Is Catholicism Unbiblical?

Question

Are Catholic Traditions Unbiblical?

Many Roman Catholics do not know what official Roman Catholic teaching is or what it means to be called Catholic. In light of this, many are unaware that numerous contradictions exist between the Bible and the Catholic faith.

Here are two mis-conception of the Roman Catholic Church and the Holy Scriptures.

The Catechism Says:

APOSTOLIC CONSTITUTION
FIDEI DEPOSITUM
ON THE PUBLICATION OF THE CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

PREPARED FOLLOWING THE SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL

...The Catechism of the Catholic Church, which I approved 25 June last and the publication of which I today order by virtue of my Apostolic Authority, is a statement of the Church's faith and of catholic doctrine, attested to or illumined by Sacred Scripture, the Apostolic Tradition and the Church's Magisterium. I declare it to be a sure norm for teaching the faith and thus a valid and legitimate instrument for ecclesial communion…

JOHN PAUL, BISHOPSERVANT OF THE SERVANTS OF GOD FOR EVERLASTING MEMORY

The Bible says,

2 Timothy 3:16-17

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.
The Holy Bible

Answer 1

Completely unbiblical! The teachings and practices do not line up with what is taught in the Bible in any way. Catholic leaders have enven confessed that their teachings do not line up with the Bible giving the excuse that God gave them the authority to disregard His teaching and instruction and create their own. As long as the keep the name of Jesus somewhere in their teaching, they can continue to call themselves Christian and teach what they want. Unfortunately most of their teaching more closely resemble pagan tradition than anything taught in the word of God.

Answer 2

In the Bible Matthew 28, 19-20 Jesus tell the Apostle to go and teach all the nations.... "lo I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. The Catholic Church was the first Christian church founded by Jesus and headed on Earth by Peter. Jesus would be a liar if he let his church become apostate.

Answer 3

Unfortunately I do believe that there are contradictions between Catholic teachings and the Bible. For instance, how is it possible for a human being, priest or not, to forgive sin? I am not very good with memory bible verse, but I'm sure it's right in the scripture that only God can forgive sin. We can and must forgive each other if we are wronged, but that's a completely different thing. Also, I don't know of any instruction in the Bible that says spiritual leaders must be celibate. In fact, in one of Paul's letters, maybe Romans (see bad memory again) he says that it would be BEST if Christians could remain unmarried like himself in order to be more spiritual. But he follows that up immediately by saying it's much better to marry than to have sexual frustration that will lead to sin. So why does the catholic church insist on unmarried priests? It obviously leads to sin in so many cases. (Though not all! I am sure there are many great spiritual leaders in the catholic church who have kept their vows.) I also have the impression that within the catholic church there is a lot of reliance on rules of conduct/articles of faith that are determined by church government. Whether these are "illumined" by scripture or not, they are still man-made in nature and I always wonder how closely tied they are to the teachings of Christ himself. Obviously we have to interpret biblical teachings, but when you get into making extra rules on top of them, it seems like you're drifting into the ways of the Pharisees in Jesus' time who had endless rules and regulations having nothing to do with scripture that supposedly led to holiness. I've also always been confused that anyone would pray to Mary,though she is the mother of Christ, that always seemed odd to me.

I'm curious to see what other answers you get to this question. These are thoughts that I've had many times, though I'm certainly open to hearing where I may be mistaken. Catholicism is after all a Christian denomination and all that is truly necessary for salvation is belief in Christ as Savior. So I'm sure there are many true believers in the Catholic church doing God's work.

Answer 4

A great many RCs never even read their own RC bible... The RCs make up their own rules... they call it the traditions of the church or some such... and there cannon law is strictly man made... For just one reason they are not even of The True Christian Faith... that being that no RC, no priest, no pope can know for certain that they are going to get into heaven....A priest can be kicked out for telling an RC their Salvation is assured...That is absolutly against the teaching of Jesus The Christ...an other that befuddles me is that John Paul II was not even cold yet and they were praying to him, not for him... but to him... and the guy himself did not even know if he was going to heaven. Yet they still think he is there and can answer their prayers... I heard the number two guy in the vatican say on world wide tv that he prayed regularly to John Paul II... That is not of The True Christian Faith.

Answer 5

Have you ever read the Chatechism?

It clarifies the Church's teachings. For example, the Bible says "thou shall not kill." The Chatechism goes on further to explain what "kill" means (i.e. abortion, death penatly, etc) It is a teaching tool. (Think of it like a really in-depth dictionary or cliffs notes. The Bible is the "book" that the cliffs notes help explain when people have trouble understanding.) Actually, if you thouroughly study Catholicism and understand it, rather than learning about it through third parties, media, etc. you will find that there are no contradictions between Catholicism and the Bible.
*Note, I am refering to the teachings and Catholicism itself - not necessarily the behavior and opinions of some of its members and leaders which have gone astray.

