its a blog designed to take people who fell away from the Catholic church, due to the sinfulness of its members and take them back.
One should never judge truth by conduct, Many Catholics killed protestants, and many protestants killed Catholics, but the issue here isnt conduct, it is truth. we dont judge protestant churches based on the conduct of its members, but whether or not they teach us truth in accordance with sacred scripture and tradition.
if protestants judge truth by conduct, then they might as well throw out the Bible as all its inspired authors are sinners.
our protestant brothers/sisters would also have to ignore the thousands of martyrs and saints the Catholic church has given us over the centurys such as mother theresa, Padre Pio and so on and so forth.
this blog is one that provides us with the blood of the martyrs, an example of how the Catholic doctrine never let us down.
Matt 7:17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
2Peter 1:21 For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
You keep talking about the 'blood of the martyrs' and there would be less martyrs if the catholic church didn't kill them.
You should point people to Christ not the catholic church.
Matthew 7:20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.
Therefore Stephentlig, people's conduct should be taken into account.
You mentioned Protestants killing Catholics and vise-versa. No true Christian would ever kill another brother because of different views on doctrine. These men are not Christians even though they may call themselves one.
You say the Catholic doctrine has never let you down.
But for essential parts of it are wholly wrong e.g. praying to Mary or other so-called "saints" this goes entirley against scripture.
it's one thing when you believe the contents of a book written by sinful men is inerrent and infallible in regards to revelation, but when you claim an organization wrought from sinfulness and stained with the blood of christian martyrs is a source of holy revelation... that's another thing entirely.
__________________ O Lord, you will ordain peace for us,
for you have indeed done for us all our works. Isaiah 26:12
Stephentlig, outside of the main Mary basilica in Rome (Santa Maria Maggiore) there is a large crucifix with Jesus hanging on one side and a crowned Mary hanging on the other.
Also, if Mary was sinless then her mom and dad would have to be sinless and their moms and dads sinless, etc...
Catholic doctrine is truth. The argument that people who claim to follow it do things contrary to it (kill) thus meaning the doctrine itself is false is invalid merely because they are acting on their own accord, and not only misrepresent it, but do not represent it at all in the first place. Not everyone follows their "beliefs," unfortunately.
Praying to the saints; Mary, is entirely scriptural. Do you ask your family or friends to pray for you or a cause? 'Tis the same thing, except that the saints are in Heaven, and are perfect, because they are in [perfect] union with God (perfection itself), and so must therefore pray perfectly, furthering the cause of each prayer. Revelation 5:8 shows the saints offering up our prayers. Also, take a look at 1 Tim. 2:1–4. "First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all men, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life, godly and respectful in every way. This is good, and pleasing to God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth."
The passage shows that intercessions and petitions are indeed pleasing to God.
There are issues with which the protestant churches and the RCC disagree. Here are some of them.
1. The RCC teaches transubstantiation; during the eucharist the bread and the wine become literally the body and blood of Jesus Christ. We teach consubstantiation; the bread and the wine are symbols of his body and blood, and remain symbols only.
2. The RCC teaches that Jesus Christ is sacrificed each time the mass is conducted. We teach that Jesus Christ was sacrificed once, and from that time on he sits at the right hand of God the Father.
3. The RCC teaches that Jesus' mother never had children other than Jesus himself, and even then had him by a divine 'caesarean section' so as not to lose the physical evidence of her virginity. We believe that this not only degrades all women, but also attempts to subordinate Judaism and its laws (Genesis 9:1) to their theology. We teach that Mary was a virgin when Jesus was conceived and delivered, but then went on to have other children, with Joseph as their father.
4. The RCC teaches that there is a place which they call Purgatory; they base this on their interpretation of I Corinthians 3:10-15. We teach that it is the works that are tried, rather than the souls of the people.
5. The RCC teaches that women must adopt a subordinate role to men. No woman is to be ordained a deacon or a priest, nor are they to have any position in the church in which they have authority over men. We teach that it is the spirituality of the individual, irregardless of their sex, that is to be the motivating factor toward a position within the church.
