What Do You Believe? Catholicism
Introduction
A. Today we are finishing our series called “What do you believe?” We
have been talking about some of the major false religions that we are
faced with today such as Jehovah Witnesses, the Mormons, Scientology and
Islam and why Christianity is different from them. Many Christians today
are confused about what they believe. They are not sure if other
religions are okay or if they are the same as Christianity. Many
Christians have bought into the lie that there are many ways to God and
Christianity is just another one of those ways.
B. We have been using what I am calling the three S’s as a way of
determining whether a religion is true or false. They stand for Savior,
Salvation, and Scripture. All false religions differ from the Christian
view on these three major issues.
1. Savior: All false religions change who Jesus really was. They do not
believe that He is the ‘only way’ to heaven. Usually they follow
another prophet or holy man who is considered as good as Jesus.
2. Salvation: All false religions teach that a person must ‘earn’ their
way to heaven. They don’t believe we are saved by grace, God’s gift.
3. Scripture: All false religions teach that the Bible
is ‘incomplete/outdated’ and there are ‘other’ holy books which
are ‘more’ important.
C. Today we are going to talk about Catholicism.
A. Just a little comedy about the Catholic practice of confessing their
sins to the priest. I grew up a devout Catholic, confessed my sins to a
priest for many years. I attended Catholic school from kindergarten
through eighth grade. I am not here today to “Catholic bash” just as I
did not intend to Mormon bash, or JW bash. My intention today is to help
you get a better understanding of what Catholics believe. There is a lot
of confusion about the Catholic Church. Although it is a very large
church claiming over one billion followers, when we pray the Apostle’s
creed, originally written between 100 to 200 AD, and we come to the part
that says, “We believe in one, holy, catholic, apostolic church.” We are
not saying we agree with the Roman Catholic Church. Catholic means
universal believers, united. We are saying we believe in the Church
worldwide. We have discussed changing the wording, but then it would not
be the Apostle’s Creed. It would be the ‘Vineyard creed.’
History of Roman Catholic Church
A. The Catholic Church claims to trace its beginnings all the way to
Peter when Jesus said, “Upon this rock I will build my church.” But the
truth is Roman Catholicism as we know it today started as an association
of churches around 300 AD.
B. At that time there were literally hundreds, even thousands of
Christian churches all over the world. Christianity was spreading in
Europe and in Asia. There was no official organization of churches. They
just called themselves Christian churches. Each church was autonomous,
meaning independent. What really kept them together was an agreement on
the Apostle’s creed. There were no associations with area overseers or
bishops over groups of churches.
C. Around 300 AD, Constantine, who was the ruler in Rome, was going out
to battle and just as he did, he claims he saw a vision of the cross of
Jesus Christ. He instantly converted to Christianity, had the cross
painted on all the shields and commanded all of his men to become
Christians. They won that battle and when Constantine came back to Rome,
he decided that Christianity was going to become the religion of the
state. Whereas in previous years Christians had been persecuted, fed to
lions, burned at the stake and thrown into prison as enemies of the
state. Now Christianity was mandated, everyone was told to convert to
Christianity.
D. As a result the Christian Church in Rome became the largest church in
the world. It also became the richest church in the world, as
Constantine gave it all the land and buildings that had been used by the
pagans as temples. With all this wealth and power came corruption. The
Church of Rome, encouraged by Constantine, declared itself the leader of
all Christianity and began organizing all the churches around the world
to join up with them. Some churches joined, many did not, and this
started the Roman Catholic Church.
How does Catholicism differ from Biblical Christianity?
A. As we have been using the three S’s, let see how Catholics measure up
with these.
B. Savior
Catholics teach the same things about Jesus that the Bible teaches. This
is what separates the Catholic Church from the other false religions
that we have covered, such as Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, Islam and
Scientology. The Catholic teaching is that Jesus is the Son of God, born
of a virgin, an equal part of the Trinity, and that He rose from the
dead on the third day and rose up into heaven.
It is because of this that I believe a Catholic can be saved. There are
many born again, spirit filled Catholics.
C. Scriptures
The Catholic Church recognizes that the Bible is the Word of God. If you
were to ask any priest or any Catholic they would tell you that.
Actually in every Catholic Mass there are several readings from the
Bible. That is more than some Protestant Churches do! But the Catholic
Church also believes their own church teachings and traditions are also
as valuable as the Bible.
Actually in the Catholic Church for many years, people were discouraged
from reading the Bible. They were told it was too hard to understand and
it was better left to the priest. But in the 1960’s with the Vatican
Council II the Catholic Church began to encourage people to read their
Bibles.
The Catholic Bible is different from the Protestant Bible in that it has
some extra books added to it. Right in the middle between the OT and NT
they have added several books, that we call the Apocrypha, ‘uninspired’
books. They were added to the Catholic Bible around 1546 AD.
