If we - as Christians - accept teachings that contradict the Bible...?

Question

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...then how are we any different from any other cult or man-made religion, such as Mormonism, the Jehovah Witnesses, Hinduism, Islam, etc.?

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This is a follow-up to this question:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AoLiCe4.g1MBhv73eRLEmJnty6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20071104145427AAYG7bf

...which had some AWESOME answers!

(I would especially LOVE to hear Catholic's respond to homechrch and Romans32 answers in that question!)
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But for THIS question, let's stick to the main question above, and this one:

And if Catholicism teaches things within their "tradition" and by Her Popes that contradicts the Bible, then what makes the Catholic Church any different than any other cult or man-made religion?

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Answer 1

"what makes the Catholic Church any different than any other cult or man-made religion?"

you are right, but the catholic church is probably the most "powerful" and influential of all churhces

Answer 2

If a teaching does not line up with God's Holy Word, the Bible, I do not accept it! And if there is really some serious doubt about what is being taught, I not only check several different translations, I sometimes go back to the Hebrew, Greek or Aramaic words in an interlinear Bible, Dake's Annotated Reference Bible, or Strong's Exhaustive Concordance.

I follow the same procedure taught to people trained to recognize counterfeit currency - I study the genuine thoroughly, so that I can more readily recognize the counterfeit! No teaching that is *really* from God *ever* contradicts His Holy Word, the Bible!

Answer 3

Do us all a favor please: Lose the "man-made" phrase as an indictment of -- well, anyone. I'll tell you why:

1. The Bible, itself, is "man-made". God didn't write it (other than the tablets Moses brought down from the mountain). He inspired it, but men wrote it. Other men determined the canon of Scripture; God didn't dictate a list of the books to include. We believe that they were also inspired, but the *work* was done with the hands of man. Man-made by any definition.

2. Any belief that relies on interpretation of Scriptures is also "man-made". So if you aren't following the Bible in a literal sense, you are adhering to doctrine of some sort, and that necessary means someone interpreted Scripture and formulated doctrine based on that interpretation. Again -- unless the intepretation came directly from God, it is "man-made", generated right between the ears of men who may or may not have been inspired by God.

"Man-made" is constantly flung at the Church as an accusation, but it's an empty one. Disagree with Church doctrine all you want, but do stop falling back on "man-made" as if it means something.

Having put this aside, what remains is the difference between Sacred Scripture (the Bible) and Sacred Tradition. That's the heart of your objection to doctrines you don't find spelled out in so many words in the Bible (that, plus the apostolic authority of the Church which you of course do not recognize, but that's another issue). As I'm quite certain you've been told before, "tradition" here does not mean "customs and practices". Sacred Tradition is that which was passed down from the apostles in their preaching and teaching that was *not* written, but the church "held fast" to those traditions as Paul told them they should.

The central problem between Catholics and other Christians often boils down to terminology (you do realize we define 'born again' differently, right?). We would do each other a great service if we'd just attempt to understand what the other actually means -- in this case, by "Tradition" with a capital T -- instead of assuming our own meaning, getting upset by it, and railing against them. At that point we would be free to debate doctrinal differences like brothers instead of adversaries.

Answer 4

it is up to us to seek God, and to let ANY church TELL that others are wrong or this is how to do it, is the one who is wrong. Chruch is to be around other who want to worship God, not to be told how to worship God. God wants personal relationships, not mass robots. I learned this from the Bible. This is what happened with the leaders of the Jewish temples, and if you read Revelation chapter 1-4, you will see that the churches became wrong at some point, thus it is the same with the churches now. Church doctrine is a cult. Trust in Christ is faith. Christ taught one way, we have to dig under other's mistakes to get what Christ really taught about(have you ever heard of "The Lord's Prayer-""Thy Father in heaven, hollow be thy name..-? That is not the Lord's prayer, the Lord's prayer is john chapter 17!!), and A LOT of Christians do not do this. The church is to show the way and light to Christ, but we tend to let someone's ideas and misinterpertations block some of that light. Jesus warns about religion a lot.

Answer 5

Jesus came to make it simple and receivable by all. It is man, as you state, that tries to add to what Jesus already paid in Full, the price for salvation. I think it is man's attempt to add some worthiness of our own to receive His free gift. It is free and requires nothing more than faith. After salvation is received , in the book of James it says, "faith without deeds is dead." It means that the value of our salvation is of no value if once we received it we do nothing with it. Salvation was already in place without a ritual or fancy ceremony.