Answer 6

The Roman Catholic Church or Catholic Church (see Terminology, below) is the Christian Church in full communion with the Bishop of Rome, currently Pope Benedict XVI. It traces its origins to the original Christian community founded by Jesus, with its traditions first established by the Twelve Apostles and maintained through unbroken Apostolic Succession.

The Church traces its institution to Jesus and the Twelve Apostles, in particular Saint Peter, the leader of the Apostles, who is regarded as the first Pope.

The Church's catechesis makes use of the Nicene Creed and the Apostles' Creed, convenient summaries of the main points of Catholic belief.

The principal sources for the teachings of the Catholic Church are the Sacred Scriptures (the Bible) and Sacred Tradition. In his 1943 encyclical letter, Divino Afflante Spiritu, Pope Pius XII encouraged Biblical scholars to study diligently the original languages of the books of the Bible (Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic for the Old Testament; Greek for the New Testament) and other cognate languages, so as to arrive at a deeper and fuller knowledge of the meaning of these texts, stating that "the original text ... having been written by the inspired author himself, has more authority and greater weight than any even the very best translation, whether ancient or modern."
Catholicism is monotheistic: it acknowledges that God is one, eternal, all-powerful (omnipotent), all-knowing (omniscient) and omnipresent (present in all places at all times).

Catholicism is also Trinitarian: it believes that, while God is one in nature, essence, and being, this one God exists in three divine persons, each identical with the one essence, whose only distinctions are in their relations to one another: the Father's relationship to the Son, the Son's relationship to the Father, and the relations of both to the Holy Spirit, constitute the one God as a Trinity.

A Catholic is baptized in the name (singular) of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit — not three gods, but one God subsisting in three Persons. While sharing in the one divine essence, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are distinct, not simply three "masks" or manifestations of one Person. The faith of the Church and of the individual Christian is based on a relationship with these three Persons of the one God.

The Church is, as scripture states, "the body of Christ,"[24] and Catholics teach that it is one united body of believers both in heaven and on earth. There is therefore only one true, visible and physical Church, not several. And to this one Church, originally founded by Peter and the Apostles, Jesus gave a mandate to be the authoritative teacher and guardian of the faith. To transmit Christ's divine revelation, the apostles were given the mandate to "preach the Gospel," which they performed both orally and in writing, and which they preserved by leaving bishops as their successors. Thus, the Catechism states "the apostolic preaching, which is expressed in a special way in the inspired books, was to be preserved in a continuous line of succession until the end of time.

The Church teaches that salvation to eternal life is God's will for all people, and that God grants it to sinners as a free gift, a grace, through the sacrifice of Christ.

The Church teaches that salvation to eternal life is God's will for all people, and that God grants it to sinners as a free gift, a grace, through the sacrifice of Christ. "

Answer 7

If its teachings are not from the bible then it can't say its christian. A christian is a follower and living example of Christ's principles and doctrine. What does the Catholic church teach?

Has it ever had any connection with governments? [John 17:16 They are no part of the world, just as I am no part of the world ]

Does it expel the immoral from the church? [1 Corinthians 6: 9 9 What! Do YOU not know that unrighteous persons will not inherit God’s kingdom? Do not be misled. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men kept for unnatural purposes, nor men who lie with men, 10 nor thieves, nor greedy persons, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit God’s kingdom.]

Does it teach that the soul lives on after death? [ Ezekiel 18 : 4 Look! All the souls—to me they belong. As the soul of the father so likewise the soul of the son—to me they belong. The soul that is sinning—it itself will die.]

I agree with you that Christendom has failed to uphold bible standards and teachings.

Answer 8

Short answer: Yes.

There are far too many contradictions between the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church and the doctrines of the Holy Bible... which THEY happen to have originated at the outset.

[SIDEBAR: If you're interested or are in the research mode, you'll have to read my previous responses regarding this same issue since it is quite lengthy to discuss here and regurgitate once again. Thanks for your patience.]

Peace be with you!

Answer 9

Yes, many of their doctrines and practices go against the bible teaching like the worship of Mary, dead saints, relics, icons, praying in vain repetion and pergartory to name a few. Some of them stem from paganism, probably when Constantine forced his army to become Christians and they brought alot of their pagan practices into the religion and some came from the popes. But that's not to say their aren't some real Christian people in the religion. good topic.

Answer 10

I am an athiest but I like the catholics because they are a close community that works for eachother. That is more or less the purpose of religion.