The internet literally teems with websites and articles that reveal the false teachings of the Catholic Church. Often, those sites are unfair in their assertions that the Church is the antichrist, and the "whore of Babylon", etc. While the Catholic Church is indeed WAY "off the mark", there are true, "born-again" people in every denomination, and the following article is in no way intended to diminish their relationship with Christ. Still, it is most disheartening to realize that Pope John Paul II , on his deathbed, wrote a note saying, "I am totally in your hands" - a note directed to MARY - not Christ who died in order to offer us eternal salvation! What a slap in His face! Did MARY die for us? Was she our final SIN sacrifice? Did SHE hold the key to everlasting life? NO! She was a mere human (born into sin, just like the rest of us!) who continued to have children after Yeshua's birth!
Catholic Church officials insist that Christ built the Catholic Church. However, there is absolutely no Scripture to support this allegation.
Yeshua, was a Torah-keeping, Sabbath-keeping, tallit-wearing, synagogue-attending, kosher Jew who did not come to start a new religion called "Catholicism"; but, rather, to fulfill the Old Covenant promises and become the LIVING Word of God. As the final SIN SACRIFICE, He did not come to abolish the Torah, or to nullify God's original commandments in any way. Please see our articles, Original Commandments, Torah explained in simple terms, and Challenging The Berean Call.
Matthew 5: 17 Don't think that I have come to abolish the Torah or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete. 18 Yes indeed! I tell you that until heaven and earth pass away, not so much as a yud or a stroke will pass from the Torah - not until everything that must happen has happened.
Have heaven and earth passed away? Has "everything that must happen", happened yet?
If Yeshua truly had established the "Catholic Church", then the pope would be keeping the seventh day Sabbath; he would be wearing a tallit during worship, keeping all the Biblical feasts instead of Christmas and Easter, and he would be eating only kosher foods. He would not be paying homage to Miriam (Mary), nor telling people that they have to confess to a priest in order for their sins to be forgiven. Neither would he be telling the millions of followers around the world that Christ built his church on the apostle Peter. The Holy Spirit said through Paul:
Ephesians 2:19-22: 19 So then, you are no longer foreigners and strangers. On the contrary, you are fellow-citizens with God's people and members of God's family. 20 You have built on the foundation of the emissaries and the prophets, with the cornerstone being Yeshua the Messiah himself. 21 In union with him the whole building is held together, and it is growing into a holy temple in union with the Lord. 22 Yes, in union with him, you yourselves are being built together into a spiritual dwelling-place for God!".
Rav Sha'ul (Apostle Paul) wrote to the church at Corinth: 1 Cor. 3:10-11: "Using the grace God gave me, I laid a foundation, like a skilled master-builder; and another man is building on it. But let each one be careful how he builds. 11 For no on can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Yeshua the Messiah."
No, Peter was not the head of the church that Christ built. Catholics claim that Peter - a married man - was the first pope and, therefore, the head of the church. Matthew 8:14: "Yeshua went to Kefa's (Peter's) home and there saw Kefa's mother-in-law sick in bed with a fever."....Does the Bible tell us the Peter was a pope? And since Catholics do not allow the pope, cardinal, bishop or priest to marry, HOW could Peter have been the first pope?
Furthermore, the Catholic Church places entirely too much emphasis on Mary. Although many Catholics will fight you tooth and nail that Catholics don't worship Mary, they have statues of her, shrines to her, and they pray to her. They treat her as if SHE were the intercessor between God and man. (Please Google "A Study of Catholic Practice and Doctrine" by Mary Ann Collins, a former Catholic nun; and also check out an article by Richard Bennett of Berean Beacon, which reveals the theology of the present Catholic leader, Pope Benedict XVI.)
Let's examine some of the Catholic Church's doctrines and compare them to the Bible. The following excerpts were taken from: The Gospel According to Rome, by James G. McCarthy, published by Harvest House Publishers, 1995.)
The Catholic Church teaches: Justification is a transformation of the soul in which original sin is removed and sanctifying grace infused [1987-1995]
The Bible teaches: Justification is an act of God in which He declares a sinner to be righteous in His sight, having forgiven his sins and imputed to him God's own righteousness (Romans 3:21-4:8)
The Catholic Church teaches: Initial justification is by means of baptism [1262-1274]
The Bible teaches: Justification is by faith alone (Romans 3:28)
The Catholic Church teaches: Adults must prepare for justification through faith and good works [1247-1249].
