Why I am not a Roman Catholic
10 biblical reasons why I cannot be a Roman Catholic.
Am I a Catholic? Well, yes and no. If by Catholic you mean ‘universal’ in the sense of belonging to the universal church of Christ, then yes, I sure am a full-blooded Catholic. But if by Catholic you mean ‘Roman Catholic’ in the sense of following the dogmatic decrees of the Vatican, then no, I am not a Catholic at all. In this brief article, I would like to outline ten of the most important reasons as to why I am not a Roman Catholic.
01.- I’m not a Roman Catholic because I don’t believe in Mariology
Mary was a wonderful woman of faith. I have no qualms about that. But I do have problems with a host of Roman Catholic Mariological doctrines that are nowhere to be found in Holy Writ. Where does the New Testament ever talk about Mary as the impeccable “Mother of the Church” or “Mediator”, or talk about her ascension to heaven, or her saving influence upon believers, or how she can be evoked in prayer? These are nothing more than human inventions that deny the centrality of Christ in the Bible.
02.- I’m not a Roman Catholic because I don’t believe in the Pope
My only Holy Father is the Lord God Almighty. Not the Pope! The only Head of the Church is the Lord Jesus Christ. Not the Pope! The only Guide for God’s pilgrim people on earth is the Holy Spirit. Not the Pope! The only One who can speak infallibly is the Most High God. Not the Pope! It’s that simple.
03.- I’m not a Roman Catholic because I don’t believe in idolatry
I consider bowing oneself down before any idol, image, painting, statue or deceased saint to be an abomination. It is a clear violation of both the second commandment and the New Testament truth that God alone is to be worshipped in spirit and in truth. The Lord alone is my God and Him alone will I serve!
04.- I’m not a Roman Catholic because I don’t believe in Purgatory
The Bible talks about heaven and hell. It doesn’t say a thing about the man-made concept of Purgatory which came into being in the Medieval Age. Not only is it a top-class marketing technique and a means of offering false hope to sinners, but it also spits in the face of the perfect atoning work of Jesus Christ. How could any disciple believe anything that calls into question the blessed work of the Son of God?
05.- I’m not a Roman Catholic because I don’t believe in Transubstantiation
Another blasphemy that is wholly unworthy of the Gospel is the doctrine of Transubstantiation. What does it teach? It affirms that the bread and wine literally become the body and blood of Jesus so that Christ sacrifices Himself for sin in every Mass. Such a theology denies the faultless and flawless work of Christ carried out once and for all (Hebrews 7:27).
06.- I’m not a Roman Catholic because I don’t believe in the clergy/ lay division
The Roman Catholic hierarchical system distorts the New Testament emphasis upon the priesthood of all believers. By no means are the clergy holier or more sanctified than run-of-the-mill saints. They are simply engaged in a specific sphere of public ministry. Being used by God does not depend upon one being behind a pulpit. All of God’s people are to be used by the Lord no matter what sphere of life they may find themselves in. They are all holy because they all partake of the same Spirit. As Luther once put it: “A shoemaker who makes shoes for the glory of God is a holy minister of the Gospel”.
07.- I’m not a Roman Catholic because I don’t believe in the Apocrypha
The apocryphal books were never accepted as authoritatively inspired by Judaism or the Christian Church. They were added unto the canon in the sixteenth century by the infamous Council of Trent. Now, that does not mean that the content of the Apocrypha cannot edify us in the faith; but we should always keep in mind that those books are plagued with historical inaccuracies and strange doctrines that contradict the plain teaching of Scripture (prayers for the dead; prayers unto angels and saints; indulgences, etc.).
08.- I’m not a Roman Catholic because I don’t believe in the seven sacraments
I do not believe that the administration of the sacraments via the ordained priesthood guarantees the effectual application of grace to their recipients. The grace of God the Father is applied to human beings by means of the ministries of the Son and the Holy Spirit. Yes, it is indeed true that I celebrate the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper; but not because they guarantee God’s grace, but because they are the sign that the grace of God has already been given. Furthermore, they were both expressly commanded by the Lord Jesus (Matthew 28:19; 1 Corinthians 11:23-25).
