Catholic doctrine expressly contradicts the gospel. Indeed, Roman Catholic dogma presents a different Jesus from the one revealed in the Holy Bible.
Aug 3
Is the common understanding of the Roman Catholic Church as a branch, and for some, the epitome, of Christianity accurate? Or is the Roman Catholic Church the very enemy of Christianity prophesied in the gospel? This book compares Roman Catholic doctrines point by point with Holy Scripture and authoritatively answers age-old questions about the Roman Catholic Church and its doctrines.
1. Do Catholics consider Mary the Queen of Heaven?
2. Do Catholics worship Mary as a goddess?
3. Do Catholics worship the Eucharist bread as God Almighty?
4. Is Peter the rock upon which Christ built his church?
5. Is the pope the Antichrist?
6. Is a Catholic priest considered another Christ?
7. Is praying to saints the sin of necromancy?
8. Did the Catholic Catechism delete the commandment that prohibits idolatry?
9. Is the Catholic Church publishing counterfeit Bibles?
10. Does the Catholic Church curse the gospel of grace?
11. Does the Catholic Church curse Protestant Christians?
12. Does the Catholic Church teach salvation by works?
13. Is Purgatory derived from Babylonian Judaism?
14. Is the Catholic Church the great harlot prophesied in the book of Revelation?
Paul warned in the book of Acts that grievous spiritual wolves would enter in among the Christian believers and pervert the gospel. The Grace of God is the very heart of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Anyone who preaches anything else is under a curse. “If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.” (Galatians 1:8-9) The gospel states that God elected those chosen for salvation before the foundation of the world. Ephesians 1:4-5. We were chosen by God “not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.” 2 Timothy 1:9.
The gospel states that man is completely lost and totally depraved. He will not, because he cannot, turn to God for salvation. His salvation is completely in the hands of God, who saves a person according to his grace. The fact is that no one is capable of keeping God’s law through their own effort; none is righteous, not one single person.
As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: Their feet are swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery are in their ways: And the way of peace have they not known: There is no fear of God before their eyes. Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. (Romans 3:10-19)
Ephesians 2:1 states that man is spiritually dead. Man needs God to make him spiritually alive, so that man can believe in him. The passage clearly refers to God’s quickening of our spirits. Man is so completely dead that God must intervene to make him spiritually alive.
And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. 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. ” (Ephesians 2:1-9)
Man must be born again by God.
Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. (John 3:3)
In fact, man is so completely lost and helpless that it was necessary for God to redeem us by being crucified and then to justify us totally by his grace. “Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:” Romans 3:24. That redemption is by God’s grace with faith imparted to the believer. Indeed, the gospel states that we are saved by the faith of Jesus Christ. That is that Jesus Christ is not just the object of our faith; he is the source of our faith. Jesus Christ saves us and supplies the means of salvation, faith, by his grace. Galatians 2:16.
Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. (Galatians 2:16)
The Roman Catholic view is that the Biblical doctrine of irresistible grace, wherein God intervenes to change the hearts of men, is considered to be a bad thing. The Roman Catholic Church considers the grace of God to be coercive.
[T]he act of faith is of its very nature a free act. God calls men to serve him in spirit and in truth. Consequently they are bound to him in conscience, but not coerced. This fact received its fullest manifestation in Christ Jesus. Indeed, Christ invited people to faith and conversion, but never coerced them. Catechism of the Roman Catholic Church, § 160 (ellipses, footnotes, and quotation marks deleted)
Catholic doctrine expressly contradicts the gospel. The RCC teaches that God is a despot for changing our sinful, rebellious character to believe in Jesus, an act that would otherwise be impossible but for God’s intervention. The RCC hates the true gospel of grace and blasphemes God for his act of mercy in saving his elect. The RCC blasphemes God by calling his merciful act of giving his elect eternal life through the gift of faith coercion. The RCC prefers a graceless god who offers a mythical opportunity at salvation.
