Response to "It's Time Roman Catholics Asked Some Serious Questions - 11) Once for All

http://www.biblebc.com/Roman%20Catholicism/Serious_Questions.htm

11) WHY does the Roman Catholic church teach that Jesus Christ is continually sacrificed today, when the scripture says the sacrifice of Jesus was necessary only once for all eternity?

(In the text I wrote to this person I took a lot of information from this article. I will just share the article itself here.

http://www.catholic.com/thisrock/1990/9006chap.asp

Response to "It's Time Roman Catholics Asked Some Serious Questions - 10) Obey Jesus

http://www.biblebc.com/Roman%20Catholicism/Serious_Questions.htm

10) Why go to a church that claims to be following Jesus, but is not interested in obeying His WORDS?

I agree...

Mt 16:13-19 "You are Kepha and upon this Kepha I will build my church." (Jesus when He instituted the Papacy on Peter quotes directly from Isaiah 22:15-25...Read it!)

Jn 20:23 "Whose sins you retain are retained."

Lk 10:16 "He who hears you hears me. He who rejects you rejects me."

Jn 6:53 "Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood you have no life in you"

Jn 3:5 "Unless you are born of water and the Spirit you cannot enter the Kingdom of God."

Response to "It's Time Roman Catholics Asked Some Serious Questions - 9) Call No Man Father

http://www.biblebc.com/Roman%20Catholicism/Serious_Questions.htm

9) WHY does the Roman Catholic Church require people to call a religious man “Father” when Jesus commanded us to call NO RELIGIOUS MAN “FATHER!”

Note again how the author says something in the text says that the text doesn't actually say. The text says, call no man father, but the author would have us believe that the text says call no RELIGIOUS man father. That's not what the text says does it?

What the author is trying to do is avoid the problem of calling earthly men who were responsible for our conception father. His sleight of hand is not so easily accepted by the careful reader.

But again the author has a serious problem for if this is really a commandment of Jesus, then Jesus must have been a sinner or confused by his own teaching because:

Mt 3:9 - Jesus calls Abraham "father"

Also...

Acts 7:2 - Stephen the first martyr calls the Jewish leaders fathers. Apparently the author would have us believe that Stephen's last act before he gave his own life in witness for Christ was to disobey Christ by calling these men fathers?
Rom 4:26-27 - Paul calls Abraham the father of us all
1 Cor 4:14-15 - Paul refers to himself that he became their father through the Gospel
1 Jn 2:13, 14 - John writes...I write to you , fathers, because you know him

A few more examples, not necessarily as explicit:
1 Tim 1:2
Tit 1:4
Heb 12:7-9
Lk 14:26
1 Thes 2:11
Philem 10

Response to "It's Time Roman Catholics Asked Some Serious Questions - 8) Celibate Priesthood

http://www.biblebc.com/Roman%20Catholicism/Serious_Questions.htm

8) WHY does the Roman Catholic Church require its ministers to be unmarried, and called “priests” when the Bible says they are to be married, and simply calls them pastors, teachers, and bishops?

This is a question worth asking according to the author. Interesting because the Catholic Church teaches that the celibacy requirement of those who receive the Sacrament of Holy Orders, which includes Deacons, Priests, and Bishops, is not a teaching of God. It is a tradition of men, but this tradition of men does not nullify the Word of God, but rather upholds it.

Mt 19:12 - Jesus celebrates celibacy and was Himself celibate... See More
Jer 16:1-4 - Jeremiah told not to take a wife and children
1 Cor 7:8 - Paul was celibate
1 Cor 7:32-35 Paul recommends celibacy to devote oneself entirely to God
1 Tim 5:9-12 pledge of celibacy taken by older widows

But let's get to the heart of the author's question.

Let's say I want to be a bishop. So I go to Paul and he says, sorry dude, you have to be the husband of one wife. So even though I want to follow the Lord completely, I have to be married first. So even though I don't want to get married I choose to do so because I want to be a bishop and serve God.

So I find a wife and I go back to Paul and say, "I got married I want to be a bishop now." And Paul says, "sorry you don't have any children (this emphasis was made by the author on the website)." So I go back to my wife and try to have children but I find out that she is not able to have children.

So I go back to Paul and tell him, we can't have kids, and Paul says, "sorry, even though I think you'd make a great bishop unless you are married and have kids, you can't become a bishop." Really? Is that what the author would have us believe.

So now all I wanted to do was serve the God as a bishop and I was forced to marry a woman I didn't want to even marry and I still can't become a bishop because she is not able to have children. But I had no way of knowing that she couldn't have children before we were married and I can't get divorced and marry someone else because Jesus teaches against that too.

Do you see how ludicrous this thinking actually is when you reason it out to it's logical conclusions.

What Paul is saying to Timothy is that if you are going to be a bishop you cannot be married to more than one wife. Why? Because that goes against Christian teaching. And if you do have children and want to be a bishop, it must be demonstrated that your children are well behaved and not reckless and disobedient. For how can a man attempt to bring order and discipline to an entire church if he can't even do so with his children at home?

