Take a trip to Lourdes during the “special offer” period starting this weekend till December 8, 2008, says Pope Benedict XVI.
This piece of news had me both laughing and shaking my head in disbelief (yes, I can do both at the same time!). Yet, on the other hand, it also saddened me to know that there’d be Roman Catholics who will believe this spiel and make the pilgrimage and be filled with false hope!
The first falsehood, my dear Roman Catholic friends, is that there is no purgatory. It is not taught in the Bible, only by the Roman Church to which you swear your allegiance to. The Bible, God’s Word, clearly states that:
And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment
Hebrews 9:27
There’s no purgatory where there’s temporal punishment for what the Roman Church calls venial sins, and un-confessed sins at the time of death. To believe that purgatory exists is to deny that Christ’s work on the Cross was complete!
And herein is the second falsehood, my dear Roman Catholic friends — the false doctrine of purgatory makes a mockery out of our Lord Jesus Christ’s sacrifice for us on the cross!
Didn’t our Lord Jesus Christ say emphatically on the cross that “It is finished”? Purgatory is therefore nothing more than a direct pie-in-the-face of what our Lord Jesus Christ had accomplished on the cross!
When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,†and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
John 19:30
Let’s examine the Scriptures that assure us exactly of this fact that our Lord Jesus Christ’s work is done.
But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.
Hebrews 2:9
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,
1 Peter 3:18
Yea, in one fell swoop, our Lord Jesus Christ took on all the sins of the world including yours and mine and those of the meanest thug, the most incorrigible child molester, the worst adulterers, the most slimy con artist, etc., and offered us atonement before God if we simply believe in Him!
But he was wounded for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.Isaiah 53:5-6
Finally, here’s the most hideous of all falsehoods as presented by the Roman Church — that she, her Pope and her clergy have the power to forgive sins, thus usurping the rightful holy and sole authority of God to forgive sins!
Can the Pope offer you forgiveness of sins? No, my friend, no! Scripture is very clear on this — God is the only authority who can forgive your sins! In fact, we see in Scripture that even the Pharisees know very well that only God can forgive sins.
And when he saw their faith, he said, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.†And the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?†When Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answered them, “Why do you question in your hearts? Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sinsâ€â€”he said to the man who was paralyzed—“I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home.†And immediately he rose up before them and picked up what he had been lying on and went home, glorifying God.
Luke 5:20-25
For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
1 Timothy 2:5
Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.
Hebrews 7:25
Make no mistake! Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself declared that He is the only way to God the Father. There is none else who is able to do the same for you — not the Pope, nor the Roman Church, nor her clergy!
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
John 14:6
Dear Roman Catholic friends, do you now not see the many falsehoods that have been presented to you? Do you now not see that the Roman Church and her Pope have led you all this while down the wide windy road to destruction, not the straight narrow to God the Father?
Awake, see for yourselves the falsehoods and repent! Let not men lead you astray anymore!
I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.
1 John 5:13
Shalom Aleichem.
Source: “Trips to Lourdes to cut time spent in Purgatory“, published December 6, 2007. The Telegraph.
Tags: Apostasy, Clergy, Forgiveness, Lourdes, Pope, Purgatory, Sin, The Telegraph
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Hmm. I’m Catholic so I have quite a few problems with what you just said here. (Enough to almost make a book, actually, but I’ll try to keep it brief.)
One is that it’s not a ‘pie in the face’ to Jesus sacrificing Himself on the Cross. If He hadn’t there really wouldn’t be much of a point to Purgatory as the gates to Heaven would still be closed.
The thing is that nothing impure can enter Heaven. Baptism and thus the acceptance of Jesus’ sacrifice removes the stain of original sin. That doesn’t prevent people from committing sin after Baptism, however.
(This is also why Catholics have the sacrament of Reconciliation, more commonly known as Confession.)
Anyway, since chances are about 99.999999% that any given person will die with some sin on his or her conscience can that person go straight to Heaven?
The person has to go somewhere, since there is a judgment on the moment of death.
And something tells me that a merciful God isn’t going to throw me into Hell because I forgot a couple Holy Days of Obligation or said less than kind things to my little sister.
The point? Purgatory is a place where people go when by their own actions they aren’t quite ready to enter Heaven. Think of it as a cosmic dry cleaner.
That’s what we believe, anyway. You can not believe it if you want, I suppose, but it would be nice if you could not believe it a little more politely.
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Brigid,
Please provide verses for purgatory. Please provide verses that we are to confess to the priest. Please provide Scripture of someone not being “quite ready” and what that entails. And no one said God would throw you into hell because you forgot some Holy Days of Obligation. (whatever that means) And lastly, he was nothing but polite to you. You took offense to it because you disagree with him. But just because someone disagrees with you doesn’t mean they’re impolite.
