Is the Catholic Church biblical?

Question

If it is how so?

I don't mean to put you guys on the spot, but if it is, Why is it so different than bible believing Christians?

Buff, I already believe in Jesus, God bless!

Answer 1

Andres, I believe that there are Christians in the Catholic Church. We should simply pray that the true God will guide their hearts to Jesus and keep them from all the idols that have been set up before them.

Answer 2

I myself am finding that much of Catholicism is rooted in the Bible, and it is interesting me more and more in the faith. A wonderful book on this subject (for starters) might be Scott and Kimberly Hahn's "Rome Sweet Home."

As for why the Catholic Church is so different from "Bible believing Christians," I would counter with the question of why the "Bible believing Christians" are so different from one another. Why are Baptists, Seventh Day Adventists, Jehovah's Witnesses, Lutherans, Calvinists, and even wackier smaller groups (e.g. Black Israelites, members of the Creciendo en Gracia cult, et cetera), all of whom claim to derive doctrine straight from the Bible, all so different from one another? The answer is simple: interpretation.

In a past post I asked that others consider verses like Matthew 1:22-23, Hebrews 1:8-9, and others. Those verses are telling us that the Old Testament texts being cited are references to Jesus. Imagine if you lived in a time before Matthew or Hebrews was written, and all you had were the relevant Old Testament texts (e.g. Isaiah, Psalms); how obvious would it be to you that those texts were referring to Jesus? It seems to me to be a plain fact that without Matthew or Paul, we'd have no clue those texts were referring to Jesus. Yet Christians are not free to go it alone with regard to interpretation; rather they must, esentially, submit to the understandings and interpretations of the early Church.

Thus an issue of Church authority arises from this thought for me. There are many different sects, but whose interpretations should we side with? I think it is better to side with the interpretations of a Church which has a continuous apostolic succession rather than some store front group where all the guy has in an English translation and his own lone understanding.

I would add this in the end. At present, the different Protestant sects are all over the place, believing every possible doctrine and its opposite. However, the original Protestant reformers were separated from the Catholic Church on two primary issues: sola fides et sola scriptura (faith alone and the Bible alone). So the two original differences between Catholics and Protestants are as follows:

(1) The Catholic Church believed that we are justified also by works and not merely faith alone, while the Protestants taught that we are justified by faith alone.

(2) The Catholic Church taught that the Church is the pillar and foundation of truth, while the Protestants taught that the Bible alone is the pillar and foundation of truth.

On these two issues the Bible sides with the Catholic Church.

Answer 3

Yes. The sacraments all have been instituted by Christ Himself. One can show the verses in the bible that show where and when the sacraments were instituted by Christ. The devotion to Mary is biblical. The bible was made and put together by the Catholics. Peter was the first Pope. The apostles were the first bishops. Jesus gave the apostles the power to forgive sins, which is why we confess to a priest, the successor of the apostles. The Holy Eucharist was instituted by Christ and He said "This is my Body" so the Bread we eat in communion is the Body of Christ. This is also biblical, but others don't regard the Bread as the Body of Christ. The Mass is filled with biblical verses. The Catholics try to be holy the way the bible teaches us to be holy. Everything that Catholics practice have their roots in the bible otherwise we would not be Catholics. It is the true Church Christ instituted on earth and it still is.

Answer 4

Yes - the short answer.
The long one:
The word "Catholic" is actually Greek and means "Universal" and the term "Catholic Church" actually appears for the first time in the letter of St. Ignatius to the Smyrnaeans, written about the year 110. St. Ignatius was a contemporary of the Apostle St. John.

Anti-Catholic rhetoric makes much of Catholic Tradition, in a vague attempt to suggest that the Catholic Church does not put as much weight on Scripture as it does Tradition. However, the Catechism of the Catholic Church states:

83 The Tradition here in question comes from the apostles and hands on what they received from Jesus' teaching and example and what they learned from the Holy Spirit. the first generation of Christians did not yet have a written New Testament, and the New Testament itself demonstrates the process of living Tradition.

Tradition is to be distinguished from the various theological, disciplinary, liturgical or devotional traditions, born in the local churches over time. These are the particular forms, adapted to different places and times, in which the great Tradition is expressed. In the light of Tradition, these traditions can be retained, modified or even abandoned under the guidance of the Church's Magisterium.

St. Paul writes:
“So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions (Gk: paradoseis) which you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by letter.” (2 Thes. 2:15)

Apostolic Tradition and Scripture have the same origin and this is quite clear, despite the denials of some. The Catholic Church is actually responsible for keeping Scripture alive through the centuries.

Answer 5

Yes, including 2 Thessalonians 2:15:

Therefore, brothers, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught, either by an oral statement or by a letter of ours.

All Catholic doctrine is biblical when looked at the Bible as an integrated whole.

Anyone can prove or disprove anything using individual Bible verses.

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. But the overriding biblical message of love of neighbor tells us that slavery is evil. 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.