09.- I’m not a Roman Catholic because I don’t believe in mortal or venial sins
The New Testament makes no sharp distinction between big sins and small sins. Sin is sin (be it major or minor). Every act of disobedience deserves punishment. The only sin which can never be forgiven – according to the blessed Saviour Himself - is blasphemy against the Spirit of God.
10.- I’m not a Roman Catholic because I believe in the biblical Gospel
In sum, I can condense all of my opposition to Roman Catholicism into one simple term: the biblical Gospel, that is, the Gospel of the free grace of God; the Gospel of the immaculate work of the Lord Jesus Christ; the Gospel of the regenerating power of the Spirit of the Lord. This Gospel of God is non-negotiable.
Conclusion
So, if I have to choose between Roman Catholicism and the glory of God as it is revealed in the Gospel, I opt for the glory of God. And now, let me ask you the very same question: which would you choose?
I answered him as follows:
He started by saying if he is part of the Universal Church, then yes, he is Catholic, but if we meant Roman Catholic and the dogmatic decrees of the Vatican, "then no way am I Roman Catholic".
The funny thing is, The Church started at Pentecost in the upper room. The Apostles were there, as was the Mother of Jesus. They went out to the world, preaching the Gospel in many countries. Different Cultures saw and adapted their worship Services, called liturgy, to the people living there. Since Peter was in Rome, the Roman Rite is the oldest and most prominent in the Catholic Church. It is part of the Latin Rites. The Eastern Rites have 23 different Rites loyal to Rome and the Pope.
1.MARIOLOGY
He said he is not fond of doctrines not found in the Bible, even though the Bible does not say that every Doctrine must be found in the Bible. He also said we made her the mediator, which is false. We honor Mary and call her blessed, just as she said, "All Generations will call me Blessed" (Luke 1:48), Something most protestants Don't do.
Her ascension into Heaven is Something that happened whether he believes it. Jesus is God. Before he came to earth, he got to choose his Mother and Father. They had to be close to perfect. He chose Mary; she was not only his Mother, but his greatest disciple. She was there at the wedding at Cana; she was there seeing him carry his cross, at the scourging and the crucifixion, and when he came down from the cross. She helped place him in the tomb.
Since Enoch did not die, nor did Elijah, why not Jesus's Mother? Relics are in Scripture. Acts 19:12 . . . from his [Paul's] body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them. (cf. Matt. 9:20-22)
After a Follower of Christ died, those left would try to get a relic from them. Clothing or their hair or Something. When Mary died, there were no relics except for her veil. Today, there are thousands of relics of bones and hair and a piece of the Cross of Christ, All from holy Saints. But none from Mary.
2. THE POPE
When Jesus said to Simon, "Upon this rock, I will build my Church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I give you the keys to the kingdom, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven and whatever you loosed on earth shall be loosed in heaven", those with him most likely remember Isaiah 22:20-22 where it starts, "In that day I will summon my servant, Eliakim, son of Hilkiah. I will clothe him with your robe, fasten your sash around him, and hand your authority over to him. He will be a father to those living in Jerusalem and Judah's people. I will place on his shoulder the key to the house of David; what he opens, no one can shut, and what he shuts, no one can open."
Jesus gave the keys to Simon and changed his name to Peter - and let's remember that Jesus spoke Aramaic and said, Cephas, not Petra like protestants like to say. It was Upon this Cephas, I will build my Church.
Two early Church guys wrote about this, Ignatius of Antioch does that Rome "holds the presidency" among the other churches and that, as Irenaeus explains, "because of its superior origin, all the churches must agree" with Rome. They are also clear that it is communion with Rome and the bishop of Rome that causes one to be in communion with the Catholic Church. This displays a recognition that, as Cyprian of Carthage puts it, Rome is "the principal church, in which sacerdotal unity has its source." They all knew Rome had Peter in it; thus, he was ruler over all Catholicism and Christianity.
