Catholicism?

Question

Someone below was asking why some Christians do not believe that Catholics are Christians. I want to know WHY people think that Catholics worship Mary or the Saints? Can anyone give me ANY proof that this is the teaching of the Catholic Church? That anyone other than the Triune God should be worshiped....

Answer 1

My understanding of the differences between evangelical Christians and catholics is this:

Catholics believe that priests and saints mediate between a person and God; Evangelicals believe that there is no mediator between a believer and God other than the one - Jesus Christ. We all have equal access to the Father through Him alone.

Catholics need to make penance for sins and do works to make it into Heaven; Evangelicals believe that only through grace from God can anybody be counted righteous for heaven (yet the evangelicals continue in works as an expression of love and gratitude for the gift of grace - not as a means of receiving grace).

It would be terribly sad to say that all catholics are not believers in the Triune God. Just as with any church or denomination, there are true believers and there are those who do not have a saving, personal relationship with Jesus as their savior.

Answer 2

Only the Triune God Is worshipped by the Catholic Church.

Mary & all the Saints are honoured because they were Chosen BY the Triune God.

Answer 3

I understand. I am a Catholic and a very wavery one at that. The truth is that we worship God and one God. But we don't worship to the saints and Mary, we PRAY to them for guidance and help. See the seperation of the Churches, you know with the denominations and all, there is controversy and misunderstanding. Things get mixed up and rumors start up and everything we know gets twisted. So really the best thing to do is either A set them straight or B Let them live in ignorance. The thing is you cant understand if you wont open your mind.

Answer 4

The eastern (orthodox = old) and western (catholic = global) churches were born when the Roman administration moved to Turkey.

Christianity was the offical Roman religion, and they both believed the same doctrines. Each set of people had different writers and artists who developed the buildings, images, songs, etc.

Henry 8 divorced the western church and then his wife.

Mother Mary is less prominent in Church of England than in Catholic or Orthodox ceremonies. The Roman Catholic Church is the largest of the Christian empires.

Answer 5

Here is some factual doctrine: Source=Baltimore Catechism, a reference guide for Catholics.

* 556 Does the first Commandment forbid us to honor the Saints in Heaven?
The First Commandment does not forbid us to honor the Saints in Heaven, provided that we do not give them the honor that belongs to God alone.

*562 When we pray to Saints, what do we ask them to do?
When we pray to Saints, we ask them to offer their prayers to God for us.


The above indicates that Catholics are permitted to revere the Saints / Mary included, and emulate their lifestyle, as they are examples of people who have lived in a Christ like way, as much as was humanly possible, as they are humans not Deity's.
True Catholics admire and respect Mary and the Saints (more than just the Canonized ones), they are to save worship and the hope of Salvation for God himself.
So much of the "Mary Worship" rumors come from the pulpits of other Christian denominations antagonistic towards Catholicism, and from congregations who have very little first hand knowledge of Catholic Doctrine other than hearsay.

Answer 6

How about the catholics that pray to Mary or Any Saint that they can think of instead of Praying to the one and only God?
I do believe that Catholics are Christians since they believe in Jesus, but they have their priorities screwed up.

Answer 7

Saints: According to Roman Catholic teaching, saints are those who died and are now with Christ in heaven and who have been given recognition by the Church for outstanding holiness and virtue. The Tridentine profession of faith states that the saints are to be invoked as intercessors with God and that both the relics of saints and images of the saints are to be venerated. Other religions, too, invoke the help of saints. Certain religions teach that all of their members are saints and are free from sin.

Images: Usually, visible representations of persons or things. An image that is an object of worship is an idol. Those who perform acts of worship before images often say that their worship actually is directed to the spirit being represented by the image. Such use of images is customary in many non-Christian religions. Regarding Roman Catholic practice, the New Catholic Encyclopedia (1967, Vol. VII, p. 372) says: “Since the worship given to an image reaches and terminates in the person represented, the same type of worship due the person can be rendered to the image as representing the person.” Not a Bible teaching.

Use of Halos: (PAGAN ORIGIN)

The New Catholic Encyclopedia acknowledges: “The most common attribute, applied to all saints, is the nimbus (cloud), a luminous defined shape surrounding the head of the saint. Its origins are pre-Christian, and examples are found in Hellenistic art of pagan inspiration; the halo was used, as evidenced in mosaics and coins, for demigods and divinities such as Neptune, Jupiter, Bacchus, and in particular Apollo (god of the sun).”—(1967), Vol. XII, p. 963.

