Catholics not a cult!?

Question

I could understand that Protestant Christian Church came out from Catholic church. I know Catholic church also believes in Jesus as Savior, Trinity. However, according to the Bible, no words should be added to the Authority (the Bible), and we should not worship Idols. And yet Catholic church is full of idols, and they have some book called RoseMary (if I am not mistaken) and they worship Mary, and called "holy mother". What is your take of that?

Thanks for the response so far...

If you are a protestant Christian, why aren't you going to be Catholics? Reasons?

If you are a Catholic Christian, why aren't going converting to be Protestant? Reasons?

As far as Idols go, some put as reminders.. Isn't cross enough? Why all the saints and pictures of the Saints?

As far as the books go, Don't they use the same Bible?

As far as holy mother goes, that sounds like Mohammed in Muslim belief. Catholics is making Mary more Holy than God. She was only a part of God's plan to have Jesus birth. Having her named Holy, that is way too much. What else did she do? The Bible didn't say much about her. If you want to compare holiness, check out Mose, Paul, John and so on.... They did more God's work than Mary.

Answer 1

I used to be a Catholic, so I'm familiar with the beliefs. I left a long time ago, mainly because, as I learned truths about what God actually tells us, in the Bible, I had to move on. "Religion" is not where it's at for me..."Spirituality" is!
I learned that only Christ is to be worshipped, (not Mary)
I learned that Saints are chosen by God, not by a church. So idol worship is not Biblical.
Baptism is not done by pouring water, or sprinkling on a person, Christ tells us to be fully immersed in water.
" Trinity" is not a word in the Bible, and the Holy Spirit is the comforter sent by Jesus., our Savior who died for everyone, regardless of our religion, or whether we have one.
The word of God is the Bible, not man made rules, in a church.
There are many more misconceptions, too numerous to mention here, and the truth from God is liberating...
I agree with "Line Dance" and his answer.

Answer 2

Pastor Billy says: Guilty as charged, Catholicism is a cult, the cult of Jesus Christ. The first Judaic sect which professed a perception within the One God was once additionally...a cult. Perhaps you supposed to mention occult and did not understand any bigger that occurs plenty with anti-Catholic forms. They lack a talents of no longer simplest tradition however historical past and language and so forth and so forth... As Trinity doctrine is of Catholic starting place there may be undoubtedly surely of whom Catholicism professes is God and that suggests the bishop of Rome, the Pope does no longer make the record. You're barking up the improper tree and I endorse you're employed for your supply earlier than making an attempt to slam First Christianity once more.

Answer 3

+ Sources of Authority and Doctrine +

The Catholic Church does not use Holy Scripture as the only basis of doctrine. It could not. The early Catholic church existed before and during the time that the New Testament was written (by Catholics).

There were hundreds of Christian writings during the first and second centuries. Which New Testament writings would become official was not fully decided until about 400 AD.

Catholics believe that the Holy Spirit was guiding the early church (and is guiding the church today) to make the correct choices about things like:
+ The Holy Trinity (which is also only hinted at in the Bible)
+ Going to church on Sunday instead of Saturday (which is actually directly against one of the Ten Commandments)
+ The Communion of Saints
+ Which writings include in the New Testament?

Things that are even more modern like
+ Slavery is bad. Slavery is never declared evil in the Bible. This was one of the justifications for slavery in the Confederate States.
+ Democracy is good. The Bible states that either God should be the leader of the nation like Israel before the kings or kings should be the leader, "Give to Caesar that which is Caesar's." This was talked about a lot during the American Revolution.

This second source of doctrine is called Apostolic Tradition.

http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/pt1sect1chpt2.htm#80

+ Graven Images +

Do you have pictures of your loved ones?

Statues and pictures of people we love are not idols.

Statues and paintings of Jesus and the saints are just like pictures of the people we love and respect.

The King James Version of the Bible states in Exodus 20:4: "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth"

Why were the Jews commanded not to make graven images? Graven images were the standard method of pagan worship. They were representations of false gods.

This is a very clear command.

However God commanded the Jews in Exodus 25:18 and 1 Chronicles 28:18–19, "And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them"

And in 1 Kings chapter 7 Solomon made bulls and other images out of precious metals.

It seems obvious that the Jews did not worship the cherubims and Solomon did not worship the bulls he had made. These images did not violate the command of God. Therefore, an image not made for worship is acceptable.

In Numbers 21:8-9, "And the LORD said to Moses, "Make a saraph and mount it on a pole, and if anyone who has been bitten looks at it, he will recover." Moses accordingly made a bronze serpent and mounted it on a pole, and whenever anyone who had been bitten by a serpent looked at the bronze serpent, he recovered."

And in John 3:14-15, Jesus says in correlation, "And just as Moses lifted up the [image of a] serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life."

How can a statue of our Lord Jesus Christ dead on the cross be considered an idol to a false god? A crucifix is the message of the Gospel without words held up for all to see, a visual reminder of the sacrifice of Jesus, no different from a painting, a play, or a movie.

Catholics do not worship statues but the almighty God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

+ Mary and the Saints +

Catholics share the belief in the Communion of Saints with many other Christians, including the Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, Episcopal, and Methodist Churches.

The Communion of Saints is the belief where all saints are intimately related in the Body of Christ, a family. When you die and go to heaven, you do not leave this family.

