1. Catholics Worship Mary
NOTHING could be further from the truth. Anti-Catholics are guilty of bearing false witness here.
NOTHING could be further from the truth. Anti-Catholics are guilty of bearing false witness here.
While Latria means worship that is given to God alone - Dulia is theological term signifying the honor paid to the saints. We honor them because of their earthly examples of faith and endurance as member of the Body of Christ. Hyperdulia is the veneration offered to the Blessed Virgin Mary – who is also a member of the Body of Christ - because of her special role in salvation history as Mother of God.
The word Dulia is from the Greek douleia meaning “slavery”. Its root word is doulos which means slave - in the sense that we are all slaves of God. This is how St. Paul addresses himself in several of his letters. Hyper is defined as “above”, “beyond” or “super”. When we talk about paying hyperdulia to Mary, it is in this sense – beyond mere dulia that is paid to the saints in heaven, but not worship.
We adore and worship God alone, whereas, we give honor to the great saints of the past and give special honor to Mary, the vessel of Christ.
As for the word, “worship”, it can and often is used more loosely. In fact, we are all guilty of some form of this word, which, according to the dictionary, has many meanings, including:
A. The honor given to a person of importance — (such as magistrates and some mayors)
B. Reverence offered a divine being or supernatural power; an act of expressing such reverence
C. A form of religious practice with its creed and ritual
D. Extravagant respect or admiration for or devotion to an object of esteem
B. Reverence offered a divine being or supernatural power; an act of expressing such reverence
C. A form of religious practice with its creed and ritual
D. Extravagant respect or admiration for or devotion to an object of esteem
When a person kisses a picture of a loved one, they are guilty of “worship” in this sense. However, anybody using reason would understand that they do not worship them as gods.
This statement is not only wrong – it is heresy. In fact, it’s a heresy that was dealt with in the Early Church at the First Council of Ephesus in 431. It has been said that virtually every single heresy is based upon the misconception of the nature of God – and this one is no different.
In the 5th century, the Patriarch of Constantinople, Nestorius, taught that Jesus Christ was 2 distinct persons. He also held that God merely dwelt within Jesus, as a temple. The Council declared, in accordance with the Scriptures, that Jesus is both fully human and fully divine and these two natures cannot be separated. This is known as the doctrine of the Hypostatic Union, which was declared at this Council. In other words, Jesus is 100% God and 100% man.
In the 5th century, the Patriarch of Constantinople, Nestorius, taught that Jesus Christ was 2 distinct persons. He also held that God merely dwelt within Jesus, as a temple. The Council declared, in accordance with the Scriptures, that Jesus is both fully human and fully divine and these two natures cannot be separated. This is known as the doctrine of the Hypostatic Union, which was declared at this Council. In other words, Jesus is 100% God and 100% man.
Mary gave birth not simply to a human being but to a divine person who united to himself a human and divine nature. Because of this, she was declared Theotokos (God-bearer) at the same Council. To say that Mary carried and gave birth to something less than 100% God and 100% man is to deny the doctrine of the Hypostatic Union and to fall back into the Nestorian heresy.
Simply put, because Jesus is God, Mary gave birth to God in the Person of Jesus Christ. The Catholic Church does not now nor has it ever claimed that Mary is the Mother of God in all three Persons of the Trinity. Some cling to this falsehood – which has no basis in reality – simply to discredit the Catholic Church.
Not according to the Bible. The word, “pray” means to supplicate, to plead, to ask. This is simply a failure on the part of some to understand the meaning of the word.
Anti-Catholics like to quote 1 Tim. 2:5, where it says, "For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." The Catholic Church agrees with this verse. Jesus IS our only mediator before God because only his sacrifice could make peace between us and the Father because only Jesus is the perfect sacrifice. But, we deny Scripture when we say that we have no other mediators or intercessor. The Bible is crystal-clear that we are ALL to intercede for one another with prayer and supplications – 2 Cor. 1:10-11, Eph. 6:18-20, 1Tim. 2:1-4, James 5:16.
