I asked for information in the Bible about:
- The practice of dipping your finger in “holy water” and making the sign of a cross
- Purgatory
- The use of Rosaries in prayer.
I reviewed the information provided and personally found it to be very weak.
There’s no example in the Bible of #1, a bunch of scriptures were provided that didn’t show the name or concept of Purgatory at all, and some very weak evidence was provided trying to justify repetitive prayers. No evidence was provided about some beaded thing with a cross on it.
Any discussion on the differences between the Bible and the practices of the Catholic Church will ultimately find it’s way to the Catholic belief that it isn’t a problem because Catholics don’t limit themselves to Scripture alone, but feel just fine with “Sacred Tradition”.
I simply hold what the Bible says as a higher authority. You can choose otherwise.
- Holy Water I won’t even bother listing all the passages in OT and NT that show instances of sacred or holy water being used. One of many passages is the story of Christ healing the man who was trying to use the Pool at Bethsada for healing. Why would water ever be a requirement for Baptism if it cannot be blessed? Making the sign of the cross is blessing yourself in the name of the Triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It is a great thing to constantly bless ourselves in the name of the Trinity. You yourself believe the Trinity, yet do you see the word Trinity in the Bible? No.
**2. Purgatory: **A purging of one’s sins, or cleansing, is required for one to enter heaven according to Rev. 21:27, nothing unclean shall enter the presence of God in heaven. Further Scipture also proves this: “it is appointed for men to die once, and after that comes judgment” (Heb. 9:27), “I tell you, you will never get out till you have paid the very last copper” (Luke 12:59), you must be cleansed of the impurity that was caused by your sins. The most obvious passage is from the Book of Maccabees, part of your Apocrypha, which coincidentally, is not considered canoncal by Protestants. Luther was the first to state that these books weren’t canoncal, simply out of anger that they disagreed with his man-made theology. He attempted to defy most of early church fathers who formulated the Bible at the Council of Carthage; give me a break.
2 Mc 12:42-46
Turning to supplication, they prayed that the sinful deed might be fully blotted out. The noble Judas warned the soldiers to keep themselves free from sin, for they had seen with their own eyes what had happened because of the sin of those who had fallen. He then took up a collection among all his soldiers, amounting to two thousand silver drachmas, which he sent to Jerusalem to provide for an expiatory sacrifice. In doing this he acted in a very excellent and noble way, inasmuch as he had the resurrection of the dead in view; for if he were not expecting the fallen to rise again, it would have been useless and foolish to pray for them in death. But if he did this with a view to the splendid reward that awaits those who had gone to rest in godliness, it was a holy and pious thought. Thus he made atonement for the dead that they might be freed from this sin.
Even the OT is clear that a temporal punishements is required even though we are forgiven of our sins:
Num 14:20-23
The Lord answered (Moses): “I pardon them as you have asked. Yet, by my life and the Lord’s glory that fills the whole earth, of all the men who have seen my glory and the signs I worked in Egypt and in the desert, and who nevertheless have put me to the test ten times already and have failed to heed my voice, not one shall see the land which I promised on oath to their fathers. None of these who have spurned me shall see it.”
2 Sam 12:13-14
Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” Nathan answered David: “The Lord on his part has forgiven your sin: you shall not die. But since you have utterly spurned the Lord by this deed, the child born to you must surely die.”
1 Cor 11:29-32
For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many among you are ill and infirm, and a considerable number are dying. If we discerned ourselves, we would not be under judgment; but since we are judged by (the) Lord, we are being disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.
**
3. Rosary: **The Rosary derives from the early Christian Church, specifically in Ireland, where uneducated lay people wanted to recite the 150 Psalms daily as the Monks did. However, they could not read, and therefore, said 150 Our Fathers instead. To count how many Our Fathers were said, people carried small pebbles in pouches, 150 for each Psalm. It was a simple way of remembering how many Our Fathers were said. This act was done to live a life of daily prayer and reverence. Eventually this became the Rosary, which includes Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be, and the Apostles Creed. Even though it is recommended, the Rosary is not a doctrine of the Church nor it is a requirement for anyone to say it. The Church simply teaches it will greatly enrich one’s relationship with God through prayer.
Finally, remember that the apostles preached by the tradition of word of mouth before even writing the NT. The first Gospel composed, which is that of St. Mark, wasn’t even written until about 70 AD. Did the apostles just act as couch potatoes for the time leading up to their writing of the Gospels? Certaintly not. Tradition predates the NT, that is why we believe in the importance of sacred tradition.
Where are you holy? Come back!