Do Christians who do not allow the continuing guiding force of the Holy Spirit to make their beliefs more and more perfect, still endorse slavery as Colossians 3:22 commands, "Slaves, obey your human masters in everything"?

We instruct you, brothers, in the name of (our) Lord Jesus Christ,to shun any brother who conducts himself in a disorderly way and not according to the tradition they received from us. (2 Thessalonians 3:6)

I praise you because you remember me in everything and hold fast to the traditions, just as I handed them on to you. (1 Corinthians 11:2)

With love in Christ.

Answer 6

The Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church were the same churches talked about in the Acts of the Apostles. So it started out being biblical.
The Church back then was divided by where they were located. Some were in the East and the other in the west. The West was the church of Rome. In 1054 A.D. the two sides split-due to many things. The East had wanted to use appropriate languages in the Church, but the West wanted only to use Latin. Politics,church customs, and doctrinal differences also led to this split. But the Churches eventually divided over the authority of the Pope= Many thought that the Pope should lead the Churches and there were many major questions about him being without sin. (only God is without sin.) The East rejected this thought, and did not believe in a leader over the Church, except for Jesus Christ, our Lord and God.
When the Church split, the west became the Roman Catholics and the Churches to the East were the Orthodox Church.

Later in history-
The Catholic church had become greatly corrupted. (Some priests had claimed to forgive sins for money.) Martin Luther, a German Monk started what was known as the Reformation. This was a time where the people tryed to purify the Catholic Church. Eventually this led to a few people breaking off of the Catholic Church and forming the Protestant Church. Later, more people broke off of this Church and formed another, and so on and so forth.
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The mistake these people made was that they did not once look back at the Orthodox Church.
They had based some of their churches on certain scriptures only and did not look at Church history.
That is why many people have not heard of the Orthodox Church.
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But the Orthodox Church has not changed. It is the same as it was when it became the Church.
The Catholics have added to their church, and the Protestants have taken away, but the Orthodox Church has kept the 'New Testament Tradition'.
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"And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. " Matt. 16:18
To explain this scripture to you, I will write a quote from the Orthodox Study Bible:
"Rock refers not to Peter himself but to the confession of his faith. The true Rock and the foundation of the Church is, of course, Christ Himself. The Church rests upon this Rock by her unchanging faith, her confession. With this faith as the foundation, the gates of Hades, the powers of death, are powerless against her..."

And in Matt. 16:19=
" And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on on earth will be loosed in heaven."
The Orthodox study Bible says about this scripture:
" Keys of the kingdom clearly implies a special authority given to Peter himself, but never seperated from his confession of faith. While Peter was a leader of the disciples and of the early Church, all the apostles were empowered with Christ's authority(18:18). Further Peter was not a leader over the others but a leader among them, as seen in the Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15), where elders, or presbyters, met with the apostles together as equals..."
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God bless you.

Answer 7

Yes the Catholic Church is biblical. If you have ever been to a Mass nearly 95% if the Mass is from scripture. The songs are from psalms, the reading etc. The Catechism is based on Jesus Christ and the Word of God. The sacraments are all from the Bible as well. The list goes on and on. The Church is based on Scripture, Tradition and Magisterium - all three.

Answer 8

Yes, the Church is biblical!

The Catechism states:

V. SACRED SCRIPTURE IN THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH

131 "And such is the force and power of the Word of God that it can serve the Church as her support and vigor, and the children of the Church as strength for their faith, food for the soul, and a pure and lasting fount of spiritual life."109 Hence "access to Sacred Scripture ought to be open wide to the Christian faithful."110

132 "Therefore, the study of the sacred page should be the very soul of sacred theology. The ministry of the Word, too - pastoral preaching, catechetics and all forms of Christian instruction, among which the liturgical homily should hold pride of place - is healthily nourished and thrives in holiness through the Word of Scripture."111

133 The Church "forcefully and specifically exhorts all the Christian faithful. . . to learn the surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ, by frequent reading of the divine Scriptures. Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ.112

God bless.

Answer 9

No it isnt. The churches in the New Testament are nothing like the Catholic church today which has become a religion of works. The Catholic Church did not create the bible. The church only kept them. Unfornately, most did not read the scriptures. The scriptures were written through holy men who were inspired by God with the Holy Spirit. John was the last living apostle to write any scripture. The pope is not our Holy Father. The Vatican writings are not holy either. Easter and Christmas has become a pagan holiday. The new Testament people kept the Sabbath, celebrated Passover, did not have idols to pray before, did not count their prayers, did not baptize babies, did not pray to Mary or consider her to be divinity.
But not to make the Catholics feel bad, I know there are some who actually read their bible and know how salvation is given. God bless you, good question.

Answer 10

The Catholic Church is biblical since Jesus Christ, founded the Church upon Peter, and gave him the keys to heaven. The Catholic Church adheres to allt he teachings of the Bible and teaches the ten commandments. The Beatitutdes, a prime example of a way of living is encouraged through corporal works of Mercy in the Church. The Church is of God, and founded by Christ, so to answer your question, yes it is biblical.