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Garland-Green

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PostPosted: Wed Mar 21, 2012 1:16 pm
The Roman Catholic Church claims to have started in Matthew 16:18 when Christ supposedly appointed Peter as the first Pope. However, the honest and objective student of the Scriptures and history soon discovers that the foundation of the Roman church is none other than the pagan mystery religion of ancient Babylon.

While enduring the early persecutions of the Roman government (65-300 A.D.), most of professing Christianity went through a gradual departure from New Testament doctrine concerning church government, worship and practice. Local churches ceased to be autonomous by giving way to the control of "bishops" ruling over hierarchies. The simple form of worship from the heart was replaced with the rituals and splendor of paganism. Ministers became "priests," and pagans became "Christians" by simply being sprinkled with water. This tolerance of an unregenerate membership only made things worse. SPRINKLED PAGANISM is about the best definition for Roman Catholicism.

The Roman Emperor Constantine established himself as the head of the church around 313 A.D., which made this new "Christianity" the official religion of the Roman Empire. The first actual Pope in Rome was probably Leo I (440-461 A.D.), although some claim that Gregory I was the first (590-604 A.D.). This ungodly system eventually ushered in the darkest period of history known to man, properly known as the "Dark Ages" (500-1500 A.D.). Through popes, bishops, and priests, Satan ruled Europe, and Biblical Christianity became illegal.

Throughout all of this, however, there remained individual groups of true Christians, such as the Waldensens and the Anabaptists who would not conform to the Roman system.

The Papacy and Priesthood

In the Bible there are no popes or priests to rule over the church. Jesus Christ is our High Priest (Heb. 3:1; 4:14-15; 5:5; 8:1; 9:11), and all true Christians make up a spiritual priesthood (I Pet. 2:5). Jesus Christ has sanctified all Christians who believe on Him (Heb. 10:10-11), so all priests today are unnecessary and unscriptural. Furthermore, the practice of calling a priest "father" is forbidden by Jesus Christ in Matthew 23:9. There is only ONE mediator between God and men (I Tim. 2:5).

The Catholic church teaches that Peter was the first Pope and the earthly head of the church, but the Bible never says this once. In fact, it was Peter himself who spoke against "being lords over God's heritage" in I Peter 5:3. Popes do not marry, although Peter did (Mat. 8:14; I Cor. 9:5). The Bible never speaks of Peter being in Rome, and it was Paul, not Peter, who wrote the epistle to the Romans. In the New Testament, Paul wrote 100 chapters with 2,325 verses, while Peter wrote only 8 chapters with 166 verses. In Peter's first epistle he stated that he was simply "an apostle of Jesus Christ," not a Pope (I Pet. 1:1). The Roman papacy and priesthood is just a huge fraud to keep members in bondage to a corrupt pagan church.

The Worship of Mary

Roman Catholics believe that Mary, the mother of Jesus, remained a virgin after the birth of Jesus and was sinless all of her life. She is worshiped in the Catholic church as the "Mother of God" and the "Queen of Heaven." St. Bernard stated that she was crowned "Queen of Heaven" by God the Father, and that she currently sits upon a throne in Heaven making intercession for Christians.

The Bible teaches otherwise. In the Bible, Mary was a sinner just like the rest of us. She said herself that she needed a "Saviour" (Lk. 1:47), and she even had to offer a sacrifice for her sins in Luke 2:24. Jesus was only her "firstborn" son, according to Matthew 1:25, because she later had other children as well [Mt. 13:55; Gal. 1:19; Psa. 69:8]. There's only ONE mediator between God and men, and it isn't Mary (I Tim. 2:5). The last time we hear from Mary in the Bible she is praying WITH the disciples, not being prayed to BY the disciples (Acts 1:14). The Bible never exalts Mary above anyone else. Neither should we.

Purgatory

The Catholic Church teaches that a Christian's soul must burn in purgatory after death until all of their sins have been purged. To speed up the purging process, money may be paid to a priest so he can pray and have special masses for an earlier release.

This heresy began creeping into the Roman Church during the reign of Pope Gregory around the end of the sixth century, and it has no scriptural support. In fact, Jesus warned us about this pagan practice in Matthew 23:14 when He spoke of those who devoured widows houses and made long prayers for a pretence. Psalm 49:6-7 tells us that a person couldn't redeem a loved one, even if such a place did exist: "They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches; None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him:"

Peter addresses this issue in Acts 8:20 when he says, "Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money." God's word is clearly against the doctrine of purgatory.