We as Bible believing Christians reject the added books, and don’t
believe that any man’s teachings or church traditions are EQUAL to the
Bible. We believe that everyone should read the Bible. We don’t believe
that it is too hard for the average person to understand, but in fact we
believe it is written in the language of the everyday man. It was
written by all sorts of people, farmers, fishermen, musicians, warriors
and so on. We don’t believe you have to know the “Greek” or the “Hebrew”
to understand this book. It can help but you can read it in English and
you can hear the voice of God speaking to you through this Book.
D. Salvation
Catholics teach that salvation comes by water baptism as an infant. Then
no matter what you do you can’t go to Hell, at worse you will go to
purgatory.
We are taught in the Bible that salvation comes by the gift of God
through the work that Jesus Christ did on the cross. Ephesians 2:8-9
tells us that we are saved by grace which is a gift of God, we are not
saved by works, lest any man should boast.
Catholics and Protestants when did this begin?
A. The Catholic Church became so powerful that for many years other
Christian independent churches were shut down and not allowed to
represent Christianity. Until around 1400 AD when men like John Huss,
John Wycliffe, John Calvin and Martin Luther began to speak out against
the incredible abuses in the Catholic Church. There were many abuses in
the church and in 1517. Martin Luther actually nailed what is
called, ‘The ninety five theses’ to the church door which were ninety
five practices that were being allowed in the Catholic Church that were
unbiblical. It started what has since been called, “The Protestant.” The
word, protestant, coming from protestors of the Catholic Church. It gave
birth to the Lutheran church, and all the other protestant church groups
that we have today, such as Baptists churches, Anglican churches,
Brethren churches, Congregational, Episcopal, Presbyterian, Methodist
and then in the early 1900 the birth of the Pentecostal churches.
B. The Protestants emphasized such concepts as justification by “faith
alone” not faith and good works, “Scripture alone” the Bible as the sole
inspired rule of faith, rather than the Bible plus tradition, “the
priesthood of all believers” rejecting the special authority and power
of the Catholic priesthood, that all people are individually responsible
for their status before God and rejected talk of mediation through any
but Christ alone. Because they saw these teachings as stemming from the
Bible, they encouraged publication of the Bible in the common language.
While it is true that there were calls for religious, doctrinal, and
moral reformation within and without the institutional church for
centuries, apparently it was the invention of the printing press in 1439
which allowed quick broadcasting of ideas, the rise in nationalistic
fervor, the increasing availability of the Bible to the public,
C. Many of these church leaders paid dearly for their desire to bring the
truth of the Bible to people. Many were tortured many were burned at the
stake such as John Huss and John Wycliff. We have no idea how blessed we
are to be able to read the Bible freely and to go to the church of our c
choice. The Catholic Church persecuted the Protestants from around 1200
AD to almost 1800 AD, and actually longer as we remember the fighting
between the Catholics and the Protestants in England up until a few
years ago.
What are some of the major concerns against the Catholic Church?
A. The use of statues when praying Exodus 20:4-5
The Catholics believe it is all right to pray to statues so long as it
is a statue of Jesus or Mary or someone they have determined to be a
saint. But God’s Word forbids this. Turn to Exodus 20:4-5, “You shall
not make unto yourself any graven image, or any likeness of anything
that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in
the water under the earth. You shall not bow down yourself to them.”
The Catholics actually changed the Ten Commandments because of this. They
eliminated the second command, which forbids the use of graven images or
statue and split the tenth command into two commands, you shall not
covet your neighbor’s wife, and you shall not covet your neighbor’s
goods.
Idol worship is offensive to God. It is giving God’s glory to another.
When a person prays to a statue they are worshipping it as though it is
God. These statues are treated with extreme reverence, people bow to
them, kiss them, burn incense to them, decorate them with flowers. This
is wrong!
B. The worship of Mary (rosary)
1. The rosary is a prayer that consist of a group of prayers that are
prayed to Mary. Even though there are some Catholics who protest that
they are not praying to Mary, they are deceived. The prayer they pray
fifty times is called “the Hail Mary” it is a prayer that includes the
words the angel said when he appeared to Mary, but then it also
includes prayers in which you declare Mary to be the Mother of God and
you ask her to pray for you. This is Mary worship. The word “rosary”
means a crown of roses, a spiritual bouquet given to the Blessed Mother.
2. This whole concept of praying to someone who is in heaven to ask them
to talk to God for you is contrary to what the Bible says in 1st
Timothy 2:5, where it says, “There is only one mediator between God and
man and that mediator is Jesus Christ.” So we don’t have to pray to
Mary or any other person who may be in heaven and ask them to intercede
for us. We can talk directly to Jesus, who is God Himself.
3. The rosary with the beads, as it is used today, started being used
among Catholics around 1100 AD and then there were supposedly
miraculous appearances of Mary in Guadalupe, Mexico in 1513, Lourdes,
France in 1858, and Fatima, Portugal 1917 and the rosary became very
popular among Catholics.
