To many who are not well acquainted with the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, it might seem that I am nitpicking on non-essential issues and intentionally picking a fight with Roman Catholics.
I assure you that my issue is not with Roman Catholics per se, but with the institution that has installed herself as the “one true Church of Christ” that has, among other things, perverted the teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ so that she can have a stranglehold on believers and twisted Scripture such that doctrines not taught in the Bible have become a snare to those truly desiring to seek God.
Many Roman Catholics are nice people (I hesitate to say ‘good’ but no one is ‘good’ according to Scripture), and some of them do earnestly seek God from what I know. It therefore pains me that they are trapped by a man-made institution and her un-Biblical laws when God’s Truth has set us free.
In the minds of many, Roman Catholicism has become synonymous with Christianity, primarily because the most visible displays of Christianity have been linked to the Vatican, e.g. in movies, you usually see a Roman Catholic priest called in to perform exorcism or marry a couple, but seldom a Protestant minister.
It is therefore my primary objective here to provide some insight into the differences between Roman Catholicism and true Christianity, by highlighting some of the most obvious issues. Because the post is rather long, I’ll be breaking this into a two-parter — the first part will deal with the sufficiency of Scripture, the pope and Mary; we’ll look at the issues of salvation, purgatory and grace/works in the second.
Sufficiency of Scripture
Mainline Protestants believe fully in the sufficiency of Scripture and Scripture as the ultimate authority on all issues related to our faith and salvation. This stand is also known as Sola Scriptura, meaning “Scripture alone”.
The Roman Catholic Church has deemed that Scripture alone is not sufficient, and regards sacred Roman Catholic (man-made) traditions to be in equal in authority. In most instances, the man-made traditions even take precedence over Scripture and the latter is twisted to fit into the agenda. This practice is in direct contradiction to what God says about His Word:
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.
2 Timothy 3:16-17
Veneration of Mary
Protestants do not believe in either the immaculate conception nor the ascension of Mary. We maintain that Mary, while favored of God to be chosen as the bearer of Christ Jesus, was not a sinless person, for Scripture maintains that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). Furthermore, while Mary was a virgin when Christ Jesus was born, she had conjugal relations with her husband, Joseph, and had other children, with James perhaps the most well-known of our Lord’s earthly siblings.
The Roman Church states that Mary was a perpetual virgin and had no other children besides Christ Jesus, nor did she have any sin. In addition, the Roman Church has adopted the Babylonian notion of a goddess-son setup and made Mary the Co-Redemptrix, i.e. she has the power to intercede for sinners and that the best way to approach Jesus Christ our Lord is through His mother. This is why you usually see most frescos and paintings featuring Mary and Christ Jesus as a beautiful, radiant woman cradling her infant son.
The Pope
Protestants do not recognize nor respect the pope as many Roman Catholics do. In fact, personally I won’t even call him by his title of “Holy Father” for that is reserved for God the Father alone! Christ Jesus alone is the head of the Church, and our Lord, who sits on His throne on the right-hand of God the Father, needs no vicar on earth for He is the all powerful and mighty King of kings and Lord of lords. That a man should have the audacity to call himself the “vicar of Christ”, showing himself as like God should sound some pretty loud alarm bells in one’s mind! How dare a mere man claim to be infallible ex-cathedra?!
Roman Catholics are taught to respect and see the pope as the “Vicar of Christ”. The pope is the visible representation of Christ on earth and is to be treated and respected as such. He has authority over their lives, and anyone not submitting to his authority can be ex-communicated. In addition, the pope has the power to forgive sins, absolve marriages, grant indulgences, etc. That is why there is usually a generic euphoria amongst the Roman Catholic community whenever a pope visits a country. By the definition of the Roman Church, it is Jesus who is visiting them.
To be continued.
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Isaiah:
eh, I think you forgot to add their view of salvation and the Gospel
That’s in part 2.
Oh, ok
Ok, you’ve convinced me. Just this second, I have left Rome and am now a Melkite Catholic.
Of course, we Melkites also reject Sola Scriptura as in our Greek Bible 2 Timothy 3:16-17 does not say “scripture alone”. We Melkites also believe in the perpetual virginity of Mary as our Greek Bible no where indentifies Mary as the mother of any child but Jesus. We Melkites also recognize the primacy of the Bishop of Rome and that he is the Patriarch of the West and holds “the keys” given by Christ as our Greek Bible says so in Matthew 16:18-19 where Jesus quotes Isaiah 22:22. Being Melkites, we further believe that the Pope being an ordained priest may absolve sins as our Greek Bibles says so in John 20:23 and James 5:16.
Congratulations on scoring a conversion. One down and only 1.1 billion Roman Catholics to go. You go Isaiah!
God bless…
+Timothy, new Melkite Catholic
(Of course, I haven’t heard the rest of your arguments and may opt out of being a Melkite Catholic for becoming a Chaldean Catholic or a Syro-Malabar Catholic. There are almost two dozen Catholic Churches to choose from and all are nearly identical in theology. Who knew?)
I appreciate your point of view, however, it seems the title of your blog - “What’s The Difference Between Christianity And Roman Catholicism?” seems strange.