The Mass

By perverting the Christian practice of the Lord's Supper (Mat. 26:26-28; I Cor. 11:23-27), the Catholic Church has created the Mass, which they believe to be a continual sacrifice of Jesus Christ:

"Christ...commanded that his bloody sacrifice on the Cross should be daily renewed by an unbloody sacrifice of his body and blood in the Mass under the simple elements of bread and wine." (The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 10, Pg. 13, Article: "Mass, Sacrifice of")

Jesus never made such a command. If you'll check the above references in Matthew 26 and I Corinthians 11, you'll see for yourself that the Lord's Supper is a MEMORIAL and a SHOWING of Christ's death until He comes again. It is not a sacrifice. The Catholic Encyclopedia states the following:

"In the celebration of the Holy Mass, the bread and wine are changed into the body and blood of Christ. It is called transubstantiation, for in the Sacrament of the Eucharist the substance of bread and wine do not remain, but the entire substance of bread is changed into the body of Christ, and the entire substance of wine is changed into his blood, the species or outward semblence of bread and wine alone remaining." (Vol. 4, pg. 277, Article: "Consecration")

The Catholic Church teaches that the "Holy Mass" is a LITERAL EATING AND DRINKING OF THE LITERAL FLESH AND BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST. The priest supposedly has the power to change the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ.

Now, what does God's word say about such practices? If you'll read Genesis 9:4, Leviticus 17:11-12, and Acts 15:29, you will find that God absolutely FORBIDS the drinking of blood all through the Bible.

Rome teaches that the Mass is a continual "sacrifice" of Jesus Christ, but God's word states that Jesus made the FINAL sacrifice on Calvary! This is made perfectly clear in Hebrews 10:10-12:

"By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God."

The mass is unnecessary and unscriptural.

Image Worship

The Catholic religion is filled with all sorts of symbols, images, and relics. The Catechism of the Council of Trent states these words:

"It is lawful to have images in the Church, and to give honor and worship unto them..."

It's lawful to honor and worship images? Not according to God's word. Exodus 20:4-5 says, "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me." Image worship is unscriptural and will end with the eternal damnation of those who practice it (Rev. 14:11).

Salvation by Works

Through infant baptism, keeping sacraments, church membership, going to mass, praying to Mary, and confession (just to mention a few), the Catholic church has developed a system of salvation through WORKS. God's word says that we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, not through works:

"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." (Eph. 2:8-9)

"But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." (Romans 4:5)

Jesus Christ came into this world to lay down His sinless life for YOU--to pay for your sins, because you couldn't. Jesus is your only hope for salvation. Only by receiving Him as your Saviour can you enter the gates of Heaven. There is no other way.

"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me." (John 14:6)

The Lord Jesus Christ has come and PAID for your sins by shedding His own Blood on Calvary. By receiving Him as your Saviour, you can be WASHED from all your sins in His precious Blood (Rev. 1:5; Col. 1:14; Acts 20:28; I Pet. 1:18-19). Notice these important words from Romans 5:8-9:

"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him."

Jesus PAID your way to Heaven for you! By receiving Him as your Saviour, you will be receiving God's ONLY means of Salvation for you. Are you willing to forsake YOUR righteousness and receive Jesus Christ as your Saviour, your ONLY HOPE for Salvation? Romans 10:13 says, "Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." Romans 10:9 says, "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." Are you willing to forsake your own righteousness, and trust Jesus Christ alone? He will save you just as He promised. Why not receive Him today and trust Him to give you a better way of life?  
PostPosted: Sat Apr 27, 2013 8:31 pm
This is just a copy and paste quote off some Baptist website. Your source isn't exactly objective considering that it is a known fact that there are groups of Baptists that want to revise history to claim that they were one the original version of Christianity and not just some Protestant offshoot that can trace its origins to 1609 with John Smyth, which naturally means trying to slander Catholicism as some pagan mystery religion. In some ways, it makes them no different than the Seventh Day Adventists as they pretty much do the same exact thing.

Constantine the Great is noteworthy for making Christianity legal within his empire, but he was never the head of the Catholic Church. The first pope was Saint Peter, aka Simon Peter as in one of the twelve apostles of Jesus. A full list of popes in chronological order can be found here:
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12272b.htm

Catholics don't worship Mary or any of the other Saints as this would be a mortal sin. In case you're not sure what we Catholics think of mortal sins, we believe that committing a mortal sin puts you in very grave danger of going to hell such that you need to go to confession immediately. However if you went to confession saying that you worship Mary or any of the other Saints, you'd be expected to recant that immediately and wholeheartedly or the priest wouldn't give you forgiveness because you'd be committing heresy.