4. I prayed the rosary almost every night of my life, with my family
right after we ate dinner. We even had a statue and shrine we built for
Mary on the front lawn of our house for the entire neighborhood to see.
After I was saved I began reading the Bible and reading about these
appearance of Mary telling people to pray to her. Then I came to a
passage in I Cor 11:13-15 which truly opened my eyes. Let’s turn to it.
“For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming
themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself
transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great
thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of
righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.”
5. These appearance of Mary are real but they are actually angels of
light, Even the signs and wonders are real. But in 2 Thess 2:9-10 and
also in the Book of Revelations we are told that the devil will appear
in the end times and will perform signs and wonders. In the Book of
Exodus we can read about the miracles that Pharaoh’s magicians
performed to match Moses miracles. This is why it is so important that
we know God’s word, because without it we can let astray if we
experience or see some supernatural thing. We need to judge all things
by word of God not our own personal experiences. The message of the
rosary is simply that Mary is the intercessor for all mankind. The
angel who appeared at many of these ‘miracles’ is often quoted as
having said, “Pray to me, for I am life, I am health.”
6. Mary is also called the “Queen of heaven.” We don’t have time today
but if you are interested to hear what God has to say about praying to
the “Queen of heaven” you can read several places in Jeremiah chapter 7
and chapter 44. “The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the
fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the QUEEN OF
HEAVEN...that they may provoke me to anger” Also Jer 44 we read, “But
we will certainly burn incense unto the queen of heaven.”
7. Throughout history, heathen cultures have always been fascinated with
the idea of a goddess. Let me list a few: Egypt has Isis, the Ephesians
had the goddess Diana, Babylon had Ishtar and many others.
8. Praying the same prayer over and over again is called chanting! It is
praying without thinking through the mind. It is a form of prayer found
in most false religions. Jesus forbade this kind of praying in Matthew
6:7. He said “But when you pray, use not vain repetitions, as the
heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much
speaking.” Actually I believe chanting is the cheap imitation
of ‘speaking in tongues’ because it is the fulfilling the desire to
pray when you don’t know what to pray. There were many times as a youth
I would be in a situation and afraid or not know what to do, so because
of my religious training I would recite memorized prayers. But since I
have been saved and filled with God’s Holy Spirit when I am in
situations and don’t know what to pray, I pray in tongues.
C. There are many other unbiblical things that Catholics believe in such
as:
Purgatory: A place Catholics go after death to paying for their sins
before going to heaven
Mortal and venial sins: The idea of big sins and little sins.
Sale of indulgences: Although it is not practiced anymore, but it was
the one thing that really flamed the protestant reformation.
The infallible Pope: when he speaks about spiritual truth it is
equivalent to Bible.
Mary was sinless throughout her entire life and eventually ascended up
into heaven with her body as Jesus did. But nowhere in the Bible can
we find that “Jesus has taken His Mother to heaven with body and
soul.”
Transubstantiation of the bread and wine into the actual body and blood
of Jesus.
The ordination of priests and nuns who are not allowed to get married
Yet 1st Timothy 4:1-7 clears warns us about false prophets who would
come, forbidding people to marry or to eat meat. The Catholic Church
is guilty of both.
Matthew 23:9 clearly warns us NOT to call any man our father upon the
earth because God is our ONLY spiritual father. Yet, Catholics call
their priests "father" in direct violation of the Bible.
D. Some things I am thankful for that the Catholic Church has done
I am grateful that the Catholic Church has been a strong voice in
protecting the unborn child, in speaking out about the destructions of
abortion. I am sad that many Protestant churches have fallen in this
area.
I am grateful that the Catholic Church has been a strong voice that
marriage is for life and have stood against no fault divorce which has
wrecked havoc in our country. I am sad that many Protestant churches
have fallen in this area.
I am grateful that the Catholic Church has been a strong voice against
the sin of homosexuality although they have had a lot of trouble with
this in their own ranks. But I am grateful that they teach that
homosexuality is a sin and is contrary to God’s Word. I am sad that
many Protestant churches have fallen in this area.
Summary
A. Why am I doing this teaching? I am not teaching this series so you can
argue with people of other faiths. I am not here today to bash other
religions. The main reason I am teaching this is to help you establish
what it is that you believe so that you are not lead astray and
deceived. Sooner or later every Christian has to come to grips with what
it is that they really believe and if it is really different than other
religions. I want to help you to see the ‘distinctives’ of your faith.
The second reason to equip you so that you can help others; friends,
relatives, and co-workers, who are open and looking for truth.
B. I am grateful for some of the things I learned in the Catholic Church.
I have never questioned the existence of God or His love for me. I was
taught the importance of attending church every Sunday. I have never
questioned that God still does miracles today. But I was lead astray and
it wasn’t until I was told the gospel according to what is written in
the Bible that I was saved. I knew a lot about God, but I never knew Him
personally.
C. What about you. Is it possible you know a lot about God but have never
met Him personally? There is a major difference.