He only gave a few examples of how the RCC is in error but there are PLENTY MORE!!! Enough to ‘write a book’ and many have been written. I know you hold your Catholic faith dear but if you want the truth, then start by searching Scriptures to substantiate your beliefs and do not use the Catholic Bible as that has been tainted.
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Dude, we are all a part of the same Church, the same body of Christ. Why are you bashing Catholics? Yeah, Protestants and Catholics have huge differences, but instead of hating on each other we should be working together.
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Dear Brigid,
Thank you for visiting my blog and leaving me your thoughts on this.
I don’t think I was being rude when I pointed out those un-Biblical teachings that the Roman Catholic Church teaches.
However, I do apologize if you felt offended on a personal level. It is not my intention to offend, but to point out in love and with much good intention what the wrong teachings are, in the hope that Roman Catholics come to experience the free gift of salvation that our Lord Jesus Christ offers without the shackles of religion.
From what you said, and I quote “One is that it’s not a ‘pie in the face’ to Jesus sacrificing Himself on the Cross. If He hadn’t there really wouldn’t be much of a point to Purgatory as the gates to Heaven would still be closed.”, I can see that you are still very much shackled by this religion that the Roman Church has imposed on you.
As I have pointed out, there is no need for purgatory because Christ’s work is done, finished, completed! Purgatory simply states that when Christ said He had sacrificed Himself to redeem us from ALL our sins, that “ALL” part is just a farce! Because it cannot be “ALL” when you still have these venial and mortal sins on you, and you still need to go to Purgatory to have them cleansed, right? That’s why I said it’s alike a pie in the face of God.
I hope I have made this point rather clear this time round without sounding rude.
God bless, and Shalom. -
Dear Michaela,
Thank you for visiting my blog and leaving me your thoughts on this.
I am not bashing Roman Catholics, but the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. There is actually a difference.
To cut a long story short, I saw your post on your blog on this and I’ll just copy and paste what I wrote in response to you there here so everyone is clear on my position.
– Begin Quote –
I think it’s very important to separate bashing of Roman Catholics and pointing out what is wrong with some Roman Catholic teachings.
It is most erroneous to lump those two together.
To bash Roman Catholics is to single them out on some personal basis and ridicule, belittle or insult them. To point out wrongs in the Roman Catholic Church’s teachings is another thing altogether.
I don’t bash Roman Catholics. I point out what’s wrong with Roman Catholic teachings, with Biblical basis to back my points up of course.
Many Protestant Christians think that we should not stir up trouble in the name of unity and all, but this exact same kind of ‘love’ has let in the falling away that we are seeing now!
When what is preached is a different Gospel, point it out. In fact, Paul even goes as far as to say that if someone preaches to you a different Gospel, let him be anathema!
Anathema is a strong word, my friend. It doesn’t mean just to chastise or point out mistakes. Some translations use the word “accursed”. That’s how serious wrong teachings are to be viewed!
I hope you understand where I am coming from. I have nothing against RCs on a personal level — my in-laws are Roman Catholic and so was my wife. Yet, I am saddened and frustrated that they are taught the wrong things by this Apostate Church.
– End Quote –
Mike: I hope that you see where I am coming from after reading what I wrote above.
God bless both of you.
Shalom Aleichem.
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“Dude, we are all a part of the same Church, the same body of Christ. ”
Insofar as I know that’s not what the RCC teaches. And depending on what you mean by “we” then I may agree with you or not. Are you and I part of the same body? Quite possibly and I hope so. Are all Catholics and all Protestants part of the body? No. If we are then we have a command to hold one another accountable when it comes to false teachings.
1 Timothy “3As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain men not to teach false doctrines any longer 4nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. These promote controversies rather than God’s work—which is by faith. ”
There’s more but this is a good one.
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“Oh, and how many things have Protestants been wrong about? “Enough to write a book about”.”
Amen and amen. We’re all of us fallible. FWIW if you have any specifics feel free to point them out, if not here then on my blog.
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Ok, yes. We should point out each other’s false teachings and the like, but we need to do it in love. And I’m just tired of hearing people trying to prove each other wrong. It’s stupid. We shouldn’t let others be led astray but a little humility wouldn’t hurt anyone. In fact, while some people think they are doing good by pointing out the RCC’s flaws they are actually insulting them. My best-friend is a Catholic and we’ve had so many discussions like this but I’ve never hurt her because we talk to each other out of love.
I’m a Protestant. And what do you mean Catholics and Protestants aren’t part of the same body? Yes we are.
