diffrence between a catholic and a christian

[Lizzie1]

Hi rayne89, Thanks for your post. I agree the way I said things was not not considerate of others, I apologize. I could have and will word things differently form now on, I think you could see i was doing that form my other posts. I did not mean to offend anyone and I am soory if I did. However, I was not rude in my first post, I was merely giving some information. If others found me in error then they had the right to discuss it in a kind way, not be rude to me, I was attacked first. I was made to feel very uncomfortable. However, Not all the members of this forum were rude some were very kind. If the same questions are being asked I feel there is a need to keep answering them and I feel that many Non-Catholics are seeking answers ( Such as myself). I have a site that is very interesting, please read it, if you would like la.znet.com/~bart/s_truths.htm
and let me know what you think of it. If anything in it is incorrect, please tell me because it sure seems convincing, this is part of the reason i asked what The Vicar Of Christ meant? I am not attacking Catholics or the Pope, I just am seeking answers, if you can help with them, I am greatful, God Bless.

 

[rayne89]

Pope Clement I was the 4th Pope and held the chair of Peter from 88-97 A.D. Within the first century after Christ.
These are excerpts from his historical writings.

Our apostles also knew, through our Lord Jesus Christ, and there would be strife on account of the office of the episcopate. For this reason, therefore, inasmuch as they had obtained a perfect fore-knowledge of this, they appointed those [ministers] already mentioned, and afterwards gave instructions, that when these should fall asleep, other approved men should succeed them in their ministry.

Let us then also pray for those who have fallen into any sin, that meekness and humility may be given to them, so that they may submit, not to us, but to the will of God. For in this way they shall secure a fruitful and perfect remembrance from us, with sympathy for them, both in our prayers to God, and our mention of them to the saints.

Let us, then, not only call Him Lord, for that will not save us. For He saith, “Not every one that saith to me, Lord, Lord, shall be saved, but he that worketh righteousness.” Wherefore, brethren, let us confess Him by our works, by loving one another, by not committing adultery, or speaking evil of one another, or cherishing envy; but by being continent, compassionate, and good. We ought also to sympathize with one another, and not be avaricious. By such works let us confess Him, and not by those that are of an opposite kind. And it is not fitting that we should fear men, but rather God. For this reason, if we should do such [wicked] things, the Lord hath said, “Even though ye were gathered together to me in my very bosom, yet if ye were not to keep my commandments, I would cast you off, and say unto you, Depart from me; I know you not whence ye are, ye workers of iniquity.”

Wherefore, my brethren, let us not be of a double mind, but let us hope and endure, that we also may obtain the reward. For He is faithful who has promised that He will bestow on every one a reward according to his works. If, therefore, we shall do righteousness in the sight of God, we shall enter into His kingdom, and shall receive the promises, which “ear hath not heard, nor eye seen, neither have entered into the heart of man.”

The name alone, indeed, without works, does not introduce into the kingdom of heaven; but, if a man be truly a believer, such an one can be saved. For, if a person be only called a believer in name, whilst he is not such in works, he cannot possibly be a believer.

The womb of a holy virgin carried our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God; and the body which our Lord wore, and in which He carried on the conflict in this world, He put on from a holy virgin.

 

[burnside]

Lizzie1:

Why cant priests marry? I thought they were to be married men?Money oriented.

