Question to Evangelicals and Catholics?

Question

Serious question.

If I can argue that the Catholic faith is absolutly biblical (I can) and also I can argue that the evangelical belief is biblical (again I can) how do I reconcile the two.

Now before the evangelical amatures come out with some out of context bible quotes this is a serious question.

Most priest must spend around 50 times what the average pastor does studying the bible and church history.

I would like a balanced view.

I love the whole once saved always saved evangelical stance, its so great, but is it true. Isisnt the catholic stance more biblical.

please dont post from a anti-catholic site, I can give you 2000 years of books to back up any claim.

Note to the jokers or the "trolls" or the people who have no spiritual 2cents.

Please!

Come on!

Still getting silly responses.

Mary isint co-redemer.

I am really just trying to understand things, however I have had 17 years of systematic theology and now I am beinging to think - thats it just think, its healthy to do that.

You know work out your salvation in fear!!!!

Answer 1

"Are Catholics saved? If they are, it is on the basis of God's grace in Christ the Savior, as it is for Evangelicals. For his part, the Evangelical may need to ask whether he has taken this 'so great salvation' and pocketed it like a laminated card ... 'Oh, I'm saved; I accepted Jesus as my Savior on March 10, 1984'. Yes, but is your lamp trimmed? How have you been doing in the 'inasmuch as you have done it to the least of these' sweepstakes? Have you forgiven your brother as [He] has forgiven you? ... that decision of yours was the opening sentence in the story. Where has the story gone now?

"And, for his part, the Catholic will need to ask whether all of his faithful obedience to the commandments of the Church -- Mass, holy days of obligation, confession -- has been the fruit of faith in him or whether he has supposed that it has all been a matter of accruing as much merit as he can stockpile for his account at the Judgment, hoping that it will add up to an acquittal ...

"... one will be saved, if one is found among the faithful, at the resurrection, until which time, says St. Paul, our salvation is not complete. It is not until then that one may quite say 'I am saved', with the ring of utter finality."

Answer 2

i'm a former Catholic, notwithstanding this is a misnomer. I gained an astounding Catholic guidance: notwithstanding,i did not have self assurance. so which you will possibly answer your question - All i will think of is they are supremely ignorant or confident, intentionally mendacity. I each and every now and then see posts right here on Yahoo bringing up phony costs from a Pope, even an American Cardinal from the nineteenth century and then there became the completely bogus Oath of the Knights of Columbus. I researched them and published the actual fact appropriate to the inspiration. regrettably there are hundreds of web content on the information superhighway that use those costs, with none attempt to offer a reference. And it not in straightforward terms "Evangelicals" who try this. I even have considered this on new age web content too. i became raised in a state with a extreme share of Catholics, so the only bigotry i became attentive to became that which I found out approximately in school, how early Catholic settlers in the U.S. have been severly discriminated against (to place it mildly!) somewhat a marvel going out into the huge international, to pay attention" You Catholics are storing up weapons on your church basement to take over the rustic" or "You save on with the Pope blindly". you recognize that did not come from any bible

Answer 3

Hmmm You can argue that Catholics and "Evangelicals" are "absolutely biblical"?
Kudos to you, because neither of them can convincingly argue that point!

Get yourself a red-letter Bible (New Testament)... read the stuff in red, and throw everything else out. Jesus followed the Jewish Law, as modified in form and spirit by what he said and did. Everything else is pure human intervention/invention, often dictated by the needs of the Church (back in the day) or by "fashion" (nowadays).

For instance, it isn't until the Middle-Ages that the cult of the Virgin was sanctioned, in order to co-opt the resurgence of pagan Mother-Goddess cults. But that doesn't mean that Jesus wouldn't have been horrified. Just the same, I simply can't imagine ANY of our plethora of televangelists ever finding favour in His eyes.

