________________________________________________________________________

Some may be surprised that in a series where we have talked about the false doctrines of such religious movements as Mormons, Islam, and the Jehovah's Witnesses, that we would include a lesson on Roman Catholicism. Most people view Catholicism as a legitimate, Bible-based faith, and as just "another denomination." Virtually all of us have somebody in our families that is Roman Catholic and so talking about their faith tends to hit close to home. We have included them in this series, because frankly there is not another religious organization that has twisted scripture and corrupted truth more than the Roman Catholic Church. It is not our goal to bash people who profess to be Catholic, but to seriously and objectively look at the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church and see how they measure up to the written Word of God.

The Roman Catholic Church has been around since the fourth century A.D. It was founded as a blend of church and state by the Emperor Constantine. It was the major force in the world of the Middle Ages and still plays an important part in political power today. Nations send ambassadors to the Catholic headquarters, the Vatican, just as they do to other major nations. We could spend every night of a year studying how the Catholic Church has evolved and developed over the years, but most of the history is established fact and is quite pointless to mention unless it plays prominently in modern doctrinal points.

The Roman Catholic Church believes in the deity of Jesus Christ, prayer, the virgin birth, the sinless ness of Christ, the atonement for sin on the cross, and the resurrection and ascension of Jesus. They also believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God. They fund and run orphanages, shelters, food drives, and such all over the world. Most people look at those things and immediately think "what's wrong with Catholicism?" We have no issues with these few areas where they agree with scripture. It is rather the many things that they have added to and twisted scripture with which we have an issue.

One part of Catholic history that you should understand is the birth of the Reformation in 1517 when a prominent Catholic Bible Scholar named Martin Luther, nailed a lists of protests that he had against the church and resigned his post. This written protest outlined 95 points of dissension where Luther felt that the Catholic Church violated scriptural teachings. In the past 400+ years, the Catholic Church has done nothing to change these points outlined by Martin Luther. Since that time, Christianity has been very broadly grouped into two categories: Catholic and Protestant; those who ignore the 95 points of Luther, and those who agree with them. The reason that we are studying the Roman Catholic Church in this series is not that we disagree with the good things that they do, but that there is and always has been a major difference between Catholic beliefs and Biblical Christianity.

________________________________________________________________________

The Roman Catholic Church has evolved into a ritualistic worship based upon traditions handed down by men and no scriptural merit. Here are some of the many teachings of the Roman Catholic Church that we "protest" with scripture:

s The doctrine of the Trinity.

s The Church was built on Peter, who is called the first Pope.

s The doctrine of purgatory after death to purge a person of sin.

s Prayers to Mary and dead saints to mediate on our behalf.

s Images to kneel and pray before.

s Confession to a priest for absolution of sins.

s The Mass and sacraments as necessary for salvation.

s Salvation comes only through the Roman Catholic Church.

s The Eucharist of the Mass and transubstantiation, the teaching that that the bread and

wine literally become the blood and body of Christ when taken at Communion.

s Penance and selling of indulgences.

s Veneration and worship of Mary, which has greatly increased in recent years.

s Holy water

s Canonization of dead saints.

s Celibacy of the priesthood

s The Rosary

s Monks, nuns, monasteries, and convents.

s Lent, holy week, Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, and All Saints Day.

All of these are traditions and dogmas that were added to the Roman Catholic Church throughout the years and that the church continues to teach as if they were scriptural. It was not until 1545, at the Council of Trent, that the Roman Catholic Church declared for the first time that tradition was to be considered equal in authority with God's Word, the Bible. Since that decision, the Catholic church has used that self-given power to add many more unscriptural concepts to their teachings.

Tradition by itself is not necessarily bad, but when that tradition is taught as scripture and even contradicts scripture, then the Word of God has issue with such traditions. In Mark chapter 7, we find that the Pharisees had added some traditions of men that were unscriptural to the teachings of the Bible. They had elaborate ritual and ceremony to wash their hands and bowls and such before a meal. When they saw some of Jesus' disciples eating bread with unwashed hands, they confronted Jesus on the issue. Listen to what Jesus said about tradition that was extra to scripture:

The Roman Catholic Church has done the same thing that the Pharisees did in Jesus' day. They have taught and added so many pointless and extra rituals and traditions of men, that they have made void the Word of God and most Catholics have trouble seeing the truth of scripture through the traditions that they have been bombarded with. Catholics may claim to worship Jesus, but as Jesus said: "in vain do they worship me teaching as doctrines the commandments of men." According to God, if tradition contradicts scripture, then we must take scripture.