When we “pray” to those in heaven to intercede on our behalf to the Father, it is no different than asking a fellow Christian on earth to do the same. Since we are all parts of the Body of Christ, we are more radically joined together than the finger is to the hand because we are joined in Christ – and not by mere flesh (1 Cor. 12:12-31). This fact pertains not only to those here on earth, but also to those in heaven - in a more perfect sense, because those in heaven are made perfect in Christ. Prayers of adoration, worship, confession are reserved for God alone, but prayers to one another - that is to say, supplications – are advised by Scripture and a way for us to show our love for one another as is also commanded by Christ (John 13:34).
St. makes no small issue of our intercessory prayers in 1 Tim. 2:1–2, where he states, “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all men, for kings and all who are in high positions.”
In Heb. 12:1, we read that “we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses” and that we are to live our lives accordingly. Witnesses are those who see and hear (Acts 1:8, 2:32) – not those who are shut out. Revelation 5:8 shows the Elders in heaven carrying our prayers before God as bowls of incense and Rev. 8:3-4 speaks of the Angels in heaven doing the same thing.
They will also point to Lev. 20:6 and Deut. 18:10-12 which strictly prohibits the practice of fortune-telling, necromancy and seeking oracles from the dead. This is not what Catholics do by asking for prayers and intercession. Anti-Catholics purposely misrepresent the Catholic position by saying that this is the case.
To deny that those in heaven are alive and are capable of praying for us - is to deny the Body of Christ.
Funny, that’s not what the Bible says.
When Jesus was building his Church, he emphatically bestowed complete authority upon it. He repeatedly told the Apostles that the Church was the final authority on earth and that whatever it ordained on earth would be ordained in heaven (Matt. 16:16-19, 18:12-15, Luke 10:16, John 16:12-15, 20:21-23).
Furthermore, non-Catholics like to use the following verse to “prove” their position against the idea of the ministerial priesthood: 1 Timothy 2:5, which says, “For there is one God, and there isone mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”
The practice of telling our sins directly to a priest is based directly from Scripture. No less than THREE times in the Gospels we read where Jesus gave the Apostles the power to forgive sins or to hold them bound (Matt. 16:19, 18:18 and John 20:23). This is not a something that Jesus took lightly. In John 20:21-23, Jesus (who is God) breathes on the Apostles as he is giving them this power:
(Jesus) said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained."
The fact that Jesus breathed on the Apostles when entrusting them with this ministry is highly significant because he doesn’t do this anywhere else in the New Testament. In fact, there are only two times in ALL of Scripture where God breathes on man: The first is when he breathed life into Adam. The second is here in John’s Gospel when he is giving them the power to forgive or retain sins.
The Greek word used here for the word “forgive” is aphiemi, which means: “to send away, to send forth, yield up, to expire, to let go, give up a debt, forgive, to remit.”
The practice of confessing your sins to the Church is an ancient one that goes all the way back to the Apostles themselves. We see this in the 1st century document, the Didache (The Teachings of the Twelve Apostles), where it emphatically states the necessity of confessing our sins to the Church:
“Confess your sins in Church, and do not go up to your prayer with an evil conscience. This is the way of life …, On the Lord's Day gather together, break bread, and give thanks, after confessing your transgressions so that your sacrifice may be pure” (Didache 4:14,14:1 [A.D.70]).
St. Paul makes no small case for this ministry of reconciliation clearly in 2 Cor. 5:18-20:
“And all this is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and given us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting their trespasses against them and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. So we are ambassadors for Christ, as if God were appealing through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”
“And all this is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and given us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting their trespasses against them and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. So we are ambassadors for Christ, as if God were appealing through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”
In 2 Cor. 2:10, he states, “Whomever you forgive anything, so do I. For indeed what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for you in the presence of Christ”
We must remember, as with all Protestant objections to Catholic Sacraments and Doctrines, their objections came some 1500 years after the Apostles had spent a lifetime teaching about them, practicing them and handing them down to following generations.
The Protestant charge that Catholics are idolaters is a false accusation. Catholics see images and relics as worship aids – not as idols. For centuries since the Church was founded, most people were illiterate, as formal education was only for the rich. Most people learned about the faith from hearing the Gospel and seeing the history of the Bible in various art forms such as paintings, sculptures and songs. God’s prohibition on the People of Israel against idols was not the creation of statues. It was against the worship of images as gods:
Ex. 20:2-6I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; Do not have any other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.