3. IDOLATRY
This is easy. Our Catechism says this. Idolatry not only refers to false pagan worship. It remains a constant temptation to faith. Idolatry consists in divinizing what is not God. Man commits idolatry whenever he honors and reveres a creature in place of God, whether this is gods or demons (for example, satanism), power, pleasure, race, ancestors, the state, money, etc. Jesus says, "You cannot serve God and mammon."44 Many martyrs died for not adoring "the Beast"45 refusing to simulate such worship. Idolatry rejects the unique Lordship of God; it is, therefore, incompatible with communion with God. CCC 2113
We don't worship Mary, nor any saints or angels. God alone gets our worship and Adoration.
4. PURGATORY
Matthew 5:48 says to Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect. Revelation 21:27 says that nothing unclean will enter Heaven. So, how do you get clean after you die? Even the most minor sin cannot be in Heaven. Paul gave an excellent example of works and what are works but things we do when we sin. So sin is works that are not the will of God. 1 Cor 3:13-15 says their work will be shown for what it is because the day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person's work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames."
Since there are two kinds of sin which he got dead wrong in number 9, 1 John 5 says there are deadly and non-deadly sins. Non Deadly sins must be purified before getting into Heaven. Deadly sins unconfessed get you straight to Hell.
5 TRANSUBSTANTIATION
This starts way back in the Old Testament. Abraham is considered the patriarch of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. God spoke to him and told him to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, to test him. Abraham was taking his son Isaac up a mountain to offer him, and his son asked, "Father, the fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?"
"God Himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering," Abraham answered him. Genesis 22:7-8
God, Himself, will provide the lamb. This also happened in the New Testament. Jesus was called by John the Baptist in John 1:29, "Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world." Since Jesus was God's Son, he was also offered as the sacrifice for all mankind.
The Passover in Exodus chapter 12 was about the final plague on the Egyptians. The Israelites were slaves to the Egyptians for many years. Moses spoke to God as the leader of the Israelites, and God gave Moses ten plagues to give to the Egyptians to make the Egyptians let the Israelites go free.
Exodus starts the story of the final plague, which involves slaughtering lambs to put their blood on the doorposts of the Israelites to tell the "angel of death" to PASSOVER and not kill the firstborn male in those households. They had to be unblemished lambs from either sheep or goats. It goes on to say that the lamb's flesh had to be eaten with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. And they had to eat all of it. Any leftovers had to be burned. Then it says you must commemorate this day as a feast in Yahweh's honor. You must keep it a feast day for all generations; this is a decree for all time.
Exodus 16:4-8 tells us of the bread God gave to the Israelites while wandering in the desert after fleeing Pharaoh. "Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not." Bread from Heaven is the term Jesus used to describe Himself.
Later we have people who say to Jesus in John 6, "This is a hard saying," and Jesus doubles down on it and says, "Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life within you."
At the beginning of the Bible, they say don't eat from the Tree of Knowledge, and they do eat from it. (Genesis 3:6) The New Testament says to eat, and you could tell from the tree of Life since Jesus said He is the life, and they don't. (John 6:66) Today, many do not eat as Jesus commanded, and He said if you don't eat, you have no life within you.
In Genesis 14, the mysterious priest Melchizedek, King of Salem – a city later identified as Jerusalem - gave a blessing of bread and wine, foreshadowing the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the priest-king of the heavenly Jerusalem. Jesus offers Himself at the Last Supper under bread and wine. Jesus began as the food for our souls.
In the Gospel of Luke, 2:7, "and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and placed him in a manger." Remember that Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Micah 5:2 tells us, "But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose origin is from old, from ancient days." The word "Bethlehem" means "House of Bread." Later Jesus would say, "I am the bread of life."
A manger is a food trough for animals. They ate out of the manger. The manger was where Jesus was put after he was born. John the Baptist, when Jesus came, said in John 1:29, "Behold the lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" We learned they ate an unblemished lamb during the Passover.
In John 6:27, Jesus said, "Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on Him God the Father has placed His seal of approval."
John 6:32-56.