The New Encyclopædia Britannica says: “In Hellenistic and Roman art the sun-god Helios and Roman emperors often appear with a crown of rays. Because of its pagan origin, the form was avoided in Early Christian art, but a simple circular nimbus was adopted by Christian emperors for their official portraits. From the middle of the 4th century, Christ was also shown with this imperial attribute . . . it was not until the 6th century that the halo became customary for the Virgin Mary and other saints.”—(1976), Micropædia, Vol. IV, p. 864.

Answer 8

Catholics ask for the prayers of Mary and the Saints, but do not worship them. Instead Catholics ask for their prayers much as someone would ask a friend on earth to pray for them. Catholics honor Mary because she is the mother of Jesus and a holy woman, and look to her as an example of how to live, and desire her prayers especially because as Jesus' mother she is special to him. Still, there is no worship involved. Catholics do not believe that anyone other that God should be worshipped; to do so would be idolatry.

Catholics are sure that Mary is in Heaven, and are likewise sure about those who have been given the label "saint." Because they are in Heaven, they cannot be other than perfect, and because they are perfect their will cannot be contrary to God's. Therefore whatever prayers they say from Heaven are definitely in accord with God's will and can be trusted to be heard and accomplished. Catholics can entrust themselves to Mary to help them and pray for them because she is holy ("full of grace" is how the angel greeted her), she is in heaven, and she always points to God. That last part is particularly important - if a person looks to Mary as an example, her whole life leads straight to saying YES to God. This, also, is not worship. Catholics worship only God, and look to other holy men and women to be good examples to show them how to worship God.

A note about the word prayer, because Catholics frequently talk about "praying" to the saints: "pray" can have two different meanings. Praying as one prays to God is what most people are familiar with. However, there is an older use of the word, one that simply means "asking." Once upon a time in history I might have walked up to a friend and said, "I pray you help me find this pin.." in the same way I would now instead ask, "Please help me find this pin.." It is in this way, asking a favor, that Catholics "pray" to the saints, not in the worshipful sense. Catholics are merely asking the saints to do them a favor by praying (in the first sense) to God on behalf of the person asking.

Answer 9

Fact: Mary the mother of Jesus was the first Christian. (She was the first to accept God's Salvation plan for Man through the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, Jesus the Christ.) So why do non-Catholic Christians belittle her?

Fact: Catholics do not pray to Mary, we ask her to intercede for us before her Son. ("Holy Mary Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and in the hour of our death...) Even Christians ask one an other to pray for them. Who is in a better position to pray for us than the Mother of Christ? The very first miracule spoken of in the New Testament was at the request of Mary (Jesus turned the water into wine).

Fact: Catholics do not worship anyone except the One True God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Saints are people who lived and died in God's friendship and are with God. Why shouldn't we ask God's friends to pray for us?

If you have questions about a Ford, don't ask a Chevy salesman. If you have questions about the Catholic Church, ask your Catholic priest.

H

Answer 10

this is all personal the reason we have all these christain denominations is because people twist religeon to suit their own needs when it becomes inconvienient for them. if you don't like what it says you find away to say it says what you want it to than do that. look at the begining. Jesus tells them to follow his brother James the Just " heaven and earth are entrusted to him". yet they fight for leadership resulting in Peter becoming the first pope. then you take in stuff like how some groups dont believe in alcohol and gambling so the use grapejuice instead of wine ( like catholics do) and don't have bingo ( like catholics). dont let anyone tell you what a real christain is or what to believe. use your brain, read bible history and archeology, read the gnostic gospels as well as the bible. also read as many different faiths as you can and do what works for you. stay the hell away from scientology!! I cant stress it enough. RUN from any group that asks for your money, property, controls who you see, etc.
all that really matters is being decent, doing good without looking for credit or bragging about it andif you feel like praying doit from the heart. NOW as to Mary, she wasn't worshipped until the FOURTH century!! thats when the church decided it didnt like the idea of jesus mother rotting in the ground and started teaching her ascension.
theres a lot of other books you should read by Elaine Pagels that reveal the evolution of christianity through the eyes of history and archeology.

Vin