Mary is honored and respected as the Mother of Christ. We refer to her as the Queen of Heaven because for one thing, we do not doubt that she is in Heaven. Is there anyone reading this that seriously thinks Mary is anywhere other than Heaven? Secondly since her son, Jesus, is the King of Kings, his mother would have the status of Queen by virtue of being his mother and nothing else. Referring to her as the Queen of Heaven is only respecting her as the Mother of Jesus and that she has a special place in Heaven above the other saints.

If we say a prayer to Mary, we're asking her to intercede with Jesus for us or to pray for us, nothing more. It's really no different than what is going on over here in this guild's prayer request subforum over here. The main difference is that Protestants believe that intercessory pray can only be performed by the living whereas those of us who are Catholic believe that those who are in Heaven are closer to God and Jesus thus can pray for us also.

Purgatory is nothing more than an acknowledgement that not everyone who dies while in God's love, grace and friendship is 100% ready for Heaven. It is nothing more than the final purging of any lingering sins. We, otherwise, do not know anything about purgatory. It can be empty because maybe the final purging of sins is so instantaneous that nobody lingers in this state or it can be a very long time, which is also why we will pray for the souls in purgatory because we don't know if anyone is there or not and want them to go to heaven. We don't view humanity as some dung heap of sin that Jesus hides from God nor do we think that if you die in God's love, grace and friendship yet still have some lingering sin that it means automatically going to hell.

The only major difference between Catholic mass and Protestant mass, besides that the latter churches look like unfriendly sterile halls with big empty crosses is that Catholics believe that we receive the actual body and blood of Christ whereas Protestants only think it is a symbolic gesture. However, I am only going to say to each his own here. So long as everyone knows and respects each other is doing/believes, we shouldn't argue who is right and who isn't.

Catholics don't worship images. In Exodus 25:18, God orders the Jews to construct images of two angels. "Thou shalt make also two cherubims of beaten gold, on the two sides of the oracle." God allows images to be made but does not permit anyone to bow down to and/or worship them. The Catechism of the Council of Trent is an 500 year old document and whatever they ment by worship certainly did not include what worship means by modern standards. It's no different from how in the old testament biblical era that there was one word that meant both slave and servant to the extent that wherever you see the word servant written, they could have also have meant slave instead. Modern interpretations of Council of Trent document understands that the word worship was meant in the sense of giving due respect towards the individuals portrayed in these images and nothing more than that.

Catholics are not saved through works. What we have here is a difference in viewpoints. We don't view salvation as some automatic thing where all you have to do is accept Jesus as your lord and savior then are forever saved for life such that you can only loose salvation by falling away from the faith, which tends to be a protestant view of salvation. The sacraments in the Catholic church are: baptism, confirmation, holy eucharist, penance/confession, anointing of the sick, holy orders and matrimony.

If you're having an infant baptized within the Catholic church, it is assumed that you're going to also raise the child within the Catholic church. Parents [like my own] that get their infant baptized Catholic when they intent to raise their child something else because one parent is an atheist and the other a protestant are probably rare/abnormal exceptions because I think that normal parents under such circumstances would just get the kid baptized protestant at whatever the appropriate time is for that denomination. Other than myself, I have been very hard pressed to find cases of parents deliberately baptizing their children outside their own beliefs.

Confession exists to gain mercy and forgiveness for sins. Without it, all Catholics would go to hell as we'd have no way to have our sins forgiven because like I mentioned before, we do not believe that accepting Jesus Christ as our savior results in a free pass into Heaven. While we believe that our faith is the only one that offers "the fullness of the means of salvation," we also believe that the possibility for salvation is available to all and that God has ways of saving people that go beyond our understanding. The good work I've done in the form of volunteering and donating to charity isn't going to give me some salvation bonus points or reduce the amount of purification via purgatory that I will need. If there is any salvation by works, it is only that we are not a sola fide faith and believe that we are responsible for our own salvation by striving to live our lives free of sin. I cannot accept Jesus as my savior then go commit some mortal sin and think I'm still saved.  

Sachie Whitby

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Garland-Green

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PostPosted: Sun Apr 28, 2013 2:18 am
Sachie Whitby
This is just a copy and paste quote off some Baptist website. Your source isn't exactly objective considering that it is a known fact that there are groups of Baptists that want to revise history to claim that they were one the original version of Christianity and not just some Protestant offshoot that can trace its origins to 1609 with John Smyth, which naturally means trying to slander Catholicism as some pagan mystery religion. In some ways, it makes them no different than the Seventh Day Adventists as they pretty much do the same exact thing.

