Do you believe the Roman Catholic Church is misguided or a cult and that the Pope is evil or the Anti-Christ?

Question

If you do then where was the "true" church hiding between Constantine and the Reformation? The Catholic Church saved the Bible and educated most of the Reformers (Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Knox, Thomas Cranmer, Roger Williams, Menno Simons and many more). How can you trust the Bible and the Reformers if their teachers were so awful?

I'm not saying they were wrong to rebel just that your virulent dislike (bordering on hatred) really makes you sound like nasty, petulent children throwing a temper tantrum.

Answer 1

Misgiuded-Yes.

No, I don't think that the pope is the antichrist.

It does "scare" me, though, at the size of the crowds wherever he appears. The thought of ONE MAN wielding that much power, IS a great danger.

There is an old saying:

"Power corrupts, & absolute power corrupts absolutly."

The pope DOES have as close to absolute power as a human being can have.

Answer 2

There's no hatred involved to understand that protestantism is the only true church where people reserve the right to understand their god for themselves instead of following, and this is directed towards the era of the reformation, hard to understand Latin procedure where the majority of the public had no clue what was going on. During the time period, the Catholic church reigned supreme, not because they were the true church, but because the public had no idea what to believe because they were poor, couldn't read, relied on the government, and couldn't speak, read or understand the bible as it was taught during the time period, it was in Latin.

I don't quite understand what you are saying about the Reformer's teachers. Are you speaking that Martin Luther is evil? For what, because he opposed the selling of indulgences? What is so evil about condemning the Papacy for selling reprieves for sins in exchange for money? This is what led Martin Luther to write the famous 99 Theses. Although a lot of his leadership qualities were horrible but that doesn't necessarily reflect his spiritual dedication.

The Catholic Church never "saved" the bible. The bible was edited by Constantine in a historical event called the Nicene Creed. If the Pope saved the bible then we would all be reading the Apogrypha instead of the NIV.

Your question was good until you made the comment about how people who believe the church isn't entirely honest with everyone are virulent and tempestual children. It was unnecessary.

Answer 3

Ok, you are entitled to your beliefs, just as I am entitled to mine. Is the Pope an Anti-Christ? No, he is not, he does not deny that Jesus is God. That's what the Anti-Christ does. Now, if you are sure of your faith, I challenge you, and the others who agree with you to read the catechism of the catholic church. If you can get past the language barriers (protestants and catholics do use different terms), and actually try to understand, I think your eyes will be opened, as will your heart. BTW, bless you, may our Lord Jesus Christ pour Graces upon all.

Answer 4

Good question. Moreover, where was the Church in the first three centuries before Constantine legalized Christianity? Answer: The Catholic Church, the only organization established by Jesus, was there from the time of the Resurrection. Its first leader (later called pope) was the apostle Simon Peter, personally appointed by Jesus (Matt 16:18).

Correcting CJ: "All true believers avoided the catholic cult in those days."

Since all believers were Catholics until the split with Eastern Orthodoxy in 1054, that leaves 1000 years with no Christians. Among the actual Christians were Tertullian, St. Gregory the Great, St. Augustine of Hippo, St. Ambrose of Milan, St. Jerome, St. Irenaeus of Lyons, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, St. Athanasius of Alexandria, and St. John Chrysostom. Here's what some of them explained about Peter as pope:
http://www.catholic.com/library/Origins_of_Peter_as_Pope.asp

"The Bible says God preserves His remnant away from the idolaters."

Since Catholics aren't idolaters, that's not a problem.

"Revisionist history" claims that all were catholics, but true believers were never catholic. Catholics are not saved Christians, never were, and never could be."

Fortunately, CJ isn't the one making that decision. But by CJ's logic, there were zero saved Christians from the New Testament in the 1st century until the Reformation in 1517.

"The first Christians were JEWS, not Romans."

True, though Greeks, Romans, and other Mediterranean peoples quickly joined Jews in the Catholic Church. Since Christianity was illegal until Constantine, many paid with their lives.

"Catholics teach a false gospel of works that leads to eternal hell, so they're not saved now, and weren't at any time since Constantine."

Works ARE required for salvation (as is faith, repentance, baptism, eating the bread of life, and enduring to the end).
Matthew 5:20: For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 7:21: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
Matthew 19:17: "Why do you ask me about what is good?" Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments."

