Is the Catholic religion legit?

Question

They seem to worship Mary, Idols, and their Pope yet the bible never said to do any of these things. They also seem to have added some things to the Holy Bible.

Answer 1

Jesus said: "I name you Peter (which means rock) and on this rock I build my church".

After Jesus' crucifixion Peter founded the, er, Catholic Church. Is the Catholic Church legit? It would claim to be super-legit - founded in accordance with Jesus' command.

Answer 2

Catholics don't "worship" Mary nor idols. The idea is that when you pray to Mary or a Saint, you're essentially asking them to be a conduit to God and "add weight" to you're worship towards God.
As for adding things to the Bible, guess what? If you honestly believe that after 2000 years of the New Testament and more than 2500 years of the Old Testament, after thousands of translations and editions, that all Bibles should match or that your version is the original one, get e reality check. The Bible is a human creation (not a Divine one) and as such it's subject to alterations and different interpretations. That's why Evangelicals who take the Bible literally are very misguided. At least the Catholic church doesn't take the Bible literally (nor do other major Christian denominations such as Orthodox or Anglican).
Catholicism is a legitimate major religion just like Judaism, Islam, Hinduism or Buddhism, way more so than Evangelicals or any other weird sects.

Answer 3

No, it's totally fake. Of course it's legit! It was the first Christian religion and it's lasted over two thousand years. Most fundamentalist religions haven't been around for 25. Let's see if I can do this quickly. We don't worship Mary or idols. Have you ever asked anyone to pray for you? Catholics pray to Mary and other saints, asking them to pray to God for us as well. It's no different than asking a friend or a prayer group to pray for you. We're all praying to God. We have pictures and statues to remind us of good people (saints) like you have photos of good people in your life that have influenced you in some way. No difference. Worship the Pope?! That's even funny! Many Catholics don't pay much attention to what he even says, let alone worship him. The Pope's official stance on contraception, whether it's a condom or the pill, is still that we shouldn't use them, but I don't know any Catholic who doesn't. And, yes, we believe that the bible is the word of God, we just don't take everything in there literally like many Protestants because it wasn't all meant to be taken literally.

Answer 4

Actually it seems you have no understand of what Catholic really is, you need to stop reading "chick publications" and start finding some truth.

They do not worship mary, any idols or the pope,

Just no, that is all lies, no truth at all to any of it.

And actually Catholis read the bible in church, ( more actual verses read) than in most other churches.

And no Catholics have not added, remember Catholics were the first Christian church, so the others have left something out.
Not really important books in the over view, but the protestants have less books in their bible, I often wonder why, I guess it saves on paper and printing to leave out less important books.

Mary is loved and respected, but not worshiped, just as you may ask your next door neighbor to pray for you, or ask your church to put you on a pray list, Catholics ( and Orthodox, and Anglican and Epispial all ask and petition the saints to pray for them.

Come to think of it, almost the majority of all christians do this, I wonder why you find it strange ?

Idols, no, the Orthodox Church has alot more icons that help bring people closer to God in thier beauty.

And the Pope is merley the leader of the church, in direct line from one of the 12 apostles. Every denomination has a church leader, that makes the rules , enforces them within thier denomination.

Answer 5

They stress Mary over the Son of God which makes her an idol. The pope is honored above all, yet he is still a man who makes mistakes and dies like the rest of us. The churches history leaves its hands bloody with the death's of many people of various religions including protestants to name one of many. They teach giving yet the church is one of the wealthiest organizations in the world and the Catholic fist has to be pried open to get to any of the money. I haven't even addressed the sexual perversions the church sanctions for its followers as priests and nuns. Not allowed to have sex, though some of the rules and regulations may have changed in the past couple decades is a bogus rule which has encouraged moral catastophe's like child molestation to rock the Catholic church consistantly throughout the past century. If they were once in a while occurances, a person could overlook them somewhat, but unfortunately the constancy of these type of actions is quite scary. Catholocism is a dying religion because there is no life or joy in it. You can go into a monastery and be awed with its beauty, but you will probably be impressed with its coldness and emptiness as well. There is a reason why most professing Catholics don't go regularly to any church except holidays or when they need to confess to a priest (who can't forgive you or cleanse you, only God can) a grievance. Most professing Catholics like a label or brand, but don't follow any change in living that would make them different which makes them as false as a 3 dollar bill. It doesn't mean that many aren't totally sincere in their beliefs, but a person can be sincerely misguided. The truth stays the absolute just as 2+2 always equals 4. I hope that you can discern the truth from an unfortunate fiction.

Answer 6

The Catholics seem to be the worst at getting away from what the Bible says, but most denominations have one main ideal that differs from what the Bible teaches. Mostly it seems like this happens because there is something political involved. Hate blacks? Say that Paul condoned slavery. Hate Jews? Well, they DID kill Jesus after all (nevermind Jesus was a Jew). Want to get to heaven without really trying to live by God's word, being humble, and repenting for sins for the duration of your life? Get baptised as a baby so you go to heaven no matter what. It's not the Bible itself that people often have problems with, it's ideas that aren't in the Bible that many churches teach.

These ideas are in many denominations, but Catholicism seems to be the worst (not all forms). Of course it is the oldest, so it's had more time to be influenced by politics and culture.

Answer 7

Seem to is the important phrase here. Catholics read the bible during the service. The entire bible is read over three years if you attend Sunday every week or in two years if you attend daily. Maybe you should check them out since they are the original Christians and haven't changed things from the beginning.

Answer 8

Yes it is legit. How can you ask such a question? Why do so many people knock Catholocism? I am a Catholic and it pains me sometimes when people think it is a cult. Is it any more a cult than Southern Baptists? Jehovahs Witnesses? Mormons? Islamists? Wiccans and Satanists for gods sake!? Let people worship where they may. I think seriously that if people would just respect each others right to worship this world would be a more peaceful place.

Answer 9

They don't worship Mary, idols or the pope.

They think Mary is really really neat, and they do pray to her and others. It's kind of like they're agents for god. For some reason, sometimes you don't feel like talking to the big guy, so instead you choose someone you relate to.

Idols - they don't worship idols. They're just a very visual religion I guess.

The pope - don't worship him, or pray to him. He's just like really high up in the HR department, so to speak. Like a CEO.

Answer 10

SEEM TO are the key words here. You're operating under a lot of misconceptions.

Catholics worship God and God alone. (As in the trinity, meaning God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit.) Catholics revere (respect) saints, Mary first among them, but they are only examples of how to live our lives. For many Catholics, it is easier to identify with these people who had ordinary, real lives than with the sometimes amorphous idea of God. What you see as "Mary worship" is grass-roots devotionals. Sometimes they are taken too far, but that is not consistance with Catholic teaching.

Answer 11

Well, it is actually the purest form of Christianity, seeing as it came about officially around 300 and Protestanism showed up about 1200 years later.

ETA: Keep in mind that the books of the Bible were decided by a council, and books were simply voted in or out. This happened in both Catholicism and Protestantism.