Constantine the Great is noteworthy for making Christianity legal within his empire, but he was never the head of the Catholic Church. The first pope was Saint Peter, aka Simon Peter as in one of the twelve apostles of Jesus. A full list of popes in chronological order can be found here:
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12272b.htm

Catholics don't worship Mary or any of the other Saints as this would be a mortal sin. In case you're not sure what we Catholics think of mortal sins, we believe that committing a mortal sin puts you in very grave danger of going to hell such that you need to go to confession immediately. However if you went to confession saying that you worship Mary or any of the other Saints, you'd be expected to recant that immediately and wholeheartedly or the priest wouldn't give you forgiveness because you'd be committing heresy.

Mary is honored and respected as the Mother of Christ. We refer to her as the Queen of Heaven because for one thing, we do not doubt that she is in Heaven. Is there anyone reading this that seriously thinks Mary is anywhere other than Heaven? Secondly since her son, Jesus, is the King of Kings, his mother would have the status of Queen by virtue of being his mother and nothing else. Referring to her as the Queen of Heaven is only respecting her as the Mother of Jesus and that she has a special place in Heaven above the other saints.

If we say a prayer to Mary, we're asking her to intercede with Jesus for us or to pray for us, nothing more. It's really no different than what is going on over here in this guild's prayer request subforum over here. The main difference is that Protestants believe that intercessory pray can only be performed by the living whereas those of us who are Catholic believe that those who are in Heaven are closer to God and Jesus thus can pray for us also.

Purgatory is nothing more than an acknowledgement that not everyone who dies while in God's love, grace and friendship is 100% ready for Heaven. It is nothing more than the final purging of any lingering sins. We, otherwise, do not know anything about purgatory. It can be empty because maybe the final purging of sins is so instantaneous that nobody lingers in this state or it can be a very long time, which is also why we will pray for the souls in purgatory because we don't know if anyone is there or not and want them to go to heaven. We don't view humanity as some dung heap of sin that Jesus hides from God nor do we think that if you die in God's love, grace and friendship yet still have some lingering sin that it means automatically going to hell.

The only major difference between Catholic mass and Protestant mass, besides that the latter churches look like unfriendly sterile halls with big empty crosses is that Catholics believe that we receive the actual body and blood of Christ whereas Protestants only think it is a symbolic gesture. However, I am only going to say to each his own here. So long as everyone knows and respects each other is doing/believes, we shouldn't argue who is right and who isn't.

Catholics don't worship images. In Exodus 25:18, God orders the Jews to construct images of two angels. "Thou shalt make also two cherubims of beaten gold, on the two sides of the oracle." God allows images to be made but does not permit anyone to bow down to and/or worship them. The Catechism of the Council of Trent is an 500 year old document and whatever they ment by worship certainly did not include what worship means by modern standards. It's no different from how in the old testament biblical era that there was one word that meant both slave and servant to the extent that wherever you see the word servant written, they could have also have meant slave instead. Modern interpretations of Council of Trent document understands that the word worship was meant in the sense of giving due respect towards the individuals portrayed in these images and nothing more than that.

Catholics are not saved through works. What we have here is a difference in viewpoints. We don't view salvation as some automatic thing where all you have to do is accept Jesus as your lord and savior then are forever saved for life such that you can only loose salvation by falling away from the faith, which tends to be a protestant view of salvation. The sacraments in the Catholic church are: baptism, confirmation, holy eucharist, penance/confession, anointing of the sick, holy orders and matrimony.

If you're having an infant baptized within the Catholic church, it is assumed that you're going to also raise the child within the Catholic church. Parents [like my own] that get their infant baptized Catholic when they intent to raise their child something else because one parent is an atheist and the other a protestant are probably rare/abnormal exceptions because I think that normal parents under such circumstances would just get the kid baptized protestant at whatever the appropriate time is for that denomination. Other than myself, I have been very hard pressed to find cases of parents deliberately baptizing their children outside their own beliefs.

Confession exists to gain mercy and forgiveness for sins. Without it, all Catholics would go to hell as we'd have no way to have our sins forgiven because like I mentioned before, we do not believe that accepting Jesus Christ as our savior results in a free pass into Heaven. While we believe that our faith is the only one that offers "the fullness of the means of salvation," we also believe that the possibility for salvation is available to all and that God has ways of saving people that go beyond our understanding. The good work I've done in the form of volunteering and donating to charity isn't going to give me some salvation bonus points or reduce the amount of purification via purgatory that I will need. If there is any salvation by works, it is only that we are not a sola fide faith and believe that we are responsible for our own salvation by striving to live our lives free of sin. I cannot accept Jesus as my savior then go commit some mortal sin and think I'm still saved.