Catholic doctrine holds that faith is, in essence, a human act of free will, whereby man can choose to believe, and after having believed, lose his faith and his salvation. Thus, under Catholic Dogma, “we can lose this priceless gift” of faith by an act of our free will. Free-will faith necessarily requires works. That is because faith born of man requires adherence to the faith by that man. Under that rubric, there is no final assurance of salvation by the indwelling Holy Spirit. That is not what the gospel says. Thus, the Catholic must do good works to convince himself that his salvation is secure. The Catholic doctrine of justification by works added to faith was born out of the conundrum that salvation once obtained can be lost. The Catholic Church curses anyone who states that salvation is not attained by works.
If anyone say that the justice received is not preserved and also increased before God through good works; but that the said works are merely the fruits and signs of justification obtained, but not a cause of the increase thereof, let him be anathema. Council of Trent, Session VI, Decree on Justification, Canon XXIV, January 13, 1547.
The Bible expressly contradicts the Romish Church dogma. In Romans 11:6, Paul unequivocally states that salvation is totally by God’s grace and NOT by works; any addition of works vitiates grace. Salvation by Grace alone and salvation by works are mutually exclusive and irreconcilable.
And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work. Romans 11:6.
The salvation that the RCC preaches does not exist. The RCC Jesus is a false Jesus, and its gospel is a false gospel. The gospel assures salvation for God’s elect, but the Catholic doctrine is that there can be no assurance of salvation.
The Catholic faithful call their priests “father.” That title is not merely honorific; it is an assumed identity. After ordination, the Catholic priest takes on the persona of God the Father. Catholic doctrine holds that priests have the authority and power of God the Father. Catholic priests are called “father” because the Catholic Church considers them the “living image of God the Father.” According to Catholic doctrine, the title of “father” signifies that the Catholic priest is in persona Christi Capitis, which means “in the Person of Christ the Head.” Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1548. That means that when a Catholic priest is ordained, he is “Christ himself who is present to his Church as Head of his Body, Shepherd of his flock, high priest of the redemptive sacrifice, Teacher of Truth.” Id. Catholic doctrine is that the Catholic priest “possesses the authority to act in the power and place of the person of Christ himself (virtute ac persona ipsius Christi).” Id. Notably, Jesus admonished against calling religious leaders “father.” “And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.” Matthew 23:9.
It is the official doctrine that no matter how evil the Catholic priest is, he remains in true character, alter-Christos (another Christ). The Catholic priest claims the authority to both forgive sins and expiate the temporal punishment for sin. The Catholic Church acknowledges that “[o]nly God forgives sins.” The Catechism of the Catholic Church states, without equivocation, that “bishops and priests, by virtue of the sacrament of Holy Orders, have the power to forgive all sins.” The Catholic Church gets around the fact that only God can forgive sins by claiming that Jesus Christ gave authority to priests and bishops of the Catholic Church, who act in his stead to forgive sins. That authority comes from the unique status claimed for the Catholic priest. “The Church teaches that the priest ministers in persona Christi, in the person of Christ.”
Roman Catholicism is a henotheistic religion. Under henotheism, there is one principal god and many lesser gods. In Catholic dogma, the Virgin Mary is the principal goddess. Now, Catholics might say that Jesus Christ is the principal God, not Mary. But, upon closer examination, it seems that the Catholic Mary has supplanted the place of Jesus in many important respects. For example, the Catholic Church holds that Mary is seated at the right hand of God in heaven. Pope Pius XII, in his Encyclical Letter Ad Caeli Reginam, explained: “The Blessed Virgin, sitting at the right hand of God.”There is a problem with that statement because it is Jesus Christ who sits at the right hand of God, not Mary.
So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. Mark 16:19.
