How is it it is ok for catholics not to follow the bible just explain?

Question

I just wonder why they do what they want. Like sacremnets and the Idea of confessing to a man ,and paying to light candels for prayor, and the massive amount of money, and the worship of saints , and heaven through works,worship of mary ,and preasts not having wives ,and bowing down in front of a statue and praying for st. peter or who ever to heal the sick or take care of the dead, and holy water and saint hood of the dead , and nuns, and castreto int the quire, and anulment and all the holy days they have , stations of the cross, ash wednesday,baptisim at birth. I could go on I was a catholic as I am sure you can tell until I had questions like these and never found a reasonable answer that is in the bible .I wonder who thought it all up and for what purpose why not go with the bible and what it teaches us what is the agenda. It looks like man trying to be God , If you can answer one paying to light a candle for the prayor why pay

I care because I find it arrogant and frightning. when you read what the devil is like. he is not wicked he comes as Jesus and if you are so suddell and sneeky as to make up what you want and get as many people on board as the vatican has we need to be watch dogs. If we dont question what they are up to we would not be doing the work

just why pay to light a candle

Answer 1

All Catholic doctrines are supported in Scriptures, only your misunderstandings of them are not.

It is always amazing to me that people come on here claiming to be former Catholics and knowing nothing about Catholic faith and practice. It just makes me question the truthfulness of the person attacking Christ's Church when their memory is so short.

It is also amazing that someone claiming to be Christian would be so lacking in charity and love. I guess it all goes back to what the Bible teaches, "you will know them by their fruits".

In Christ
Fr. Joseph

Answer 2

Actually all of what Catholics do and believe was in the bible before the protestants took it out because it did not support their reasons for wanting to leave. (Alot of what you mention Catholics don't do, or not how you mention it).

Try reading the deutrocanonical books sometime as well as the early Church writings from the first century and the Didache (teachings of the 12 Apostles) written in 60 CE.

Alot of your question does not make sense. but simply if you were Catholic everything we do comes from the bible and not just that go to any Vatican or Bishops directive, read it and at the bottom you will see all things cross referenced with both scripture and early Christian writings to show you exactly where it comes from. That is if you had really wanted to know.

EDIT: Paula R no nun would use the word Word for the Bible. The Word actual means the Logos (the Living Word Jesus Christ). It takes on a whole different menaing when you actually worship Christ and hold HIM in higher esteem then the Bible.

EDIT 2: Since you are so stuck on the candle thing, your paying for the candle (not to light it) you can bring your own candle to church and light it and not have to pay. Someone has to pay for the cost of the candle and if you are going to use it is should be you. I would think that would be pretty obvious to people that candles cost money.

Answer 3

David's right on this. It's like people attacking the Roman Catholic Canon and documents just to make themselves feel superior because of past mistakes. Pride is a sin. But the fact is without the Roman Catholic Church there would be no Protestants or Christians today.

Answer 4

We pay to light candles because candles cost money. Do you think they appear out of nowhere? We are not paying for PRAYER...we're paying for wax and a wick. I'm sure if you get candles for a birthday cake or for the dinner table, you pay for your candles, too. Why do you think it's wrong for Catholic to also pay for the candles they use? Would you prefer us to steal them?

Catholics DO follow the Bible.

The idea of confessing to a man IS in Scripture. See James 5:16. If you are NOT confessing to somebody, you are the one who is not following Scripture and just doing what you want.

We light candles when we pray because when the Holy Spirit came to the Church (see Acts 2), He was described as "tongues of flame." Also, Jesus said, "Wherever two or more of you are gathered in My Name, I AM." So the flame of a candle indicated the presence of God and a unity of believers praying together for a certain issue.

I have no idea what you mean by "massive amounts of money." The Catholic Church takes in a lot of money because Catholics as a general rule are pretty faithful about "giving something back." This money is used for the mission of the Church, which includes feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, ministering to the sick, freeing the oppressed, burying the dead, etc., etc., as well as the same type of educational materials and pastors' salaries and building maintenance that YOUR church spends "massive amounts of money" on.

We don't worship saints OR Mary. We do not consider them to be gods/goddesses, but fine examples of Christian living that we can emulate. Not unlike the Protestant attitude of Joyce Meyer or Chuck Swindoll or Hank Hannagraff or whoever is popular with you folks these days.

We do NOT believe in getting to heaven by works -- we believe that salvation is a gift of Grace that Christ bestows according to His will. We "work out our salvation with fear and trembling" because the Bible says we should. So if you do not practice works as an outpouring of your faith -- feed the hungry, clothe the naked, etc. -- you are the one who is not following the Bible and just doing what you want.

