(We have a class tonight, out to dinner for daughter's 21st
birthday 3/8 tomorrow, going to Temple Friday night).
Also highly amused by all the Catholic google ads on this page.
-Ben
> A few threads back, I said that my wife had some issues with the
> Catholic Church.
>
> Someone asked for specifics, I said I would ask her to respond.
>
> Here is Nelda's commentary on "Being Faithful" as she put it.
>
> She wanted me to point out that this is in the context of Catholic vs.
> Protestant or non-denominational Christian, and in no way is meant to
> put down people of other faith traditions.
>
> -Ben
>
> ===============================
>
> Ben has asked me to respond to the question, “In what ways the
> Catholic Church does not follow the ways of the Christian faith.”
>
> First, I need to say that all Christians and even Jews we all need to
> be wary of “falling away” from our faith.
>
> Second, if you are interested in opinions about the apostasy (“falling
> away”) of the Catholic Church, one only has to look into the many
> books and writings about the original Martin Luther and his 99
> treatises that he nailed to the cathedral doors in the 1700’s. He and
> others, who were finally reading the Bibles that had been distributed
> after the invention of the printing press, were discovering that many
> things that were practiced and preached in the Catholic Church were
> not according to scripture. Sadly though, even we Protestants have
> “fallen away” from our faith.
>
> Third, we all need to get back to the “Word”, scriptures, Torah and
> Tanakh (Torah, Psalms, and Prophets). We all need to have a time with
> the Lord, praying, reading prayerfully, and even singing to/with the
> Lord. This will bring us all closer to the divine life that is able
> to get us through our daily living and even be the source of our life
> supply.
>
> Items of concern:
>
> The falling away from “Justification by faith”. See Galatians, and
> Romans 5.
>
> Faith in Christ Jesus is faith in His death and resurrection. He is
> our grace to get things done. Keeping the law is not faith. No one
> is good, not even one. If we could be “good” by trying harder, Christ
> would not have had to come as our sacrifice. No amount of Hail Mary’s
> will make you better, only faith in the Lord’s blood will wash you
> clean. (That is a whole other email).
>
> Idol worship. See Exodus 20:3. Some say that Catholic statues and
> icons were created to tell stories to an illiterate public. Those
> times are over and the idols should be taken down. Especially the
> Hollywood/Renaissance picture of Jesus should be destroyed. Check
> out Isaiah 52 and 53. The Messiah was/will be not comely to look at.
> He was marred beyond any other man. Some say that these statues are
> not worshipped. Then why do people bow down to these idols and pray
> to them instead of to the living God? See the book of Judges and how
> many times the Lord tried to get people to turn back to Him from
> lifeless idols. We all need to check with the Lord as to what people,
> matters for things are modern idols in our lives and turn to God from
> idols.
>
> Making Mary, the mother of Jesus into a God. She would be the first
> one to protest this practice. Yes, she was a devout woman, knowing
> the scriptures well. See her exaltation to God in Luke 1:46-55. She
> quotes verses from Psalms, Samuel, Exodus, Hosea, and Daniel. She
> obeyed God to the uttermost even to the possible loss of her respect
> and dignity in the society of her time, but she was not a God.
>
> Claiming that Mary was a virgin all her life. Read Matthew 1:25 and
> through out the Gospels. Joseph did not “know” Mary until after Jesus
> was born. Jesus had brothers and sister’s. See also John 7:3. I can’t
> remember where the verse is where it talks about his mother and
> brothers were looking for him, sorry.
>
> The belief that you have to be a special person to be a “Saint”. See
> 1 Corinthians 1:2. All believers in Christ are called saints. We are
> all brothers and sisters. There should be no special designation of
> Saint, Brother or Sister.
>
> There is a verse about not calling anyone “Father” except God the
> Father.
>
> There are verses about there being one mediator between God and Man
> the man Jesus Christ. When we mess up, we should all make confession
> directly to God through Jesus Christ. (Without the shedding of blood
> there can be no forgiveness of sins. Hebrews 9 and Leviticus 17– but
> that is a whole other topic. If we came to God directly we would be
> burnt to a crisp). There should not be confessing to a priest.
>
> The whole clergy laity system is wrong. All should bring a Hymn, a
> verse, a song. See 1 Cor. 14:26.
>
> The Pope is not God.
>
> Celibacy is only by a rare and special gift from God. It should not
> be entered into except on rare occasions when one is gifted to be
> totally dedicated to God. Without this gift sometimes negative things
> happen. See the daily news.
>
> The assertion that Peter was the leader of the church after Jesus
> death and resurrection. See the Acts and Galatians. Peter shrank
> back and was wishy washy on the faith. But he kept turning back to
> God. He is a model of most of us. Paul and James were the leaders in
> the early days of the church.
>
> A religion of guilt and focus on the death of Christ more than the
> wonderful story of His resurrection (witnessed by over 120 people over
> 40 days. See Acts). A Christian life should be a life of hope,
> renewing, and grace not death and guilt. Christ is now the life-giving
> spirit. 1 Cor. 15:45.
> The gilding and riches of the Catholic hierarchy and Protestant
> hierarchy while it many members are starving and in a bad way. Many
> theologians believe that Revelation 2:18-19 and Rev. 17 are about the
> Roman Catholic Church and even the Protestant religions that have
> followed in the same way over the years. This is a sober warning for
> all of us.
>
> Miscellaneous items:
>
> “Lent” is not in the Bible
>
> Christmas, Easter, and Halloween (All Saints Day the day after) were
> invented to attract the local people of an area by putting the leaven
> of the pagan religions and mixing it with the Christian faith. See
> Matthew 13:13, also read up on the history of the different holidays.
>
>
> Several Catholics that I know have told me that they were told not to
> read the Bible and not to read the Bible to their children, but only
> to read the Catechism. All scripture is God breathed and profitable
> of teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in
> righteousness, that the man of God may be complete. Fully equipped in
> ever good work. 2 Timothy 3:16. Man shall not live on bread alone,
> but on every word that proceeds out from the mouth of God. Matthew 4:4.
> Your words were found and I did eat them and they became the joy and
> rejoicing of my heart. Jeremiah 15:16. The prophet Ezra read the
> Word to the children of Israel when they returned from Babylon and
> they were strengthened to rebuild the Temple.
>
> We will not even go into the persecutions of the Jews & Christians who
> would not follow the Catholic way, or forced conversions throughout
> history.
>
> I hope that all Christians and Jews, including myself, will continue
> to come back to the Word and treat it as a living document not dead
> letters. We need to not only study it but also prayer with it. We
> all need to “talk” to God about everything that is going on in our
> lives.
>
> I am sorry that I am very busy right now and will probably not be able
> to respond to rebuttals to this email, but I hope it gets us all to
> think about being true to our faith and not falling away from it.
>
> Grace and peace be with you all,
>
> Nelda
Braver
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