Google Why Catholicism is Wrong

Here is a message I received from someone on Facebook who has blocked me:

Google.com/search for "why catholicism is wrong." Since you aren't cracking open the KJV and researching for yourself, maybe former devout catholic testimonies may soften your heart.

So I did...and answered the following questions...

Since the synod Carthage in 393 AD stated, "But let Church beyond sea (Rome) be consulted about confirming this canon", does this not prove that Rome had no direct input or initiative in determining the canon.

Rome doesn't need direct input in everything. It only needs to confirm the brethren that a particular teaching is or is not true. In this case, Rome confirmed the brethren that this doctrine was true.

Provide a single example of a doctrine that originates from an oral Apostolic Tradition that the Bible is silent about? Provide proof that this doctrinal tradition is apostolic in origin.

The Canon of Scripture. The bible is Silent about it, and we got it from oral Apostolic Tradition.

If you are not permitted to engage in private interpretation of the Bible, how do you know which "apostolic tradition" is correct between the Roman Catholic, the Orthodox and the Watchtower churches, for all three teach the organization alone can interpret scripture correctly, to the exclusion of individual?

If Barack Obama, myself, and Jay Leno, all claim to be President of the United States, does this prove that there is no President of the United States? There is a President of the United States and it doesn't matter how many people claim to be the President, Barack Obama is still the president.

And Catholics are permitted to engage in private interpretation all the time. What we are not permitted to do is interpret the bible in such a manner that it contradicts the teaching of Jesus Christ.

Why are we not "allowed" to do this? Because when we interpret the bible in such a manner that it goes against the teaching of Jesus Christ, then what we believe is not Jesus Christ (Truth), but rather error.

The Church is like railroad tracks and our lives are the train. As long as our biblical interpretations are within the railroad tracks, then we are free to ride the train of our lives toward our eternal destination; salvation. But as a train cannot move forward if it is not within the railroad tracks, so to we cannot move toward our goal of true knowledge of the true God, if we go outside the teaching of the Catholic Church.

Some say that the "railroad tracks" restrict the freedom of the "train." This is not so. For as the train cannot move forward unless it has the tracks to guide it's movement, so to we cannot know that we remain in truth unless we remain on the tracks. And within the tracks we have total freedom.

Freedom does not mean being able to do whatever you want. That is license. The train, without the tracks, loses all freedom since it cannot even move unless it is already on the tracks. All it can do is wait in perpetual stasis waiting for the rains and winds of time to eventually cause it to cease to exist. The train is no more free without the railroad tracks to guide it then we are without the church to guide us. As Phillip and the Ethiopian Eunuch say in Acts 8:27 "Do you understand what you are reading?" "How can I unless someone guides me?"

Not This Again

The next site I stumbled on was a fantastic diddy about how a non-Catholic is being treated like a second class citizen by his or her Catholic friends because they are "attempting to read the bible for themselves."

Are you serious? As a wonderful Pastor brother in Christ of mine loves to say, "Really? Really?"

And of course, this new found reading of the bible demonstrates that Catholics have taken out parts of the bible which God says that we should not make any graven images or statues (Ex 20:4-5).

God must have been confused when He gave this commandment since it also says in His Word,

Ex 25:18-19 Make two cherubim of beaten gold

Num 21:8-9 Moses makes a bronze serpent and puts it on a pole

1Kings 6:23-29 the temple had engraved cherubim, trees, and flowers

1Kings 7:25-45 the temple had bronze oxen, lions, and pomegranates.

Looks like more people ignorant of Catholic Teaching.

He Left the Catholic Church (And Obviously Knows Very Little About What the Catholic Church Actually Teaches)

The last site I checked out was written by a non-Catholic who left the Church and became a Pastor. I'll give this guy some credit at least he was willing to quote Scripture and attempted to use Catholic Church resources to demonstrate the Catholic position and why he believes it teaches error. Unlike the first two sources, this person seems to me to be a genuine seeker of truth. (Note if I had said that this person was a genuine seeker of Jesus Christ, thus implying that the first two persons were not, people would say, "how dare you say that these other persons don't seek Jesus Christ," but if you say that they aren't genuine seekers of truth people don't get nearly as upset. Yet Jesus Christ and the truth are the same thing!)

He provides reasons why he left the church...

The First Reason I Left Is Because The Catholics Do Not Have The Right Attitude Toward The Truth.