Thank you for your comments. I have moderated/revised my view of the Catholic church quite a lot since this post was made. A while back I joined a mail correspondence course dealing with Bible prophecy. It was not until I had almost completed the course that I realized it was arranged by Seventh Day Adventists, and that the course was not intended to be a course to understand the Bible, and by extension God better, but to recruit.
One of the things they taught was that the Catholic church is the Antichrist. They did based that on what a early Bible translators said due to their unfortunate dealings with the Catholic church (if we had experienced the same things I am sure we would have made the same claims), and some very creative juggling with numbers in order to make the Pope appear to be the Antichrist, and in all fairness to the Pope, and the Catholic Church if you have to construct evidence then that is not much evidence at all.

I will comment more extensively on your post when time permits.  
PostPosted: Sun Apr 28, 2013 7:30 am
Garland-Green
Sachie Whitby

Thank you for your comments. I have moderated/revised my view of the Catholic church quite a lot since this post was made. A while back I joined a mail correspondence course dealing with Bible prophecy. It was not until I had almost completed the course that I realized it was arranged by Seventh Day Adventists, and that the course was not intended to be a course to understand the Bible, and by extension God better, but to recruit.
One of the things they taught was that the Catholic church is the Antichrist. They did based that on what a early Bible translators said due to their unfortunate dealings with the Catholic church (if we had experienced the same things I am sure we would have made the same claims), and some very creative juggling with numbers in order to make the Pope appear to be the Antichrist, and in all fairness to the Pope, and the Catholic Church if you have to construct evidence then that is not much evidence at all.

I will comment more extensively on your post when time permits.


Ironically I myself have had very unfortunate dealings with the presbyterian denomination of protestantism that has caused me to gain the view-point that presbyterians have a pathetically sad faith based on things that were preached to me as truth by one of my own parents. I think it contributed towards my seeing all protestant churches as empty sterile buildings to the extent that it feels like God is never there. However I take a to each his own attitude with religion. So long as someone's religion isn't doing anything outright illegal or immoral [like promoting terrorism], then I don't see anything wrong with the person believing what they do. I just take a general objection towards any faith being portrayed in a way that is grossly inaccurate towards its actual teachings/beliefs, but I don't know faiths other than Catholicism well enough to spot a bunch of wrong things right off without doing internet searches.

Just an idea... Maybe we can leave this thread for clarifications on what Catholics believe about their faith and take it to the friendly debate subforum if you want to debate the merits of a specific aspect of it. [I know that we're probably the only version of Christianity that believes that intercessory prayer can be performed by those in Heaven, for example.]  

Sachie Whitby

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Garland-Green

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PostPosted: Mon Apr 29, 2013 4:40 am
Sachie Whitby
Garland-Green
Sachie Whitby

Thank you for your comments. I have moderated/revised my view of the Catholic church quite a lot since this post was made. A while back I joined a mail correspondence course dealing with Bible prophecy. It was not until I had almost completed the course that I realized it was arranged by Seventh Day Adventists, and that the course was not intended to be a course to understand the Bible, and by extension God better, but to recruit.
One of the things they taught was that the Catholic church is the Antichrist. They did based that on what a early Bible translators said due to their unfortunate dealings with the Catholic church (if we had experienced the same things I am sure we would have made the same claims), and some very creative juggling with numbers in order to make the Pope appear to be the Antichrist, and in all fairness to the Pope, and the Catholic Church if you have to construct evidence then that is not much evidence at all.

I will comment more extensively on your post when time permits.


Ironically I myself have had very unfortunate dealings with the presbyterian denomination of protestantism that has caused me to gain the view-point that presbyterians have a pathetically sad faith based on things that were preached to me as truth by one of my own parents. I think it contributed towards my seeing all protestant churches as empty sterile buildings to the extent that it feels like God is never there. However I take a to each his own attitude with religion. So long as someone's religion isn't doing anything outright illegal or immoral [like promoting terrorism], then I don't see anything wrong with the person believing what they do. I just take a general objection towards any faith being portrayed in a way that is grossly inaccurate towards its actual teachings/beliefs, but I don't know faiths other than Catholicism well enough to spot a bunch of wrong things right off without doing internet searches.

