Catholicisms False Doctrines

This article will discuss doctrines of the Catholic Church that are not
biblically based and often contradict Scripture. It is not intended to insult
Catholics or in any way say that Catholics will not be saved. It is the papacy
itself that is in error. God will lead his true children to the truth of His Word.
Idol Worship
Beginning around the 4th and 5th centuries, images and statues
were created to show the conflicts of martyrs and sacred history to
those people who could not read. These simple people, who fully
respected the saints and/or martyrs portrayed in the statues and
images, began to show veneration and respect to the images
themselves.
In the beginning, Christians were hesitant to introduce the
veneration of images because of the pagans, who they had only
recently converted, might have had cause to begin idolatry once
more.
Early on, the Catholic Church ordered that images of Jesus, Mary,
and saints be placed in temples and churches. Furthermore, they
ordered that these images be given honor. Heres a quote from one
of the early popes:
Creed of Pope Pius IV.
I most firmly assert, that the images of Christ, of the Mother of God, ever
virgin, and also of the other saints, ought to be had and retained, and that
due honor and veneration are to be given them.
No one today can deny that the Catholic church authorizes and
even blesses the veneration of images, even going so far as saying
that images do miracles. Another problem is that when most people
of the world see some seemingly supernatural event, they
immediately consider it of God. But consider the purposes of God.
What reason would He have for making a statue bleed or cry?
Especially since He asserts that the worship of images is forbidden,
He would have no wish to delude people into the veneration of
images. More likely, these heaven-sent events are either
perpetrated by charlatans or Satans angels.
I wont go into much more depth, but the point is that the Bible is
totally against image worship and there is no excuse for it. It is a
pagan tradition that Catholicism has embraced as doctrine. Just
read Gods words in Exodus 20: 4, 5 to discover the truth for
yourself. Is it any wonder that to cover up their guilt for ignoring
Gods Word, the Catholic Church totally disregards the second
commandment and removes it from their catechisms and bibles?
Exodus 20: 4, 5 You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of
anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.
You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God,

am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the
third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a
thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

Priestly Intercession and Indulgences

The Catholic Church has always preached the need for confessions
to a priest for absolution of sins. They even say that its bad to go
to God directly for forgiveness! Read this quote from Pope John
Paul IIs writings:
It is good to renew and reaffirm this faith at a moment when it might be
weakening, losing something of its completeness or entering into an area of
shadow and silence, threatened as it is by the negative elements of the
above-mentioned crisis. For the sacrament of confession is indeed being
undermined, on the one hand by the obscuring of the mortal and religious
conscience, the lessening of a sense of sin, the distortion of the concept of
repentance and the lack of effort to live an authentically Christian life. And
on the other hand, it is being undermined by the sometimes widespread
idea that one can obtain forgiveness directly from God, even in a habitual
way, without approaching the sacrament of reconciliation. A further
negative influence is the routine of a sacramental practice sometimes
lacking in fervor and real spontaneity, deriving perhaps from a mistaken and
distorted idea of the effects of the sacrament.
Apostolic Exhortation
So, here, the pope is saying that you can only get forgiveness
through priests! And this is not a new teaching. The Church has
always had a long tradition of teaching that priestly confessions are
necessary for salvation. This is totally unbiblical. Lets see what
Gods Word has to say on the matter.
1 Tim 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men,
the man Christ Jesus;
1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have
fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth
us from all sin.
1 John 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the
truth is not in us.
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our
sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 1:10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his
word is not in us.

1 John 2:1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not.
And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the
righteous:
The Catholic Church also teaches that remission of sin can be had
by purchasing indulgences or paying penance. Catholics are taught
to believe that they will go to Purgatory if they dont buy
indulgences or constantly do good works to try and take at least
part of their punishment away. If you do happen to die with sins
hanging over your head, then you will go to Purgatory and you will
have to rely on your relatives and friends to buy your way to
heaven. So, in a sense, the Church teaches that you can work
your way to heaven.
Does the Bible teach this? Are we supposed to work off our punishments
that we are supposedly due or burn in purgatory to make it to heaven? To
find out, lets look at what the Bible says again:
1 John 2:12 I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven
you for his names sake.
Col 1:14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the
forgiveness of sins:
Rom 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through
our Lord Jesus Christ:
Eph 1:7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of
sins, according to the riches of his grace;
Acts 26: 18; Romans 3: 22-28; Galatians 2: 16; 1 Peter 1: 18, 19; 1 John 1: 9,
10; 2: 1, 2
Get the picture? There is ample evidence from Gods Word that we
must only have faith in Jesus, ask Him for forgiveness and He will
take our sins from us. By dying for our sins, Jesus paid the price of
our lives in full. We just have to accept that His blood can cover our
sins. Pray to Jesus, not some earthly priest who has sins of his own.
Jesus will forgive you.
Mary
One of the most popular types of idolatry practiced by Catholics, as
well as people of other faiths, is the worship of Mary. The teaching
is from Catholic sources that Mary, as the mother of Christ, is due
the same worship as that of her Son. They believe that since she
was chosen to bear Jesus, she must be immaculate (without sin)
and incorruptible (will never sin). They say that she is the only
mediator between us and God and should be prayed to, worshiped,
and pretty much treated equal to or above Jesus. Lets look at some
of the writings of the Church:
Catechism of the Catholic Church
969 Taken up to heaven she did not lay aside this saving office but by
her manifold intercession continues to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation

 Therefore the Blessed Virgin is invoked in the Church under the titles of
Advocate, Helper, Benefactress, and Mediatrix.
Pope John Paul II
The Pope, at the beginning of his episcopal service in St. Peters Chair in
Rome, wishes to entrust the Church particularly to her in whom there was
accomplished the stupendous and complete victory of good over evil, of
love over hatred, of grace over sin; to her of whom Paul VI said that she is
the beginning of the better world; to the Blessed Virgin. He entrusts to her
himself, as the servant of servants, and all those whom he serves, all those
who serve with him. He entrusts to her the Roman Church, as token and
principle of all the churches in the world, in their universal unity. He entrusts
it to her and offers it to her as her property. Insegnamenti Giovanni Paolo
II (1978)
Questions and Answers about Mary
6. How is Mary our intercessor?
Mary is our intercessor because in heaven she continues to intercede with
her Son, Jesus, for us in the world.
She is our intercessor because of the following reasons: (1) As worthy
Mother of God and full of grace, she occupies a middle position between
God and his creatures. (2) Together with Christ and under him, she
cooperated in the reconciliation of God and mankind while she was still on
earth. (3) Now from heaven she distributes the graces that God bestows on
his children.
Of course, this intercession is always secondary and subject to Christs
primary and self-sufficient intercessory role. All favors granted by God to his
rational creatures are granted in virtue of and because of Marys
intercession. It is not necessary that we explicitly implore her intercessions
in our prayers. But whether we mention her or not, it is through her that we
receive whatever we receive.
This is only a small sample of the writings of the Catholic Church
concerning Mary, but it is quite typical of their publications. They
make it sound so nice and easy. But theres a problem. There are
absolutely NO words or texts in the Holy Scriptures that support
the worship or veneration of Mary. It doesnt really say all that
much about her at all. The Catholic Church just starts saying that
Mary is our mediator in heaven and you cant have salvation
without her; without biblical evidence. Below is a diagram showing
the difference between the Catholic teachings and what the Bible
teaches.

See the difference? The following is what the Bible really teaches:
1 Tim 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men,
the man Christ Jesus;
1 Tim 2:6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.
John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man
cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Acts 4:10 Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by
the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised
from the dead, even by Him doth this man stand here before you whole.
Acts 4:11 This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which
is become the head of the corner.
Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other
name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
The Holy Word teaches us that only through Jesus Christ can we be
saved. By dying on the cross, He redeemed us. Mary did nothing to
help that. It is Antichrist to teach that Mary is Christ, and this is
exactly what the Catholic Church is teaching. Mary is dead, just like
any other human being. Prayers to Mary will get you nowhere. Pray
to God alone and He will hear your prayers.
Baptism
Another teaching of the Catholic Church is that baptism be done by
sprinkling. This, also, goes against the clear Word of God. If you
look at Matthew 3, Mark 1, and John 3, you will see that John the
Baptist did all of his baptizing in the River Jordan. Why would he do
this if it was just a sprinkling? Lets look at the original Greek that
the word baptism is translated from:
G907. baptizo, bap-tid-zo; from a der. of G911; to make whelmed (i.e. fully
wet); used only (in the N.T.) of ceremonial ablution, espec. (techn.) of the
ordinance of Chr. baptism:baptist, baptize, wash.