Answer 4

If you've actually read the Bible you'll find Catholicism is pretty on many points. Problem is that most Catholics don't actually bother to read the Bible. I myself am an ex-Catholic and assume the Catholic church taught what was Biblical, until I actually read the Bible.

You can checkout my website
The Boston Christian Bible Study Resources
http://www.bcbsr.com
and see what I've learned.
See also my analysis of Catholism at http://www.bcbsr.com/topics/catholic.html

Good Biblestudying to you

Answer 5

So much of it is simply personal interpretation from studying theology, no two religions will ever agree to disagree because there can never be a win win agreement with religion.

Answer 6

If I can argue that the Catholic faith is absolutly biblical (I can) and also I can argue that the evangelical belief is biblical (again I can) how do I reconcile the two.

Just because a belief has been derived from the Bible doesn't make it "biblical". What I mean is, that you have to take into account the whole counsel of God's Word and you have to correctly interpret passages when doing so.

Here's a simple example. Catholics do not allow their Priests to marry. There are two things wrong with that. First of all the office of Priest was abolished because a Priest is someone who mediates between God and the laity.

1 Timothy 2:5 For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,

Hebrews 4:14 Therefore having a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast the confession. 15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but having been tempted in all respects in quite the same way as we are, yet without sin. 16 Therefore let us come boldly to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Hebrews 10:11 And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which are never able to take away sins. 12 But He Himself, having offered one sacrifice for sins forever, He sat down at the right hand of God, 13 from that time waiting till His enemies are placed as a footstool for His feet. 14 For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.

There are passages that talk about Elders but none that specify the office of Priest.

The second thing wrong with it is because it goes against what the Bible teaches in regards to the requirements for leaders in the church.

Sure, you can quote from Corinthians 7 where Paul writes about an unmarried man not having his efforts divided between pleasing his wife and God. And you can quote Jesus talking about how some make themselves eunuchs for the sake of the Kingdom. But those passages cannot be used to contradict what these passages clearly teach.

1 Timothy 3:1 Faithful is this word: If anyone aspires to the position of a bishop, he desires a good work. 2 It is necessary, therefore, for a bishop to be irreproachable, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, well-behaved, hospitable, skillful at teaching; 3 not given to wine, not a bully, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not loving money; 4 one ruling his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence; 5 (for if one does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God?); 6 not a new convert, lest being puffed up with pride he fall into the same judgment as the devil. 7 Moreover he must have a good testimony among those outside, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.

8 Likewise deacons must be reverent, not double-tongued, not being given to much wine, not greedy for money, 9 holding the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience. 10 But let these also first be tested; then let them serve as deacons, being irreproachable. 11 Likewise their wives must be reverent, not slanderers, temperate, faithful in all things. 12 Let deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children well, and their own houses. 13 For those who have served well as deacons obtain a standing for themselves and much boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.

Then if you want to talk about church history on this matter. It wasn't until like 800-1000 AD that the church in Rome decided to prohibit their Priests from getting married. Secular historians say that this decision was put into effect to keep church property from being passed along to the children of the Priests.

Claiming that the Pope received some divine revelation of truth would mean that God who never changes had changed his mind about his leaders having wives. Does that seem likely to you?

The church in Rome much like the Jewish leaders in Jesus' day is steeped in the traditions of men that while they may have been derived from the Bible actually make the commands of God to no effect.

Answer 7

You said you want a balance view but your line of thinking is that you are pro catholic. Is that what you call balance view.

Answer 8

The issue concerning any church and its practices should be “Is this Biblical?” If a teaching is Biblical (taken in context), it should be embraced. If it is not, it should be rejected. God is more interested in whether a church is doing His will and obeying His Word than whether it can trace a line of succession back to Jesus’ apostles. Jesus was very concerned about abandoning the Word of God to follow the traditions of men (Mark 7:7). Traditions are not inherently invalid…there are some good and valuable traditions. Again, the issue must be whether a doctrine, practice, or tradition is Biblical. How then does the Roman Catholic Church compare with the teachings of the Word of God?

