Originally posted by: ADDAvenger
Originally posted by: Crono
I am one of those Christians. That isn't to say that people from any other denominational (or "non-denominational") church are necessarily true Christians. But the 3 you mentioned teach things that are against what the Bible says. Adding to or taking away from what the Bible says is heresy and apostasy.
wait, wat? Those 3, implying Catholics aren't Christian? I'm Protestant myself, but lets not forget that the Catholics were the Church before the 1500s. Are they a little jacked up on stuff about Mary? Yeah, but I'm not willing to say that the Catholic branch as a whole is unChristian.
The Roman Catholic Church may be old, but that doesn't mean they are Christian. They claim to have been instituted by Jesus and that Peter was the first pope.
Jesus, however, did not institute the Roman Catholic Church, nor did Jesus commission Peter to be the foundation for the church. The one verse Catholics use is Matthew 16:18:
"And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it."
They assume that the "rock" that Christ would build His church is Peter. But it's clear from the context, and the original Greek text, that the rock is not Peter, but Christ Himself. Peter's name (a name given to him by Jesus, His given name was Simon) means "rock" or "small stone", the Greek word ??t??? (Petros) in the New Testament text. The word translated "rock" in that text is p?t?a (Petra), a related, but still distinct, word. p?t?a refers to a large stone or cliff. What Jesus was saying to Peter is that while Peter was yet a small stone (as a small part or building block), the foundation of the church would something much, much larger and immovable. It was a play on Peter's name to illustrate a point: Christ, God Himself, would be the builder and foundation of the church, and because He is the foundation, Hell (symbolizing fallen humanity as well as Satan) would not be able to prevail against it.
Petra is the same word used in Matthew 7 (the Sermon on the Mount) when Jesus, at the close of the sermon, is telling the parable of the wise man and the foolish man (I always remember this because of the song). "Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock".
It's clear there, also, that the foundation is Christ-centered, not man-centered (though Peter was a great man of God and apostle).
The whole place Mary has in the Roman Catholic Church is completely against the commandments of God and is unscriptural. They position her as being something greater than a human being, treating her as an idol and as an intercessor. Mary was a righteous and humble woman, but there was nothing extraordinary about her. Luke 7:27-28 even records that Jesus' emphasis in His teaching was not that His earthly mother was someone worthy of worship, but that people should turn to God and His Word:
"As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, 'Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you.' He replied, 'Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.' "
Purgatory is also not biblical. There is no mention of it in the Bible, neither by name nor by concept. Then there is the use of the confessional and sacraments of penance. "Patron" sainthood is not biblical. The list goes on.