances, such as people hiding Jews during WWII
Sprinkling is sufficent for a Catholic baptism, as well as immersion. Romans 6:4 describes baptism as a burial. Acts 22:16 describes baptism as a washing. Also, baptism is a Greek word which is translated to "dip, plunge or submerge."
? I do not see your point here. Catholics can choose to be immersed or sprinkled.
According to Catholics, infants should recieve baptism.However only believers who have repented of their sins and confessed their faith in Christ are biblically qualified to be baptized according to Romans 10:10, Acts 2:38 and Mark 16:15-16.
Then why does Jesus tell the Children to come to him? Why are "whole households" baptized, presumably including Children? If Baptism is necessary for Salvation (which it is, see 2 Peter), children should be Baptized as soon as possible, with the Faith of their parents standing in for the Faith they cannot achieve until the age of Reason. And once they attain that age, they must believe or the Baptism does them no real good.
According to Catholic religion, marriage is void unless performed by a Catholic priest? Yet where was the Catholic priest at the wedding Jesus attended? The Catholic religion wasn't begun until the year 606 by Boniface III.
There WAS no Church before Jesus instituted His Church. Surely you must recognize the difference between a marriage before Christ came and after.
Finally, that last point shows your knowledge on this subject is extremely flawed. The church was not started until 606?!?!do I need to bring out the HOST of Catholic teachings taught by hundreds of Church fathers before that Year? Irenaus, in the early second century proclaims the doctrine of the Eucharist. St Augustine had dozens of writings, all Catholic in Doctrine. St. Ignatius the Martyr, Tertullian, Jerome, etc. I suggest you read some history before making broad, fallacious statements such as these.
Catholics also pray and genereally worship Mary. But where does the Bible or Jesus command us to worship Mary?
Once again, you are simply wrong. No true Catholic worships Mary. PERIOD. Also, Jesus gives Mary the highest honor possible, by making her His Mother. Shouldn't WE honor her? Or is following Jesus' lead unbiblical? praying to Saints is not worshipping Saints. Have you never prayed for a fellow human? Well, I ask the Saints to pray for me. It is the exact same thing, only the SAINTS are PERFECTED, and the prayer of a righteous man is very powerful. Who is more righteous than the perfect Saints? Not to mention we are COMMANDED to ofer prayers supplications, etc. in Timothy.
I'm sure I have left a lot out. Please note that all of the books quoted from, excluding the Bible, are official publications of the Catholic church, and were written by notable Catholic authors.
You have left out quite a bit of prejudiced, erroneous, fallacious propaganda publicised by Anti-Catholic groups. You haven't attacked our calling Priests father, you haven't claimed we worship cookies, etc. So yes, you left out a lot!
Apology accepted, let's move on.
