I have participated in many discussions about the beliefs of Catholics and
frankly, have been very distressed about their unScriptural beliefs.
The Bible in general, and the New Testament in particular, are about God's
interactions with people and His covenants with them, resulting in the New
Covenant which was instituted by Jesus Christ and put into effect by His one-
time sacrifice for all sin.
After this sacrificial act, God formed a new people: the body of Christ. The
beginnings of this formation are written about in the epistles, which also serve
to formulate a new doctrine for all to believe and follow. From Acts onward we
have the story of the New Covenant.
Instead of discussing the formulation of a new people in Christ and the terms of
the New Covenant, Catholics go into "la-la land". They focus on the
following...
1) "Ever virgin" Mary. Even though Scripture says in several places that Jesus
had brothers, they come up with all kinds of rationalizations to claim just the
opposite. For some reason, the idea that Mary was a normal woman who had
intercourse with her husband is abhorrent to them. Citing the woman in Genesis,
a single word in Isaiah (which refers to a young woman with implied virginity)
and the fact that Jesus' brothers are named, they exalt Mary to a state of
purity that has no Scriptural basis.
2) They cite Peter, a.k.a. Cephas, as the rock on which the church (actually
their denomination) is built. They willfully ignore that shortly after Jesus
said "on this rock I will build my church", Jesus called Peter "Satan". (He
never called any other person "Satan".) Peter denied Jesus three times when He
was arrested, and used violence against another person, using his sword to cut
the ear off the high priest's servant. Catholics claim him as their first Pope
-- an unScriptural term -- even though Paul described him as the apostle to the
uncircumcised (only) in Galatians. Paul also reprimanded him for his
hypocritical behavior when other Jews arrived in Galatia.
3) They claim that the Pope is the leader of the church, even though the word
"Pope" is not mentioned anywhere in Scripture. (They make the doubly-false claim
that Peter/Cephas was the first Pope.)
4) They ignore the abhorrent, UNCHRISTIAN history of their denomination,
including the crusades, the inquisitions, the murder of innocent people who
refused to succumb to their conquests, the murders, tortures, excommunications,
and other heinous acts against non-Catholics, etc.
5) Finally, and worst of all, they depict Jesus as => DEAD on the cross <= Every
single crucifix and picture of the Lord they have shows him as a dead
European!!! By so doing, they visually deny that He died, was buried, AND WAS
RESURRECTED TO THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD!!!
In summary, the Catholic denomination has discarded the fundmental truths and
doctrines of the Bible in favor of a bizarre mythology invented by their clergy!
1) They focus on Mary instead of Christ. They even pray to her!!!
2) They focus on Peter, denying the truth of the gospels.
3) They invent an unScriptural clergy and believe the lies that clergy tells
them.
4) They have committed unspeakbale atrocities against non-Catholics, and
recently, sexually abusing children
5) They visually deny the resurrection of Christ, then claim that He actually
exists in the form of crackers and wine!