Just an idea... Maybe we can leave this thread for clarifications on what Catholics believe about their faith and take it to the friendly debate subforum if you want to debate the merits of a specific aspect of it. [I know that we're probably the only version of Christianity that believes that intercessory prayer can be performed by those in Heaven, for example.]

That sounds like a good idea. smile Perhaps a way of starting a thread like that would be with answering common misconceptions about Catholicism?  
PostPosted: Mon Apr 29, 2013 6:48 am
Garland-Green
Sachie Whitby

That sounds like a good idea. smile Perhaps a way of starting a thread like that would be with answering common misconceptions about Catholicism?


I go to work in about an hour but can write something up when I get home.... and I will keep my POV entirely that of "This is what us Catholics believe, but that doesn't mean the rest of you non-Catholics should to" because in some cases, there are conflicts where if a protestant started subscribing to them, they'd be committing heresy within their own faith. [Just as if we actually did some of the things non-Catholics think we'd do, we'd actually be committing heresy also.]  

Sachie Whitby

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Garland-Green

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PostPosted: Mon Apr 29, 2013 7:03 am
Sachie Whitby
Garland-Green
Sachie Whitby

That sounds like a good idea. smile Perhaps a way of starting a thread like that would be with answering common misconceptions about Catholicism?


I go to work in about an hour but can write something up when I get home.... and I will keep my POV entirely that of "This is what us Catholics believe, but that doesn't mean the rest of you non-Catholics should to" because in some cases, there are conflicts where if a protestant started subscribing to them, they'd be committing heresy within their own faith. [Just as if we actually did some of the things non-Catholics think we'd do, we'd actually be committing heresy also.]
We are in agreement then. ^_^  
PostPosted: Sun Jan 05, 2014 9:09 pm
Thank you for this informartion. It helps me a lot! I really appreciate people who give their time and effort for this. May God Bless you guys.  

chiz curls

Aged Noob


Garland-Green

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PostPosted: Mon Jan 06, 2014 12:53 am
chiz curls
Thank you for this informartion. It helps me a lot! I really appreciate people who give their time and effort for this. May God Bless you guys.
God bless you too! The most important thing is that people are saved, by putting their trust in Jesus. There is nothing else, and no other name under heaven through which anyone can be saved, so traditions should be shaved away, discarded as garbage if they are in His way, if they are man-made they need to go away, so people can see the light, and respond to it. If traditions over-shadow God's message to us, then they are not from him. God is truth, and love - we need to live in truth, and love. Our practices can not be contrary to God. I think that is what is happening in the Catholic church. There is a lot of focus on tradition, instead of going directly to the source. It blinds people to the fact that they can only come to God through Jesus. Jesus paid for our sins on the cross, and gave to whoever believes that he died for us the right to be called sons of God (John 1:12 - But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name). It is pretty amazing! Because of Jesus I can come into the most holy of holy, not by my actions, not by my own righteousness from my own works, but by his blood that he shed for the forgiveness of my sins (Romans 5:9 - Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him).
So I am not saved because of my church, or because of doing the seven sacraments, but only through Jesus - through believing in him. Jesus died one time, and for all time on the cross for our sins. I experience God's saving grace through my belief in Jesus.

I would like to share a video of a former priest.
Testimony of an Ex Priest  
PostPosted: Mon Jan 06, 2014 1:01 am
Luke 22:18-20
for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes." And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me." And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, "This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood.  

Garland-Green

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chiz curls

Aged Noob

PostPosted: Mon Jan 06, 2014 1:26 am
Garland-Green
chiz curls
Thank you for this informartion. It helps me a lot! I really appreciate people who give their time and effort for this. May God Bless you guys.
God bless you too! The most important things is that people are saved, by putting their trust in Jesus. There is nothing else, and no other name under heaven through which anyone can be saved, so traditions should be shaved away, discarded as garbage if they are in His way, if they are man-made they need to go away, so people can see the light, and respond to it. If traditions over-shadow God's message to us, then they are not from him. I think that is what is happening in the Catholic church. There is a lot of focus on tradition, instead of going directly to the source. It blinds people to the fact that they can only come to God through Jesus. Jesus paid for our sins on the cross, and gave to whoever believes that he died for us the right to be called sons of God (John 1:12 - But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name). It is pretty amazing! Because of Jesus I can come into the most holy of holy, not by my actions, not by my own righteousness from my own works, but by his blood that he shed for the forgiveness of my sins (Romans 5:9 - Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him).
So I am not saved because of my church, or because of doing the seven sacraments, but only through Jesus - through believing in him. Jesus died one time, and for all time on the cross for our sins. I experience God's saving grace through my belief in Jesus.