We must not forget that God commanded Moses to make 2 golden Cherubim to place atop the Ark (Exod. 25:18-20) and they prostrated themselves before it (Joshua 7:6). He also commanded him to fashion a bronze serpent and mount it on a pole so that those who gazed upon it would be healed (Num. 21:4-9). Was God therefore breaking his own Commandments when he ordered the creation of images? Of course not.
Images aren’t necessarily idols and therefore, the Protestant position against images would render all statues and paintings created by Catholic and Protestant artists over the centuries idolatrous. It is simply not a cohesive argument, given the context of Scripture.
Tell that to Jesus, who also preyed repetitiously. In Matt. 26:44, our Lord himself prayed the exact same prayer three times in the Garden of Gethsemane after the Last Supper. In the Parable of the Determined Widow in Luke 18:-87, Jesus emphatically states that God hears those who keep petitioning him in sincere faith: “Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night? Will he be slow to answer them? I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily.” In Luke 18:13, the tax collector kept beating his breast and praying, “God be merciful to me, a sinner.” This was pleasing to God.
We see in Rev. 4:8 that the angels pray the same prayer day and night without ceasing in the presence of almighty God, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty.” Psalm 136 goes on for twenty-six verses in a row, repeating the exact same prayer, “God's love endures forever”. Similarly, in Dan. 3:56-88 we read the exact same prayer for thirty-two verses, which is “bless the Lord; praise and exalt him above all forever.” This is far more repetitious than a decade of the Rosary.
Once again, anti-Catholics fail to understand the words of Christ. His condemnation was not against repetitious prayer but against vain repetition like that of the pagans. Besides, using this logic, most protestant churches are guilty of repetitious prayer at their services because of the repetitious songs and hymns that are sung. Is not a hymn of praise considered prayer? Of course it is.
7. Catholic Communion is Cannibalistic
This is EXACTLY what the pagan Romans used to say about the Church. As a matter of fact, this is one of the charges they used to round up Christians in the Early Church and put them to death. The belief in the Real Presence is one that is unanimously claimed by the Early Church Fathers. The Real Presence refers to the belief that Jesus Christ is truly present in the Holy Eucharist (the consecrated host and the cup) – that these substances have changed into the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. This is what is known as Transubstantiation.
Many non-Catholics will say that the language Jesus used in John 6 was figurative or metaphoric. In the Bread of Life Discourse (John 6:25-71), our Lord emphatically states that unless we eat his flesh and drink his Blood, we have no life within us. He goes on to say “For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.” It is interesting to note that the usual Greek word used for human eating is “phagon”, however, this is not the word used in these passages. St. John uses the word, “trogon”, which means, to munch or to gnaw - like an animal. Jesus was again using hyperbole (exaggeration) as he often did to drive his point across so that the crowd would understand that he was not speaking metaphorically. He meant what he said and there is not thing that is merely “figurative” about it.
Later, John 6:66 goes on to say, “As a result of this, many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him.” This marks the only time in Scripture where Jesus’ disciples left him for doctrinal reasons. They simply couldn’t handle what Jesus was telling them.
The rejection of this truth is only as old as the Protestant Reformation, although some Protestant denominations believe in the Real Presence. For example, whereas Martin Luther believed in the Real Presence - John Calvin rejected it. Belief in the Eucharist was yet another source for the seemingly endless splintering of Protestantism.
Whereas, Catholics believe in the Real Presence, it does not mean that we believe what we are consuming is an actual arm or leg. The Church teaches – as do the Scriptures and the Early Church– that what appears as bread and wine during the mass is actually the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.
The Real Presence is sacramental, whereby, the appearances - or accidents - of bread and wine remain. It is the substance that has changed into the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of our Savior.
Not according to the Bible.
First of all, Purgatory isn’t necessarily a place, but a state. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, it’s a “final purification of the elect” (1030-1032). Another misconception is that Purgatory is a “second chance”. This is not the case, as those Christians who die in a state of mortal sin are not eligible because mortal sin severs our relationship with God.
