To any and all Catholics........serious inquiry?

Question

I used to be a catholic myself before I got saved. I ask this of you without malice or ill will in my heart...that I can promise:

Can you honestly say that the system of things that go on in a catholic service are not somewhat wrong according to scripture?
What makes one think that a system of works will save them?
The bible is clear that we are saved by grace through faith and not of works (Ephesians 2:8-9).
Are you not also going entirely against God's Word when you kneel in front of a statue of a saint and pray?
Or are you not going against God's Word when you use a priest as a mediator when scripture is clear that there is only one mediator between God & man...the Man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:5)?

There is much more I could say but....there's that 1000 character limit thing......Can you understand why us Christians view your system of things as dead wrong sometimes?

This is the response I expected from Catholics unfortunately......

I had 9 years of catholic schooling....I know all about what goes on. Scripture is clear.....traditions don't save you, only Christ can.

Daver:
Long response for naught......no one is going to convince me that the catholic church is doing things right. It's downright unbiblical to pray to a saint....they are dead and cannot hear us. We are instructed to not communicate with the spirits.

To godntennis:

Thank you. This is our temporary home....we are stuck in these tents called bodies until the trumpet sounds....

Praise God!

Answer 1

God Bless You! I'm so happy to see another human writing 'my temperary home until God comes back and gets me!" cos that's the way I think! n I was brought up to think like that! c my questions on homosexual marriages.. you seem like your walkin the walk with God...wats ur view on that? thanks..!

Answer 2

I don't think you spent much time in the Catholic Church. Catholics believe in being saved by grace and works will follow. If you were raised a Catholic and went to Mass everyday in Catholic Schools you would know you were not praying to statues of Saints. You would also know and remember being taught as a child that we are a child of God and Jesus is our brother and we bow our heads in prayer go Jesus not the priest.

The Catholic Church is steeped in tradition and I do get impatient, that is why I go to a non-denominational Church now. I think it's unfair to the Catholic Church or any Church to tear it down because you don't agree with it's teachings. No Church is perfect but it is God's Church that your are tearing down. It is the Church that I first received my faith and you too probably. I actually was born again at a Catholic retreat during the Mass just before receiving the Holy Eucharist. So I'm thinking, how much can their be wrong or against Scripture with the Mass or what you call 'catholic service.'

My advice to you is to move on, ask Jesus to take the anger out of your heart that you have toward the Catholic Church. Love and humility can go a long way.......Peace

Answer 3

No, not at all if you read the early Fathers of the Catholic Church, which is the same group, that guided the Faith, you will see the Church never varied from its task to teach all nations as Jesus directed to the Apostles.
The Church has gone through many persecutions, scandals and evils yet Jesus promised he would never abandoned the Church and it has continued when so many groups that thought they knew better have not. Gnostics, Arians, Reformation offshoots and the cults of the latter part of the 1800s have come and faded, reformed and regrouped again and again but they never will have the wonderful cache of graces and tradition that the Church has cherised for over 2000 years.
There is a beautiful continuance that you know that will never go away, and with the wonderful sacraments that our Lord has given the Church, it has so much more meaning than any shadow of a church that happens to be in vogue today.

Answer 4

For a former Catholic you have little understanding of what the Catholic Church teaches. But I suppose that is normal. No-one who recognizes what the catholic Church is could ever leave it for something so much less.

Catholics do not have "services". They have the holy Sacrifice of the Mass. It is celebrated exactly as Jesus Christ celebrated it at the Last Supper, in obedience to His command, "Do THIS in remembrance of Me". How does your church respond to this direct command from the lips of God Himself?

The Catholic Church does not teach that works will save you. On the contrary, it teaches that "salvation is a free gift of God that cannot be earned or merited". However, the Catholic Church also teaches that while works do not save us, works are an essential aspect of accepting the free gift of salvation, just as the Bible tells us. Read the last paragraph of Matthew 25. Those who do not do these works will go off to everlasting punishment. What do you find ambiguous about that?