I would like to share a video of a former priest.
Testimony of an Ex Priest


I totally agree... I'm a Roman Catholic but after God showed me the answers to my questions, I decided not to base my faith on any religion but to God directly and read the Holy Bible. Reading Holy Bible is really tough, especially understanding the phrase. I'm very thankful that some people like this guild give so much effort to help the people who are confused and needs to be enlightened like me.
Thank you for this video. I'll definitely watch this.  
PostPosted: Mon Jan 06, 2014 1:40 am
chiz curls
Garland-Green
chiz curls
Thank you for this informartion. It helps me a lot! I really appreciate people who give their time and effort for this. May God Bless you guys.
God bless you too! The most important things is that people are saved, by putting their trust in Jesus. There is nothing else, and no other name under heaven through which anyone can be saved, so traditions should be shaved away, discarded as garbage if they are in His way, if they are man-made they need to go away, so people can see the light, and respond to it. If traditions over-shadow God's message to us, then they are not from him. I think that is what is happening in the Catholic church. There is a lot of focus on tradition, instead of going directly to the source. It blinds people to the fact that they can only come to God through Jesus. Jesus paid for our sins on the cross, and gave to whoever believes that he died for us the right to be called sons of God (John 1:12 - But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name). It is pretty amazing! Because of Jesus I can come into the most holy of holy, not by my actions, not by my own righteousness from my own works, but by his blood that he shed for the forgiveness of my sins (Romans 5:9 - Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him).
So I am not saved because of my church, or because of doing the seven sacraments, but only through Jesus - through believing in him. Jesus died one time, and for all time on the cross for our sins. I experience God's saving grace through my belief in Jesus.

I would like to share a video of a former priest.
Testimony of an Ex Priest


I totally agree... I'm a Roman Catholic but after God showed me the answers to my questions, I decided not to base my faith on any religion but to God directly and read the Holy Bible. Reading Holy Bible is really tough, especially understanding the phrase. I'm very thankful that some people like this guild give so much effort to help the people who are confused and needs to be enlightened like me.
Thank you for this video. I'll definitely watch this.

It can be hard sometimes understanding, but we have a great God who doesn't leave us to ourselves, and our own understanding.
He reveals things to us, as He did with his disciples.

Luke 24:45
Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.

Also if the language is difficult you can look up the verse in another translation. It sometimes helps. I do when the word is hard for me to understand. The thing about the Bible, is that it being the word of God - lives. The words are not just words, but when you read a verse, and then read it later it can still teach you things. It can speak to you directly. It has a depth other books don't have.

Before I became a Christian I picked up the Bible, read it, but understood nothing. It didn't matter what translation I read, I couldn't understand what it was about. Since I was not of God, I couldn't understand the things of God.

I am thankful for this guild too. People here really care about God, and about understanding God. They are very dedicated to the truth. That should be the main priority in all our lives.

Matthew 22:37
Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'  

Garland-Green

Friendly Gaian


Garland-Green

Friendly Gaian

PostPosted: Mon Jan 06, 2014 1:44 am
Romans 10:9-10
If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.  
PostPosted: Mon Jan 06, 2014 1:53 am
Garland-Green
chiz curls
Garland-Green
chiz curls
Thank you for this informartion. It helps me a lot! I really appreciate people who give their time and effort for this. May God Bless you guys.
God bless you too! The most important things is that people are saved, by putting their trust in Jesus. There is nothing else, and no other name under heaven through which anyone can be saved, so traditions should be shaved away, discarded as garbage if they are in His way, if they are man-made they need to go away, so people can see the light, and respond to it. If traditions over-shadow God's message to us, then they are not from him. I think that is what is happening in the Catholic church. There is a lot of focus on tradition, instead of going directly to the source. It blinds people to the fact that they can only come to God through Jesus. Jesus paid for our sins on the cross, and gave to whoever believes that he died for us the right to be called sons of God (John 1:12 - But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name). It is pretty amazing! Because of Jesus I can come into the most holy of holy, not by my actions, not by my own righteousness from my own works, but by his blood that he shed for the forgiveness of my sins (Romans 5:9 - Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him).
So I am not saved because of my church, or because of doing the seven sacraments, but only through Jesus - through believing in him. Jesus died one time, and for all time on the cross for our sins. I experience God's saving grace through my belief in Jesus.