32 – 35 Then Jesus said to them, "Truly, Truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from Heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from Heaven. For the bread of God comes down from Heaven and gives life to the world."
They said to him, "Lord, give us this bread always."
"Jesus said to them, 'I am the bread of life, he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.'"
I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread, which comes down from Heaven that a man may eat of it and not die. I am the bread which came down from Heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh."
The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"
"Truly, truly I say to you UNLESS you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life within you; he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him."
The original New Testament in the Bible was composed in Greek. The Greek word Jesus used for "eat" is "trogo." It means "to gnaw, munch, crunch." That word was always used in the literal sense in Greek. He honestly told us to eat His flesh and drink His blood. That upset the disciples because they knew from the Old Testament that eating flesh and drinking blood was against their faith. The blood of animals was not to be drunk because it was the animal's life. Jesus, too, believed this. Because His blood is His Life, we can drink His Life into us. And we also eat His Flesh into us to become one with Him.
Many will say Jesus said He was the gate, door, or vine and did indeed say those things. However, not a single follower left him for saying he was one of those things. However, they left him when he said his body was true food and blood was true drink. John 6:66 tells us, "Then they went back to their former way of life and walked with him no more."
No longer walking with Jesus is like driving your car into the ocean. You will drown. Whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord" (1 Cor. 11:27). How can you be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord if it is a symbol? You can't.
St. Augustine of Hippo was familiar with the Gnostic movement that human flesh was terrible and that Spirit in humans was good, as he was a member of the Gnostic movement known as Manichaeism. He later became a bishop and a doctor of the Church. He was also a prolific writer and homilist. In Sermon 227, he further explained, "The bread you see on the altar, having been sanctified by the Word of God, is the body of Christ. The chalice, or rather what is in the chalice, sanctified by the Word of God, is the blood of Christ." Augustine said that our eyes see ordinary bread and wine, but when a priest consecrates them, our faith obligates us to believe that they are the actual body and blood of Christ.
One hundred fifty documented times, the host turned into real flesh, the left ventricle of a heart, and the wine turned into real blood - AB Positive, same as the burial cloth of Christ, and a host started to beat like a heart in Mexico on July 24th of this year. They inspected it and found it to be a consecrated host. Nothing more.
The Eucharist deserves a good explanation, which is why this is longer than the other parts.
6. CLERGY
The English word "priest" is derived from the Greek word presbuteros, which is commonly rendered in Bible English as "elder" or "presbyter." The ministry of Catholic priests is that of the presbyters mentioned in the New Testament (Acts 15:6, 23). The Bible says little about presbyters' duties, but it reveals they functioned in a priestly capacity.
They were ordained by the laying on of hands (1 Tm 4:14, 5:22), they preached and taught the flock (1 Tm 5:17), and they administered sacraments (Jas 5:13-15). These are the essential functions of the priestly office, so wherever the various forms of presbuteros appear–except, of course, in instances that pertain to the Jewish elders (Mt 21:23, Acts 4:23)–the word may rightly be translated as "priest" instead of "elder" or "presbyter."
So, if there are priests in the New Testament who became priests by laying on hands, then that is why we have priests and not just guys spouting off their knowledge about some verse in the Bible.
When Jesus was at the Last Supper he said, "Do this in Memory of Me." That established his priesthood. Only his apostles were with Him when he said that, then they knew they had to start doing that, taking bread and saying, "This IS MY BODY, and THIS IS THE Chalice of my Blood." Because they all knew it was His Divine Body and Divine Blood.
7. THE APOCRYPHA
Right after the Bible was put together with its 73 books in 382 AD, many started saying that the Gospel of Thomas, the Shepherd of Hermas, the Didache, or other books were the Apocrypha. Not until the 1500s did they say that the 7 Deutero-Canonical books were Apocrypha by the Protestants. But when Gutenberg did his printing press, and his first book was printed in 1455 AD, that was long before Luther took out seven books from the Bible. He wanted to take out even more books like Revelation and James. And he added a word to Sacred Scripture in Romans 3:28. He said it alone, but it was not in the text. So was Martin Luther, a righteous man? Many would say no.
