Is the Catholic Church a credible institution?

Question

1-pope alexander, believing that the world was flat, "split" up the world into east and west and gave spain and portugal the blessing to conquer either side.
2-the church accused many scientists of heresy: among them newton, copernicus, and galileo, saying that their researches were wrong (heliocentric universe, gravity, round earth) only to find out that they were right all along
3-the church took adam and eve literally, thus licensing all the scum that was thrown and done to women--witch hunts and that blood-soaked book, the witches' hammer. they even put forward that stupid concept of original sin only to say, years later, that adam and eve are but symbols. ie christ died for the symboolic adam.

Answer 1

No the Catholic Church is not credible.

Here are the indisputable facts that Catholic apologists, pr agents and spin doctors refuse to acknowledge, seek to have suppressed and attack as untrue.

1. The Catholic Church was without question the single largest and wealthiest economic entity of human history from 400 CE to 1800 CE (over 1400 years). It has only been since the advent of private banks and financial secrecy laws that the true wealth of the church has become "hidden in plain site".

2. The Vatican today is without question the single largest and wealthiest organization on the planet, with assets exceeding $3,000 Billion.
http://one-faith-of-god.org/final_testament/end_of_darkness/truth/truth_0030.htm

The Vatican is by far the largest holder of land titles for any organisation or government in the world with visible title to around US $316 Billion of property (churches, schools, hospitals etc) and around US $2,623 Billion of investment property hidden in an extremely complex networks of hundreds of thousands of trusts and front companies.

The current market property value of Vatican City, in the heart of Rome alone is worth between US $1 Billion and $3 Billion. This excludes the value of the priceless artworks and valuables stored within its walls.

3. The Vatican is responsible for the deaths of more people than any other organization/state in human history.

Hundreds of millions of lives have been lost because of the Popes and the church. See the Almanac of Evil.
http://one-faith-of-god.org/final_testament/end_of_darkness/evil/evil_0120.htm

4. The Vatican has known the truth that Paul of Tarsus created christianity not Jesus, but refuses to reveal the truth

The Vatican has known for almost 2000 years that it was Paul of Tarsus, not Jesus who founded christianity.
http://one-faith-of-god.org/new_testament/apocrypha/founders_christianity/founders_christianity_0010.htm

Jesus founded the Nazarenes also known as the gnostics.
http://one-faith-of-god.org/new_testament/apocrypha/nazarenes/nazarenes_0010.htm

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What would Jesus Do?

+ The Catholic Church has never been the legitimate body representing Jesus. It is an imposter, a fraud.

+ In spite of the overwhelming evidence of corruption, of morally bankrupt behaviour, of evil, many people continue to defend such action, to the point of attacking those who dare to raise it.

+ Until good people are prepared to take a stand against such evil, it will continue to thrive.

Answer 2

The Catholic Church like any human institution is human. It may have been wrong in some things but it is right in most things. Many people thought the earth was flat a long time ago. The church was wrong about Galileo but so was the whole scientifc community at that time. The church is the authority in faith and morals and not in scientific facts. It may err in the field of science, that is not her expertice, leave that to the scientists, but she does not err in the area of faith and morals. Pope John Paul II apolgized for the mistake made on Galileo a long time ago. That is how credible he is. He will admit when he is wrong if he is wrong. But that doesn't mean it is not credible. The gates of hell will not prevail against the church Christ established. It is not perfect, but it is credible.

Answer 3

Pastor Billy says: oh dear one more person that has fallen for all the propaganda why don't people spend time learning history instead of being satisfied with all the cliches.
To address each of your points

1. The Church did not teach the world was flat this is utter nonsense. If you investigate further you'll discover by the time of pope Alexander and all other Medival popes the world was already known to be a sphere. The Church did not hamper science, it encouraged it. Find the book How the Catholic Church builted Western Civilization.

Many astronomers are Catholic priests, you doubt me? Next time at the library look for books on the moon and investigate it's landscape. Write down some names and than look them up. You'll discover the majority to be named for Catholic priests. Catholicism didn't restrict study of the heavens it expanded it! You mention Copernicus he worded for... the Catholic Church in his native Poland.

Symbols of power for the the monarches and popes were in the shape of an orb with a cross on top. They clearly understood the earth to be round and to reflect their Christian authority as caretakers of it.

2. Galileo was placed under house arrest for his theories on biblical interpretation not his views on physics. Fact is even his theories on physics could not be proven at that time and he wasn't always right for example Galileo although he agreed with a heliocentric system (not his own theory btw) he also theorized our system was at the center of the universe which we now know is false. The Church was funding much of this astronomical research and asked Galileo to slow up on his theorizing until he had more evidence. Galileo got in trouble not for the reasons you hypothesis and he wasn't tortured but was allowed to travel between several of his opulent villas while under house arrests for his challenging the Church on biblical interpretation.
Copernicus was not under attack by the Catholic Church you've obviously not read history at all, it was the Protestants who vehmently disagreed with Copernicus you need to aim more accurately and Newton, well Newton in all reality was a thief of intellectual property from earlier scientists much like Galileo who was credited being the father of the telescope. Look for the book, How the Catholic Catholic built Western Civilization.

3. ah yes original sin and the witch hunts, once again you are looking toward the wrong enemy. Do an internet search for "the symposium of minutes on the Inquisition" you'll discover the majority of deaths attributed to the witchhunts were not under Catholic Church authority but commited by Protestants and there is a considerable difference in the death rate between the two jurisdictions.
BTW original sin has not been done away with as you claim, it is the story of creation which Catholics can chose to believe literally or figuratively as it is understood other peoples existed at the time of the story.
You need to give Catholicism a chance it isn't as weak or stupid as you make it out to be. Try searching a bit harder for the truth and stop thinking and writing all the usual cliches.

addendum I've read comments from people like spitonapit and think, how did society become so stupid. Doesn't this person understand the difference between civil and criminal litigation? And what about those who protect the insurance industry's interests in these cases? Don't you ever stop to think it's beyond the defendants control as to how these cases proceed? And what about all the false accusations we don't hear about in the media? Are you naive enough to assume there aren't any because of course our general society is just so honest right spitonapit. Good God the stupidity of some people to believe what they want without investigating from first sources.