Since Revelation 21:27 tells us that nothing unclean can enter heaven, a final purification or purgation is necessary for some before entering heaven. Anybody – including the most virulent anti-Catholic would be hard-pressed to identify a single person on earth that is pure enough to enter into heaven. Final purgation of our own will is essential before entering. The Church does NOT teach that this is by our own doing, as many non-Catholics claim. It is only by God’s grace. As the great Protestant author, C.S. Lewis once stated, “The mercy of God demands purgatory.”
Regardless of what some may say, the belief in Purgatory is scripturally-based. In 2 Macc. 42-46, we see that Judas Maccabeus prays for the men of his army, killed in battle. Verse 44 says, “… for if he were not expecting the fallen to rise again, it would have been useless and foolish to pray for them in death.” Matt. 5:25-26 tells us that unless we have settled our matters, we will be “handed over to the prison guard and will not be released until we have paid the last penny.”
We are told in 1 Cor. 3:12-15 that the day (judgment) will disclose the foundation that a person builds upon and how it will be revealed: “If the work stands that someone built upon the foundation, that person will receive a wage. But if someone's work is burned up, that one will suffer loss; the person will be saved, but only as through fire.”
Additionally, Matt. 12:32 states, “whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come”, which indicates that there is purification after death for some. Matt. 18:32-35 and Luke 12:58-59 are additional verses that support this doctrine.
All of these verses point to the fact that those in Purgatory will suffer loss but will eventually be released (purified, purged from iniquity, saved). Purgatory is for the believer who dies in God’s favor (without the stain of mortal sin) but is in need of final purification before entering heaven.
Tell that to St. Paul and the Early Church. They unanimously taught infant Baptism was essential. The only thing they disagreed on was when to baptize an infant - Immediately, 2 days after birth? 8 days?
St. Paul compares Baptism in the New Covenant with Circumcision in the Old Covenant. When infants were circumcised in the Old Covenant, it was done so by the faith of their parents to raise the child in accordance with the Laws of the Jewish faith. Likewise, the Catholic Church teaches that infant Baptism in the New Covenant is done so by the faith of the parents to raise the child according to the Church.
Many Protestants claim that circumcision was meant to be nothing more than a sign and a seal – again – simply an outward symbol of the inward reality of faith. Likewise, the classic Protestant position on Baptism is that it is merely an outward symbol of the inward reality of faith. Infant Baptism is rejected by many, though accepted by some.
St. Paul uses the terms, “circumcision of the heart” and the “circumcision of Christ” (Romans 2:29, Col. 2:12-17) to describe the reality of circumcision being a spiritually inward act, not merely an outward sign. The Old Testament type that was circumcision is now baptism.
Baptism was foretold in the Old Testament. Ezekiel 36:25 states, “I will sprinkle clean water upon you to cleanse you from all your impurities, and from all your idols I will cleanse you.”
When Nicodemus asked Jesus how a person is born again, he replied, "Amen, amen, I say to you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit” (John 3:5). The importance of the effects of Baptism is echoed by St. Peter in 1 Peter 3:21, in which he peaks of the 8 people in Noah’s Ark who were saved through water. He goes on to say, “This prefigured baptism, which 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.”
When St. Peter baptized Cornelius the Centurion, he baptized his entire household including children and servants (Acts 10:1-49, 11:13-14). We see the same thing in Acts 16:23-24 with the household of the Philippian jailer and 1 Cor. 1:16 with Stephanas’ household. The plain fact is that households include children of all ages, including infants.
When the disciples rebuked the children from approaching Jesus, He told them “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.” (Matt 19:14, Luke 18:16). Those who would keep the Sacrament of Baptism from infants are doing precisely what Christ himself disapproved of.
Just as with the Old Covenant and circumcision, the faith of the parents/guardians will guide the baptized child in the faith with the help of the Holy Spirit in the New Covenant.
Actually, Protestants removed 7 Books from the Bible. This collection, called the Deuterocanonical books (or 2nd Canon), includes Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach (Ecclesiasticus), Baruch and 1 & 2 Maccabees, as well as portions of Esther and Daniel.