We shouldn't belong to any church based on the holiness and sinlessness of it's individual members. Even if every Catholic on the planet was a horrific unrepentant sinner, that wouldn't make the teachings of the Catholic Church untrue.

Much in the same way that the sinfulness of any person doesn't make what they believe true or untrue. All people don't live up to the teachings or guides of their own religions, faith traditions, or philosophies. Why? Because as humans we are all insane. Christians refer to it as sin and we know sin is not good for us, yet we do it anyway. There is no explanation save for our own insanity.

But the author here implies that Catholics somehow run and hide when their erroneous teachings are exposed to the light of truth! Let's face it, it is the Catholic Church who is open to having ecumenical dialogue among all faiths and faith traditions.

I have had conversations with folks where I've simply asked questions and been told that, "we don't talk about Jesus," or "it's all the same God anyway," or "I'm not debating with you that's what I believe."

However, the author makes a great point. There are plenty of ignorant Catholics in the world, after all, this guy was one! I'll say it again, there is nothing more dangerous on planet earth than an ignorant Catholic. As Catholics we need to do more to change this. Hopefully we are.

The Next Reason I Left Is Because The Bible Only Is The All Sufficient Guide To Salvation, But The Catholic Church Teaches That It Is Not.

Nowhere in the bible does it say that the bible is the "All Sufficient Guide" to salvation, therefore, to believe that it is, is to add something to the bible. In other words, those Christians who claim to believe in the Bible Alone as the sole authority for Christians need to accept a source outside of Scripture for this belief, since this belief is not found in Scripture! It's the irony of ironies. Catholics are accused of believing things that are not in the bible, but the fundamental belief of most non-Catholics, that the bible is the sole rule of faith for Christians, is not in the bible either!

The author claims it is in the bible and that 2 Tim 3:15-17 demonstrates this understanding. This idea misses the mark for no fewer than three reasons.

1. Paul references the Scriptures that Timothy has known since infancy. What would those Scriptures be? The Old Testament! If anything, this verse suggests that the Old Testament Scriptures are the sole rule of faith for Christians. No Christian would accept that.
   
2. No where in this passage does it say that Scripture alone is all that is required. Instead it says that...
3. All Scripture is profitable. Certainly every Catholic believes that Scripture is profitable. But something being profitable is not the same thing as sufficient. Water may be profitable for my survival as a human, but it isn't sufficient. If I don't eat, I'm still going die no matter how profitable for me the water is.

And why isn't the Bible sufficient? Because the New Testament wasn't even written for years and years after Christs death. The first book of the New Testament that was written was 1 Thessalonians and it wasn't written until at least AD 47! That means that there was well over a decade where there were New Testament Christians, but there was not a written New Testament.

We can have the church without the bible, but we can't have the bible without the church.

The Third Reason I Left Is Because Christ Did Not Make His Church Infallible As The Catholic Church Teaches.

Can you separate Christ's head from His body? The author would have us believe that we can decapitate Christ. We have Christ's head (authority), but His head is separate from His body (church). It is through the body of Christ on the cross that we even have salvation.

The author claims that the authority of Israel was a King, which is true, but again, he fails to connect the authority of the King's Prime Minister when the King is not in Jerusalem. Is 22:15-25. Christ is the King, but in His absence, while we await His second coming, we have a Prime Minister.

Which is to say nothing about the apostles speaking for Christ (Lk 10:16), authorized to retain sins (Jn 20:23), to arbitrate (Mt 18:15-17), and that Peter can bind on earth and have it be bound in Heaven (Mt 16:13-19), or that the church and not the bible is the pillar and foundation of truth (1 Tim 3:15).

The author argues that Christ has all the authority to which the Catholic Church responds with a resounding....duh! The question is not an either or does Christ or the Church have authority, but rather, does Christ share his authority with the church?

When I leave my children with a babysitter, the babysitter has the same authority over my children as I have, because I share all of my authority with the babysitter. If upon my return, I find that my children have disobeyed the babysitter, I don't say, "oh well, they didn't disobey me, they only disobeyed the babysitter, who cares!" Absolutely not. Since I gave my authority to the babysitter, being disobedient to the babysitter is exactly the same as being disobedient to me. My kids don't say to the babysitter, "Dad has all the authority, you have none so screw off!" My kids say, "we better listen to the babysitter or else Dad isn't going to be very happy with us."

So it is with Christ and the church. The church doesn't speak instead of Christ, the church speaks for Christ. Just like He established it to do.