Salvation: The Roman Catholic Church teaches that salvation is by baptismal regeneration and is maintained through the Catholic sacraments unless a willful act of sin is committed that breaks the state of sanctifying grace. The Bible teaches that we are saved by grace which is received through simple faith (Ephesians 2:8-9), and that good works are the result of a change of the heart wrought in salvation (Ephesians 2:10; 2 Corinthians 5:17) and the fruit of that new life in Christ (John 15).

Assurance of salvation: The Roman Catholic Church teaches that salvation cannot be guaranteed or assured. 1 John 5:13 states that the letter of 1 John was written for the purpose of assuring believers of the CERTAINTY of their salvation.

Evangelical view
We are saved by grace, not by works, so that no one can boast.
We are saved by grace alone. Recall that in Acts 16:31 the jailer asked Paul and Silas how to be saved. They responded, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved." The jailer believed and immediately became saved.
Close to 200 times in the New Testament salvation is said to be by faith alone - with no works in sight. Consider the following:
John 3:15 tells us that "everyone who believes in him may have eternal life."
John 5:24 says, "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my words and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life."
In John 11:25 Jesus says, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies."
John 23:46 says, "I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness."
John 20:31 says, "But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name."
If salvation were not by faith alone, then Jesus' message in the Gospel of John - manifest in the above quotations - would be deceptive, stating that there is one condition for salvation when there are allegedly two - faith and works.
I must emphasize that we are saved by faith for works. Works are not the condition of our salvation, but a consequence of it We are saved not by works, but by the kind of faith that produces works.

Eph 2:8-10 God saved you by his special favor when you believed. And you can't take credit for this: It is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

I believe that once a person exercises saving faith in Jesus Christ, he or she is forever in the family of God. God never kicks anyone our of his forever family. A number of Scripture passages support this view. For example, in 1 Corinthians 12:13 we are told that at the moment of salvation the Holy Spirit places us in the body of Christ. Once we are infused into the body of Christ, we are never excised from the body. In fact, Ephesians 1:12 and 4:30 indicate that at the moment of believing in Jesus Christ for salvation, we are permanently "sealed" by the Holy Spirit. At that point, we are God's everlasting property. That seal guarantees that we'll make it to heaven.
Moreover, we read in John 10:28-30 that it is the Father's purpose to keep us secure despite anything that might happen once we have trusted in Christ. Nothing can snatch us out of His hands. God's plans cannot be thwarted (Isaiah 14:24). Further, Romans 8:29-30 portrays an unbroken chain that spans from the predestination of believers to their glorification in heaven.
Another fact we need to keep in mind is that Christ regularly prays for each Christian (Hewbews 7:25). With Jesus interceding for us, we are sucure. (His prayers are always answered!)
Of course, the fact that a believer is secure in his salvation does not mean he is free to sin. If the Christian sins and remains in that sin, Scripture says that God will discipline him or her just as a father disciplines his children (see Hebrews 12:7-11).

Answer 9

#1 The Bible calls for married pastors and elders.The word priest is never used in Pauls setting up of the church.The word Nun is not either.The Roman Church broke fellowship when they decided to "Lord it over" the other churches in the 300s AD.UnBiblical.Peter was never in Rome.Peter was married,Peter called himself The Elder(I Peter 5:1) ,he was not a Pope.Jesus said about the eating of flesh and blood,"The things I speak are of spirit ,the flesh profits nothing".Yet the Catholics persist in transubstantiation.At the "Last Supper",Jesus instituted communion with his flesh on his body and blood running through his veins and said "DO this in REMEMBARANCE of me".
Geez,I could go on for hours.
"One mediator between God and man,Christ Jesus"Paul said...not Mary,not him not Jude or Joseph.etc adnauseum.

Answer 10

There are no arguments. There is only what we say and what the bible says.