Catholic priests do not have wives at this time, but they have had in the past and they may have in the future if things change. Right now, pastoring a church is so much work, a man cannot adequately care for his family and a flock of believers. Ask YOUR pastor about it -- it's really difficult.

We don't bow down in front of statues, we bow down to Christ our Lord -- our ONLY Lord. Sometimes there happens to be religious art nearby when we do this or we see some religious art that inspires us to bow down to Christ, but we aren't bowing to a statue. It's just art. We don't think it's an idol or a god or that it has any special powers or anything.

The sainthood is not for the dead but for the LIVING. I don't know if you realize this or not, but Jesus actually promised us ETERNAL LIFE. Somebody who has received eternal life isn't dead, they're alive. And if they are alive, they are still members of the Body of Christ and still active in the mission of Christ's Church. The bible says that "good and faithful servants" will be "put in charge of many things." Well, who is more good and faithful than a Christian who has received the gift of eternal life? We believe they are actively praying for the things they've been put in charge of. They don't do the miracles -- Christ does that -- but they do pray for them.

I have no idea what "castreto int the quire" means so I can't speak to that.

Annulments are a mercy because the Bible says, "What God has joined together, let no man separate." So some couples ask the Church to help them learn whether or not their marriage is valid (i.e., if God joined them), because if it is valid, they must remain spouses forever.

Holy days are opportunities to worship the Lord for great things He has done, like becoming God Incarnate or ascending into Heaven. Do you seriously think it's BAD to have a special occasion to go to church and worship Jesus?!?!?!

Ash Wednesday is the beginning of a penitent time designed to help us prepare for Easter by disciplining ourselves spiritually. Do you seriously think it's bad for people to spend extra time in prayer and self-denial to become more focussed on Jesus?!?!?!?

Baptism at birth is acceptable because Jesus said to let the little children come to Him without hindrance and also because "whole households" were baptized in the Bible. There is no verse that says a person HAS to be of a certain age.

If you were Catholic, you should have asked your questions aloud and sought help in finding answers, instead of being lazy and deciding you know more than people who have studied and studied all their lives.

Answer 5

I am literally slack-jawed with astonishment.

Your ignorance of this subject, in this age of easily-acquired information, is so excessive that I am appalled. I wouldn't even know where to begin. Literally none of your statements reflect any knowledge whatsoever of Catholicism, from your premise to your closing sentence.

And no, I would never guess you are a "catholic", as you do not sound like you have ever set foot in a Catholic church...unless you were napping the entire time.

I am simply flabbergasted.

Answer 6

These are just traditions of men, things that they have done over the centuries.
Some to make money, others to control the population.
Remember, that the bible was not available to people before 1600 or so in English and was probably very expensive, only the elite having one, so this is how religion was practiced in those days.
I am sure that some good came out of all of this as people had faith. Life was harder back then physically and this is what their faith consisted of.
Today, we are blessed to own more than one bible in our homes and can interpret for ourselves if we care to.
I think God uses people of all denominations since there are so many, in order for each one of us as individuals to reach out and do His work do we should not criticize each others denomination as perhaps God placed that person there on purpose to spread His word.

Answer 7

Cathy, this is response to your statement, “all of what Catholics do and believe was in the bible before the Protestants took it out because it did not support their reasons”.

The Protestant churches considered the canon of Old Testament Scripture in use by the Jews of Palestine and recognized by Christ and his apostles to be the divinely given canon of OT Scripture. The other books (referred to by Protestants as "The Apocrypha") were never part of the Jewish canon and circulated in communities outside Palestine. The Reformers did not originate their view of the canon (i.e., take books out of the Bible, as if all the church before them had accepted all the books found in the Catholic Bible).

The books that were removed supported such things as: Prayers for the dead (Tobit 12:12; 2 Maccabees 12:39-45); Purgatory (Wisdom 3:1-7);
Intercession of saints in heaven (2 Maccabees 15:14); Intercession of angels (Tobit 12:12-15)

Answer 8

It's not the rules, hon
It's the condition of your heart.
The Holy Scriptures are a tool one uses to find God. They are usually in agreement with the history of our ancestors. It is a pity that so many have misinterpreted the Bible or even deliberately done so simply through humanistic reasoning, and not through any real studying of history.

Answer 9

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 10

aI've always wondered the same thing, I somewhat grew up a Catholic. I've been OK with confessing my sins to the LORD, but to some guy on the other side of a wall, telling me what my penance was for what I told him I could never really feel comfortable with that. I feel the bible is definitely open to interpretation in some cases but not to such an extent. I just read the bible now, I can't really find a religion to classify myself as, and don't know that I ever will. But Catholicism..I'm on the same page as you.. and also don't have n answer.