Can you explain to me how Catholicism is different from the Pharisees?

Question

I am certainly no expert on Catholicism, but all this business in Catholicism of kissing the priest's ring, confessing your sins to the priest, the priests being the only ones that can communicate with God, and charging Catholics outrageous fees for a non-Catholic spouse to become a 'true' Catholic seems to me like the priests are placing themselves above God. How is this not blasphemy and how is participation in the Catholic faith not considered idolatry (according to the Christian faith)? Please help me understand!!

Answer 1

"But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi." -Matthew 23:5-7
It is so strange how the Word of God condemns the Catholic religion in plain Words; yet, Catholics BLINDLY follow the Pope and priests. It says in Matthew 23:9, in black and white, even in the Catholic Douay Bible, not to call any man "Father." Yes, that is exactly what Catholics call their priests, cardinals, and Bishops.

The Bible plainly states in 1st Timothy 4:1-3 that false teachers would come to us, teaching doctrine of devils: forbidding to marry, and forbidding to eat meat. The celibacy requirement for all priests is a devilish doctrine. The Catholic forbiddance of meat, or certain meats, on certain days, are doctrines of devils. God plainly tells us to enjoy the meat He has given us to eat, as long as we are thankful for it (1st Timothy 4:4).

Mark 7:6-13 plainly teaches that we are never to follow the traditions of men. Yet, the Catholic religion is one big conglomerate of traditions fabricated over the centuries. It wasn't until the year 1950 that Pope Pious XII decided to make the Assumption of Mary an official Catholic doctrine, a doctrine not found anywhere in the Bible.

Exodus 20:4,5 couldn't be any clearer that even BOWING down to a statue is idolatry. Yet, Catholics foolishly claim that they are not worshipping the statues they are bowing down to. BUT, God forbids us from even bowing to statues. In fact, the Bible is so clear on this matter that the Vatican has even REMOVED the second of the Ten Commandments to deceive them. No wonder 1st Timothy 4:2 states, "Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron." Everything that the Catholic Church has taught them is twisted, corrupted, and damnable!!! And their conscience's are calloused, harder than steel. In the old days, a wounded soldier would sterilize and seal his would by placing a red-hot sword over the affected area. Ouch! As you can imagine, placing a red-hot sword over any area of your body is going to kill all sensation to that area for a very long time. The Bible teaches that false prophets have their hearts seared, as with a hot iron. In other words, the same sun that melt the wax, hardens the clay. The Bible directs us to "Refuse profane and old wives' fables..." Every Catholic needs to REFUSE to believe the lies of Catholicism any longer, and turn instead to the precious Word of God.

http://www.christusrex.org/www1/CDHN/part3_2.html

Please notice that they've removed the 2nd commandment which forbids anyone from "bowing" to a graven image. It's obvious that the Catholic Church is trying to hide their sin of idolatry here.

In the Catholic Catechism (part 3) you'll read the following words of blasphemy...

"2132 The Christian veneration of images is not contrary to the first commandment which proscribes idols. Indeed, "the honor rendered to an image passes to its prototype," and "whoever venerates an image venerates the person portrayed in it."[70] The honor paid to sacred images is a "respectful veneration," not the adoration due to God alone: "

First of all, not bowing to a graven image is the 2nd command, not the first. The evil men who wrote the Catholic Catechism deceitfully split the 10th commandment into two to make up for the missing 2nd commandment. Why are there two commandments telling us not to covet? Seems kind of strange don't you think? It's obvious what the devil has done here. You can't just eradicate the 2nd commandment!

Secondly, the quoted passage from the Catechism above is blasphemy. God clearly warns us in Exodus 20:4-5 NOT to make unto ourselves ANY graven images. The brazen serpent was God's idea, not Moses. God never told us ANYWHERE in the Word of God to make a statue of anyone or anything. The Israelites were instructed to "look" to the serpent (which pictured Christ) and live. The people were NOT instructed to bow, honor, or pray to a statue. The Catholics can devilishly call their idolatry "Respectful Veneration" if they want to, but it's a direct violation of the 2nd Commandment (which you don't have in Catholicism).

"Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God..." -Exodus 20:4,5

Answer 2

Let me clear some things up for you:
"kissing the priest's ring" - this does not happen, most priests I know don't even wear rings
"confessing your sins to the priest" - this is the power that Christ gave the Apostles and has been handed down throughout the Church with each Ordination as commanded by Christ.
"the priests being the only ones that can communicate with God" - this is not what the Church teaches and is not true.
"charging Catholics outrageous fees for a non-Catholic spouse to become a 'true' Catholic" - I don't know what you are talking about, but you don't have to pay to become Catholic.

Answer 3

Catholicism gave you the Bible you now read. The Catholic Church is the church Jesus established in 33AD and gave to Peter to lead and name. Baptism: Baptism is a Sacrament which cleanses us from original sin, Biblical references: Acts 2:38-39; Acts 22:16; 1 Peter 3:21; John 3:5; Matt 19:14; Luke 18:15-16; Col 2:11-12; Rom 6:13; Acts 16:15; Acts 16:33; 1 Cor 1:16; Mark 16:16; Rom 5:18-19; Mark 10:14; Jos 24:15; Matt 8:5ff; Matt 15:21 Reconciliation (also known as Confession and Penance): Penance is a Sacrament in which the sins committed after Baptism are forgiven. Biblical references: Matt 9:2-8; Jn 20:22-23; 2 Cor 5:17-20; James 5:13-16; Matt 18:18; 1 Jn 5:16 Holy Communion (Holy Eucharist): Biblical references: Jn 6:35-71; Mt 26:26ff; 1 Cor 10:16; 1 Cor 11:23-29; Ex 12:8,46; Jn 1:29; 1 Cor 5:7; Jn 4:31-34; Matt 16:5-12; 1 Cor 2:14-3:4; Ps 27:2; Is 9:18-20; Is 49:26; Mic 3:3; 2 Sam 23:15-17; Rev 17:6,16 Confirmation: Confirmation is a Sacrament through which we receive the Holy Ghost to make us strong and perfect Christians and soldiers of Jesus Christ. Biblical references: Acts 19:5-6; Acts 8:14-17; 2 Cor 1:21-22; Eph 1:13; Heb 6:2 Matrimony: The Sacrament of Matrimony is the Sacrament which unites a Christian man and woman in lawful marriage. Biblical references: Matt 19:5; Mark 10:7-12; Eph 5:22-32; 1 Thess 4:4; Mal 2:14-16; Matt 5:32-33; Matt 19:4-6,9; Mark 10:11-12; Lk 16:18; Rom 7:2-3; 1 Cor 7:10-11 Holy Orders: Holy Orders is a Sacrament by which bishops, priests, and other ministers of the Church are ordained and receive the power and grace to perform their sacred duties. Biblical references: Acts 20:28; Lk 22:19; Jn 20:22; Acts 6:6; Acts 13:3; Acts 14:22; 1 Tim 4:14; 2 Tim 1:6; Tit 1:5 Anointing of the Sick (formerly known as Extreme Unction or Last Rites) Biblical references: Mk 6:12-13; Jm 5:14

Answer 4

"I am certainly no expert on Catholicism,"
-You certainly aren't.
"but all this business in Catholicism of kissing the priest's ring, "
-This only happens with the pope, and then rarely, out of tradition.
"confessing your sins to the priest, "
-It's more that it's a ritualized way of asking for forgiveness than anything else these days, it isn't a requirement...
"the priests being the only ones that can communicate with God, "
-They don't hold any such doctrine.
"and charging Catholics outrageous fees for a non-Catholic spouse to become a 'true' Catholic"
-Again, in most Catholic churches, this doesn't exist...
"seems to me like the priests are placing themselves above God. "
-Which is why they give up the rest of their lives, and any relationships with the opposite sex to serve him?...
"How is this not blasphemy and how is participation in the Catholic faith not considered idolatry (according to the Christian faith)? "
-What idols exactly are worshiped?...
Please help me understand!!
-Well, they follow the traditions set up by Paul when he started recruiting pagans... If you have problems with them, you might want to make them problems with him. (Something rather worth doing)

