A question for Catholics?

Question

I am an ex-catholic, but I have family that still is catholic. Can any of you give me the scriptures out of the Bible where it says to
1) say prayers to Mary
2) pray with a rosary
3) pray and ask other saints to pray for you
4) go to a priest to confess sins and ask for forgiveness
5) bow to a statue or kneel to one for praying

Please don't say that you don't pray to Mary. Remember, I use to be catholic and I know the prayers and the way the catholics teach.
Also I don't want your reasons why, I only want scripture from the Bible.
No one I know can seem to find any of this in the Bible, so your help would be great.

Deacon Knight, are you sure about that? I have family who tries to tell me otherwise!

First of all I am NOT bashing catholics. It does seem however that most of them get very sensitive. As a born again Christian, I do not hate catholics or anyone! I just renounced the catholic faith and have family who are bashing me for it! I am sorry I do not follow their beliefs. They are convinced that they are suppose to pray to Mary and such and I have asked them to show me in scripture the exact verse where it says that and none of them can seem to show me. I am sorry I asked. Here is a verse that is really true though.

Matthew 10:22 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

Susan J, you always seem to have an answer, but fail to back this up with scripture. What will you do on judgement day when God says "depart from me now for I never knew you"? Mary is dead! She cannot save you. Only Jesus can. We are not to pray to ANYONE except God, through Jesus Christ. I am not bashing you, just trying to tell you something you might want to research and consider.

Meg Michaels, I am not looking for a book for answers. I want real true scripture from the Holy Bible (KJV) 1611

I am not here to get anyone angry, I just need these verses if they are in the Bible. I have not read it word for word and there might be something I have missed. My family thinks I have lost my mind.

catholics.. thank you for your answer, but here is a website that backs up what I know.
http://www.jesus-is-savior.com

Thank you all of you for your answers. Although some of you tried to justify your faith inthe catholic church, still, it clearly says in the Ten Commandments
1) You shall have no other God's before me
2) You shall not make any graven images.
Mary was a woman, and is now dead. She got married and had more children, (it is in the Bible) and she is now dead, with her own sins to be forgiven. She too had to ask Jesus for forgivness. This is idol worship to say prayers to her. Read the Commandments over again. Praying to the dead is considered necromancy. The saints again, had thier own sins. No one showed me where it says to use a rosary, nor did anyone show me true scripture where it says to bow to anyone, especially statues, but scripture does warn us not to bow to anyone except God. Exodus 20:5
After researching everything, I now know I made the best choice when I left the catholic religion and became a born again Christian. I have given my life to God through Jesus Christ.

Answer 1

Those instructions are simply NOT in the Bible.
Jesus is the ONLY channel to his Father in heaven.
(John 14:6) Jesus said to him: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

And images of ANY sort, even of Jesus himself, should not even be made. let alone prayed to or in front of.

(Exodus 20:4-5) “You must not make for yourself a carved image or a form like anything that is in the heavens above or that is on the earth underneath or that is in the waters under the earth. 5 You must not bow down to them nor be induced to serve them, because I Jehovah your God am a God exacting exclusive devotion, bringing punishment for the error of fathers upon sons, upon the third generation and upon the fourth generation, in the case of those who hate me;

Confessions must be made to Almighty God himself, and always THROUGH Jesus.

Answer 2

I was raised a catholic too, and I can tell you that nowhere in the bible will you find any of that, except for part of number 4. "Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed." James 5:16 But even that doesn't say it has to be to a priest.

My mom was a devout Catholic and a very good Christian, and I know she is in heaven now. So even though I ,as a Christian disagree with many things the church teaches, which are not biblical, I would never be an all out Catholic basher. I know just how you feel , being a born again Christian with a Catholic family. I've been there.

Answer 3

Yes, I am a practicing Catholic. I do feel bad when, at Christmas and Easter, all those "twice a year" Catholics come out - but then I realize that it could be worse. It could very well be possible they don't come out at all. It's easy for someone, who attends Church every week, to go to Mass on Christmas, Easter, and Holy Days of Obligation. I often wonder just how much more difficult it is for people, who don't attend Mass regularly, to get out and go to Mass a few time per year. We can't imagine it, because we know what we'd be missing. I don't think these "twice a year" types can fully appreciate what it is they're missing. If they did, they'd be at Mass more than twice a year. I am proud to be Catholic, so it's all the more disappointing when I see people taking an "oh hum: attitude towards their vocation as lay Catholics. All we can really do about it is pray, and hope that they example we set will, someday, motivate them to start living the Catholic lifestyle all year round.

Answer 4

Number 1-3 as far as i can tell are merely cultural practices as far as i can tell. Number 4 someone already answered and there's that other passage which i can't find at the moment but which is pretty much the reason why the protestant reformation happen, and as for number 5, i can think of passages but they are AGAINST bowing to a statue (a statue is usually considered a false idol even if it is of "God" or "Jesus"). That's found in the 10 whatever they are called (lol sorry its late) and various places in the bible. but you are right most of these are not found anywhere in the bible, at least not as far as i know.