I have often wondered myself with all the rituals and fancy robes , how is the Catholic church and others is any different than the Pharisees from long ago. The outer appearance is similar ,I hope what is at the heart is pleasing to God.

Answer 6

we're not. "to those who had believed him Jesus said, 'if you hold to my teachings you are really my disciples. then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.' " john 8:31-32 the major stumbling block for many Christian churches is salvation doctrine. but biblically what is sound doctrine for salvation? and what isn't? one major doctrine today is praying Jesus into your heart. is this "sinners prayer" in the Bible? there is no scripture that specifically says praying to Jesus for the forgiveness of sins is valid. there are these however...
1. Hear- Romans 10:17 "Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ."
2. Believe- Mark 16:16 "Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned."
3. Repent- Luke 13:3 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish!
4. Confess- Romans 10:9-10 "That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved."
5. Baptism- Acts 2:38 Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit..."
and since the necessity of baptism is something that Satan has confused people with to no end, i will give more passages...
Mark 16:16 "Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved..."
Acts 2:41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
Acts 8:12 But when they believed Philip as he preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.
Acts 8:13 Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw.
Acts 8:16 because the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them; they had simply been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.
Acts 8:36 As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, "Look, here is water. Why shouldn't I be baptized?"
Acts 8:38 And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him.
Acts 9:18 Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul's eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized,
Acts 10:47 Then Peter said, "Can anyone keep these people from being baptized with water? They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have."
Acts 10:48 So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked Peter to stay with them for a few days.
Acts 16:15 When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. "If you consider me a believer in the Lord," she said, "come and stay at my house." And she persuaded us.
Acts 16:33 At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized.
Acts 18:8 Crispus, the synagogue ruler, and his entire household believed in the Lord; and many of the Corinthians who heard him believed and were baptized.
this list goes on & on & on & on...all five parts are literal
not a concept, or outward symbols of inward faith, or works so they don't apply to faith. if you take one away you don't have true salvation. SORRY too much to say...this is already too long!

Answer 7

You have touched on quite a problem here. I have read many of the arguments put forward by the Roman church on matters like Mary's pre-eminence, transubstantiation etc., and they are very persuasive. The often go beyond what is written in the Protestant canon and therefore there is no precise Scripture to refute them. This is where the error of tradition appears. In addition, where there are several possible interpretations of Scripture, they are very much like the JW's, they will choose the one that is supported by 5% of the rest of Scripture rather than the interpretation supported by say 80% of the rest of Scripture. They will also ignore Scripture that does not support their argument.
In the end you must know your Scripture otherwise you are going to be misled.

Answer 8

Is slavery evil?

The Bible endorses slavery.

The Catholic Church has fought against slavery since 1462, 30 years before Columbus discovered America.

Why?

The Holy Spirit inspired the Church through 1,500 years of biblical study and Christian spirituality to accept a traditional teaching that contradicts the Bible's words but does not contradict the Bible's overall teaching of love of neighbor.

We might have gotten there faster but for those among us who keep saying things like, "But Colossians 3:22 commands, "Slaves, obey your human masters in everything"?"

The Bible even speaks of Holy Tradition:

I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth. He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming. (John 16:12-13)

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. (2 Thessalonians 2:15)

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)

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. 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.

For more information, see the Catechism of the Catholic Church, sections 80 and following: http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/pt1sect1chpt2.htm#80

With love in Christ.

Answer 9

There are no real contradictions in the Bible, but only some APPARENT ones. We accept the Churches interpretation in some of these cases; however, one is encouraged to read the Bible for spiritual nourishment rather than try to prove a dogma. It was not meant to be a battleground to see who is right or who is wrong. It is a book of love filled with real magic. Satan is behind any type of disunity and wants us to fight over it rather than let it unite us.

Answer 10

Salam

May The Lord bless you always and alway show the truth in a very much man handled religion. I know those of the books are protected by their books as long as they don't make false worship and I know alone from you and your friends your of the peaceful nature and always say to Love each other and Love Jesus and that is what makes the differance for anyone that is religious or not, not tell me I am going to hellfire and giving themselves heaven instantly. LOL Peace to you brother I know for a fact those of the books are protected by the books and there is no need for one main religion. The only need is acceptance and truth.

Answer 11

No we should not accept any teachings that contradict the Bible, if so, you are looking for trouble and most likely it will find you.

Don't go looking for a religion that contradicts the Bible, you are opening the door for Satan to enter in.