The Catholic church teaches that salvation comes through both Mary and Jesus. According to Catholic doctrine, by her obedience, Mary is the cause of salvation. In the Dogmatic Constitution of the Catholic Church, Lumen Gentium, Pope Paul VI, states that the Virgin Mary served “the mystery of redemption,” not passively, but rather by “freely cooperating in the work of human salvation through faith and obedience,” she “became the cause of salvation for herself and for the whole human race.” That is how Catholic theologians and popes gave her the title of Co-Redemptrix. They gave her that title because it fits the stated Catholic dogma. The Bible, however, states: “I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour.” Isaiah 43:11. Only Jesus Christ is the redeemer. “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Acts 4:12.
Catholic doctrine is that praying to Mary for salvation is efficacious. Her intercession on behalf of a Catholic praying to her is allegedly fruitful because, according to Catholic dogma, her intercession cannot be refused. Praying to Mary is communicating with the dead, which is the sin of necromancy, condemned by God. Indeed, God calls necromancy an abomination. Deuteronomy 18:9-12.
According to Pope Leo XIII’s Iucunda Semper Expectatione, Mary is the sovereign Queen of Heaven. “And we honour her, glorified above all the Saints, crowned with stars by her Divine Son and seated at His side the sovereign Queen of the universe.” According to Pope Leo XIII, Mary is our Mediatrix, and God has “decreed that all good should come to us by the hands of Mary.” Pope Leo XIII in Iucunda Semper Expectatione continues the long-expressed view of the Catholic Church that Mary is both Mediatrix and co-Redemptrix. That word, “sovereign,” was chosen carefully by Pope Leo XIII. Sovereign means supreme dominion that is superior to all others. A sovereign ruler possesses the highest authority without any control.
Indeed, Authoritative statements from respected Catholic theologians spanning more than 1,000 years have established that the Catholic version of Mary is an omnipotent goddess who rules as the Queen of Heaven. For example, Alphonsus de Liguori cites Ambrose of Milan (339-397). Ambrose pronounced that “Jesus Christ having deigned to make Mary his mother, was obliged as her son to obey her.” Ambrose was canonized a Catholic Saint. Ambrose has been declared a Doctor of the Church by the Vatican. He is further considered by the Catholic Church to be among the four greatest Catholic Church fathers, along with Augustine, Jerome, and Pope Gregory the Great.
Liguori’s writings are considered authoritative. Liguori was canonized as a Catholic Saint in 1839. He was further declared a Doctor of the Church in 1871. That is a rare honor bestowed on only 38 so-called saints of the Catholic Church. “He was recognized as a patron of confessors and moral theologians in 1950. He is the only moral theologian whose opinion the Roman Catholic Church has said we can follow on moral issues.”
Liguori explains that Mary’s office as treasurer means that one should petition heaven through her alone by prayer. “Mary is the treasurer of all the divine graces. Therefore to who desires graces should have recourse to Mary; and he who has recourse to Mary, should be secure of obtaining the graces he wishes.” Liguori cites to Bernard of Clairvaux and other esteemed Catholic authorities in support of the Catholic doctrine that Mary is the keeper of the treasures in heaven, and she alone dispenses those treasures according to her will. The Catholic Mary is a goddess, Queen of Heaven.
Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153), was an influential Catholic monk. Bernard was an advisor to popes and kings. He was canonized as a Catholic Saint in 1174 by Pope Alexander III. He was declared a Doctor of the Church, which is the highest title the Catholic Church can bestow on a canonized saint. The Teachings of a Doctor of the Church are considered universal and authoritative for the entire Catholic Church. Bernard of Clairvaux’s writings are considered trustworthy regarding Catholic doctrine. Bernard said the following:
This is the will of God who willed that we should have all things through Mary. If then, we possess any hope or grace or gift of salvation, let us acknowledge that it comes to us through her.
The doctrine of these esteemed Catholic theologians regarding the divinity of Mary is summarized by Pope Leo XIII in his encyclical letter Octobri Mense. In that letter, the pope states that Mary is the intermediary to man through whom all the treasures of heaven are distributed to the Catholic faithful. No man can go directly to Christ. They must, by prayer, go through the gatekeeper, Mary.