I would like to share a video of a former priest.
Testimony of an Ex Priest


I totally agree... I'm a Roman Catholic but after God showed me the answers to my questions, I decided not to base my faith on any religion but to God directly and read the Holy Bible. Reading Holy Bible is really tough, especially understanding the phrase. I'm very thankful that some people like this guild give so much effort to help the people who are confused and needs to be enlightened like me.
Thank you for this video. I'll definitely watch this.

It can be hard sometimes understanding, but we have a great God who doesn't leave us to ourselves, and our own understanding.
He reveals things to us, as He did with his disciples.

Luke 24:45
Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.

Also if the language is difficult you can look up the verse in another translation. It sometimes helps. I do when the word is hard for me to understand. The thing about the Bible, is that it being the word of God - lives. The words are not just words, but when you read a verse, and then read it later it can still teach you things. It can speak to you directly. It has a depth other books don't have.

Before I became a Christian I picked up the Bible, read it, but understood nothing. It didn't matter what translation I read, I couldn't understand what it was about. Since I was not of God, I couldn't understand the things of God.

I am thankful for this guild too. People here really care about God, and about understanding God. They are very dedicated to the truth. That should be the main priority in all our lives.

Matthew 22:37
Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'


Yeah I feel the same way too. When I read a Bible, I feel something very good and I'm slowly learning and reflecting on my actions. That's why when I have a problem I seek help to God coz I know He would provide the answers to my questions.
Tho I still have a lot of things to learn and what must do. I wanna know more about God.  

chiz curls

Aged Noob


Garland-Green

Friendly Gaian

PostPosted: Mon Jan 06, 2014 2:15 am
chiz curls
Garland-Green
chiz curls
Garland-Green
chiz curls
Thank you for this informartion. It helps me a lot! I really appreciate people who give their time and effort for this. May God Bless you guys.
God bless you too! The most important things is that people are saved, by putting their trust in Jesus. There is nothing else, and no other name under heaven through which anyone can be saved, so traditions should be shaved away, discarded as garbage if they are in His way, if they are man-made they need to go away, so people can see the light, and respond to it. If traditions over-shadow God's message to us, then they are not from him. I think that is what is happening in the Catholic church. There is a lot of focus on tradition, instead of going directly to the source. It blinds people to the fact that they can only come to God through Jesus. Jesus paid for our sins on the cross, and gave to whoever believes that he died for us the right to be called sons of God (John 1:12 - But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name). It is pretty amazing! Because of Jesus I can come into the most holy of holy, not by my actions, not by my own righteousness from my own works, but by his blood that he shed for the forgiveness of my sins (Romans 5:9 - Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him).
So I am not saved because of my church, or because of doing the seven sacraments, but only through Jesus - through believing in him. Jesus died one time, and for all time on the cross for our sins. I experience God's saving grace through my belief in Jesus.

I would like to share a video of a former priest.
Testimony of an Ex Priest


I totally agree... I'm a Roman Catholic but after God showed me the answers to my questions, I decided not to base my faith on any religion but to God directly and read the Holy Bible. Reading Holy Bible is really tough, especially understanding the phrase. I'm very thankful that some people like this guild give so much effort to help the people who are confused and needs to be enlightened like me.
Thank you for this video. I'll definitely watch this.

It can be hard sometimes understanding, but we have a great God who doesn't leave us to ourselves, and our own understanding.
He reveals things to us, as He did with his disciples.

Luke 24:45
Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.

Also if the language is difficult you can look up the verse in another translation. It sometimes helps. I do when the word is hard for me to understand. The thing about the Bible, is that it being the word of God - lives. The words are not just words, but when you read a verse, and then read it later it can still teach you things. It can speak to you directly. It has a depth other books don't have.

Before I became a Christian I picked up the Bible, read it, but understood nothing. It didn't matter what translation I read, I couldn't understand what it was about. Since I was not of God, I couldn't understand the things of God.

I am thankful for this guild too. People here really care about God, and about understanding God. They are very dedicated to the truth. That should be the main priority in all our lives.

Matthew 22:37
Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'


Yeah I feel the same way too. When I read a Bible, I feel something very good and I'm slowly learning and reflecting on my actions. That's why when I have a problem I seek help to God coz I know He would provide the answers to my questions.
Tho I still have a lot of things to learn and what must do. I wanna know more about God.

Because you honestly want to know more about Him, I am absolutely positive that He will show you more of Himself to you.

Jeremiah 29:13
You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

Psalm 54:4
Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me.  
Reply
The History of the Church, Israel and the World

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