________________________________________________________________________

Let's look at a few of the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church and see how they measure up with scripture. Most Catholics think that there is something vastly different between their Bibles that are sanctioned by the Catholic Church and the Bibles that Protestants use. That is not true. Everything that we will mention in this Bible study, and indeed most everything that we teach in this church can be taught and learned from a "Catholic sanctioned Bible." The major difference between a Catholic Bible and a Protestant one is that most of the Catholic versions came through the language of Latin. In other words, rather than translate directly from the original languages of Greek and Hebrew into English, they translated it first into Latin and then into English. The result is some minor discrepancies of wording and overall the Catholic versions are a little less accurate but not in an obvious way. That applies to the older versions, lately there have been some newer Catholic-sanctioned Bibles that have been straight translations. The only thing that makes them "Catholic" is that the church "approves them" and that they may have some Catholic-based commentary beside the verses. If you are witnessing to a Catholic and they bring up the Bible thing, gladly take their "Catholic Bible" and use it for the discussion. Truth is still in there; they haven't changed the scriptures, just encouraged people to ignore it.

Even the priests and such don't know the Bible very thoroughly. I have a friend who is the head priest of four churches in San Antonio and with whom I have had extensive theological discussions. He got the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in other tongues after reading in his Bible that it was for him while he was in seminary. He was reading the Bible on his own and they never bothered covering the book of Acts in his four years of college. In fact, they had very little Bible classes and most of class time was spent in learning Catholic church history and practicing rituals. He was amazed at how much Bible I had studied and at how many questions I could answer off the top of my head. I was amazed at how many Biblical concepts with which he was completely unfamiliar such as the Passover, the Day of Pentecost, angels, and prophecy. I encouraged him to begin a mid-week Bible Study where they actually read the Bible and where he prayed about what to teach and he has done this. He even let me come and teach two of the sessions on the Spirit and we had somebody receive the Holy Ghost right before he did "mass." I'm still praying that eventually the truth of the Word of God will draw him out of the ritualistic worship of the Catholic Church.

We could and have spent months on studying the subject of who the scriptures say God is. The Trinitarian concept of God is the most prominent and most accepted definition of God today, but that is not because it is logical or scriptural, but rather because the Catholic Church declared it the "official dogma of the church" in the fourth century. In the Reformation when many Protestant denominations split off of the Catholic church, they changed some beliefs to match scripture but held onto the doctrine of the Trinity because it was familiar. The Early Apostolic Church of the New Testament did not believe in a Trinity. The terms "trinity" and "God in three persons" are not found nor expressed in scripture. They first emerged in the third century, hundreds of years after the death of the Apostles. The primary issue with the Trinity is the demotion of Jesus Christ to being just "the Son" and only "one person of a Godhead of three." Paul warned us about people who demoted Jesus in such a way, using tradition to do it:

Paul warned us that there would be some that would try to take us captive by philosophy and traditions of men but gave us a measuring stick: "in Christ the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily!" It's all in Him! Everything that God was, is, and will be in in the Mighty God in Christ.

The Roman Catholic Church maintains that the Pope is the "Bishop of Rome, the Vicar of Christ, the Head of the Church" and is God's representative on earth. The recent death of Pope John Paul II, brought a new pope on the scene. The new papal authority, Pope Benedict XIV, is the 267th Pope of the Catholic Church. The church teaches that the Pope has complete authority over the church and over what the church believes. Pope Boniface VIII, in his famous Bull "Unum Sanctum" of 1302 said "For every human creature, it is altogether necessary to salvation that he be subject to the Roman Pontiff." The Catholic church still believes this. They don't believe that you can be saved unless you submit to the Pope's authority.

Their entire premise for elevating the Pope to such a place of authority is found in their interpretation of one verse of scripture. In fact, the entire authority of the Roman Catholic Church must fall or stand upon this one passage that we read as our text. In Matthew 16, Jesus was talking with His disciples and asked them who do they think that He is. Peter spoke up and said that Jesus was "the Christ" or Messiah and the Son of God. Jesus told him that the Father had revealed this revelation to him and then said:

The Roman Catholic Church says that Peter was the first pope and that upon the rock of Peter and the subsequent popes, Jesus Christ would build His church. The entire premise of Catholicism rests on that interpretation of these scriptures. If you ask a priest why they believe that the Pope has all power, they will take you to this scripture.

But a closer look at the verses reveals that Jesus was not quite saying that. In fact, there is an interesting play on words in the Greek here. Jesus looked at Simon and said "thou art Peter." The Greek for "Peter" is petros which means "as small rock or stone." Then Jesus says "upon this rock I will build my church." The Greek for "rock" here is petra which means "a massive stone or a foundation stone." What Jesus was saying was "Peter you are a small rock because you have revelation of who I am, but it's upon the massive foundation rock of this revelation that I will build my church upon. That is, the church of Jesus Christ is built upon the foundation of the revelation of who He is, and not on the man Peter. The same Greek word petra is used again in 1 Corinthians 10:4 where Paul writes "that rock was Christ." Jesus, not Peter, is the massive rock that the church would be built upon.