Pope Leo XIII explains that Jesus Christ is a dreaded, inexorable judge who cannot be persuaded by our prayers. Therefore, man must go through an intercessor, Mary, who can soften God’s heart because of his love for her. The kind-hearted Mary can appease and persuade the recalcitrant, dreaded judge, Jesus. Catholic theology holds that Jesus Christ is subject to the authority of Mary, Queen of Heaven, and obeys her as a son to a mother, granting her every petition on behalf of faithful Catholics who pray to her. Thus, Pope Leo XIII signals that prayer should be made, not to Jesus, but to Mary. She is given the title of “mediatrix” by the Catholic Church. But the Bible states that only Jesus makes intercession for the elect. “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” 1 Timothy 2:5.
During the Catholic Rosary, there are ten standard “Hail Mary” prayers to Mary for every “Our Father” prayer to God. Two of the “Glorious Mysteries” of the Catholic Rosary are the “Assumption of Mary” into heaven, body and soul, and her coronation as “Queen of Heaven and Earth.” The closing prayer for the Glorious Mysteries is a prayer, “Hail Holy Queen,” that says, in pertinent part: “Hail Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, our Life, our Sweetness, and our hope … Turn then most gracious advocate, Thine eyes of mercy toward us.” The Catholic version of Mary is the source of mercy, the advocate, life, and hope of the Catholic faithful.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church assigns to Mary the regal title of “Queen over all things.” The problem with Catholic dogma is that it is impossible for Mary to be “Queen over all things.” The Bible states unequivocally that Jesus Christ “is the blessed and only Potentate, the Lord of lords and King of kings.” 1 Timothy 6:15. A potentate is a sovereign monarch. Jesus Christ is the “only Potentate.” Only means only! There is no room in heaven for another Potentate. Mary, therefore, cannot be “queen over all things.” Jesus is the “only Potentate” over all things! There is no room for a potentate “Queen of Heaven,” when Jesus Christ is the “only Potentate” in heaven. What does God think of this Catholic goddess, Mary?
Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. (Luke 4:8)
Pope John Paul II, in his 2002 Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae, revealed that he was inspired to adopt Louis Mary de Montfort’s (1673-1716) motto, Totus Tuus, as his episcopal motto. Louis Mary de Montfort founded the Missionaries of the Company of Mary. He was canonized a Catholic Saint in 1947. April 28 is a liturgical feast day celebrated in his honor. There is a basilica erected in his honor in Saint-Laurent-sur-Sèvre, France. Totus Tuus means “totally yours,” which is intended to convey that he has consecrated himself totally to the service of Mary. Total means complete, entire, and absolute. If the pope’s service is totally to Mary, it leaves no room for service to the Lord Jesus Christ. It is revealing that the pope devoted himself, not to the service of Jesus Christ, but totally to the service of Mary. When the Roman Catholic Supreme Pontiff dedicates his life totally to Mary’s service instead of to the Lord God Jesus Christ, that is yet more evidence that the Catholic Church considers Mary to be a goddess.
The pope’s official title of Supreme Pontiff was borrowed from ancient Rome. Beginning with Julius Caesar, Pontifex Maximus was a title held by the Roman emperors. The Encyclopedia Britannica explains:
The pontifex maximus was the chief priest and head of the state clergy in ancient Rome. This position was part of the collegium pontificum, or college of priests, which was the most important priesthood in Rome. The pontifices were responsible for administering religious law, overseeing state religious ceremonies, and maintaining the calendar.
Pope Boniface VIII, in his 1302 Papal Bull Unam Sanctam, boldly claimed that entrance into Heaven depends on submission to the authority of the pope. On 18 July 1870, Vatican Council I, Chapter 3, Session 4, reaffirmed unequivocally the long-standing Catholic dogma that the pope, as the Supreme Pontiff, is “supreme shepherd” over all rites in Christendom.
