Catholicism
24 min read
There are many teachings and practices of the Catholic Church that are not found in the Bible, and are thus false teachings.
The Catholic Church is the largest and wealthiest of all Christian denominations. It claims to be the one true church. However, by examining the Bible, we will see that it cannot be the true church of Jesus Christ, because it does not follow the teachings of Jesus or his apostles.
Catholicism in turmoil
In recent years, many Catholics have been left confused and troubled by the practices and teachings of the Catholic Church. Many of these Catholics are asking serious questions about their Church for the first time in their lives. Unfortunately, the Catholic Church itself is failing to provide the answers that they seek. My sincere desire is to help Catholics find those answers and discover the truth.
The Catholic Church is divided over issues such as birth control, abortion, divorce, celibacy of priests, female clergy, Papal infallibility, prayer, worship, music, purgatory, confession, and even the meaning of the Mass.
Crime and corruption continue to overshadow the Catholic Church.
- The crusades of the Roman Catholic Church that murdered millions.
- The many sexual abuse scandals in Canada
- The mass murders of indigenous children in Canada.
- The financial scandals that were exposed in the Roman Catholic Church, ranging from the Vatican to the local parish.
Catholics who take their religion seriously are in a state of confusion and they don't know which way to turn.
The Ninety-five Theses
When Martin Luther, a german priest and professor of theology, compared Catholicism to Scripture, the results disturbed him greatly. As a result, he nailed his Ninety-five Theses to the door of the Wittenberg Castle church in Germany in 1517.
In his theses, Martin Luther condemned the corruption of the Roman Catholic Church, especially the practice of indulgences, which requested payment for the forgiveness of sins.
The Catholic Church refused to be reformed according to the Bible. In 1521, Pope Leo X excommunicated Luther from the Catholic Church because of his theses.
Catholicism is polytheistic
One particularly disturbing practice of the Catholic Church is their veneration of Mary that elevates her to God-like status. Catholics give the same honor and reverence to Mary as they do to God.
The same is true of the many saints that Catholics pray to for blessings. As a result, Catholicism has become polytheistic. Catholicism does not believe in just one God. Catholicism has many gods that they worship and pray to. Catholicism is just like the pagan religions of long ago.
The veneration of Mary
The Catholic Church teaches that Mary is the mediator between God and man. Catholics praise Mary more than Jesus Christ himself and actually pray to her as their intermediary in order to have their prayers answered.
Rosary Beads are a demonstration of how Catholics give ten times more praise to Mary than to God himself. Of the 59 total beads of the Rosary, 53 beads are "Hail Mary" prayers, but only 6 beads are "Our Father" prayers. Jesus taught his disciples to pray by using the "Our Father" prayer. Jesus never taught his disciples a "Hail Mary" prayer.
Is Mary really our intermediary?
This verse teaches us that there is only one mediator between God and us, and that is Jesus Christ, not Mary. This verse leaves no place for Mary as an intermediary between God and man that we must pray to in order to be heard. Jesus, and Jesus alone, is our mediator and intermediary.
Did Mary have children after Jesus?
The Catholic Church teaches that the virgin Mary never had sexual relations after Jesus was born and that Jesus had no brothers and sisters. However, from this verse we see that Mary had other children after she had Jesus. She did not remain a virgin. Virginity is also not a path to deity either. It was well known in town that Jesus had four brothers who were born to Mary after Jesus was born.
Should Mary be worshipped?
In this verse, a woman in the crowd praised Jesus' mother Mary, but Jesus did not commend her for it. Instead, Jesus corrected her, saying that it is not the womb that bore him which is blessed, but those who hear the word of God and do it.
With his words, Jesus was trying to stop any tendency to elevate Mary as an object of their worship. Jesus could have responded by saying, “Yes, blessed is Mary, the mother of God and the queen of Heaven”, but he did not.
Peter and the apostles refused to be worshiped (Acts 10:25-26, Acts 14:13-14).
