Anytime we place a church over the authority of Jesus Christ, we already lost the battle Mat 28:18 Placing "Catholic doctrine" over what He said Jesus told mankind to live by Mat4:4. There is no mediator between us and God except Jesus Christ 1 Tim2:5. There is a reason why we are told the whole world (majority) is deceived. Their fear of God is through mans traditions Isa 29:13 not what God said Mat15:3-14 Mark7:7-13 Exo:31 Exo20:1-17 Exo20:20
I know there is no agreeing here and that's OK , God will sort this all out in His time. I pray people will study the Bible for themselves to learn the Truth of God's Word according to God, not man.
God bless all and Happy Sabbath!
You’re absolutely right that
Jesus Christ alone has all authority (Matt 28:18) and that we must live by “every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matt 4:4). But Catholic teaching does not place “a church over Jesus”; rather, it teaches that
Jesus Himself established a visible Church and gave it real authority to teach in His name (Matt 16:18–19; Matt 28:19–20). The Church’s doctrine is not placed
above Christ’s words — it is the Church’s Spirit‑guided duty to
preserve, guard, and authentically interpret those words (2 Pet 1:20–21). This is why the apostles appointed successors (Acts 1:20–26; Titus 1:5) and why the early Church recognised that “the pillar and foundation of the truth” is the Church (1 Tim 3:15), not private interpretation.
Catholics fully affirm that
Christ is the one mediator between God and humanity (1 Tim 2:5) — this is dogma. But Scripture also teaches that Christ shares His mediating work with His Body, the Church, in subordinate ways: the apostles forgive sins (John 20:22–23), the elders anoint the sick (James 5:14–15), and Christians intercede for one another (1 Tim 2:1–2). None of this replaces Christ; it is Christ working
through His Church. Likewise, when Jesus condemns “traditions of men” (Matt 15:3–9; Mark 7:7–13), He is condemning human inventions that contradict God’s commandments — not the
apostolic Tradition that Paul commands Christians to hold fast to (2 Thess 2:15). Catholic dogma distinguishes sharply between
human traditions and the
apostolic Tradition handed down from Christ.
The claim that “the whole world is deceived” (Rev 12:9) is true in the sense that sin blinds humanity, but Catholic teaching rejects the SDA idea that the majority of Christians have fallen into apostasy because they worship on Sunday or follow “man’s traditions” . The early Church — long before Rome had any institutional influence — worshipped on Sunday because of the Resurrection (Acts 20:7; Rev 1:10). This is not a change to God’s law but the fulfilment of the Sabbath in Christ (Col 2:16–17). Catholic dogma also rejects the SDA interpretation of Revelation 14, which identifies the “mark of the beast” with Sunday worship; the Church teaches that apocalyptic symbols refer to
allegiance to God versus rebellion, not calendar observance (Catechism 675–677).
Finally, Catholics agree entirely that God will judge the wheat and the tares (Matt 13:30) and that every believer must study Scripture faithfully. But Scripture itself warns that private interpretation leads to division (2 Pet 3:16), and history shows this clearly in the thousands of competing doctrines among sincere Bible‑readers. Christ did not leave us with a book alone; He left us a
Church with authority, guided by the Spirit into all truth (John 16:13). The Catholic Church does not claim perfection among her members, but she does claim — and dogmatically teaches — that she preserves the
fullness of the apostolic faith (Lumen Gentium 14). Studying Scripture is essential, but Scripture must be read within the living Tradition Christ Himself established.