When my present Parish Priest first came to our parish,he was very appreciative of the offerings he was receiving from the congregation.He said that in his previous parish he used to wonder how he was going to pay the bills.He was in a poor district
to start with but,nowadays,with the drop in attendance,it is even more difficult for priests.Our parish,along with other better-off parishes,has to make a contribution towards the upkeep of poorer
parishes.I wonder how they are going to pay for priests and their
children if they do away with celibacy.Will the priest have to go out and do another job to provide for his family and then come home and attend to his priestly duties?His family won’t be seeing much of him.That’s how you end up with delinquent children.
Or,will the priest just have to resort to birth control,including abortion,to ensure that there won’t be any children needing to be provided for?Of course,since it is a Discipline,not a Dogma,i can see it being changed.I would prefer to see parishioners taking over more of the non-priestly duties.You only need a priest for saying Mass,hearing Confessions etc.When i served Mass in the 1950’s,Sunday Masses were better attended than nowadays,but weekday Masses were not.
I just thought i’d stick this one in.Sporting events recently have been getting cancelled or holding a minute’s silence as a mark of respect for Pope John Paul 2.Not so at a soccer match in Scotland on Sunday.Glasgow Rangers F.C.have an anti-catholic
element in their support,so you can guess why there was no minute’s silence.A couple of years ago,when the Queen’s mother
died,the Glasgow Celtic club,founded by an Irish Marist Brother in
1888 to feed the poor,largely honoured the minute’s silence.There was a small minority who didn’t show respect,but the powers that be did get away with holding the silence.It is only my personal opinion,but i think it was when people moved from Northern Ireland to work in a Glasgow shipyard and brought their anti-catholic venom with them that this problem arose.They spotted
the fact that there was this catholic-founded team on the East Side of the city and decided to make the Rangers the Protestant team.Money persuaded the people who ran the Club to keep it that way till the late 1980’s.That change was probably,at least partly,brought about by their inability to win the European Championship.Catholic Italian and Spanish teams were regularly knocking ten bells out of them.The Catholic Church is money-oriented.???
You should try attending a soccer match in Northern Ireland when you may well hear them yelling stuff like,"bring on the holy water"when an opposition player is injured during a game. You seem to be swallowing the teachings of anti-catholics who know nothing about loving your neighbour.Incidentally,my great-grandfather was a Northern Ireland Protestant.
Have a read of Karl Keating’s “Catholicism and Fundamentalism”.
I bought 3 copies and have already given one away.

 

[rayne89]

Lizzie, I will take my time to read it over and then give you my opinion. God Bless.

 

[WynCatholic]

Born_Again:

I would say from exoerience, “to be steeped in the Bible is to cease to be catholic.”

!!
AND I would say from MY experience: " to be Steeped in the Bible is to become Catholic"
You impose YOUR theological filters upon the word of God. I will pray for you, future Catholic brother of mine.

 

[Subrosa]

buca1110:

Ok, I looked this up, what makes you think it was the Catholic (religion)Church he made. I am confused.

Hi buca -

A little church history for you.

In the gospel of Matthew 16:18-19, Jesus said to Peter -

18 And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my *church *(See! CHURCH!), and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.

19 I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven

So here He is giving Peter authority to run His church. He also gave the rest of the apostles authority in Mt 18:18.

So, later, after He goes up to heaven, the Holy Spirit comes down at pentecost and enters the eleven apostles that are left (remember Judas?) and Mary, Jesus’ mother. Here they start thier various ministries, or, if you look at it another way, the actual church began.

Paul is also chosen to be an apostle by Jesus in ACTS.

These apostles then passed on thier authority to others they chose and determined to be worthy, along with the Holy Spirit. (Acts 1:15-26)

It didn’t stop there. As the apostles got older or were going to be martyred, they chose thier own successors the same way as the above paragraph.

Have a look at 2 Tim: 4:21. See the person Linus in the list? Peter chose him to follow Peter in succession.

Next look at Phil 4:3. See the guy Clement? He came third, after another guy who’s not mentioned in the bible. He was also chosen by Peter. Successors to Peter are called Popes, in particular the bishop of Rome.

Here’s the whole list of successors to Peter (popes) up to the one we just lost…
cfpeople.org/Books/Pope/CFPtoc.htm

All this is documented and in libraries and museums.

This succession, along with others by different apostles, was first called “Catholic” about 100 AD by a bishop named Ireneus. The word “catholic” means “universal” in Greek. What Ireneus was talking about is all of the christians in the world that at that time were all around the Mediterranean and as far away as India. He called the whole thing “catholic”.

The name stuck!

So, the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Churches together were the ONLY church for a thousand years. They were called the “One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.” Then, unfortunately, they split up and went seperate ways. We are still divided at this time. This is called the Great Schism.

Then, a little after the year 1500, a Catholic priest named Martin Luther wanted to reform some corruptions that were occuring in the Catholic Church. Unfortunately it went to far. He began the Protestant movement. From here sprang the many other churches we see, such as the Lutheran Church, Anglican Church, Penecostal, Baptist, Presbyterian, etc. There are to many to mention all of them.

The last Pope was a champion to the cause of unifying all these churches. He made great headway, but the road is long. We’ll see what happens with the next one.