6. The RCC teaches that we have two sources of instruction and direction, which are Scripture and church tradition. We teach that it is through Scripture that we are to be directed, with church tradition answerable to that Scripture.
The Roman Catholic Church and the protestant churches have fought in years past, and there are areas in which disagreements prevent a reuniting of us yet today. But I give credit where credit is due. Priests who performed The Last Rites on soldiers while bullets were flying past them on Omaha Beach on D-Day, RCC clerics who spoke out against the atrocities committed by the Nazis and paid for their criticism with their lives, priests who gave aid to lepers and others with communicable diseases only to die of those diseases themselves, sisters who treated wounded soldiers even as the battle raged around them; these are examples of people who earnestly endeavored to serve God and their fellow human beings. I find no fault with these people, and consider tham worthy of holding up as examples of how all Christians, RCC and protestant, are to act. We have our differences, but we worship the same Triune God, giving him the thanks due him for what he has done for us.
The argument that people who claim to follow it do things contrary to it (kill) thus meaning the doctrine itself is false is invalid merely because they are acting on their own accord, and not only misrepresent it, but do not represent it at all in the first place. Not everyone follows their "beliefs," unfortunately.
I agre that we should not reject the Catholic doctrine because of people who abused it and did not follow it, there are biblical reasons to reject it.
Praying to the saints; Mary, is entirely scriptural. Do you ask your family or friends to pray for you or a cause? 'Tis the same thing, except that the saints are in Heaven, and are perfect, because they are in [perfect] union with God (perfection itself), and so must therefore pray perfectly, furthering the cause of each prayer. Revelation 5:8 shows the saints offering up our prayers. Also, take a look at 1 Tim. 2:1–4. "First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all men, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life, godly and respectful in every way. This is good, and pleasing to God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth."
The passage shows that intercessions and petitions are indeed pleasing to God.
Praying to the saints and Mary is not the same thing as praying for the saints. Every verse you quote speaks of interceeding (praying FOR others burdens) for living saints, not praying TO dead saints and Mary. You cannot just quote a scripture and pull it out of context to make your belief fit. How do you think Mary prayed? She prayed to God, not to dead saints and definately not to herself. Intercession is praying for someone, not praying TO dead saints or Mary.
Any questions/comments shalt be addressed.
Show me one clear biblical passage that says we should pray "TO" a dead saint or to Mary. Show me where the Bible say that to be a saint you must be dead and declared a saint? Did Paul write the book of Ephesians to dead people who could not read it, because He addressed it to saints, "Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are at Ephesus and who are faithful in Christ Jesus" Ephesians 1:1
These are just a couple of the problems I have with the Catholic doctirne. I hope God reveals His truth to you.
I offer my apologies for the delayed response to this post, but I have to say that I'm in no position right now to defend Catholic doctrine. Specifically because, I've been looking into Orthodoxy and my life is pretty messed up at the moment.
Catholic doctrine is far from truth. Can anyone explain why the common people were not permitted to have bibles during the dark ages. You do know that the bible was considered as something only the priest could interpret.
When the different councils met and decided to believe a new doctrine it was simply taught to the people with no biblical backing. The person who translated the bible from greek i believe to english was William Tyndale. Do you know what was done to him? He was burned at the stake. Of course you mention that atrocities were done both by catholics and protestants but look at the reasons behind it.
Why do you think that there was a reformation all of a sudden? The first printing press was invented in the early 1500s and men began to acquire the bible and study for themselves, realizing that most of what was taught was not in the bible. So then the church countered by saying that tradition is side by side with holy scripture and is just as good for doctrine as the bible is. When the early reformers began studying and saw the Vatican as the seat of the Antichrist, Catholic Jesuit Priests came up with 2 alternate ways of interpreting prophecy. Francisco Ribera and Cardinal Robert Bellarmine came up with the Futurist view to push the period of the Antichrist to the future. Jesuit Luis De Alcazar came up with the preterist view and pushed the period of the Antichrist in the passed in Pagan Rome. These guys were involved in the counter reformation to screen the Papal power from being seen as the Antichrist power. Do the research and you will see. The Catholic Origins of Futurism and Preterism
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