Great post, thanks.
I have heard this from many former Catholics.
What is it about the RCC that causes such determined separation?
Perhaps it happens with Protestantism as well. I just don't notice it as much. ???
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As a former Protestant, who has conducted many Bible studies with Catholic people, I found that their anger was stirred when they discovered just how many Catholic doctrines are based on the teachings and traditions of men….they were never from the Bible in the first place. Jesus castigated the Jewish religious leaders for the same reason. (Matt 15:7-9)
Once they found out what the Bible actually taught, they left the Catholic Church, never to return.
To discover who the “Pope” is, and what his title “Pontiff” actually means…..to find out that the idolatry practiced so blatantly in the RCC was forbidden by God in the Ten Commandments…..to understand that death is NOT a continuation of life in some other place, in a different form, and that God will NOT roast souls in an eternal fire if they don’t accept Catholic doctrine….Its not hard to show Catholic people that the errors they are taught were never from the Bible….and to show what the Catholic inquisition did to innocent people.
Yet this was also my experience with Protestantism….finding out how much Catholic doctrine was carried over into the many fractured churches with a Protestant leaning, all teaching various doctrines which carried similar ideas, but never departing from the core teachings that unites them all. None of which originated in scripture. Jesus was Jewish, not Catholic….and he taught from a Jewish perspective.
Jews did not believe that God (Yahweh) was a multiple personality….he was “one” not three. (Deut 6:4)
He never taught that the soul was immortal, because humans were created to be mortals, who would live on this carefully and lovingly prepared earth in paradise conditions…forever. No sin would have resulted in no death. They had “the tree of life“ to guarantee unending life on earth….on the condition that they obeyed their God in all things. Free will carries with it, great responsibility.
A hell of eternal torment was never mentioned to a Jew because they believed in the resurrection of the dead. This was a return to life after a period spent in “Sheol/hades” which the Bible shows is the common grave of all mankind. (Eccl 9:5-6, 10) Since there is no immortal soul that lives on after death, there is no reason to invent places for them to go. The RCC got a bit carried away with that one.
A resurrection was a return to life, not a continuation of it somewhere else.
When reading about the teachings of Jesus, using various translations, interlinears and concordances, I discovered a completely counterfeit religious system masquerading as “Christianity“. These were the “weeds” of Jesus parable and they were to “grow together” with his true disciples even when the Catholic Church held absolute power over the kings of the earth for many centuries. Many Catholic monarchs would not make a move without counsel from their spiritual advisors…..so much for being “no part of the world”.
If any Christian today is meddling in, participating in, or debating politics….it is a very good indication that they have ignored Jesus teachings and become part of what God hates…..corrupt human rulership….completely controlled by God’s enemy.
1 John 5:19…
“We know that we originate with God, but the whole world is lying in the power of the wicked one.”
How much of “the whole world” is not then guided by the devil? These rule by God’s permission for now, but soon the rule of his Kingdom will eliminate all corrupt human governments. (Dan 2:44)
Step back and see that there is very little love in people nowadays….but in many churches there is lots of judgment, and hatred expressed for those to whom Jesus was sent….the sinners and those who were lost. Judging the person along with their lifestyle is what the Pharisees did.….and many churches are gaining a reputation for their hatred, rather than for their love and compassion. Jesus died for all, but not all will be willing to make the necessary sacrifices in their lives to qualify to become citizens of God’s Kingdom.
God is giving everyone an opportunity to get to know him and his son, and to participate in a wonderful future. (John 17:3)
Jesus did not keep company with the sinners and the lost ones because he wanted to promote their sinful ways…he wanted to tell them that God loved them and that they could adjust their lifestyle to please him and thereby participate in a better life now, and have the hope of everlasting life in the future.
This is the ”good news” that Jesus wanted his disciples to preach. (Matt 24:14: Matt 28:19-20)