The fact that Protestants adhere to a Post-Christ rabbinical Jewish canon instead of the canon of the historic Christian faith is nothing less than astonishing. It can be shown in the New Testament that the Greek translation of the Old Testament (the Septuagint) was not only studied and used by Jesus and the New Testament writers but quoted and referred to by them as well – over 100 times! It wasn’t until long after Jesus’ death, resurrection and ascension into heaven that the open canon of Jewish Scripture was closed and the 7 books deleted. Some sources put this date near the end of the 1st century, not long after the destruction of the Temple (AD 70).
It was around this time that a group of Rabbis asked permission from the Roman authorities to hold a council at Jabneh (or Jamnia). One of the things discussed was use of the Greek translation of the Old Testament (the Septuagint) by early Christians. The name, "Septuagint", is derived from the number of scholars (70) who translated the Hebrew texts into Greek.
At this gathering, they decided to throw out 7 books (and portions of Esther and Daniel) that they felt were uninspired. They provided a new Greek translation because the early Christians were converting the Jews using the Septuagint, which was compiled some 200 years before the birth of Christ. It can be clearly illustrated that Jesus himself studied and quoted from these books.
The fact is that many passages in the New Testament are directly correlated to these 7 books from the Septuagint. Some examples include: Matt. 27:42/Wis. 2:18-20, Luke 24:4/2 Macc. 3:26, John 10:22/1Macc 4:36 & 52-59, Rom. 11:33/Judith 8:14, 1 Cor. 10:20/4:7 and 1 Pet. 1:6-7/Wis. 3:5-6.
According to historical sources, the rabbinical gathering at Jabneh was not even an "official" council with binding authority to make such a decision.
The Church doesn’t hold to this post-Christ, post-temple canon because the mantle of authority under the New Covenant had been passed from Judaism to Christianity. The old wine and wineskin (Judaism) was now replaced by new wine (the Gospel) and new wineskins (the Church).
This is a charge that is often uttered against the Church by anti-Catholics who never seem to have their facts straight when attacking the Church. They point to the “riches” of the Vatican and say, as Judas did, “sell it and give the money to the poor!” (John 12:5). Judas said this in response to Mary (sister of Lazarus), who broke an expensive bottle of perfumed oil and anointed Jesus’ feet with it. But Jesus corrected Judas, saying, “You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me” (John 12:3-8). Jesus' words seem cruel and callous towards the poor, but he was pointing out that by her actions, she used this valuable perfume to build up the kingdom of God. At first, the words of Christ seem to contradict his conversation with the rich man in Luke 18:22 when he told him “… go and sell everything you own and give it to the poor.” The difference is that the rich man's valuables were not building up the kingdom of God while the perfume did.
The fact is that the Vatican’s annual budget is the about the size of the budget of the Archdiocese of Chicago. That money is used to build up God’s Kingdom - as is all of the money that is raised by the Church. Here are a few other facts: The Catholic Church is the largest charitable organization in the world as well as the largest global health care provider. This means that more people are being served and aided by the Catholic Church than by any other entity because the Church is living out the words of Jesus.
Being the largest Christian entity – as well as the largest charitable organization – the Church comes under fire more than any other. This is due in part to the perceived wealth of the Church – and to history. Most of the smaller Christian communities that exist today are splinter groups that were splintered from splinters from the ecclesial communities of the original Protestants who broke away from the Catholic Church. As such, they usually have an axe to grind with the original Church established by Jesus Christ (Matt. 16:16-19, 18:15-18, Luke 10:16, John 20:21-23).
Much of the art and architecture in the Church was used through the centuries to teach the mostly illiterate populace that existed until the 20th century. Whereas, we now have Bibles, books and the internet to learn more about our faith – they had paintings, sculptures and beautifully reverent places of worship. As with the Temple that Solomon built, God deserves our first and best – not the leftovers. If the Church were to attempt to sell off its so-called riches and treasures – who could afford them anyway, as most of them are priceless? Would they then continue to build up the Kingdom of God - or some wealthy financier’s portfolio?
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