Answer 5

1) Kissing the priest's ring?? Never heard of it, and I'm a Priest

2) Confessing your sins to the priest? Because it's in the Bible - Jesus gave the authority to His Apostles and to us by Apostolic Succession to forgive sins in His name.

3) The priests being the only ones that can communicate with God?? That's ridiculous, sorry.

4) Charging Catholics outrageous fees for a non-Catholic spouse to become a 'true' Catholic? Never heard of such a thing in my life.

Again, you have proved the words of the great Bishop Fulton J. Sheen.

"There are probably only a few hundred people who hate the Catholic Church...but millions who hate what they falsely believe to be the Catholic Church.

i.e., - pure ignorance of the truth.

Answer 6

Wow are you misinformed.

-We don't kiss the priests rings - I don't think my Priest even wears any lol.
-Priests are certainly not the only ones that can communicate with God. They are spiritual leaders, no closer to God than you or I. They have devoted their lives to God and are usually more informed than the lay person, but not any different than us.
- I've never heard of this 'conversion' fee, and I know a lot of people that have converted to Catholicism.

The one thing you have right, that we confess to a priest, is because confessing your sins is much more powerful when you confess to another person, than confessing alone. The priest is a person that you can confess your sins to in complete trust that he will not tell anyone else about.

Answer 7

For the first 280 years of Christian history, Christianity was banned by the Roman empire, and Christians were terribly persecuted. This changed after the “conversion” of the Roman Emperor Constantine. Constantine “legalized” Christianity at the Edict of Milan in A.D. 313. Later, in A.D. 325, Constantine called together the Council of Nicea, in an attempt to unify Christianity. Constantine envisioned Christianity as a religion that could unite the Roman Empire, which at that time was beginning to fragment and divide. While this may have seemed to be a positive development for the Christian church, the results were anything but positive. Just as Constantine refused to fully embrace the Christian faith, but continued many of his pagan beliefs and practices, so the Christian church that Constantine promoted was a mixture of true Christianity and Roman paganism.

Constantine found that with the Roman Empire being so vast, expansive, and diverse – not everyone would agree to forsake their religious beliefs and instead embrace Christianity. So, Constantine allowed, and even promoted, the “Christianization” of pagan beliefs. Completely pagan and utterly unbiblical beliefs were given new “Christian” identities.

Answer 8

There is much blasphemy and idolatry in most "religions" including the "Catholics" and those who say they are Jews but are not Rev. 2:9 and Rev. 3:9. We are called to come out of all of this confusion (Babylon) and into true worship of YHVH according to His Spirit and His Truth.

Answer 9

The name Pharisee in its Hebrew form means separatists, or the separated ones. They were also known as chasidim, which means loyal to God, or loved of God - extremely ironic in view of the fact that by His time, they made themselves the most bitter, and deadly, opponents of Jesus Christ and His message.

The Pharisees perhaps meant to obey God, but eventually they became so devoted and extremist in very limited parts of The Law (plus all that they themselves added to it), that they became blind to The Messiah when He was in their very midst. They saw His miracles, they heard His Words, but instead of receiving it with joy, they did all that they could to stop Him - eventually to the point of getting Him killed because He truthfully claimed to be the Son of God.

Answer 10

Yes, Jimmy. You are right. I also don't see the difference. I would add here Russian orthodox church they pass ahead of Catholics by far in hypocrisy. Who do not love brothers are liars. They break many commandments of the Lord and add too many human decrees.