Ever find yourself pondering Catholic beliefs? You’re not alone. Join Pastor Mark Finley as he embarks on a thought-provoking journey into Catholicism and its place within the wider Christian tradition. This presentation goes deep into the intersections and divergences that both unite and distinguish Catholic beliefs from other Christian doctrines. Whether you’re steadfast in your faith, questioning, or simply curious, we invite you to explore with us the tapestry of traditions and teachings that shape the Catholic experience.

<p>Ever find yourself pondering Catholic beliefs? You’re not alone. Join Pastor Mark Finley as he embarks on a thought-provoking journey into Catholicism and its place within the wider Christian tradition. This presentation goes deep into the intersections and divergences that both unite and distinguish Catholic beliefs from other Christian doctrines. Whether you’re steadfast in your faith, questioning, or simply curious, we invite you to explore with us the tapestry of traditions and teachings that shape the Catholic experience.</p>

<p>Free sharing permitted under the Creative Commons <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/">BY-NC-ND 3.0 (US)</a> license.</p>

HopeLives365

Mark Finley

9 Errors in Catholicism from a Former Catholic


Is the divide between Catholicism and biblical Christianity wider than we think? Now imagine a crossroads where faith meets tradition, scripture, and interpretation. This is where Catholicism and biblical Christianity diverge, each taking a path that has shaped the lives of millions. What lies at the heart of these differences? Let's take a closer look and find out.

We'll look at the area of leadership. In biblical Christianity, Christ is the head of the church. In Catholicism, the Pope is the visible head of the church. It is encyclical letter of June 20, 1894, Pope Leo XIII said this, we hold upon this earth the place of God Almighty. But you compare that with Colossians chapter 1, for example, verses 16 to 18, that clearly says that Christ is the head of the church.

So in biblical Christianity, we look to Jesus. We look to Jesus as the head of the church, not an earthly head. Secondly, in the area of the source of truth, In biblical Christianity, the word of God is the unerring, eternal, immutable source of truth. It's inspired. In Catholic tradition, scripture and tradition are 2 equal sources.

Let me read to you this statement from the Second Vatican Council in its constitution called De Verbum. They said, it is not from sacred scripture alone that the church draws its certainty about everything that has been revealed. Both sacred tradition and sacred scripture are to be accepted and venerated with the same sense of loyalty and reverence. Wow! Jesus said through the Apostle Paul, 2nd Timothy, chapter 3, verse 16, all scripture is inspired by God.

Jesus then added himself in John 17, verse 17, sanctify them through thy truth, thy word is truth. There's a difference in the area of leadership, Christ the head of the church. There's a difference in the area of the source of truth, the Bible or tradition. There's also a difference in the area of mediators. You know I was brought up in the Roman Catholic Church and as I was educated in Catholic schools for the first 8 years, I would go to class and in catechism, I would be taught that we needed to go to confession and confess our sins to a priest because the priest was our mediator.

Now the Bible says of course in the book of Timothy, 1 Timothy chapter 2 verse 5 and 6, there is 1 mediator between God and man, the man, Jesus Christ. But in Catholicism, the priests become our mediators. The idea is that we're not righteous enough, we're not holy enough to appear before God. I thank God that you and me, that we can come and kneel before God and listen to the words of Jesus where he said, "'If you confess your sins, "'I'm faithful just to forgive your sins.'" 1 John 1, verse 9. We don't need an earthly mediator because we have a mediator, Jesus Christ, our Lord.

The 1 that walked this earth, the 1 that faced Satan's temptations head on, the 1 that triumphed over the principalities and powers of hell, the 1 that hung on the cross with nails through his hands and blood running down his wrists. The 1 that had the crown of thorns upon his head, the 1 that died for us, the only mediator we need is the 1 that bore our sins on Calvary's cross. Now 4, here's the fourth difference. In biblical Christianity, Christ is the sole source of worship. In Catholicism, worship can be through the saints or images.