Answer 4

This is a very misleading question. Credible means believeable, and this depends on which areas. Proof 1 is simply misinformed. No thinking person for thousands of years has believed in a flat world. Read Ptolemy. Proof 2 is misinformed. Newton was a Protestant. Only Galileo was accused, but only because he challenged the "credibility" of scripture not his studies. Proof 3 is silly and lacks understanding of the placement of blood sacrifice of all religions and the significance of the Christian idea of sacrifice.

Answer 5

The Catholic Church has done some terrible things in the past and was suspicious of scientific progress, especially in its early days, but you cannot you those arguments to pass judgement on what it is today. It would be like judging you as an adult (I'm guessing here) based on a childhood of pulling wings off bugs, telling lies, and tormenting your little sister. (Not saying that you did these things, btw, just using an example.)

Is it a credible institution today? I believe it is. It still has its flaws - some pretty large, IMO - but it still has a place for doing good in this world.

Answer 6

Due to the fact that these
Christians use the Protestant Old Testament which is lacking 7 entire books 2 (Tobias, Judith, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus/Sirach, Baruch, I Maccabees, and II Maccabees), 3 chapters of Daniel and 6 chapters of Esther may be one of the reasons they ask catholics so many questions.

For the Sola Scriptura this is too bad .
In the 16th c., Luther removed those books from the canon that lent support to orthodox doctrine, relegating them to an appendix. Removed in this way were books that supported such things as:

prayers for the dead (Tobit 12:12; 2 Maccabees 12:39-45),

Purgatory (Wisdom 3:1-7),

intercession of dead saints (2 Maccabees 15:14),

and intercession of angels as intermediaries (Tobit 12:12-15).

The lesson, though, is this: relying on the "Bible alone" is a bad idea; we are not to rely solely on Sacred Scripture to understand Christ's message. While Scripture is "given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness" (2 Timothy 3:16-17), it is not sufficient for reproof, correction and instruction in righteousness. It is the Church that is the "pillar and ground of Truth" (1 Timothy 3:15)! Jesus did not come to write a book; He came to redeem us, and He founded a Sacramental Church through His apostles to show us the way. It is to them, to the Church Fathers, to the Sacred Deposit of Faith, to the living Church that is guided by the Holy Spirit, and to Scripture that we must prayerfully look.


any further questions, try this website:

http://www.fisheaters.com/beingcatholic....

Answer 7

Sure. They are as credible as any of the other major religions.

I was somewhat disappointed in the selection of the new Pope this time. I had hoped they would bring in someone who would be a stimulus for change. The Catholic church needs to reconsider all of their beliefs and practices and change those that are archaic and serve no purpose.

Answer 8

I see.

You want to disbelieve the Church's teaching on Original Sin but cannot justify your disbelief.

The Church has NEVER claimed to teach science with infalliblity. The Church does teach on matters concerning Faith and Morals infallibly.

Original Sin is a matter of Faith, not science. Here is what the Bible has to say concerning Original Sin:

Gen. 2:17 - the day you eat of that tree, you shall die. Adam and Eve ate of the tree, and they spiritually died. Some people ignore or deny the reality of original sin. But if there is no original sin, then we do not need a Savior either. The horrors of our world testify to the reality of original sin.

Gen. 3:14-19 - God's punishment for eating of the tree was cursing satan, increasing women's pain in childbirth, and condemning man to toil and labor for his whole life.

Job 14:1,4 - man that is born of woman is of few days and full of trouble. Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? All humans are afflicted with original sin, and this includes babies as well. This is why the Catholic Church has baptized babies for 2,000 years.

Psalm 51:5 - I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. We have inherited Adam's sin from the moment of our conception. This is why babies need baptism – to wash away the original sin inherited from Adam and Eve.

Rom. 5:12 - sin came into the world through one man, Adam, and death came through this sin. This sin affects all people, men and women, babies and adults. Through the merits of Jesus Christ, we have the sacrament of baptism to wash away the sin that came through Adam.

Rom. 5:14 - death reigned from Adam to Moses, born from Adam's original sin. This is a mystery we do not fully understand, but we must all acknowledge our propensity toward evil and our need of God.

Rom. 5:16 - the judgment following one single trespass brought condemnation for all. This means all have inherited the sin of Adam, and all must be washed clean of this sin in the waters of baptism.

Rom. 5:19 - by one man's disobedience many were made sinners. Original sin is passed on as part of the human condition, and only God in the flesh could atone for our sins by the eternal sacrifice of Himself. Through this sacrifice, God has re-opened the doors to heaven, and through baptism, we are once again made children of God.

1 Cor. 15:21 - for by one man came death. In Adam, all die. In Christ, the new Adam, all now may live.

Eph. 2:1-3 - we were all dead through sin and all lived in the passions of our flesh until Christ came to save us.


Whether or not one chooses to take Adam and Eve literally or figuratively is irrelevant - so long as the reader comes away with some understanding as to the origins of Original Sin. Revealing to us the reality of Original Sin is the whole point of Adam and Eve.

Answer 9

The Catholic church is as credible as any other religious organization.

Answer 10

No they changed a lot of Gods teachings in the bible, like the Sabbath and pagan holidays and other things look at this site http://www.bibleonly.org/exp/rccfalse.html