Where does God's wordf say that we should not ask other Christians to pray for us?? The saints are Christian brethren, and are most willing to pray for us. Therefore if I look at a statue or piture to reminbd me of the saint I am speaking to, and ask that saint to pray for me, why would that be a problem? And no, the saints are not "dead people", for Christ said those who follow Him "will never die". I believe Him. Do you?

A priest is not a mediator. There is only one Mediator, Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It tells you that in the holy Bible compiled by the Catholic Church. The work of mediation was completed on the cross. A priest is a minister, not a mediator. Don't you have ministers in your church?

You are very confused on a lot of issues. But that is inevitable once you reject the Church Jesus Christ founded for you and ebnter into unauthorized manmade religion.

Answer 5

Darn... i made thisreally long complete post a while back but it's missing....

Cant do anything about it now since im kinda sleepy. I cant rewrite the entire thing all over again so I'll give you another method. Intead of coming to Yahoo Answers for Catholic questions I suggest you go here:

http://forums.catholic.com/index.php?

The members here are very nice and friendly. They would be happy to answer all your Catholic questions and right away. It's a very friendly site. So why don't you get an account? You can repost this if you like in the apologetics section.

The people here are not biased. Its based on research and Yahoo would look like Hell (LOL) compared to this site. No one's gonna say mean stuff at you as long as you are friendly to them too. Since you are worried about overshooting 1000 characters, you can just discuss in the forum first.

Is that okay?

God Bless....

Answer 6

The catholic Church does not believe in a system of works to save them. We believe that we are saved by the grace of God. We also believe that it is our duty to perform acts of charity as part of our walk with God. Read Matthew 25

See how a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.
And in the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out by a different route? For just as a body without a spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead. James 2: 24-26

When we kneel in front of a statue to pray, we are asking the person to pray for us. We are not worshipping the statue or even the person the statue represents.

The priest is not a mediator between God and man. The priest is the leader of the local faith community. Jeus gave His disciples the authority to forgive sins in His name (John 20: 21-23)

I can understand why "Christians" view the system of things as wrong. You do not understand what the catholic system of things is. Son, 9 years of Catholic schooling were not enough for you to learn what Catholics actually believe.

Answer 7

Yet other sects of christianity pick and choose what laws they wish to follow. No sect of any religion is right or wrong, you are both equally right and both equally wrong. I was born catholic, I dont remember praying to saints, but that was awhile ago.

But I have a question for you, what makes something a prayer? Why cannot you not talk to someone in heaven through God? It doesn't say you cannot do that. So if you wish to say the 'hail mary', what actually makes it a prayer and not just talking?

Answer 8

In honesty, this is my problem with you all. As Catholics, we view that all of us Christians are saved by the Word of God. It the end, it is just a matter of different means to the same end. And as for the saints, statues, priests, etc., we are not worshipping them as gods, we are merely using them as guides and teachers. And as for the early church, did not the 12 disciples play the same role as current priests. Would have been saved if not for the work of the leaders of God's church, Whether it be a priest, pastor, friend, stranger who preached the word to you?

Answer 9

I have not been Catholic since I was 17 when I told the truth as to my feelings when I went to confession. That was the Saturday before Easter and the priest told me I could NOT receive communion. By his doing that I felt I was ex-communicated and therefore no longer Catholic.
Now the only time I will go to a Catholic church is when someone gets married or there is a funeral. I have been once when a friend had their baby baptized.

Answer 10

What do you mean by " us Christians ". All Catholics are Christians. One needs to be cautious with literal interpretations of the scriptures. Do you actually believe that any devout Christian would be denied salvation for not having practiced a particular " brand " of religiosity? Every bit of this transcends our ability to really say with certainty how God should be reverenced. I believe the key is to live righteously, humbly, and without malice in one's heart.

Answer 11

There is a very good book to read if you can find it, Once a Catholic by Tony Coffey that shows the difference between the church of Catholism and Scripture.

It is very sad to see so many devout people who think they are doing what God wants them to do be in this situation,

Worse than that is trying to convince a old school Catholic that this is wrong, pray for us all that we would find mercy.