"And there's no "pope" in the Bible. The "pope" is evil as would anyone that preaches a false gospel be."

The word pope is simply a translation of father, or more familiarly, papa.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/pope
The word father is certainly used many times in the Bible. Paul used the word father in the same sense as the Church speaks of the pope: For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel" (1 Cor. 4:14–15).

Cheers,
Bruce

Answer 5

What the Bible points to in Daniel and Revelation, is that the papacy, or the office of the pope, is an anti-Christ. Any church that says that the only way to salvation is through the church, is a false church and is denying the truth of the Bible, which says, in many scriptures, "He who believes in Jesus Christ shall be saved." There are many individual catholics who know that Jesus is the intermediary between man and the Father, not any priest. Jesus said, "I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except by Me." The catholic church, or any other church for that matter, doesn't save. Jesus saves.

Answer 6

We cannot call most clergy "educated". They have (generally) simply memorized rationalizations. Theology (taught as if it were true) is not deserving of a department in any respectable university. Let it be taught as part of the Mythology degrees that many universities offer. The Bible is based on the doctrine of the sect that won out politically by the 2nd (ultimately 4th) century CE, and has nothing to do with truth. The men you site did not rebel, they merely disagreed. Rebellion would be ridding oneself of the delusion of Christianity all together.

Answer 7

The bible would have survived with out the Catholic Church, if anything, they have twisted the meanings from what they were intended. They killed anyone that disagreed with their doctrines so how can you call them a savior of anything?

The Catholic church never represented the True God, it's teaching and appearance is more like the Babylonian and other pagan religions. It was a state religion, and Jesus said we should be no part of the world.

Edit: Note to Catholic Crusader. I don't remember reading anything in the bible about your church, and I wouldn't brag about numbers if I was you considering that Jesus said the gate was narrow to the true way and few the ones finding it.

Answer 8

Does anyone have documented evidence of this underground church? No, they don't, because it is a myth. Jesus promised, "I will build my Church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it" (Matt. 16:18). This means that his Church will never be destroyed and will never fall away from him. His Church will survive until his return.

Among the Christian churches, only the Catholic Church has existed since the time of Jesus. Every other Christian church is an offshoot of the Catholic Church. The Eastern Orthodox churches broke away from unity with the pope in 1054. The Protestant churches were established during the Reformation, which began in 1517. (Most of today’s Protestant churches are actually offshoots of the original Protestant offshoots.)

Only the Catholic Church existed in the tenth century, in the fifth century, and in the first century, faithfully teaching the doctrines given by Christ to the apostles, omitting nothing. The line of popes can be traced back, in unbroken succession, to Peter himself. This is unequaled by any institution in history: Even the oldest government is new compared to the papacy. The Catholic Church has existed for nearly 2,000 years, despite constant opposition from the world. This is testimony to the Church’s divine origin: Any merely human organization would have collapsed long ago.

The Catholic Church is today the most vigorous church in the world (and the largest, with 1.3 billion members: one sixth of the human race), and that is testimony not to the cleverness of the Church’s leaders, but to the protection of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus’ Church is called catholic ("universal" in Greek) because it is his gift to all people. He told his apostles to go throughout the world and make disciples of "all nations" (Matt. 28:19–20). For 2,000 years the Catholic Church has carried out this mission, preaching the good news that Christ died for all men and that he wants all of us to be members of his universal family (Gal. 3:28). Nowadays the Catholic Church is found in every country of the world and is still sending out missionaries to "make disciples of all nations" (Matt. 28:19). The Church Jesus established was known by its most common title, "the Catholic Church," at least as early as the year 107, when Ignatius of Antioch used that title to describe the one Church Jesus founded. The title apparently was old in Ignatius’s time, which means it went all the way back to the time of the apostles.

Answer 9

You make a good point. I don't personally choose to worship in a Catholic Church but I have no dislike for those who do ... except the ones who dislike me for being a Protestant.

I've many times said that we Christians need to unite, rather than divide ourselves and try to find enemies amongst one another.

Answer 10

The TRUE church is the group of Born-again believers who are trusting in Christ, the Body of Christ. Not a building or man made religion.