The angels of God refused to be worshiped (Revelation 19:10; 22:9).
Every time someone in the Bible tries to offer worship, reverence, or veneration to anyone other than God, it is always wrong.
In Mary's song of praise, known as the Magnificat, we have Mary's own words, and they point us to Jesus, not to her. In this song, Mary praises Jesus as her Lord, her God, and her Savior. Mary needed Jesus for salvation as much as we do. This song is all about Jesus, not her. She never calls herself "immaculate", nor does she elevate herself or ask to be worshipped.
When Mary said that all nations will call her blessed, she was not referring to "blessed" as some title for herself. She was referring to the blessing of being looked upon by God to be the humble vessel through which the Savior would come to the world to save it. She was blessed to give birth to the Savior, to see the Savior, and to be saved by the Savior. In no way is that a reason to worship her, when even she herself worshipped only Jesus in her song.
Is Mary the mother of God?
The Catholic Church refers to Mary as the "mother of God". However, the Bible never uses these words to describe Mary.
The term "mother of God" implies that Mary was the source or originator of God, which is false. The idea that Mary predated God or is herself part of the Godhead is unbiblical.
The focus should be on the incarnation of Christ, where the eternal Son of God took on our human nature and entered the world to save us. However, the Catholic Church has shifted their focus from the incarnation of Christ to a veneration of Mary as "mother of God".
Is Mary the queen of heaven?
The Catholic Church does not stop at calling Mary the "mother of God". They also worship Mary as the "queen of heaven". This is another man-made title that the Bible never gives to Mary.
The only time that the title "queen of heaven" is used in the Bible is in reference to the goddess of a pagan false religion.
In this verse, the Israelites were offering sacrifices, not to one true God, but to other gods. They were offering sacrifices to a goddess called the "queen of heaven". Their idolatry provoked God to anger. The title "queen of heaven" means only one thing in the Bible, idolatry, which is exactly what the worship of Mary is.
The title of "queen of heaven" referred to Ishtar, an Assyrian and Babylonian goddess. She was also called Ashtoreth and Astarte by others. She was believed to be the wife of the false god Baal, also known as Molech.
Women worshipped Ishtar, or Ashtoreth, because she was known as a fertility goddess. Bearing children was a great desire that woman had at the time. Thus, the worship of this “queen of heaven” was very popular among pagan civilizations. Israel followed the influence of these pagan nations and begin worshipping her as well.
The truth is that there is no "queen of heaven". There is only a king of heaven and his name is Jesus (Revelation 17:14, Revelation 19:16).
The king of heaven is the only one whom we should worship. He does not share His throne or His authority with anyone else.
Is the Hail Mary prayer biblical?
It is astonishing to see the "Hail Mary" prayer so central to the Catholic Church's belief system when it is not found anywhere in the Bible. There is not one verse in the Bible of anyone praying to Mary.
The Catholic Church teaches people that in order to pray, they must repeat the “Our Father" and “Hail Mary" prayers. These are often assigned as penance during confession with a priest. However, Jesus taught that when we pray, we should avoid simply repeating phrases.
Sacraments and the gospel
Although the Catholic Church teaches that faith in Jesus Christ is necessary for salvation, it actually denies the true gospel (good news) of salvation as it is taught in the Bible.
The Catholic Church denies the true gospel of Jesus Christ by adding to it many sacraments, obedience to Catholic teachings, good works, and purgatory. These are presented as additional requirements in order to obtain forgiveness of sins and eternal life.
There is actually no mention of sacraments or purgatory in the Bible.
Preaching a false gospel has placed the Catholic Church under God's curse.
According to the Catholic Church, for a person to be saved, they must not only believe in Jesus, they must also have received all of their Catholic sacraments. These sacraments include Baptism, Eucharist (communion), Confirmation, and Reconciliation (confession).
