If Catholics have false teaching and doctrines......?

Question

why do people have to create straw men and lies about beliefs to attack instead of attacking the true beliefs of Catholics?

I think it is because non-Catholic Christians who hate His Church do so out of evil contention thus avoiding the real truth that their beliefs can not match the veracity of Catholic teaching. In the Bible the Catholic Church is called the "bulwark and ground of the truth" which will never fall into apostasy. Those are difficult credentials to attack.

Why don't Catholic critics check Catholic beliefs and find out if the true beliefs match with what they believe and have been told about Catholic beliefs instead of persisting in bearing false witness against Catholics and Christ's Church?

2telldatruth,

You have just illustrated my points by proving that you do not know what Catholics teach. Catholics do believe in one mediator and the bible attests to the truth of the doctrine of purgatory

L.C.,

All Protestants like like yourself have to do to verify your beliefs about Christ's Church is read the Bible and check with the Catechism to find that Catholic soteriology beliefs. Logic would lead one to assume that they are the same since the Bible is written by Catholics and authorized by the Church through the authority given by Christ. It would not make sense not to follow our own book of faith, worship and practice would it? We don't!

PeacebyJesus,

Thanks for making my points. I bet it took a long time to cut all that straw.

2telldatruth,

Check the catechism and you will find that Catholics do not pray to the blessed mother of God but simply ask her to pray for us.

Bugsie,

It seems you have a lot of confused theology. I will pray that the Holy Spirit will give you the gift of discernment so that you can understand His Word. God bless!

http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-S6YMuFYyaa9ESBoW5DFwEjL_HhqA

orita,

We Catholics would never tell non-Catholic Christians what they believe but instead accept their statements of their belief; although, unlike the Catholic faith, there is usually no source to verify their beliefs as it is with Catholics where one can go to the Catechism and see exactly what Catholics believe. Therefore in this modern age of instant information, via the computer, there is no excuse when one bears false witness against Christ’s Church and the faithful. Such actions must.......http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-S6YMuFYyaa9ESBoW5DFwEjL_HhqA

Answer 1

I think cases of "evil contention" are rarer than you might otherwise expect. Certainly, there are plenty of people who hate the Catholic Church for reasons that usually have nothing to with Catholic theology (although most will try to dress it up as that). However, I have noticed that most people who say things like "Catholics worship Mary instead of God" and "Catholics worship idols" and "Confession of sins to a priest is unbiblical" and "Catholics believe in salvation by works" are simply ignorant.

They have been told these things by sources that they trust and it does not occur to them that these sources might be wrong. Some of these sources, I'm sure, are intentionally in error in order to paint the Catholic Church in as negative a light as possible. Others are no doubt unintentionally in error, having been influenced by the propagation of Protestant misconception about the RCC that has built up with the passage of time.

Honestly, most of the people that I've had ask me why I do things like worship Mary, pay for indulgences, and worship statues have *no idea* that Catholics don't do these things. If they ask me about Confession, eventually the discussion comes around the passage out of Scripture where Christ tells the Apostles "If you forgive men's sins, they are forgiven them; if you hold them bound, they are held bound." Of course, in Protestant theology, the implications of this passage are significantly downplayed.

I wish people who spout false information about the Catholic Church (intentionally or unintentionally) would do their homework. Almost without exception, any Protestant that I've invited to Mass or to sit down and have a chat with a priest or attend a Catholic Bible study has been astonished at "how Christian" Catholic theology and practice are. That's usually the point at which I try to resist the urge to roll my eyes and say "I told you so." ;)

Answer 2

The problem is that many many non-Catholics get their teaching about Catholicism from Chick-tracts and other anti-Catholic hate literature than from the source.

Why do real study when you can get trash on a group for free on the web or from someone on a street-corner passing out a tract? You 'll also hear it on Sunday from some churches that teach from Chick or other such places. The problem with these people is that since they know so little about Catholic teaching, that they don't even know where their own come from.

The truth is that if one thinks Catholic teaching is wrong because "it's not in the Bible", they have no means of justifying Sola Scriptura, because not only is that NOT in the Bible, but specifically spoken AGAINST in the Bible. Paul taught that believers were to heed what was given in letters and in tradition.

It's likely not straw man arguments, but aping faulty arguments heard about Catholicism from people completely ignorant about what those teachings really are.

Answer 3

To answer your first question: Why do people have to create straw men and lies about beliefs to attack, instead of attacking the true beliefs of Catholics?