Howsat?
Subrosa

 

[TobyLue]

Lizzie1,

Forgive us if we seem short on our replies, but since this is your first day and started making accusations that Catholics have been hearing time and time again, did you at least try the search before you made your first post? That would have been a big help and then you could have look through them instead of just coming in with all guns shooting making claims that are false. You say you left the Catholic Church, so pray tell, which church is it that you found is the True Church that Jesus founded? Which church is it that you now belong to that compiled the Canon of the Bible? Which church is it that you now belong to that follows the same teachings as the Early Church Fathers? Which church is it that you now belong to that can be traced back to apostolic times and even to Jesus Christ himself?

  You accuse us of not responding with love and care. However, please note that you didn’t come to this forum asking question. Instead you made false allegations. I’m sorry that you didn’t learn much some years ago, however, did you bother to look at the Catechism or question your priest? I know for a fact that many people that leave the Catholic Church and make these same claims. They didn’t come up with those by themselves. They were told by somebody (as my brother was told) that the CC is unbiblical and they pointed to them “Look it says that one should not call any man “father” and that’s what Catholic do. “Look,” they say, “it’s in the bible that we should not repeat prayers and Catholic repeat themselves when praying the rosary.” And this goes on and on. They fall prey to that type of bombardment because they know squat about the Catholic Church teachings (which by the way are more biblical than any other Church) and immediately decide that the CC is anti-biblical, that the pope is the anti-Christ, that the Church is the whore of Babylon, etc. etc. I again recommend to you to look at the Home page of Catholic Answers especially the history of the Church and its teachings. That will help you tremendously. Please ask, but don’t make accusations. And when you are given answers, please look them over carefully. 

 I don’t know much about Bart Brewer, other than he is one of the most vehemently anti-catholic persons around. All of his accusations have been debunked many times over.

With Gods Love

 

[Subrosa]

Lizzie1:

I have a site that is very interesting, please read it, if you would like la.znet.com/~bart/s_truths.htm
and let me know what you think of it. If anything in it is incorrect, please tell me because it sure seems convincing, this is part of the reason i asked what The Vicar Of Christ meant?

Hi Lizzie1 -

I looked at the site. The author, Bartholomew F. Brewer, Ph.D., says many things that are true and not. He uses truths to back up untruths.

Have a look at my earlier post for church history.

He is right when he says "The Roman Catholic Church is built on the assumption that in Matthew 16:13-19 Jesus appointed Peter the first pope and so founded His Church and established the papacy. If this is true, then all true Christians must become Catholic."

It is true. Pope John Paul was trying to unite all Christianity for the last 24 years until he died. See some articles here - shc.edu/theolibrary/ecu.htm

Unfortunately, Mr brewer was trying to deny this truth,

Mr Brewer’s second paragraph denies the successorship of Peter, stating, “Jesus would not have trusted such a precious possession as His Church to the leadership of even one fallible man much less a whole succession of them.”

The fact is He didn’t entrust His Church to just any men. Read chapter 16 of John. In it Jesus tells these apostles that He will send them the Holy Spirit to teach and guide them, which does occur in Acts chapter 2. So the Holy Spirit is the constant guide to the church throughout history.

As far as successors go, read Acts 1:15-26. The Apostles choose a successor here with the Holy Spirit guiding them.

These last to statements I’ve made disprove Mr Brewer’s assessments.

Mr Brewer makes many more accusations and falsities, backing them up with truths which then alter the truth. The rest of his document takes on the same flavor as the untruths I disproved already. I could go on to disprove more of his statements, but there is not enough space here to do it and I think you already get the drift.

Here’s a good link about the Catholic Church - columbia.edu/cu/augustine/a/faq-cc.html

If you have any questions, please ask.
Subrosa

 

[JKirkLVNV]

rayne89:

I’m truly sorry if we’ve made you feel uncomfortable but I think many of us feel somewhat insulted and attacked.

AND we are mourning the death of our father.

 

[Subrosa]

urban legends:

. I would like to know more about the differences between Orthodox, Celtic Catholics, and Roman Catholics. Were these a result of the Great Schism?

Yes, that’s correct. The two churches have been working out thier differences for nearly 40 years. Pope John Paul II made great progress. The Pope also made headway in ecumenism with other churches also.

For the differences, I suggest you do some Googleing! There’s alot of difference.

God Bless,
Subrosa

 

[mercygate]

Lizzie1:

Hello, Would someone be so kind as to explain to me what The Vicar Of Christ means according to your understanding of it, I have heard and learned it to mean one thing and I would like to hear what your meaning of it is. Thank you and thanks for the reply to my last post, God Bless.