For the Catholic Church, there is no salvation without them. This is utter blasphemy against Jesus. The Catholic Church does not follow what the Bible teaches about salvation. Their claim that rituals, sacraments, and works must be added to faith in order for one to be saved basically says that Jesus’ death was not sufficient for salvation. This cannot be further from the truth of Scripture.
Salvation is by grace, through faith in Christ. Salvation is not our own doing. It is a gift of God. Works can't make us earn it. No earthly institution, not even the Catholic Church, can save us. Only Jesus can.
The Eucharist
The Catholic Church teaches that during their Eucharist celebration, the priest transforms the bread and wine into the actual body and blood of Christ.
Jesus taught his followers to break bread and drink wine in remembrance of Him, not to transform it into his body and blood. Jesus offered his body and blood once for sinners and that one offering was sufficient for all time.
Jesus' body does not need to continually be re-sacrificed and re-crucified in the breaking of the bread that takes place during every Catholic mass.
Baptism
The Catholic Church baptizes babies. In the Bible, only adults were baptized.
In this verse, we see that the person being baptized had to be old enough to understand the good news about Jesus and to ask for baptism.
In Matthew 3:16, Jesus was baptized as an adult.
In Acts 2:38, Peter taught that repentance is a pre-requisite for baptism. Babies are not able to repent from their sins and to believe in Jesus. Therefore, they are not ready to be baptized.
The Catholic Church scares families into baptizing their babies by making them believe that unbaptized babies will not go to heaven if they die. This is not true. The Bible does not teach this. Instead, Jesus said that all children belong to him, without the need for infant baptism.
Communion
The Catholic Church teaches that a child must receive the sacrament of communion to be able to receive Jesus.
In the Bible, not one disciple or apostle of Jesus received the sacrament of communion in order to receive him. Receiving Jesus today does not require receiving the Eucharist at a Catholic mass. It's as simple as calling on his name. No religious observances required.
Confession
The Catholic Church teaches that we must confess our sins to a priest. This cannot be found anywhere in the Bible. Instead, the Bible teaches that our sins should be confessed to God. God is faithful and just to forgive our sins if we confess them to him.
Not once in the New Testament did the apostles ever speak or act as if they had the authority to forgive a person's sins.
The apostle James teaches that there are also times that we should confess our sins to one another.
If we sinned in private, we should confess it to God. If we sinned against someone else, we should confess it to God and to the person that we have wronged. If we sinned publicly, we should confess it to God and to the public.
Confessing sin does not require a confession booth and a priest. All that is needed is an honest conversation with God. If we've wronged anyone by sinning, we should also reach out to them too.
Church Leadership
Calling a priest "Father"
The Catholic Church teaches that we must call priests, "Father". However, the Bible teaches the exact opposite. Jesus taught his disciples to call no man on earth "Father".
Forbidden to marry
The Catholic Church teaches that priests, bishops, cardinals, or popes cannot marry.
This strict rule is an invention of men and does not come from the Bible. The apostle Peter had a wife. Jesus did not forbid his disciples to marry.
Cephas refers to Peter. Peter means "stone" in Greek, while Cephas is "stone" in Aramaic. In Paul's letter to the Corinthian church, we learn that Peter’s wife accompanied her husband on his journeys.
Two of the conditions for being a church leader in the Bible are that they must be married and manage their household well.
According to the Bible, if you cannot take good care of your wife and family, you will not be able to take good care of God's church, and should not be a leader. Every single priest fails this test, and yet they are still permitted to be leaders in Catholic churches.
The Bible considers the practice of forbidding to marry to be a teaching of demons.
The office of the Pope
The Pope is the leader of the Roman Catholic Church and the Bishop of Rome. The Catholic Church claims that the first Pope was Peter.
The Bible actually never mentions the word Pope. In the Bible, no apostles are called Pope, not even Peter.
Peter was married. Therefore, according to the Catholic Church's own rules, he could not have been a Pope. This is a serious contradiction that exposes a critical lie of the Catholic Church.