The Bible teaches: God justifies ungodly sinners who believe (Romans 4:5). Good works are the result of salvation, not the cause (Ephesians 2:8-10).
The Catholic Church teaches: The justified are in themselves beautiful and holy in God's sight [1992, 1999-2000, 2024].
The Bible teaches: The justified are in Christ holy and blameless before God (Ephesians 1:1-14).
The Catholic Church teaches: Justification is furthered by sacraments and good works [1212, 1392, 2010].
The Bible teaches: Justification is the imputation of the perfect righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21). In Christ the believer has been made complete (Colossians 2:10).
The Catholic Church teaches: Justification is lost through mortal sin [1033, 1855, 1874].
The Bible teaches: Justification cannot be lost. Those whom God justifies will be saved from the wrath of God (Romans 5:8,9).
The Catholic Church teaches: Catholics guilty of mortal sin are justified again through the sacrament of penance [980, 1446].
The Bible teaches: There is no second justification. Those whom God justifies He also will glorify (Romans 8:30).
The Catholic Church teaches: Salvation from the eternal consequences of sin is a lifelong process [161-162, 1254-1255].
The Bible teaches: Salvation from the eternal consequences of sin is an instantaneous and secure act of God coinciding with justification (Romans 5:9).
The Catholic Church teaches: Salvation is attained by cooperating with grace through faith, good works, and participation in the sacraments [183, 1129, 1815, 2002].
The Bible teaches: Salvation is attained by grace through faith apart from works (Ephesians 2:8,9). Good works are the result, not the cause, of salvation (Ephesians 2:10).
The Catholic Church teaches: Faith is belief in God and the firm acceptance of all that the Church proposes for belief [181-182, 1814].
The Bible teaches: Saving faith is the entrusting of oneself to Christ as Lord and Savior (Romans 10:8-17)
The Catholic Church teaches: Sanctifying grace is a quality of the soul, a supernatural disposition that perfects the soul [1999-2000].
The Bible teaches: Grace is the undeserved favor of God (Ephesians 1:7,8).
The Catholic Church teaches: The sacraments are necessary channels for the continual infusion of grace. They bestow grace in virtue of the rite performed [1127-1129].
The Bible teaches: The child of God is the constant object of the Father's grace (Romans 5:1,2)
The Catholic Church teaches: Grace is merited by good works [2010,2027].
The Bible teaches: Grace is a free gift (Romans 11:6).
The Catholic Church teaches: Venial sins do not incur eternal punishment [1855, 1863].
The Bible teaches: Every sin is punishable by eternal death (Romans 6:23)
The Catholic Church teaches: Serious sins must be confessed to a priest [1456-1457].
The Bible teaches: Sin is to be confessed directly to God (Ezra 10:11).
The Catholic Church teaches: The priest forgives sin as a judge [1442,1461].
The Bible teaches: No one can forgive sin, but God alone (Mark 2:7).
The Catholic Church teaches: When the guilt of sin is forgiven, temporal punishment remains [1472-1473].
The Bible teaches: When God forgives sin, He completely forgives (Colossians 2:13; Isaiah 43:25).
The Catholic Church teaches: Acts of penance make satisfaction for the temporal punishment of sin [1434, 1459 - 1460].
The Bible teaches: Jesus made perfect satisfaction for all sins (1 John 2:1,2).
The Catholic Church teaches: Indulgences dispensed by the Church for acts of piety release sinners from temporal punishment [1471-1473].
The Bible teaches: Jesus releases believers from their sins by His blood (Revelation 1:5).
The Catholic Church teaches: Purgatory is necessary to atone for sin and cleanse the soul [1030-1031].
The Bible teaches: Purgatory does not exist. Jesus made purification for sins on the cross (Hebrews 1:3).
The Catholic Church teaches: Poor souls suffering in purgatory can be helped by those alive on earth offering up prayers, good works, and the sacrifice of the Mass [1032, 1371, 1479].
The Bible teaches: Those who sleep in Christ need no help. To be absent from the body is to be at home with the Lord. (2 Corinthians 5:8).
The Catholic Church teaches: No one can know if he will attain to eternal life [1036, 2005].
The Bible teaches: The believer can know that he has eternal life by the Word of God. (1 John 5:13).
The Catholic Church teaches: Eternal life is a merited reward [1821, 2010]
The Bible teaches: Eternal life is the free gift of God (Romans 6:23).
The Catholic Church teaches: The Roman Catholic Church is necessary for salvation [846].
The Bible teaches: There is salvation in no one but the Lord Jesus Christ, "for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).
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