What do Protestants really protest about?

Question

The faith?
The canon of the new testament decided by the Church?
About God?

Answer 1

Catholicism.

I used to be catholic until I tried to convert someone. That someone said that if I could show her in the Bible that there was a purgatory, and that you need to pray to Mary and so on, she would convert. Guess what? They are NOT in the Bible.

Whenever a catholic starts to read his or her Bible with the thought of seeking the truth, they inevitably cease being catholics.

Catholics preach they are the only church, and that it was instituted by Jesus himself. When there are conflicts with church teachings and the Word of God, the church takes precedence over the Bible, according to catholic doctrine, in particular, the pope.

Here are a few protests:

Things like the rosary. It is a repetitious prayer.

Matthew 6:7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

Why address a priest as father....

Matthew 23: 8. But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren. 9. And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven. 10. Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ.

Or praying to Mary to intercede for my salvation when such office was only reserved for Jesus?

1 Timothy 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.

Or why, when Paul wrote to the Romans, at the closing he greeted by name at least 25 religious all-stars living in Rome but failed to even mention Peter, the so called first pope. Don't you think he would be first to be mentioned if he were really there?

Or the ongoing bloodless sacrifice of the mass...why is it done when:

Hebrews 9:22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.

Hebrews 10:10 By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 11. And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering often times the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: 12. But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; 13. From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool.
14. For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.

And if we have to go to purgatory, then why did Jesus have to die? He died for my sins before I was even born to commit them in the first place. That means when Jesus died he died for mankind's future sins, for the sins of the yet-to-be-born. Therefore, it is done and there is no need for purgatory or Jesus would have preached about it like he did heaven and hell.

Priests and confession? Not so fast. The so called apostolic succession claimed by the catholics that gives them authority to forgive sins also should have given them power to cure diseases, and raise people from the dead. When has a priest done this recently?

Luke 9:1 Then he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases.

Matthew 10:5 These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: 6. But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7. And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. 8. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.


Praying to the saints? Patron saints?

Exodus 20:4 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. 5. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; 6. And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

Canonizing saints? How about Peter going to visit saints that were still alive?

Acts 9:32 And it came to pass, as Peter passed throughout all quarters, he came down also to the saints which dwelt at Lydda.

Paul goes to visit living saints: Romans 15:25 But now I go unto Jerusalem to minister unto the saints.

Greets the saints living in Rome: Romans 16:15 Salute Philologus, and Julia, Nereus, and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints which are with them.

More saints: Ephesians 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus:

There's more, much more.

Catholics are wonderful people. My uncle is a Dominican priest and his response to the Bible vs doctrine issue is that the pope has such and such position, and that's the position of God because the pope is God's representative on earth.


For Bruce: Please read your Bible;

There are Bishops in the Bible, but sadly, no pope, no cardinals. And Jesus did NOT bestow the authority of the church on Peter or Peter would have won the theological argument in Galatians, not Paul, who was not even one of the original 12.

Galatians 2:11 But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed.

Peter had a mother-in-law, and you can only get that by being married. Catholic priest can't be married. Your so-called first pope was married.

The Bible itself says forbidding to marry is a doctrine of devils.

1 Timothy 4: 1. Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;...3 Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.

Oh yeah, what about the times you can't eat meat, or it's a mortal sin?

John 20: 21-23 was given to the apostles, not the priests. If this was a succession, show me a priest that can forgive sins, and heal the sick, and raise from the dead just like the apostles did.

Mat 5:26 too bad you didn't include v 25 which talks about a man being sent to PRISON, not purgatory. The other verses talk about people still living being put into PRISON, not purgatory.

Sorry, but remembering Christ with a crucifix is so minor it's not worth mentioning when you pray to patron saints instead of God for every thing under the sun. The heathen have gods for the same thing catholics have saints.

Read Foxe's Book of Martyrs and then call yourself a proud catholic.

Psalms 138:2 I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy WORD above all thy name.

Answer 2

I think it depends on the Protestant sect. I know that one thing Luther had a problem with was the selling of dispensations, I think they were called, wherein if you gave the Church a certain amount of money, the giver was "guaranteed" a spot in heaven. One of the problems the Anglicans had was the Pope who was more of a head of state at the time of Henry VIII then merely a religious leader. They felt that his power over his followers was also a meddling in the business of the country of England. That sort of thing. I know that Evangelicals and Fundamentalists believe that Catholics are not bible based and are "idol worshippers" because of the statues we have, but both of those ideas are wrong and ridiculous.

Answer 3

On closer examination, Protestants mostly protest the teachings of Jesus that they don't understand.

Idolatry? Remembering Christ's sacrifice before a crucifix is a wee bit different from worshiping a golden calf with a drunken orgy.
http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p3s2c1a1.htm

Papal authority vs. Bible authority? Interestingly, scripture records Jesus' bestowal of authority on Peter, the original pope, in Matt 16:18. Scripture doesn't even define the books of the Bible, nor does it teach that the Bible is the only authority on Christianity.

Forgiveness by the Church? See John 20:21-23.

Purgatory? See Matt. 5:26, 12:32, 18:34; Luke 12:58-59.

Cheers,
Bruce

Answer 4

They protested papal authority which is a good thing to do. But, their unseemly flaw was that they continue to do many of the unbiblical things the Catholic church does after they fought so hard against them. The apples didn't fall too far from the tree.

That's why I go simply by the Bible. I listen to other people's commentary. But, it's not a final verdict without a Biblical explanation.

Answer 5

The Protestant schism from the Catholic church was brought about largely by Martin Luther, who held that, instead of the Pope, the Bible itself was the sole authority on religious matters, and that all baptized Christians constitute a priesthood. So - basically they Protestants of that day (16th century) "protested" the authority of the Pope, and the supremacy of the Catholic church. He also translated the Bible into German, thus making it available to the ordinary person for the first time.

I'm Jewish, and Luther was a virulent anti-Semite, so he's not exactly high on my list of admirable people.

Answer 6

that's inaccurate to declare that protestantism replaced right into a protest against all and sundry church as an entire. Calvin and Luther have been the two Catholic scholars, and could gladly have stayed in the Roman church if it had allowed it. yet dissent on particular doctrinal themes created such friction the Roman church ejected those adult adult males of ethical experience. What drove those early protestants to this disaster? The planned suppression of Biblical fact with the aid of many people who have been greater attracted to persuing their institutional or political aims than in serving Jesus in accordance to the be attentive to God. It replaced into precise then and it fairly is sweet now to protest whilst any church lays a burden on its followers that may not be able to be justified from the be attentive to God. As Jesus himself replaced right into a "protestant," in that he protested precisely the comparable varieties of abuses in His day, "protestants" are in amazing corporation.

Answer 7

They protest against things that were solved in the Church approximately 350 to 500 years ago. Yes, they had a legimate beef, but it has been solved.

Now they have declared marriage to be non-sacramental, holy communion to be a meaningless act of eating bread, and extreme unction (last rights) to be unnecessary.

Yes, they protest against the Church established by God, the Son.

Answer 8

The authority of the Church




which rests on three pillars:

"Scripture,Tradition and Magisterium".

Answer 9

The Pope's authority.

Answer 10

I protest the blasphemy and the carnality of the Roman Catholic Church, its dogma, its priests, its sheep, its power, its pope-everything about it!

PS. I'm not a fan of reform churches either.

Answer 11

The dogma, mostly. Then there were all of those little doctrinal changes too... those tend to alienate some people.