Roman Catholicism or other types of Catholics are Christians. A Christian is a person who believes in Jesus Christ. The definition of who is a “Christian” varies among people and christian groups. Some believe that, to be a Christian, an individual must go to a church and participate in baptism. Others teach that instead a belief and acceptance in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is necessary. Some consider a Christian to be simply one who tries to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ.
Lastly, the principle of both Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox teachings, in which doctrine is taught by the teaching authority of the Church, drawing on the “Deposit of Faith”, which is composed of both the “Sacred Tradition” and the Scripture. In Catholicism the teaching authority of the Church is called magisterium, and “the task of interpreting the Word of God authentically has been entrusted solely to the Magisterium of the Church”. The key statement here is the interpreting the Word of God - as I believe you are doing.
Catholics are Christians …
Tom:
If RCs are Christians, then so are the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, Christian Science, and maybe even Theosophy. Good luck with your redefinition of what Christianity historically means….
Dear Tom,
“A Christian is a person who believes in Jesus Christ.”
That is a “good” definition. In fact, it’s so good Satan is now (according to your definition) a member of the visible Church - he believes in Jesus and trembles
Oh yes, I have yet to define “good”…
Good night,
Vincent
Dear Tom,
Here’s good news! (I haven’t define “good” … sorry! It’s something like Michael Jackson’s “bad.”)
Do you know who is Dr Michael Aquino? He is a prominent Satanist scholar, “one of the founders of the Temple of Set, a splinter group from Anton Szandor LaVey’s Church of Satan which he had joined in 1969.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Aquino
And you know what? His definition of “Christian” is similar to YOUR definition. See: http://www.satanservice.org/theory/faq3.txt
Quote “Q3: CAN ONE BE A SATANIST WITHOUT BELIEVING IN THE EXISTENCE OF SATAN?
A3: Not if words are to have their generally-accepted meanings. A Satanist is
one who believes in Satan, as a Christian is one who believes in Jesus
Christ, a Buddhist one who believes in the Buddha, and a Muslim one who
believes in Mohammed. A person professing to be a “Satanist” but denying the
existence of Satan is simply using the term for ulterior purposes such as
personal glamorization or commercial exploitation. If that person denies the
existence of all metaphysical beings, he is thereby an atheist, not a
Satanist. If he professes to believe sometimes and not others at his whim, he
is a hypocrite.”
Dr Aquino’s definition - “a Christian is one who believes in Jesus Christ.”
Tom’s definition - “A Christian is a person who believes in Jesus Christ.”
Bingo! B-(
Just kidding!
PS: No offense … but it seems that even a Satanist sometimes thinks like a Christian, isn’t it?
You know, being Catholic, there is one thing protestant evangelical fundementalist Christians have to do to even begin to make sense to us.
When you all get your ducks in a row and agree on what the Bible teaches…100%. Then you will have some validity to then show us the ‘error’ of our ways.
Man can choose to believe whatever he wants…but the concept of absolute truth is really thrown out of the window when the reality of denominations is justified by ‘we are united in matters upon which our salvation hinges upon’.
To me, as I have been one to persecute the Catholic Church out of ignorance, I have found that the reason why there is this natural bias is that ALL non Catholic Christians have to justify their beliefs-thus prove the Catholic Church wrong, in order to feel they are right.
Instead of giving us YOUR interpretation….start digging into the Early Church Fathers who are clearly Catholic…Polycarp, Ignatius of Antioch, Justin, Irenaeus, Ambrose, Augustine….and the many more most Christians have no idea about. You have to establish why I, a Catholic, should listen to you over them…what authority do you have over them?
I double dare you to bring their testimonies of faith to the ’stages’ of evangelical Christianity.
Even Josh McDowell turns to them (picking and choosing what they said to be truth of course) in his book ‘More Than A Carpenter’ to give legitimacy to the Gospels….yet Mr. McDowell remains ignorant in what he did…he dipped into Sacred Tradition to give credit to Sacred Scriptures. I thought the Bible was sufficient and needed no ‘outside’ help…so then please explain to me why the needed ‘commentary’ at the bottom of our study bibles (opinions of modern man may I add) if the Bible in and of itself is sufficient.
Which came first–the Church or the Bible?
Forgive me if my ‘tone’ sounds harsh…I am just surrounded by anti Catholic Christians who do not listen to what I profess as what I believe…and would rather listen and believe fellow anti catholic promoters of evangelical truth. It is truly eye opening to see this happen and in a sense gives you an ability to read the heart. ABSOLUTE TRUTH isn’t what is being sought after….it is personal truth.
Jen
I would love to dialogue personally via email and perhaps snail mail.
If there is anything I could stress, it would be that in order to show the error of “Rome’s Ways’ is to first be able to know the ‘Ways of Rome’.
Jen
“The popish religion doth, in effect, set up a false Christ; the Pope comes, in Christ’s name, as his vicar, but invades and usurps all his offices, and so is a rival with him, and, as such, an enemy to him, a deceiver, and an antichrist.”
Matthew Henry Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible - Matthew 24
Idolatry ………..Isa 42:8 I am the LORD; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.
The RC Religion is not Christian, it is pagan perversion of “christian religion” ……………………
A Christian stands on Christ alone, Faith alone, Scriptures alone, Grace alone, To the Glory of God alone.