And so, supported by the clear witness of holy scripture, and adhering to the manifest and explicit decrees both of our predecessors the Roman pontiffs and of general councils, we promulgate anew the definition of the ecumenical council of Florence, which must be believed by all faithful Christians, namely that the apostolic see and the Roman pontiff hold a world-wide primacy, and that the Roman pontiff is the successor of blessed Peter, the prince of the apostles, true vicar of Christ, head of the whole church and father and teacher of all christian people. To him, in blessed Peter, full power has been given by our lord Jesus Christ to tend, rule and govern the universal church. All this is to be found in the acts of the ecumenical councils and the sacred canons. Wherefore we teach and declare that, by divine ordinance, the Roman church possesses a pre-eminence of ordinary power over every other church, and that this jurisdictional power of the Roman pontiff is both episcopal and immediate. Both clergy and faithful, of whatever rite and dignity, both singly and collectively, are bound to submit to this power by the duty of hierarchical subordination and true obedience, and this not only in matters concerning faith and morals, but also in those which regard the discipline and government of the church throughout the world. In this way, by unity with the Roman pontiff in communion and in profession of the same faith , the church of Christ becomes one flock under one supreme shepherd. This is the teaching of the catholic truth, and no one can depart from it without endangering his faith and salvation. … Since the Roman pontiff, by the divine right of the apostolic primacy, governs the whole church, we likewise teach and declare that he is the supreme judge of the faithful.
According to Pope Leo XIII in his 1896 Encyclical, Satis Cognitum, the pope is the head of the church and has “the authority instituted in perpetuity for the salvation of all.” How does the pope have authority over salvation? According to the established Catholic dogma, reaffirmed by Satis Cognitum, the pope has divine and plenary power to forgive sins.
No one can doubt, yea, it is known unto all ages, that St. Peter, the Prince of the Apostles, the pillar of the faith and the ground of the Catholic Church, received the keys of the Kingdom from Our Lord Jesus Christ. That is: the power of forgiving and retaining sins was given to him who, up to the present time, lives and exercises judgment in the persons of his successors.
The Bible states that forgiveness and salvation from the penalty of sins come only from God.
Truly my soul waiteth upon God: from him cometh my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation; he is my defence; I shall not be greatly moved. How long will ye imagine mischief against a man? ye shall be slain all of you: as a bowing wall shall ye be, and as a tottering fence. They only consult to cast him down from his excellency: they delight in lies: they bless with their mouth, but they curse inwardly. Selah. My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved. In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.” (Psalms 62:1-7)
There is only one savior, and that is the LORD. “I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour.” (Isaiah 43:11)
Furthermore, the Bible is clear that Jesus Christ is the foundation and head of the church, not the pope. “And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.” Colossians 1:18. So, the pope seeks to replace Christ as he opposes him. The pope considers himself the “Vicar of Christ.” The word vicar means one who acts in place of another. We derive the English word ‘vice’ from ‘vicar.’ The prefix “anti” as a preposition means not only against but also in place of the noun it follows. Thus, antichrist means one who is both against Christ and simultaneously taking the place of Christ. Thus, the pope, taking on the title of “Vicar of Christ,” has revealed himself as the prophesied Antichrist.
Catholics are deluded into thinking that they are in the true Church, not realizing that they have been spiritually seduced by the whore of Babylon. They “have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.” Revelation 17:2. The great whore is Rome, “that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.” Revelation 17:18. The great whore, Babylon the great, has “become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. Revelation 18:2. In the end, she will be exposed and destroyed. God commands: “Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.” Revelation 18:4.
Not only are Roman Catholics not Christians, but they are also enemies of the gospel. Jesus states that “[h]e that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad. Matthew 12:30. The Catholic religion is against Jesus Christ because it contradicts his gospel. While the Catholic Church has a Jesus, he is a different Jesus from that found in the Holy Bible. We were warned about just such a different Jesus and a different gospel. 2 Corinthians 11:4. The Catholic faithful are being faithful to a false gospel with a false Jesus. They are under a curse. Galatians 1:6-9. The remedy for that curse is to turn to the true gospel, found in the Holy Bible, where they can learn about the true Jesus, who is full of grace and truth.
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