Answer 5

Remember how Jesus felt when he was seeing the money changers in the temple, well that is sort of how I feel after reading the answers and question put forth here. Man needs the love of God to survive. Any way that man or woman feels that they can get closer to God through prayer then they take it. If we are all Christian and believe in God then what difference does it make? To Pray should always revolve around God and knowing that certain people were chosen by Him or more close to Him than we are then there is no crime in seeking them out through prayer and asking for guidance. Jesus had friends that He confided in and spent time with, they were special in that they actually could stand by his side, sit with Him, eat a meal with Him, talk directly to Him. The only way we can do that is through Prayer. So Jill stop fighting with others, and the others stop fighting with Jill. Do as Jesus would do and live your life with God as your guiding light. He gave His son to save us not to lead us to argue and hate. Many say things that they regret and spend their entire lives fighting to defend even if they wrong in the eyes of themselves or others. To be Christian is to be Christ like, so start to be more like Christ. Ask yourself this question, as Jesus talked with the woman by the well did He not show her love? What would he say to you if he overheard you now, how would he react to you? So too then should you act in this way toward one another. You are all good people go into the world and show others the Christian ways of Jesus.

Answer 6

The Hail Mary verses are in Luke 1. They are the words the angel Gabriel uses to address Mary and the greeting of Elzabeth filled with the Holy Ghost. The fact that we are supposed to pray for each other and confession is in James 5:16 and 1 John 1:6-10.
There is no proscribed method of prayer in the Bible. It is acceptable in all forms. If you were a Catholic, you know the prayers, which are all verses in the Bible.
Hail Mary is in Luke 1; Our Father is Matthew 6:10-13.
Jesus himself knelt and prayed in Luke 22:41 !!!

Answer 7

Judge not, for someone that used to be a Catholic why do you hate Catholics, if you want to know ask your family, but you already know the answer so why ask
And yes I do pray to Mary, she is the mother of Jesus, without her we would not have Jesus

Well I die or on judgement day I will be with Jesus because I believe in him and follow the commandments and I pray to him everday and I don't judge anyone because of their faith

Answer 8

>>Please don't say that you don't pray to Mary. Remember, I use to be catholic and I know the prayers and the way the catholics teach.<<

I have no doubt you used to be Catholic. Former Catholics are the most vicious anti-Catholics there are. However, I have never met a former Catholic turned evangelical Protestant who really understood the Catholic Faith, and you are no exception.

Can YOU give me the scriptures out of the Bible where it says to ask questions on Yahoo?

If you are truly looking for answers to your questions, apologetic sites are better than Y!A.

Answer 9

Hi Jill, You will find answers to all your questions in the following link alongwith scriptures out of the Bible. I do pray to Mary and am proud of it. She is the Mother my Lord gave me on His deathbed- the Cross. I dont worship Her but honor Her as my Lord's Mother and ask Her to intercede for me just as one would ask one's own earthly mother to pray for a special favor. Im sure you have asked your friends or family to pray for you at some time or the other. The saints are not dead but alive in heaven and can hear our pleas. When we bow or kneel we show our respect (not worship) to the person represented in the statue. Just as one might look at a picture of a loved one with fondness. All the prayers of the Rosary are based on scripture and for further info on that go to the foll link.
Protestants have only the Bible but Catholics have also the 2000 year old traditions of the Catholic church which gave us the Bible so we dont just have the Bible to brag about but also tradition (the Bible by the way was first brought into existence by Catholic monks)
About going to a priest to confess :
The Bible teaches that Christ gave to the validly ordained ministers of His own Church the power to forgive sins.
2 Cor., 5:20: Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us; we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.
John 20-21: Then said Jesus to them again. Peace be unto you: as My Father hath sent Me, even so I send you. 23. Whosoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them: And whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.
Matt., 18:18: Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth, shall be loosed in Heaven
2 Cor., 5: 18,20: And all things are of God, Who hath reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the Ministry of reconciliation ...

God bless ! Hope you find this info helpful in coming back to your Mother Roman Catholic Church that is the only ark of salvation.
http://olrl.org/apologetics/statueworship.shtml

Why is the 2000 year old Roman Catholic church the only ark of salvation? The foll sermon by Fr.Arnold Damen may help you
http://www.olrl.org/apologetics/one_church.shtml

Answer 10

In the Bible Jesus gave us His mother. When He was on the cross He told John , "Son behold Thy mother", and to His mother Mary, "Woman behold Thy son".

Mary started appearing to people, telling them to stop offending God. That God is so sad with the people on earth and that He was about to destroy humankind again.

This was when she interceded for us and begged for a second chance. She then appeared to certain people here on earth and taught them to pray the Rosary. She then appeared all over the world in different cities begging people to start to pray.