This site shows how many references there are in the New Testament to the "Apocrypha" or what they are, the "Deutero -Canonical books."
8. SEVEN SACRAMENTS
Baptism: "And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there,... came to me, and standing by me said to me, `Brother Saul, receive your sight.' And in that very hour, I received my sight and saw him. And he said, `The God of our fathers appointed you to know his will, to see the Just One, and to hear a voice from his mouth; for you will be a witness for him to all men of what you have seen and heard. And now, why do you wait? Rise, be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on his name. Acts 22:12-16 and 1 Peter 3:20-21 who formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, during the ark building, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water.
Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a clear conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
Confirmation: Acts 8:14-17 Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Sama'ria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, Who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit; For it had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid their hands on them and received the Holy Spirit. Acts 19:3-6 And he said, "Into what then were you baptized?" They said, "Into John's baptism." And Paul said, "John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus." Hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them; and they spoke with tongues and prophesied.
The Holy Spirit comes upon you in Confirmation. Most Catholics don't know how to use this gift. I have been blessed to lay hands on people and heal them. Blindness and torn cartilage were both healed.
Eucharist: John 6:32-36 Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from Heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from Heaven. For the bread of God comes down from Heaven and gives life to the world." They said to him, "Lord, give us this bread always." Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst. But I told you that you had seen me, yet do not believe me.
Jesus sounds like he is talking to nonbelievers in the Eucharist. See above for more info.
Penance: John 20:21-23 Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so, I send you." And when he said this, he breathed on them, saying, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."
How can they forgive sins if no one goes to them? But they did go to them to get their sins forgiven.
Anointing of the Sick: James 5"14-15 Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the Church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; And the prayer of faith will save the sick man, and the Lord will raise him; if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
We have this sacrament once every month on the First Friday of the month. I have seen a few people get healed during this anointing.
Holy Orders: Acts 6:3-6 Therefore, brethren, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and the word's ministry." And what they said pleased the whole multitude. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, Philip, Proch'orus, Nica'nor, Timon, and Par'menas, and Nicola'us, a proselyte of Antioch. These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands upon them.
The council of Nicaea was in 325 AD. Three hundred eighteen bishops attended it out of 1800 Catholic bishops in the world then. Ignatius of Antioch wrote to his churches he was over in 107 AD as he was being taken to Rome to be eaten by lions, "Where the Bishop is, there is Jesus Christ, and there is the catholic church" Two men taught him the faith. John the Apostle and Polycarp, who was Bishop of Smyrna.
Matrimony: Ephesians 5:31 "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." This mystery is a profound one, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the Church; How is it so deep in that it refers to Christ and the Church if it is not HOLY?
9.SIN
He said there is only one kind of sin. Guess he never read 1 John 5:16-17. If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God[a] will give him life—to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that. All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death.
Let me give you an example of each. Deadly sin breaks any Ten Commandments - most people fail the first one. I am the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not have strange Gods before me. People put things before God daily. God should be first in every area of your life. Every AREA!
Let's say someone murders ten people. That is against one of the Ten. If that sin goes without repentance and forgiveness, that person committed a deadly sin, and if they die, they will go to Hell.
Let's say your wife comes home with a new dress, and you hate it. But she says, "How do you like my new dress, Honey?" You say, "It is beautiful, Sweetheart." That is a small lie, compare it to murdering ten people, and you can see the difference between deadly and non-deadly.
10. The Gospel
I believe, has shown how the Bible is very Catholic. The Sacraments are all in there, and the Bible says that not everything Jesus did could be put in the books of the world. We know the Bible did not have all 73 books until 382 AD, and St. Jerome translated them into Latin.
The Eucharist is real. Jesus Christ started confession.
Contraception that the Church does not allow - even though millions of Catholics disobey the Church, led to Abortion and the breakup of the family.
You see, the Bible is very Catholic. The monks through the centuries hand copied it so you could read it Today. Gutenberg printed the first book on his printing press in 1455, before the Protestant Reformation, and it was a Latin Vulgate Bible with 73 books.