However, in 23 of the 24 Rites of the Catholic Church, priests can be married. And even in the Roman or Latin Rite of the Church, there are a few exceptions of married priests, most of which are converts who came from the Anglican Church.

Catholics are free to disagree with this church discipline. This custom is not apart of the Deposit of Faith (Faith and Morals) and therefore, unlike the male only Priesthood, the Church can dispense with this custom whenever she chooses.

On a total side note if you read just about 10 verses later in 1 Tim 3:15 it states that the church is the pillar and foundation of the truth. The bible never says that the bible is the pillar and foundation of the truth but it does say that the church is.

Response to "It's Time Roman Catholics Asked Some Serious Questions - 7) Sola Fide

http://www.biblebc.com/Roman%20Catholicism/Serious_Questions.htm

7) WHY does the Roman Catholic church say salvation comes through good works, when the Bible says salvation is a free gift from God, by faith alone, apart from good works?

The Catholic Church does not teach that salvation comes through good works. Again, the Catholic faith is mischaracterized. Whether this is intentional or not is not something that we can readily discern, but it does seem to be a prevailing theme through most of these websites.

Notice the sleight of hand on the part of the author. The author says that the Bible says salvation is a free gift of God by faith alone, but then gives a Scripture passage (Eph 2:8-9) which says, "for by grace you have been saved through faith." Note that the Scripture passage doesn't actually say faith alone. The author is attempting to convince you that the bible is saying something it doesn't actually say.

Many would suggest that Eph 2:8-9 is greatly misunderstood. When the author is claiming that we have been saved by grace through faith (exactly what the Catholic Church teaches) and this faith is not of works, what the Scripture is telling us is that faith does not come from works. When the scripture here speaks of "it is not of works" it is not speaking about salvation but rather of faith.

If I were to say that I have a ball and a car which is blue; what is blue? Is it the ball or the car. It is the car since the descriptor (blue) is nearest the word car. Now it is true that the ball may be blue too, but the text doesn't tell us.

So what does this Scripture teach? Not only is Salvation a free gift of God, but the faith that is necessary for salvation is also a free gift of God. We can't "do works" to get this faith which is necessary for salvation. If it was, then we wouldn't need Christ to be saved.

If I could "do stuff" and that would give me the faith necessary for salvation, then I wouldn't need Christ in order to be saved. After all, all I would need is to do the stuff apart from God which grants me the faith I need to be saved.

This is very important for Christians as we should remain humble for even those who have great faith cannot boast of their works which gave them that faith for that very great faith that they have is itself a free gift of God.

Imagine a world with a bunch of Christians preaching, "You don't need Jesus to be saved, just do these things and you'll get a saving faith!"

Scripture never teaches that we are saved or justified by faith alone, but Scripture does teach in James 2:24 that we are justified by works and not by faith alone. Why do non-Catholics not believe the bible when it clearly teaches that we are not saved by faith alone?

And if faith alone is all that is necessary for salvation, and salvation is the greatest gift we could ever possibly receive than why does Paul teach that Love is greater than faith?

Response to "It's Time Roman Catholics Asked Some Serious Questions - 6) Once Saved Always Saved?

http://www.biblebc.com/Roman%20Catholicism/Serious_Questions.htm

6) WHY does the Roman Catholic church teach that no one can be certain of salvation, when the Bible teaches that salvation is assured in Jesus Christ?

The bible teaches that we absolute assurance of our salvation?

Mt 7:21 - Not everyone who says Lord, Lord will be inherit... See More
Rom 11:22 - remain in his kindness or you will cut off
1 Cor 9:27 - drive body for fear of being disqualified
1 Cor 10:11-12 - those think they are secure, may fall
Gal 5:4 - Separated from Christ, you've fallen from grace

Note the last verse, it speaks to those who are separated from Christ. This refers to those people who were previously in Christ, now they are separated from Christ. We separate wheat from the chaffe because at one time they were connected. We separate milk from cream because at one time they were connected.

We should make a distinction here. God will always remain faithful to His promises for He cannot deny Himself. However, we can lose our salvation if we do not remain faithful to Him. So we do have absolute assurance that God will remain faithful, but we do not have absolute assurance that we will remain faithful.

If we willingly separate ourselves from Christ and His Body, then we endanger losing our salvation.

Response to "It's Time Roman Catholics Asked Some Serious Questions - 5) Two Mediators?

http://www.biblebc.com/Roman%20Catholicism/Serious_Questions.htm

5) WHY does the Roman Catholic church teach that Mary mediates between men and God when the Bible teaches that Jesus alone is the mediator between God and men?

The Catholic Church does teach that Jesus Christ is the one mediator between God and men. However, Catholics believe that they can ask other Christians to pray for them. So one Catholic on earth may ask another Catholic on earth to pray for them and they do not believe that Christ is angered or jealous that they are asking other people to pray for them instead of going to Him alone with their prayer.

But as the Church is the Body of Christ, and the Body of Christ consists of all Christians both on earth and in Heaven, Catholics believe that they can also ask the Christians in Heaven to pray for them as well.

It is precisely because of Christ being the one mediator that we can ask other Christians in Heaven and on earth to pray for us. And they will. Even Mary.