Simon was Peter’s name before Jesus started to call him Peter. If Peter had a mother-in-law, Peter must have been married.
Cephas is Peter's name in Aramaic. Peter had a wife that also believed in Jesus Christ, and she accompanied him on his travels.
The church that Jesus Christ is building is not founded upon Peter, but upon Peter's confession of Christ's deity.
The rock in Matthew 16:16-18 is Peter's declaration that Jesus is the Christ. This fundamental revelation and declaration of who Jesus is, is what the true church of Jesus Christ is built upon.
Peter's own declaration of his position and ministry in 2 Peter 1:1 does not include the word Pope.
Historical records also confirm that there were no popes in the early church.
Priests
The Catholic Church considers priests to be men who are ordained by the Catholic Church.
In the Bible, every single person who has put their faith in Jesus Christ is called a priest.
Since this is in Peter's letter, the one who teaches the priesthood of all believers is none other than Peter himself. The Catholic Church considers him their first Pope and yet they do not even follow what he says. How ironic.
Those who believe in Jesus Christ are a privileged people. They are chosen by God and have direct access to God through Jesus Christ, the great High Priest (Hebrews 4:14-16). It is a privilege to be able to go to God directly without the need for an earthly priest. Could this be why the Catholic Church doesn't want us to know that we are all priests? Is it because it renders their whole establishment obsolete?
Those who believe in Jesus Christ are not just chosen to be priviledged, they are chosen for a purpose. That purpose is to offer up spiritual sacrifices (1 Peter 2:5) and to proclaim what Jesus has done in their life (1 Peter 2:9). Salvation is not just an escape from hell. God who saves us also calls us to serve him with our lives (Romans 12:1) by being eager to help others and by sharing the good news of Jesus.
Priests and the Bible
The Catholic Church believes that only Catholic leadership has the authority to understand and teach the Bible. The Catholic Church views Catholics in the pews as being incapable of understanding the Bible on their own. The Bible never says this. In fact, the Bible teaches us the opposite.
The anointing of the Holy Spirit, that each child of God receives when they turn to Christ, will guide and teach each individual - if they will let him.
God's desire is that each of his children have a personal relationship with him and with his Word in the Bible. The Catholic Church's stance on Scripture impedes God's desire.
Saints
The Catholic Church appoints saints through the process of canonization. Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint. That person is then considered worthy of veneration and their name is entered in the canon catalogue of saints.
The process of canonization does not exist in the Bible. It is an invention of men. Instead, the Bible calls every living believer a saint because they were made holy by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. They should not, however, receive veneration. Veneration is reserved for the one who made them saints, Jesus Christ.
Paul was using the present tense when writing these letters. He was surely not writing his letters to dead people.
Adding and removing from Scripture
The Catholic Church has added to and removed from the Bible in order to establish its own traditions.
Although the Catholic Church teaches that the Bible is the Word of God, they add the illegitimate apocryphal books to the Scriptures. They also elevate church tradition and the edicts of popes to an even greater level of authority than the Bible itself. These traditions and edicts make up the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), which is full of teachings that have no Biblical foundation.
The Bible contains many warnings about adding or removing from Scripture, and puts those who do such things under God's curse. Catholicism may speak of blessings, but it is under God's curse.
Conclusion
After investigating the teachings of the Catholic Church, it is clear that they are nowhere to be found in the Bible. The doctrines that the Catholic Church professes to believe and teach are based upon their own tradition, which contradicts the Bible.
Rather than being the true church that it claims to be, the Bible has shown us that the Catholic Church is in fact a false cult that can expect God's judgment.
The leaders of the Catholic Church fit many of the descriptions of the false teachers that the Bible warns about. Jesus' words for the Pharisees are also directed toward the leaders of the Catholic Church today.
If the Catholic Church is the one true church, as it claims to be, then every follower of Jesus in the world should join it. But if it is a false church, as we have just found out that it is, then every Catholic who truly believes in Jesus should separate from it, warn others, and urge them to leave as well.