We are all flawed and I’m tired of hearing people talk and act like they are better than everyone else. I’m just as flawed as any Catholic, Protestant and non-Christian. And it’s a wonder that so many people hate Christians because we act so pig-headed. I’m not talking about you specifically, just Christians in general. How are we going to change the world if the Church is divided?
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“I can see that you are still very much shackled by this religion that the Roman Church has imposed on you.”
How are people supposed to take that? Telling people that everything they believe is wrong is not a good way to “help them”. I know you have good intentions but that’s not a way to reach people.
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Dear Scott,
Thank you for visiting my blog and leaving your thoughts on this.
And thank you for reminding me of what the pope said a few months ago regarding where we Protestants stand with what you said. I kinda forgot all about that!
God bless, and Shalom!
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Dear Michaela,
Pointing out wrong teachings ‘in love’ does not mean sugarcoating them. You asked me how people would take it as I told Brigid that she’s still shackled by the Roman religion. In response, let me ask you how would you tell people that they are sinners and need Christ Jesus? Or do you propose to sugarcoat that?
Did Paul sugarcoat the Gospel? No. He told it like it is. People got offended and wanted to take his life. You’ve heard the old adage — truth is never pleasant and hurts.
“I’m a Protestant. And what do you mean Catholics and Protestants aren’t part of the same body? Yes we are.”
By what standard do you proclaim that we are of the same body? Perhaps you did not know that the pope, the leader of the Roman Church, doesn’t agree an iota with you.
For a start, refer to: http://www.beliefnet.com/story/221/story_22159_1.html
And if you say that we are of the same body because we share in our beliefs in Christ Jesus, then what say you of the Mormons and of the Jehovah Witnesses? In fact, you know what? Even Islam recognizes Jesus; they call Him Isa in the Qu’ran! How about the Aquarian Gospel?
Oh, no, we can’t point the false teachings out because, look, we are all flawed right?
We need to shout out and expose false teachings if we indeed do it out of love! If love means keeping quiet when you see your friend, brother or sister go down the wrong path, what kind of love is that?
And if you say that we of the same body, then it also means that you think that the Roman Church’s teachings of Mary as Co-Redemptrix, as perpetual virgin, the pope as an infallible Vicar of Christ on earth, etc are all acceptable? And do you agree that membership in the Roman Church is the only path to salvation??
Just a sidenote: if you like, you can read my posts on Mary (http://www.sicarii.net/2007/08/15/theres-something-about-mary/) and the primacy of Peter (http://www.sicarii.net/2007/08/14/the-primacy-of-peter/).
My dear Michaela, please don’t make the mistake of thinking that doing something out of love means sugarcoating Truth that has been given us in the Bible. Believing in that we are of the same body is, in my opinion, just as dangerous as it leads down the path of the ecumenical movement out of which shall come the one (combined) religion of the world in these latter days.
God bless, and Shalom!
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I never said sugar coat it. Be respectful. Paul was blunt and it probably hurt to hear what he had to say but he did it in love and it made all the difference. I don’t know, it’s just something you can pick up on.
The Bible says that if you believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord then you are a Christian. I don’t know about Jehovah Witnesses or Mormons but Muslims definately do not believe Jesus is Lord.
And I never said I kept quiet either. I told her I don’t believe in purgatory or praying to Mary and other things. I’m very upfront about what I believe in. But I’m also humble. And I don’t think that just because you are flawed you shouldn’t keep quiet either. I just take it from a humble approach. I’m willing to be corrected and proven wrong. I’m willing to hear other people’s beliefs without shouting in their faces “you’re wrong!” I tell people what I believe and that’s all you can do, other than pray.
And again, I don’t agree with all the teachings of Catholicism, but I also don’t believe in all of the teachings of the Protestant church. The Bible never said you have to agree with everything to be a Christian. There’s room to question and to wonder and have disbelief. That’s the beauty of Christianity.
I certainly don’t believe that all religions lead to God. I’m just leaving room in my life to question, like I said above. My God lets me question and wonder. My Jesus lets me ponder and think about my beliefs and what the Bible says. What about yours? And also, is there any possibility that you are wrong? Definately and same goes with me. I just don’t act like I have it all figured out, because I don’t.
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Sicarii is right in describing to Brigid I like his way of answering to him and thanks for sharing your thoughts through this blog.
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Look everyone, Purgatory exists and here is the scripture for it. 1 Corinthians 3: 10-15:
According to the grace of God given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building upon it. But each one must be careful how he builds upon it, for no one can lay a foundation other than the one that is there, namely, Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, the work of each will come to light, for the Day will disclose it. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire (itself) will test the quality of each one’s work. If the work stands that someone built upon the foundation, that person will receive a wage. But if someone’s work is burned up, that one will suffer loss; the person will be saved, but only as through fire.