Remember Acts 4, verse 12, it says, "'There is no other name unto heaven "'whereby we might be saved except the name of Jesus.'" But yet in Catholicism, there is that worship through idols and through images. In fact, if you look at a article published, How Do We Know the Saints Intercede for us, this Catholic author, and this is not an old article, it's a fairly recent article, January 25, 2021, and I'm reading, so far with Aquinas' help, we have strong reasons to believe that the Saints in heaven have the role of an intercessor, and that they would know whatever requests are made for them. So the Catholic Church teaches that the saints can intercede for us, and that as we approach those saints through, say, an image of Mary or an image of Peter, which supposedly represents those saints. But you remember what scripture said, "'Thou shalt not have any other gods before me.'" First commandment. "'Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image "'of anything in heaven above or on earth beneath, thou shall not bow down to them and worship them.

So worshiping the so-called saints through images is contrary to the second commandment. We come and worship Christ directly. The fifth area has to do with priesthood. In biblical Christianity, Christ is our high priest. And each believer is a priest of God to share his love with others.

In Catholicism, only the earthly priests can minister salvation. But you remember in scripture, Jesus through the apostle Peter in 1 Peter 2, 9 says, "'You are a chosen generation. "'You are a peculiar people called out of darkness into this, his marvelous light. You are part of this royal priesthood. So in biblical Christianity, we come to Jesus, our great high priest, but each of us become priests of God to share the message of salvation with others.

In Catholicism, you have an earthly priest. In biblical Christianity, we have a heavenly priest, Jesus Christ, and we are a kingdom of priests. The sixth area, in biblical Christianity, Christ is the author of life. And death is but a sleep until the resurrection when Jesus returns. In 1 Thessalonians 4, Verse 16 and 17, it says, "'The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, "'the trump of God, with the voice of the archangel, "'and the dead in Christ shall rise first, "'and then they which are alive and remain "'shall be caught up together with them in the clouds "'to meet Jesus in the air.'" First Corinthians chapter 15, verse 51 to 54.

Here you have another major difference between the biblical Christianity and what the teaching that comes out of Rome. First Corinthians chapter 15, verse 51 to 54. Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep. But we shall be changed in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.

For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For This corruptible must put on incorruption, this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruption is put on incorruption, this mortal is put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that death is swallowed up in victory." See, the contrast is clear. In biblical Christianity, death is but a sleep until the coming of Jesus. In Catholicism, that comes out of Rome, They've accepted the idea that comes from paganism of the immortal soul that leaves the body at death.

But the Bible says, Ecclesiastes 9, verse 5, "'The living know that they shall die, "'but the dead know not what anything.'" Psalm 115, verse 17 says, "'The dead praise not the Lord, "'nor any that go down into silence.'" There's another aspect of this state of the dead too. In Catholicism, if you're not good enough to go to heaven, or you're not bad enough to go to hell, you end up in a place between heaven and hell called purgatory. Let me read about that to you. The Catholic catechism says this. It defines purgatory as a purification so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven, which is experienced by those who die in God's grace and friendship, but they're still imperfectly purified.

I thank God that through the grace of Jesus Christ, we are perfectly purified. We may be unrighteous, but he is righteous. We may be unholy, but he is holy. We may be sinful. But he, the God man, died on the cross of Calvary.

To atone for our sins, we can come to Jesus, we don't need some intermediary place to be purified in Christ's righteousness, we stand before God just as we have never seen. He took upon himself the guilt and shame that we have earned and gives us the righteousness which he has earned. Now here's the seventh area. In biblical Christianity, all nature and all creation and everything living is moving toward 1 climax of history. History is not secular in biblical Christianity.

Creation took place at a point in time. The cross took place at a point of time. And the second coming of Christ will take place in a point of time, but in Catholicism, the church is building the kingdom of God on earth. This is contrary to what Jesus said. Jesus said in John chapter 14, verse 1 to 3, "'Let not your heart be troubled.

"'You believe in God, believe also in me. "'In my father's house are many mansions. "'If it were not so, I would have told you. "'If I go again, I will come again "'to prepare a place for you "'that where I am, there you can be also.'" So in Catholicism, the idea is that through the spread of the gospel, grace goes out to the world and the kingdom of God is built here through the church. In biblical Christianity, the gospels preached, yes, men and women make eternal choices for or against Christ.

But In biblical Christianity, the world is on a collision course with destiny. That this world is not getting better, it's getting worse. Just like at the days of the flood, just like the days of the Sodom and Gomorrah. And Christ is gonna come. This world will be destroyed by fire at end time.