The Roman Catholic Church also teaches that only the Pope and the priest have the power to forgive sins and that only the Roman Catholic church can open the door or salvation. They take those beliefs from Jesus saying "I will give unto you the keys to the kingdom" and "whatsoever you bind on earth shall be bound on heaven . . . "

Keys are things that unlock doors that have been previously locked. Peter was given the keys to salvation under Grace. We find that Peter preached the first sermon and gave the first altar call of the Grace Dispensation in Acts 2. In that sermon, he commanded his listeners to "Repent, be baptized in Jesus' name, and be filled with the Holy Ghost" (Acts 2:38). Those things are the "keys" that enable a person to walk through the door of salvation and into God's kingdom. Later on, we find Peter unlocking the door of salvation to the Gentiles by preaching to them (Acts 10). Because of his revelation of who Jesus Christ is, Peter was allowed to have the privilege of unlocking the doors of Grace.

The binding and loosing part? Jesus Christ was making sure that the disciple realized the responsibility that comes with preaching the Gospel. A preacher has the ability to bind up or loose what God wants to do in heaven in our lives by what He is or isn't willing to preach to his church. If a pastor preaches that "you cannot receive the Holy Ghost or miracles" then although God in heaven wants to pour out His Spirit and do miracles, what the preacher has bound on earth has bound what God can do in that situation. What we have "bound on earth" has been "bound in heaven." But if a preacher preaches faith and says God can move like He wants to here, then he has loosed God to work on earth as He does in heaven. God did NOT mean from the passages of scripture that we can change truth for the entire world. God's Word does not change and truth does not change, but our actions can keep truth from prevailing in our life.

Not only does the actual verses that they quote, prove that God never intended to make Peter a "Pope" with supreme control, but other scriptures indicate this as well. For example, if Peter was the first Pope as the Catholics say, then:

j Why was he married, and why did he remain married, often taking his wife with him on preaching trips? (Matthew 8:14; 1 Corinthians 9:5)

k Why was Paul able to rebuke him and correct him? (Galatians 2:11-21) Can the Pope be rebuked or corrected if he is the supreme, infallible authority?

l Why is their no scriptural proof that Peter established the churches in Rome? The scriptures seem to indicate that the churches in Rome were established by people won and trained by Paul (Romans 16). Furthermore, Paul is anxious to visit and help the churches in Rome (Romans 1:15) and yet says that he will not "build on another man's work (Romans 15:20)! This could not all be true if Peter had founded the churches in Rome.

m If Peter was a Pope, then why does the Catholic Church not teach and encourage people to obey his teaching that we must repent, be baptized in the name of Jesus, and be filled with the Holy Ghost? (Acts 2:38) It could be said that the Catholic church avoids this scripture because in their liturgy which has all scriptures that shall be read for a three year cycle, this scripture is never found. If Peter was the first Pope, then why would you avoid some of his teachings?

One Catholic tradition that certainly contradicts the Word of God is the hyper-elevation and worship of Mary. In the Catholic Church, Mary is presented as the "mother of God" and "queen of heaven." Statues and pictures of Mary are everywhere and prayer to them are common place. The Rosaries are sanctioned, organized worship of Mary.

We recognize that Mary was special because she was the chosen servant to be overshadowed by the Holy Spirit and to produce the child, Jesus Christ. But the Catholic church has elevated Mary to a place far beyond that of the teachings of scripture. Let's look at some examples. The Catholic Church teaches:

j The Immaculate Conception of Mary. This was declared by Pope Pius IX, on December 8, 1854 and states that Mary was born without original sin and without the weight of Adam's sin upon her. They say that since Mary was born without sin, she did not need a Savior. This is a revelation that Mary herself did not have:

Mary herself recognized her need for a Savior! And she blessed God Almighty and worshipped Him!

k The Perpetual Virginity of Mary. They believe that Mary remained a virgin for her entire life. This directly contradicts scripture:

Joseph was commanded to take Mary as his "wife" which would involve every area of a wife's responsibility. Joseph obeyed God:

"Knew her not" is a nice way of putting "they had no intimate relationships" -- but here's the key word -- until she had given birth to Jesus. "Until." In other words, after Jesus was born, they had normal intimate relations. And these relations produces children other than Jesus:

We find that Mary and Joseph obviously had at least six more children: four brothers and at least two sisters. They were not virgin births.

l The Assumption of Mary. In November 1950, Pope Pius XII declared that Mary was raised both body and soul into heaven where she is exalted as Queen of Heaven. For this reason, she could now be prayed to and worshipped. This teaching is not mentioned in scripture. Which leads us to the following verses:

Immediately before His death, Jesus asked the young disciple John to take care of Mary. John lived the longest of all of the disciples and certainly outlived Mary. John also waited the longest to write his books of the New Testament, finishing them somewhere after A.D. 100. If anybody would have known that Mary had been raised from the dead and ascended into heaven, it would have been the Apostle John, and yet despite five books, one of which (the Book of Revelation) talks extensively about future resurrections, we have absolutely NO mention of this doctrine! If it happened, then it wasn't discovered until 1950!?

m Mary should be blessed and worshipped. In 1994, the Roman Catholic church published the first revision of the Catholic Catechism in 400 years. In it, the official positions of the Vatican and the Catholic Church are defined. Sections 968-971 reveal this teaching about the Virgin Mary:

Jesus, Himself, addressed the issue of elevating His earthly mother to any special status:

It's very obvious that Jesus did not condone or approve of any elevation of His Mother in honor beyond her obedience to God's Word. It's also obvious that He does not approve of the doctrines now so readily embraced by many.

n Mary the Co-Redeemer and Co-Mediator with Christ. The greatest heresy of the Roman Catholic Church has been the elevation to Mary as a "Co-Savior" with Christ. This has been done slowly and subtly. In 1891, Pope Leo XII said: "No one can approach Christ except through the Mother." One of the most common Catholic prayers is:

Notice the capitalized "Thy" and "Thee?" That is the Catholic church's capitalization. Notice what they are praying "Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners." Holy indicating that she did not need a savior. Mother of God, indicating her position in heaven. And she is the one that they cry out to for salvation. The 1994 Catechism said:

But the scriptures say:

The problem is that in most Catholic countries and churches, Jesus Christ is portrayed either as a dead man still on the cross, or as a helpless infant in the arms of Mary. The Catholic Christ can help no one, so if you need active help, you need to go to the Blessed Virgin. In the cathedral of Quito, the largest Catholic Church in Ecuador, you will see in the center of the altar a crucifix with Mary hanging on a cross shedding her blood for your sins. Mary, not Jesus! Most American Catholics respond to this news with "that's not what we do here in our churches in America. That may be true, but it's happening all over the world and the Vatican knows about it and is encouraging it! Mary has become the chief cornerstone of the Roman Catholic Church, not Jesus.

________________________________________________________________________

I have chosen to focus on two main issues, the Pope sand the elevation of Mary, just to show you how ludicrous and unscriptural the teachings and traditions of the Roman Catholic church are. We have barely scratched the surface. We have not talked about the unscriptural doctrines of purgatory, confessions to priests, mandatory celibacy of clergy, transubstantiation, mass, penance, idolatry, prayer to angels, glorification of saints, lack of joy or praise in services, birth control, sainthood, holy water, infant baptisms, confirmation, trust in relics and symbols, salvation by works, lack of the infilling of the Holy Spirit, and all the teachings and traditions of the Easter season. We also have not even mentioned the history of the Roman Catholic church and how many believers they have tortured or put to death because they chose to go with scripture rather than what the Pope had said. We haven't even mentioned the Crusades where the Roman Catholic church used children to fight their war for the Holy Land from the Arabs promising them instant salvation if they would go.

We close this study by going back to our other text which was a warning given to Timothy by the Apostle Paul. I'd like to read it in the Contemporary English Version just to make it vividly clear::

God warned through the Apostle Paul of a movement that would cause many people in the last days to turn from the true faith. Two identifying characteristics of this "religious movement" would be that they would "forbid people to marry or to eat certain foods." The King James Version says "forbidding to marry or to eat meat." We have seen this prophecy come to pass. Until the 1960s, the Roman Catholic Church declared it was a sin to eat red meat on Fridays. They still institute forced fasts during Lent. They have also declared that priests and nuns must remain celibate and not marry. We have seen the ungodly result of this damnable doctrine in recent years with the truth of just how many child molestation cases that occur between priests and the children of the Catholic church. It's very obvious that the Roman Catholic Church fits this prophecy perfectly. With that in mind look back at the harsh language that the Bible used for this "movement:" "Teachings that come from demons" and "false claims of liars whose consciences have lost all feeling." Those are harsh words, but it's obvious that the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church is not teaching the Word of God. If there teaching is not from God then where is it's roots? The King James Version calls it "doctrine of devils."

But what about so many Catholics that are sincere and devout? They are passionate about serving God through the Catholic church. It can be said about them as it was said about the Jews of Jesus' day:

They have a zeal and a passion for God but not according to knowledge. They have tried to establish their own way or righteousness. They are sincere but are sincerely wrong. The Word of God -- not man's tradition -- must be the final authority for our doctrines and beliefs! Martin Luther found 95 points of doctrine that he protested as being against scripture. Today, it would be easier to find thousands more.