Why does the Catholic church recognizes the Pope as the head of the church?

Question

Jesus is the head of the church. The Catholic has an elaborate system of worship, involving the use of incense, the lighting of candles and the use of images these things are not in the Bible. When man adds other elements he is adding things which God did not wish to be included in his worship, else he would have included them from the beginning

Jesus is the head of the church not the Pope....The bible gives us God's commands, which are not to be changed. It's in the Bible, Matthew5:18." I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter: not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the law until everything is accomplished."

Answer 1

Cathlics have to many traditions...
Pope...
Pergetory(THERE HEAVEN)...
etc...
They have some odd beliefs...
Unchristian and unbiblical beliefs!

Answer 2

I don't know the exact verses, but Jesus gave the keys to the kingdom of Heaven to St. Peter and said something along the lines of "What you bind on earth is bound in heaven, what you loose on earth is loosed in heaven" thus making St. Peter our first pope.

Catholics worship the Holy Trinity alone. Saints guide us toward Christ, and pray for us(they're in heaven!) as we journey on.

Incense, if I'm not mistaken, is also used in Jewish tradition. I don't really see whats so wrong about it. We use it as a symbol of our prayers rising to heaven.

Candles=the light of Christ.

We don't worship images either. They remind of holy events or people and guide us along Christ. Would you be worshiping your deceased relative if you put a nice picture of them in a dignified spot?

All of our practices come from the Bible, both new and old testaments. When Jesus came he did not abolish rituals and sacrifices, he perfected them.

EDIT: Purgatory is not the Catholic heaven. It is the place where we are purged of our sins and imperfects so we can enter the Kingdom. There's evidence in the book of Maccabees I believe, but the Reformation removed a few books from the bible so you may or may not be familiar with them. I think scripture says that nothing imperfect shall enter heaven. Are you perfect at the instant of death?

EDIT 2: The pope is the Vicar of Christ. Christ is the head of the Church, however to hinder heresy and sacrilege we need a leader right? What if a country didn't have a leader?

If you have any other questions I'll direct you to an awesome site: www.ewtn.com

Answer 3

Have you ever actually read the Bible?

Images and Statues
Deut. 4:15 - from this verse, Protestants say that since we saw "no form" of the Lord, we should not make graven images of Him.

Deut. 4:16 - of course, in early history Israel was forbidden to make images of God because God didn't yet reveal himself visibly "in the form of any figure."

Deut. 4:17-19 - hence, had the Israelites depicted God not yet revealed, they might be tempted to worship Him in the form of a beast, bird, reptile or fish, which was a common error of the times.

Exodus 3:2-3; Dan 7:9; Matt. 3:16; Mark 1:10; Luke 3:22; John 1:32; Acts 2:3- later on, however, we see that God did reveal himself in visible form (as a dove, fire, etc).

Deut. 5:8 - God's commandment "thou shall not make a graven image" is entirely connected to the worship of false gods. God does not prohibit images to be used in worship, but He prohibits the images themselves to be worshiped.

Exodus 25:18-22; 26:1,31 - for example, God commands the making of the image of a golden cherubim. This heavenly image, of course, is not worshiped by the Israelites. Instead, the image disposes their minds to the supernatural and draws them to God.

Num. 21:8-9 - God also commands the making of the bronze serpent. The image of the bronze serpent is not an idol to be worshiped, but an article that lifts the mind to the supernatural.

I Kings 6:23-36; 7:27-39; 8:6-67 - Solomon's temple contains statues of cherubim and images of cherubim, oxen and lions. God did not condemn these images that were used in worship.

2 Kings 18:4 - it was only when the people began to worship the statue did they incur God's wrath, and the king destroyed it. The command prohibiting the use of graven images deals exclusively with the false worship of those images.

1 Chron. 28:18-19 - David gives Solomon the plan for the altar made of refined gold with a golden cherubim images. These images were used in the Jews' most solemn place of worship.

2 Chron. 3:7-14 - the house was lined with gold with elaborate cherubim carved in wood and overlaid with gold.

Ezek. 41:15 - Ezekiel describes graven images in the temple consisting of carved likenesses of cherubim. These are similar to the images of the angels and saints in many Catholic churches.

Col. 1:15 - the only image of God that Catholics worship is Jesus Christ, who is the "image" (Greek "eikon") of the invisible God.

Answer 4

It has to do with Peter being the first pope and secession. I use to know all of the unBiblical belief regarding why Popes are

SUPPOSEDLY

Biblical.

Answer 5

Bcause they don't know any better. At Matt. 23:10, Jesus said: "Neither be called ‘leaders,’ for your Leader is one, the Christ."

Answer 6

Honey glazed doughnuts are not in the bible either, but they are quite tasty and their existence does not ratify or deny my faith.