Response to "It's Time Roman Catholics Asked Some Serious Questions - 4) Traditions of Men

http://www.biblebc.com/Roman%20Catholicism/Serious_Questions.htm

4) WHY does the Bible condemn the traditions of men, when the Roman Catholic church places them on an equal footing with the Word of God?

Mk 7:9 does not condemn all tradition, just that tradition which nullifies the Word of God. The particular tradition being condemned here is the Korban Rule. This rule suggested that people could deposit their money to the temple and therefore, they would be relieved of their responsibilities to take care of their older parents because "they had no money with which to support them."

This nullifies the Word of God in that the fourth commandment is to honor your father and mother. ... See More

Tradition itself, is never condemned by the bible and is held up as something to be longed for and defended.

1 Cor 11:2 - Hold fast to the traditions I handed on to you
2 Thes 2:15 - hold fast to traditions, whether by word of mouth or by epistle
2 Thes 3:6 - Shun those not according to tradition

Now there is time for clarification.

There are traditions (small 't') of men which do not come from God, such as organs or Gregorian chant during worship. These are not considered on equal footing to the Bible.

There are however, oral teachings of Jesus and the Holy Spirit which are entrusted to the church. And these teachings, having their origin from God, have the same reverence and authority as the Sacred Scriptures. This is called Sacred Tradition (capital 'T') One example of these teachings is the Canon of Sacred Scripture itself. The Sacred Texts do not tell us what books do and what books do not belong in the Bible and therefore, we need an extra-biblical authority to tell us what Scripture is. Fortunately God gave His church that authority and gave that same church the Sacred Tradition in order to do so.

Response to "It's Time Roman Catholics Asked Some Serious Questions - 3) Repetitious Prayer

http://www.biblebc.com/Roman%20Catholicism/Serious_Questions.htm

3) WHY does the Bible condemn repetitious prayers, when the Roman Catholic church encourages them?

The bible condemns repetitious prayer? Really?

1 - The Our Father, is it acceptable for Christians to pray this prayer more than once?... See More

2 - Jesus himself used repetitious prayer in Mt 26:44, "Jesus prayed a third time, saying the same thing again."

3 - The collector in Lk 18:13 kept beating his breast and praying: be merciful

4 - Rev 4:8, they repeat day and night, "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord."

5 - Psalm 136, each line ends with, "God's love endures forever."

If repetitious prayer is good enough for Jesus, it's good enough for me.

However, the author does make a good point. Prayer is about practicing the presence of God. Sometimes repetitious prayer is the best way to do this. Sometimes spontaneous prayer is the best way to do this.

Response to "It's Time Roman Catholics Asked Some Serious Questions - 2) Why is my church so opposed to the Bible?

http://www.biblebc.com/Roman%20Catholicism/Serious_Questions.htm

2) Why is my church so opposed to the Bible?

The Catholic Church is not opposed to the Bible. The Bible was written by Catholics. There is nothing in the Bible which is opposed to anything in the Catholic faith and there is nothing in the Catholic faith which is opposed to anything in the Bible.

Response to "It's Time Roman Catholics Asked Some Serious Questions - The Missing Commandment

I was shown this website by a friend of mine and as I responded to the questions as follows.

WHY has the Roman Catholic church removed the second commandment, which deals with idolatry, from the Ten Commandments in its catechisms?

The Catholic Church has used the version of the 10 Commandments found in Deut 5 as opposed to Exodus 20. It would be wise for us to remember that the Catholic Church was reading and studying the Scriptures long before there were chapters and verses inserted into the text for the simplicity of reference.

What should be noted is at the time of the reformation Luther used the "Catholic" 10 commandments version. It wasn't until Calvin that the practice of listed the commandments differently was used to attack the Catholic practice of having statues to remind them of Holy things.

The question which should be posed by the author is not whether or not there is a missing commandment, but whether or not the Catholic Church actually teaches that it is acceptable to make idols for ourselves or to worship anything other than God alone.

In this regard, the church does not teach either of those two things. Nor does God, for if it is unacceptable to make statues or any graven images, then why does God have written in His Holy Scripture:

Ex 25:18-19 - God commands to make two cherubim of beaten gold.
Num 21:8-9 - Moses makes a bronze serpent and put on pole
1 Kgs 6:23-29 - temple had engraved cherubim, trees, and flowers
1 Kgs 7:25-45 - temple had bronze oxen, lions, pomegranates.

Catholics who have statues or other Holy reminders do not worship those Holy reminders themselves. They are only used to help Catholics keep their minds and hearts on God alone.

When I was in the Army and was stationed overseas, I had pictures of my family. I didn't believe that the pictures were substitutes for my family, but they helped me to focus my mind on those at home whom I missed and loved. A statue of Mary or Jesus isn't worshiped in place of God, but is used in prayer to help us to focus ourselves on God and of Heaven. Now many people who do disagree with this practice of kneeling before statues or images of Heavenly things also kneel beside their beds before they say morning or evening prayer. Does this mean that they are worshiping their bed? Surely not, and nor do Catholic when they use statues or icons to assist in their prayer.