The truth is, many non-Catholics are steeped in prejudice. They are content with hearing from a third party complainer about what we Catholics believe, and do not dare examine what we truly believe lest they may be influenced. The prejudice is blinding. Jesus contended with the same viewpoint. The scribes and pharisees had all kinds of imaginary accusations against him, with no evidence. They accepted false testimony rather than evaluated what Jesus was doing, what he was saying, and what wonderful things were occurring due to his teachings and works.

The fact is, Jesus himself established the church which spread from Rome to all the corners of the globe. If you oppose his church, you oppose him. He is in control of his body, the church. Our protestant brothers are deprived of the gifts and full fellowship of the church established by Jesus, as long as they imagine that we are the anti-Christ or believe some other ridiculous lie.

Here is the measuring stick of a follower of Jesus, whether Catholic or Protestant, because no group can claim 100% compliance with Christ's teachings: You will know them by their fruits.

Answer 4

I've been to a Catholic a few times. And they did pray to Mary (the mother of Jesus). I've heard that not all Catholics do this, but the group that does is called "The Mary Cult".

There is only one way to God. And that is through Jesus Christ. Your church membership can't save you.

When you die, you're either in Heaven or Hell. I don't believe that there is purgatory. If there is a verse in the Bible about purgatory, I'd like to see it. And you cannot include The Apocrypha; that does not count.

Answer 5

Good works are integral to salvation, as the Council of Trent agreed. PeacebyJesus is mistaken.

Matthew 25 shows that we will be judged by our charitable works to the least of our brothers.

Romans 3-5 talks about faith as a vital step toward salvation. Nowhere does the scripture say we are saved by faith alone. The one mention of "faith alone" in James 2 says: "You see that a person is justified by what he does and NOT by faith alone." James also teaches that faith without works is dead, with no power to save us.

Reread Eph 2:8-10:

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

We don't earn salvation by the "works" of keeping the law, a constant theme in Paul's writings. But as verse 10 teaches, we are created to do good works. If we refuse the good works for which we are created, we have dead faith and we are not being saved.

The continuing Protestant insistence on faith without works is more than a misinterpretation: It is an evasion of the Christian responsibility to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, tend the sick, and in general, to become a servant to the needy.

Cheers,
Bruce

Answer 6

A lot of sincere people really misunderstand Church teaching. You said we don't pray to the BVM. You have to understand that the word pray original meaning was not to worship but to petitiion, ask, etc and in that sense we do pray to the BVM. The old English term prithee means pray thee. A person used that expression when they wanted a special favor from someone.

Answer 7

"Many hate what they PERCEIVE of Roman Catholicism, not the Truth of Roman Catholicism."
Bishop Fulton Sheen

I have found this to be extremely true. It is easier to say hateful things, than to investigate entirely or to speak with a Catholic openly about the truth of our Faith.

Case in Point***
"read your own Catholic Encyclopedia on, Mary, Trinity, Christmas, Easter."

As if I do not willfully accept Jesus Christ as my personal Savior AND the True founder of HIS Catholic Church.

Jesus Christ is the Great High Priest of His Catholic Church
Heb 4:14-16, What is a priest in His Catholic Church? 5:1-4
And these priest made others...Act13:3, Acts14:22, Acts 1:24-26, Titus 1:5

Answer 8

In many cases, it is simply easier to hate, and we all know that hate is usually based on fear and ignorance.

Many anti-catholic bigots fear the truth, and thus are deathly afraid to learn that their misconceptions of the Catholic Faith are utterly wrong. Their ignorance and refusal to learn the truth only fuels the fear on which their hatred feeds.

Answer 9

Maybe these slanderers fear that the Church may actually be right or they would draw from primary sources in context like the Catechism or Dogmatic Constitutions of the Councils.

Answer 10

Father Joseph

it never ceases me amaze me the audacity some people have in trying to educate us catholics on what we believe in! i am of the opinion that that protestants are wannabe catholics but with attitude. they desperately desire to be in the Church yet it is the very Church they accuse of personifying evil.

i know you have stated before that you were a protestant minister for 25years before converting. my question is do protestants actually look up to their pastors like we catholics do are priests, like yourself? and if so are they not preaching a meassage of hate perpetrated by these church leaders?

i dont understand the hatred towards Christ Church by seemingly good people. i dont know if i will ever understand this this kind of hatred. are catholics encouraged to have such loathing towards protestants churches? i dont believe so.

i will stand corrected with whatever your reply is.

God bless