As for this guy...another person who was ignorant of Catholic Teaching who left the Catholic Church. Does anyone else see any similarities here?

A Letter To A Friend Who Disagrees With Me About Christ

[Enter Friend's Name],

Like you, I want the deepest most intimate relationship with Jesus Christ possible. If He is truth, than that relationship, if it is going to be the deepest possible, must be completely based on that which is true.

Remember when we first met (on Facebook...lol), my questions centered entirely around one concept. We disagree about who Christ is, so how do we know which one of us believes error about him? How do I know it is not me, and how do you know it is not you? This is how I engaged you, as a question of how do we know that what we believe about Jesus is true. This is the fundamental question that I have never even seen you attempt to answer. That gives me great concern for you. I'm not in the business of determining who goes to Heaven and who does not, but I am in the business of attempting to help people deepen their relationship with Christ. By not being willing to even address those questions, I'm concerned that you are not able to enter the deepest most intimate relationship with Christ possible.

It was you, who, I sincerely believe out of love for my soul of which I'm very grateful, challenged me on my Catholic faith with your interpretations of such verses as 1 Tim chapter 4. You told me that this verse sounded a lot like Paul was talking about Catholics who had departed from the faith. I took your questions and comments very seriously, I read those verses and did a lot of research on them and responded to you with the intent to help bridge understanding between us. I hope you were just as diligent when I shared with you things like Mt 16:13-19 and Is 22:15-25. I can't know this because you never shared it with me.

Now in this conversation I've been told that I worship Mary and not God which I don't. I've been told that I've never heard God speak, but you and [another person] have. (How could anyone ever know that?) I've been told that I don't say prayers to God from the heart, but only repeat memorized things as if it is impossible for me to have a relationship with God because I'm Catholic. I've been told I'm more interested in pleasing men than I am about pleasing God. (As if Catholics have to make a choice of either being Catholic or loving Christ.) I don't intend to sound like I am a victim here, but I won't lie, it got a bit old, I know intent can get very tricky in texts, but the two of you sounded very arrogant time and time again.

That's when I decided to take a different approach in our conversation. If that drove you to anger or I hurt you I apologize. My approach became to be more direct and no longer take the "how do we know" approach.

And I believe you when you say that you feel like I'm attempting to torture you, not because it is true, but because that is your perception. I never intended to give you that impression. I apologize and I am asking for your forgiveness. But I did want to challenge you in order that you may question things that, contrary to what you say, simply aren't in the bible as you claim it they are, namely, what books belong in the bible, and where in the bible it says that the bible is the sole authority for Christians. Your beliefs in this regard, simply aren't in the bible like you claim them to be. If they are, give me the verse and I'll completely recant my Catholic faith because if it was in the bible, then the Catholic faith would be a lie. But the Catholic Faith is not a lie and the bible doesn't include those two things.

You and I believe that Jesus Christ is Truth and so everything that is true comes from Him who is Truth. If the Bible says that the Church is the pillar and foundation of Truth as it does in 1 Tim 3:15, then the bible, no matter how much we want it to be, is NOT the sole authority for Christians.

Christians all have the 27 books of the New Testament, but some say that homosexuality is not a sin, and some say abortion is a matter of personal choice, and some say that if you are failing financially it's because you don't have enough faith in God, and some say that if you don't more than 10% of your salary to their ministry then God won't even listen to your prayers. Many Christians have had the bible as their sole authority for over 400 years and it has led to as many interpretations as there are readers. The problem with modern day Christianity is not that there is a Pope, but rather, that there are thousands, if not millions of Popes.

And I want all of them to know Jesus Christ, meaning I want them to know truth. Why? Just as I had to get to know my wife when we were dating to have a deep intimate relationship with her, we can only have such a deep relationship with Christ if we know Him.

So it is with any relationship, but especially so with Christ. The more we know Him, the more we love Him. But when we believe things about him which are not true, then it creates a natural chasm whose natural consequence for us is to not love Him as deeply as we could had we not believed those things about Him which are untrue.

There is not one page in all of Scripture that says that God doesn't want us to know truth. He wants us to know Himself who is truth itself! Why? Because He wants us to have a relationship with Him. But that relationship cannot enter into its deepest level of intimacy if even some of what we believe about him is a lie.

And [enter friend's name], we are brothers in the same family of Christ. If we won't help challenge each other to have a deeper relationship with our Lord, who will?

All My Love and My Continued Prayers,

Nathan