Also, I contest every one of your interpretations of scripture, because you don’t understand just how big the work of salvation really is.
Hebrews 9:27 – The scripture doesn’t mention what judgment will be like, or how long it will take (whether or not time really matters). We think purgatory (the final purification) IS the process of judgment (I revert back to 1 Cor. 3:10-15). Even Christians who put faith in Christ continue to sin, because nobody is perfect. Christ told us that we will be saved through faith, and this faith means obedience to his commands to repent and love one another (good works). Because we are not perfect, sometimes our faith isn’t perfect; and at some point even Christians must realize the gravity of their mistakes, because it can affect them and others in ways they don’t always realize. Scripture is clear that we will all be judged according to our deeds. It also says “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8); “Nothing unclean will enter” Heaven (Rev. 21:27). Even the most devout Christians must overcome temptation and concupiscence, and we all fall short sometimes. Therefore we need that purification; for me it gives me a reason to hope because I know that although I put faith in Christ, I still battle against my sinful habits. It’s good to recognize our own faults, because that is humility, which is the remedy for the worst sin of pride.
Hebrews 2:9 – The objector is seeking to show with this scripture passage that Christ’s sacrifice accomplishes our salvation once and for all, and that because salvation is made complete by his sacrifice, purgatory doesn’t make sense. Catholics believe that his sacrifice made salvation possible, and that salvation is a process that is applied to us over time in the course of our lives and in purgatory. We are still given the choice to accept or reject Christ every day of our lives, and the choices we make play a critical role in our salvation. When we repent our sins, we are forgiven, but we still leave a mess behind that we have to deal with. Purgatory is part of that “dealing.” When Christ opened his arms on the cross and said “It is finished,” he could have been referring to his work on earth before returning to the Father.
1 Peter 3:18 – There might be a problem with scripture translation here, because other translations say “that he might lead you to God.” (not “bring”, but the difference is almost negligible). I think this scripture is saying that Christ suffered in order to show us the way. The “way” is first of all obedience to Christ’s command to love God above all things and to love one another. Ultimately it is the imitation of Christ, which means obedience “even unto death” and suffering. It is clear that all righteous must suffer and die as Christ did, sharing in his human suffering (just for the unjust), because even the Apostle Peter was martyred. All the martyrs show this to us. Even today we must constantly suffer the consequences of our own sin and the sin of others. Sin still exists. This is an ongoing spiritual battle.
Isaiah 53:5-6 – I love this scripture. It gives us hope that we are saved. But the key word is “hope.” Presumption that our salvation is complete now is wrong, because that would mean we are not accountable for our actions from this point forward. Clearly we are accountable, because we are given the choice whether or not to live the faith and because of judgment (“for we must all stand before the judgment seat of God” – Romans 14:10). As for this scripture, I ask the rhetorical question: who is Isaiah talking about? Who suffered? If you look back to Isaiah 52 he is talking about “my servant” (verse 13), or “him who brings glad tidings” (verse 7). Clearly he is talking about the Messiah, but (and I will try to completely explain this) it can also be anyone who does Christ’s work living the faith and proclaiming the Gospel. It can be anyone who is unified AS ONE and suffers with Christ as I explained. The Church is called the “Body of Christ” because of this unity with Christ. The “one” who suffered is any “one” member of Christ’s body who “serve” him or “bring glad tidings” (proclaim the Gospel). I quote Romans 7:4 – “In the same way, my brothers, you also were put to death to the law through the body of Christ, so that you might belong to another, to the one who was raised from the dead in order that we might bear fruit for God.” Also I quote Romans 12: 4-5: “For as in one body we have many parts, and all the parts do not have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ and individually parts of one another”. 1 Corinthian 10: 16-17 – “The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because the loaf of bread is one, we, though many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf”. My point is also supported by 1 Corinthians 12:3-27, especially verse 27: “you are Christ’s body, and individually parts of it.” The Body of Christ is the one who suffered, not only the person of Jesus Christ, but his entire body: all who serve, all who are righteous, the Church, which he built.