Everyone in heaven or on their way to heaven are saints, you, me, my deceased grandmother, Mary the mother of Jesus, and Mother Teresa.

As part of this family, you may ask your family and friends here on earth to pray for you. Or, you may also ask the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint Andrew, or your deceased grandmother in heaven to pray for you.

Prayer to saints in heaven is simple communication, not worship.

http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/pt1sect2chpt3art9p5.htm#946

I have never heard of a book called RoseMary

+ With love in Christ.

Answer 4

No. Catholicism is not a cult. However, it is a part of false religion. For example, Catholics:

1) call their priests "Father," even though Jesus said it is wrong for anyone to be called "Father" in a religious sense.

2) venerate the cross, although the cross is a pagan symbol that predates Christianity by thousands of years.

3) preach false doctrines like the trinity, purgatory, and people being tortured by a loving God in a burning hell.

4) pray to Mary, although Jesus Christ is the mediator between God and men.

5)are involved in politics, even though Jesus told his followers to be no part of the world.

6) "Christianized" pagan holidays like Christmas and Easter.

Catholicism's past is indeed bad. During the "Dark Ages," it oppressed those who sought to translate the Bible into the languages of the common people. If a Bible translator was caught, he was imprisoned, tortured, and then burned at the stake. If someone was caught with a Bible in his possesson, he was burned at the stake with the Bible chained around his neck. In more recent times, in World War Two, the Catholic Church did very little to resist Hitler.

I expect a lot of "thumbs down" on this answer because so many people will refuse to do research and accept the truth about the Catholic Church.

Answer 5

YOu are mistaken. The idea that Catholics worship idols is a lie, one that I have yet to see any protestant try to overcome. We honor the HOly Mother, we ask her to intervine on our behalf, but we do not worship her. We have statues of the saints to remind us of what we strive to be. It is a physical reminder of the kind of life in God that we want to achieve. We don't worship them.

Answer 6

First of all Catholics did not add words to the Bible. If you are referring to the 7 books that are in the Catholic Bible that are not in the Protestant Bible, those were removed by Martin Luther in 1529. I have been Catholic for 38 years and I have never worshiped any idols, nor have I ever worshiped Mary. I don't know the book RoseMary that you refer to. I have not heard of this. Catholics use statues to remind us of Holy people much like pictures remind you of your loved ones. We honor (not worship) Mary. Worship is reserved for God alone. God honored Mary above all creatures by making her the mother of His Son. In honoring Mary, the Catholic Church is following the example of God Himself. Mary's special privileges were given to her by God Himself, not men. I hope this clears things up for you.

God bless,
Stanbo

Answer 7

I think that maybe you should delve into what the Catholic Church actually teaches because it looks like you have some wrong info. It is best to go to the actual source...try a priest or religion teacher, because otherwise you just get what people think the church teaches. Anyway, depending on what you mean by "cult" all religions can be defined as a cult.

Answer 8

I dont thinks its an accult but I do think they need to read their Bibles a little better. However, they still believe that Jesus was the Son of God, sent to pay the price for sin by crucifiction on the cross. And the Bible says if they truely beleive that and accept Christ they are saved. Im not judging just repeating what God has already said.

Answer 9

No words should also be taken away from the bible, yet the protestants remove books that they do not like.

There is no idol worship. That is like saying that the memorial to Jefferson or Lincoln is an idol that Americans pilgrimage to DC in order to worship in from of. The statues are memorials to great Christians who came before the present generation to remind us of their sacrifice, faith, piety, and grace.

In regards to Mary, mother of Jesus. If Jesus is God, and Mary is his mother, then Mary is the Mother of God in the miracle of the virgin birth. Seems simple enough to me.

The Catholic church does have additional books that are used as guidance, but not as the true word of god. Criticizing the Apocrypha is like criticizing Protestants for reading left behind books.

Answer 10

We do not worship Mary, we honor her. The statues of saints is no different than the statues in a museum Like th George washington bust, it was made to honor him for being our first president. So are the statues of our saints. They lived hard, but decent lives, enduring suffering and torture, they went beyond the loving capacity of a human. They should be honored. Read in the book of exodus, when God was telling moses how to create his temple/synagogue, He told him to embroider angels on the curtains and make statues of angels, because when you walk in there, it should feel like part of heaven. So walking into a catholic church and seeing the saints is like walking into a small part of heaven. Also, holy water comes from the old testament. The members were to wash their heads with it to purify themselves before walking into the temple--we use it to do that and remember our baptism.And as far as adding and taking away words in the Bible, the protestants are the one who took several of the old testsment books out, which is funny, because Jesus used those to preach from. To me, if something were wrong with them, wouldn't Jesus have done it Himself?
About Mother Mary there are many scriptures we use to show she is more than a vessel. For instance in one of the new testament, angel Gabriel said, "Hail Mary, full of grace!" Then She asked Jesus to make more wine for the wedding guest, which He was sarcastic with Her, but made it anyway(that's why we believe she intercedes for us,He loved and honored her-one of the 10 commandments-soHewill do as She asks). Then He told John that to watch over Her because she is now his mother, which we interpret that She is now everyone's mother. There is no doubt that Jesus loved His mom and that's enough to make Her Queen in heaven.