So, in the days of the New Testament, baptism was done by full
immersion. Thats why John the Baptist used a river for his
baptisms.
So why do we get baptized by immersion at all? Whats the reason for it?
Rom 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ
were baptized into his death?
Rom 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like
as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we
also should walk in newness of life.
Col 2:12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him
through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the
dead.
Baptism symbolizes our burial with Christ, which is the reason for
full immersion, and coming up out of the water is symbolic of being
raised from the dead to eternal life. This symbolism would not be
conveyed as effectively by sprinkling.
Also, the Catholic church baptizes babies, which is not scriptural at
all. Some people try to prove it by citing examples from the Bible
saying, and his whole household was baptized. Nothing can be
proved from this. Who says any infants were actually in the
household? Again, we must go to the Word to discover the truth.
Mark 16:16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that
believeth not shall be damned.
From this we can see that if you believe, youre saved, if you dont,
youre not. Its that simple. However, babies dont have the
capacity to make that decision. It is folly to believe that just
baptizing your infant will save him/her from hell (eternal death).
The Commandments
I wont go into much depth here, because Ive already written an
article about the true Sabbath. Here I will only show a list of the
true commandments from the Holy Scriptures versus the
commandments as taught by the Catholic Church. I have shortened
all but the 4th commandment to conserve space. To read the full
commandments, go to Exodus 20: 3-17.

Real Commandments

Catholic Commandments

1. You shall have no other gods before

me.

1. You shall have no other gods before

me.

2. You shall not make for yourself a

graven image.

2. You shall not take the name of the

Lord your God in vain.

3. You shall not take the name of the

Lord your God in vain.

3. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep

it holy.

4. Remember the Sabbath day by

keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor
and do all thy work, but the seventh day
is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it
you shall not do any work, neither you,
nor your son or daughter, nor your
manservant or maidservant, nor your
animals, nor the alien within your gates.
For in six days the Lord made the
heavens and the earth, the sea, and all
that is in them, but he rested on the
seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed
the Sabbath day and made it holy.
4. Honor your father and mother.
5. Honor your father and mother.

5. You shall not murder.

6. You shall not murder.

6. You shall not commit adultery.

7. You shall not commit adultery.

7. You shall not steal.

8. You shall not steal.

8. You shall not lie.

9. You shall not lie.

9. You shall not covet your neighbors

wife.

10. You shall not covet.

10. You shall not covet your neighbors

possessions.

Notice any differences? First off, you will notice that the Catholic
Church has decided to get rid of the second commandment
altogether. You will remember that it concerns idol worship
(discussed at top of article). This frees up the Church to be able to
honor and venerate images and statues without having to explain
to their members why theyre going against the second
commandment.
The second problem here is the fourth commandment, or the third
if youre looking at the Catholic list. It concerns the Sabbath day.
The main problem is that the Church has taken the 98-word
commandment and shortened it to only 8 or 9, depending on what
version you read. This, then, frees the Church to substitute their
false Sabbath (Sunday) for the real Sabbath (Saturday). The
commandment actually says the seventh day. This obviously
means Saturday. By taking out that distinction from the

commandment, the Church is able to confuse its members into

believing that Sunday is the real Sabbath.
The last error concerns the tenth commandment (9th and 10th in
Catholic version). The Catholic Church broke up the 10th
commandment into two so they wouldnt end up with nine after
getting rid of the 2nd commandment. Smart, huh?
What happens at Death?
The belief that, at death, you immediately go to heaven (or hell), is
the great misconception about death. However, this belief is not
restricted to the Catholic Church. Most of Christianity teaches this,
albeit not as openly as some television evangelists such as Benny
Hinn or LeSEA ministries. Lets look at what the Bible says about
death.
Gen 3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
This was the first lie told by Satan to cause the downfall of the
human race. It was that Eve would never die if she ate the
forbidden fruit.
But what did God tell Adam and Eve?
Gen 2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not
eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
So God said that they would die if they ate the fruit. That only
means their bodies, right? Lets look some more.
Ezek 18:4 Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the
soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.
Ezek 18:20 The soul that sinneth, it shall die.
So, the soul that sins will die, as well as the body. Also read the
following:
Eccl 9:5 For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any
thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is
forgotten.
Eccl 9:6 Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished;
neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done
under the sun.
The dead know nothing! How could the dead be alive if they know
nothing? For more information about death and hell click HERE.
Read Gods Word and trust what it says; not your priest or church.
Well, I hope that this article has helped to teach you the truth
about the Catholic Churchs doctrines. Remember, however, that
God has chosen people in all faiths and churches, including the
Catholic Church. Follow what God tells us in Revelation 18: 4, 5.
Come out of her, my people. If you find yourself in Babylon, the

fallen churches, then read Gods Word, pray, and He will guide you
to the true church. Also, read Gods End-Time Church.