John 3:16 – This verse lays out for us the CHOICE God desires for us to make in order to be saved. He desired for us to choose our own destiny (whoever believes in him will be saved, not all). It tells us how to be saved – through belief, or faith in Christ; this means we must believe not only that he died for us, but also that obedience to his commandment to love (even to the point of death) is truly the way to eternal life. This means being faithful to him every day, and faith means good works (see James 2, especially verse 1 and 14-26). Because of the fact that we have a choice to make every day out of our own free will, our good choices are necessary for our salvation and Christ’s sacrifice on the cross at a specific time in history did not complete the work of our salvation for us in our time. (The work of salvation is bigger than time and its constraints). He left us something to do. His sacrifice made the possibility of our salvation known to us, and it also made the way to obtain it known to us. Our salvation is in our control, to the degree that God desired it to be. Ultimately we are subjected to him and our salvation depends entirely on his grace, but he is telling us what he wants us to do in order to be in his grace. If someone says “he gave his life for us in order for us to have eternal life,” it doesn’t mean we are automatically saved because he died at one time in history bearing the burden of all our sin. Salvation is only possible for those who repent and make a real effort to live the faith. It means that he died in order to open our eyes, to give us a wake up call about the gravity of our fallen state and the choices we have about what to do about it. It means that his obedience “even unto death” also shows us the way we must choose (along with obedience to his teaching and commands) to have eternal life; and the “way” includes suffering with him for the sake of righteousness. It means that he bore the burden of all sin in order to make salvation possible through repentance for all who have already sinned and can’t change that fact. All still have the obligation to repent and make good choices to do good works. God doesn’t have to forgive us if he doesn’t want to. But “bearing the burden of sin” means that he takes responsibility for our sins because he knows that he made us the way we are. But it means nothing to us for Christ to bear the burden of all sin if we fail to love God or reject God and all he’s done for us. He wants us to know him and make the choice to love him – not just once, but every day. Every one of our actions will be judged. Because of the fact that we have a choice every day to love him, we have to try to be perfect. Because of the fact that we can’t be perfect, God has revealed that he will purify us as long as we try to know and love him. Purgatory (purification) is something to hope for. It is a good thing that God does for us out of mercy.
Luke 5: 20-25 – The point of this scripture is to show that God gave the authority to forgive sins to human beings. The Pharisees were livid because prior to Christ, only God had the authority to forgive sins on earth. But now he gives that authority to the human being of Jesus Christ, and Christ was revealing this fact to the Pharisees who were questioning him. To say that the words the author of this article put in bold mean only God has the authority to forgive sins takes this scripture out of context. Not only that, but the bold words are the words of the sinful Pharisees, not the revelation of Christ. The point of this passage in its entirety is to show that God gave Jesus authority to forgive sins on earth. To further refute his argument that the clergy doesn’t have authority to forgive sins, I quote John 20: 19-23, where Jesus gave the authority to forgive sins to the apostles. Now it is not only Jesus who has authority to forgive sins on earth, but also the apostles! If Jesus intended the apostles to have this authority, why would he not intend it to be passed on to their successors? If the apostolic line of succession has truly been preserved, then clergy of today does have authority to forgive sins. The transmission of the Spirit to the apostles’ successors, with its authority to forgive sins, began occurring in the book of Acts, especially when the apostles laid hands on them. Ordination of bishops and priests today includes this rite of the laying of hands. The following scriptures are some accounts of when this occurred. Ultimately though, authority to forgive sins does have its source in God alone. Only he can authorize a human being to forgive sins, but scripture shows that he has done this willfully.
Acts 1:15-26; Acts 6:6; Acts 9:17-19; Acts 13:3; Acts 14:23; Acts 15:22-27; Acts 20:28; 1 Tim 3:1; 1 Tim 4:14; 1 Tim 5:22; 2 Tim 1:6; 2 Tim 2:2; 2 Tim 4:1-6; Titus 1:5
1 Timothy 2:5 – yes there is one mediator, but Christ sent the apostles and their successors to represent him on earth (and stand with him before the Father), both as teacher and as judge.
Hebrews 7:25 – yes he intercedes for us, but so can any member of his body.
John 14:6 – yes, only Christ is the way; but any Christian who truly follows the way in obedience to Christ is also revealing the way to others.
1 John 5:13 – in the correct context of this verse, only those who believe in Christ have eternal life. It is assured to those who believe and live the faith; but we all have relapses and setbacks, and that is why we will always need confession and purgatory. These are not meant to be harmful or deceitful doctrines. They show God’s mercy toward every sinner who tries (often failing) to seek him.
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Any thoughts on Dan’s comment, Isaiah? I don’t personally agree totally with the Catholic Church either, but I do find that many of their doctrines (even the dubious ones) are indeed actually Biblically-based, just with a differing interpretation process.
It’s been a long time since I re-visited this post, so I can’t say I have any comment at this time. If you’d like my comment, I hope you can bear with me a couple of days or so while I get to answering it.
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