Catholicism and the Bible Part 2
Catholicism: Man
Adam’s sin cause humanity to be corrupted and have a tendency to sin, but man is not totally depraved
Man has a free will that is able to choose either good or evil
Biblical Teaching: Man
The Bible teaches that man is basically evil, and naturally does wrong.
“The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” (Ge 6:5).
“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Je 17:9).
“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved” (Eph 2:1-5).
“And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him” (Col 1:21-22)
Catholicism: Purgatory
Purgatory is a temporary place of punishment/payment for sins of those who did not fully pay for their sins on earth.
All those in purgatory will eventually go to heaven, but only after their sins are paid for.
Those who are alive can intercede for those in purgatory and can buy indulgences for them to speed up their time in purgatory
Biblical Teaching: Purgatory
The idea of purgatory implies that Christ’s death on the cross was not sufficient to take away our sins. Again it goes back to the idea of justification by faith and works. Christ said on the cross “It is finished.”
Nothing we can do can ever pay for our sins, because Romans 6:23 states “The wages of sin is death.” Hebrews 9:22b states “and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.”
A temporary time of fire in purgatory would never be able to pay for sins that needed to be paid for. Only Christ’s blood is able to pay for our sins
Catholicism: Pope
The Pope is the visible representative of Christ on earth. He is part of a succession that goes back to Peter
The Pope is not perfect, nor will he necessarily be in heaven, but he is infallible when he issues decrees concerning faith and doctrine ex cathedra
Biblical Teaching: Pope
Nowhere does the Scripture point to a continuing office of Pope.
Jesus Christ is still the head of the church (Eph 5:23; Col 1:18)
Catholicism: Mary
The Catholics have four major dogmas concerning Mary: her motherhood of God, her perpetual virginity, her immaculate conception, and her bodily assumption. Many also believe that she is the mediatrix of all grace and coredemptrix, though this is not the official teaching of the church.
The belief that she is the mother of God comes from the fact that she provided the genetic material for the human body of God.
The belief in her perpetual virginity states that as a child she made a vow to God to remain a virgin her entire life, and that even after she had Jesus that she remained a virgin. Joseph was an older widower who already had children and married her just to protect her.
The belief about the immaculate conception states that Mary was born without original sin. She still needed a savior, but the saving in her case was anticipatory saving.
The belief about Mary’s assumption is that because of her humility and perfection that she did not die but her body was taken immediately to heaven like Elijah and Enoch.
The belief about her being mediatrix of all grace and coredemtprix is not an official belief, but it is believed by many Catholics. This belief says that God has given Mary, who is the spouse of the Holy Ghost, the ability to bestow His grace upon all whom she desires. It states that God has chosen Mary as the vehicle of His grace.
The belief about her being coredemptrix says that she had a part in our redemption because as the mother of God she shared in Christ’s sufferings.
Biblical Teaching: Mary
Mary was not a perpetual virgin
Matthew 1:25 says that Joseph “knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.”
At least seven times in the Gospels and Acts it mentions the fact that Jesus had brothers and sisters. While the Catholics correctly state that the word for brother and sister can merely be referring to a cousin, the context would seem to indicate that they are actual brothers of Jesus, or rather half-brothers.
Another belief is that they were the children of Joseph. However, Psalm 69 is clearly a Messianic Psalm. It is a prophesy about Christ. Psalm 69:8 says “I am become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother’s children.”
Immaculate Conception
Beside the fact that there is no Scriptural teaching that Mary was born without sin, it also contradicts the teaching that all people are born with sin and commit sin (Rom 3:23; Is 53:6)
Bodily Assumption
There is also no Scriptural teaching that would make us think that Mary’s body was taken to heaven.
Catholicism: Priests
The RC Church believes that only certain people are priests who have the ability to perform certain sacraments.
Confession of sin is to be made to a priest.
Biblical Teaching: Priests
Christ alone is said to be our high priest throughout Hebrews.
Also, In I Peter 2:9 believers are called a holy priesthood.
All believers are priests in the fact that they have direct access to God (Heb 4:16) and are able to offer him spiritual sacrifices (Heb 13:15-16)
Catholicism: Eucharist
The Eucharist is practiced at Mass every Sunday. The RC Church believes in the doctrine of transubstantiation, which states that the elements of bread and wine are changed into actual the body and blood of Christ.
Biblical Teaching: Eucharist
The idea that Christ’s sacrifice was not sufficient and the idea that the sacrifice can be repeated (in a way) every mass contradicts the Scriptural teaching that Christ’s sacrifice was a “once for all” payment for sins that needs nothing additional (Heb 7:27; 9:12, 26; 10:10)