And it's not that the church is building a kingdom on earth. It's that Christ is gonna come to establish his eternal ultimate kingdom. Every eye will see him, Revelation 1, 7. Every ear will hear it, Psalm 50, verse 3. He comes in glory in climax.

Here's the eighth area of divergence. When we walk down that crossroads, we see 2 paths. 1 goes to the left, 1 to the right. We see this divergence between biblical Christianity and Catholicism. In biblical Christianity, baptism is for believers that accept Christ and become his disciples.

You remember in Acts chapter 2, verse 38 and onward, Peter says, repent and be baptized every 1 of you. A baby can't repent. Jesus said himself in Matthew 28, verse 19 and 20, "'Go therefore and teach all nations "'or make disciples, ' better translate, "'of all nations, baptizing them in the name "'of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.'" In Catholicism, babies are baptized, why? Because of the sin of Adam and the idea that they have original sin and they couldn't enter into heaven with that original sin. Would God keep a baby out of heaven because of something Adam did and its mother did not do?

Certainly not. So baptism is a symbol of repentance of sin, of belief, and becoming part of God's family, his church. We're baptized into the body of the church. Here is the ninth difference. And that has to do with the law of God.

In biblical Christianity, Jesus said in John 14, verse 15, "'If you love me, do what? "'Keep my commandments.'" But yet in Daniel chapter 7, verse 25, it speaks about a power that would rise out of Rome that would change the law of God. How did the papacy change God's law? Well, in the 10 Commandments, it dropped the second commandment that says, thou shalt not worship idols. Drop that.

That means that it would only have 9, so it has to take the 10 Commandments, thou shalt not covet, make it 2. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, and thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's goods. So the law of God was changed. Next, it says in Daniel 7.25, that it would change the times and the laws. What's the only law that has to do with time?

That's the Sabbath commandment. So the church would change the Sabbath commandment from Saturday, the seventh day to Sunday, the first. That's why there's this divergence, this contrast. Let's look at these contrasts again. First, in the area of leadership.

Who is the leader of the church? Is it Christ or the Pope? Second, the source of truth. Is it the Bible or tradition? Thirdly, mediators.

Is the mediator Jesus Christ or is it a priest in an earthly confession? Fourth, the area of worship. Do we worship God directly or through idols? Fifth, the area of priesthood. Do we depend on an earthly priest or is Jesus our priest, our high priest, and are we priests of God to share his love?

6, the area of the afterlife. Is the soul immortal? Certainly not, according to the Bible. What is death? It's when asleep to Jesus comes.

Seventh, end times. All creation moves toward the climax of history in the second coming of Christ, not an earthly millennium with the church as the leader of the kingdom of God. Eighth, baptism. Baptism is for adult believers or for those that have repented and accepted Christ and become part of the body of Christ not for infants and ninth the law of God God is calling us back to obedience. He's calling us back to keeping his law.

He's calling us back to faithfulness to Christ and the law of God and the commandments of God. Last days of verse history, where is God's church today? Revelation 14 verse 12, here are they that keep the commandments of God and have the faith of Jesus. Are Catholics saved? Some are.

They love Jesus but they don't have all the truth. And what is God saying to them? John 10 verse 16 says this, other sheep I have that are not of this fold. Them also will I bring, them also will I gather in. I'd like to appeal to you.

If you have a Catholic background like I did, and the Spirit of God is speaking to you, The Spirit of God is touching your life. The Spirit of God is leading you back to faithfulness to the scripture. If that is the appeal of the Holy Spirit to your heart, as we pray, say, Jesus, I hear your voice. I see these major contrasts between truth and error, between biblical Christianity and the traditions of Rome. And I choose, I choose to follow Jesus.

I choose to follow his word through his grace and power. Let's pray, Father in heaven, thank you, oh Lord, for your love, your grace, your goodness. Thank you for your mercy. Thank you for the clarity of your word. You have said, of the sheep I have that are not of this fold, them I shall bring in.

Lord, touch the heart of some man, some woman, some honest hearted seeker just now, and may they hear your voice and respond to your word and follow you. In Christ's name, amen. This media was brought to you by AudioVerse, a website dedicated to spreading God's word through free sermon audio and much more. If you would like to know more about Audioverse, or if you

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9 Errors in Catholicism from a Former Catholic

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