I guess I need to be the first to apologize to you for my testiness. But as others have explained, the broad, mistaken attacks with which you entered this thread, and the insulting tone, did not start you off on a positive note. As I said before, the barrage of mis-statements you launched is an old, tired, long-discredited list. You might find it hard to believe, but there are people who come here just to bait us and stir up an argument. We have become jaded and suspicious through experience.

Vicar of Christ. Vicar = deputy, stand-in. The pope is the earthly head of the visible Church. Christ, of course, is the Head of the Church in Heaven and earth.

 

[Genesis315]

la.znet.com/~bart/s_truths.htm
and let me know what you think of it. If anything in it is incorrect, please tell me because it sure seems convincing, this is part of the reason i asked what The Vicar Of Christ meant? I am not attacking Catholics or the Pope, I just am seeking answers, if you can help with them, I am greatful, God Bless.

Here’s a part I would like to address first:

Let us remember that Christ is the Rock and only Head of the Church. I Corinthians 3:11. For other foundation no one can lay, but that which has been laid, which is Christ Jesus. I Corinthians 10:4. The rock was Christ.Ephesians 1:22,23. Head over all the Church.Ephesians 2:20. Christ Jesus… the chief corner stone.

Christ is the Head and the Church is his Body. He is the Head of the Church just like King David was the King of the Jews. When David gave (starts with an E, can’t remember off th etop of my head) the keys to his kingdom, David gave him the authority to govern his kingdom until he returned. The same happens when Jesus gave Peter the keys. Jesus is still the King/Head, the Pope just represents Him on Earth (that’s what Vicar means, representative, Vicar of Christ=Representative of Christ). You’re right that Jesus and God are always referred to as the rock. That’s why it is SO signifigant that Jesus renames Simon, “Rock (Peter).” Jesus didn’t just give him a nickname for kicks. He did it for a reason.

You see, the Bible clearly teaches that when Jesus founded His Church, He was to be the only Head, the Holy Spirit the Vicar and Guide, and the Bible the only authority for faith and practice.

The Bible does no such thing. The Church is called “the pillar and foundation of truth” not the Bible. Jesus founded his Church on the Rock, Peter. Nowhere does it say the Bible is the only authority.

All true Christians constitute THE TRUE CHURCH (those in whom the Holy Spirit dwells, who believe and obey Christ’s teachings). True believers were called “Christians”, not “Catholics”. Acts 11:26 Disciples were first called Christians.Acts 26:28 Persuade me to become a Christian. I Peter 4:16 Suffer as a Christian

This was true for the first 1517 years. All Christians did cnstitute the True Church. Then Luther and company came along and many Christians left this true Church. The original Christians began referring to themselves as Catholics to differentiate themselves from the Lutherans, Calvinists, Anglicans, etc. Catholics were the first “non-denoms” so to speak. Catholic means universal. It only became a denomination by default when all the new denominations sprung up. This is why “non-denom” is a denomination. Calling yourself a “non-denom” distinguishes you from other denominations just like calling oneself Catholic distinguishes us from other denoms.

 

[Genesis315]

The Roman Catholic Church teaches that the Mass is the unbloody sacrifice of the body and blood of Jesus Christ. It also teaches that the Mass is the same sacrifice as that of the Cross. Both are against God’s teaching. Hebrews 7:27. He died once for all.Hebrews 9:11-15. He entered once for all.Hebrews 9:26. Once for all.Hebrews 9:28. Christ offered once.Hebrews 10:10. Once for all.Hebrews 10:11,12. One sacrifice for sins.Hebrews 10:14. For by one offering.Hebrews 10:15-20. There is no longer offering for sin.

We must believe the Scriptures. If we truly love the Lord Jesus Christ and seek to follow His Word, we will have no regard for the teaching that the bread and wine are “changed” into the body and blood of Christ and then presented to God as a sacrifice by which God is appeased and atonement o sin is made. When Jesus said, “This is my body” or “blood”, He did not “change” the substance, but was explaining that He is the one “represented” by the Passover bread and wine. Jesus did not say touto gignetai, this has become or is turned into, but touto esti, which can only mean this represents or stands for. Just as the Passover was a remembrance, so is Communion of the Lord’s Supper a remembrance until He comes.

Obviously, first check out John 6 and all threads arguing the Real Presence (there’s a ton on here) as well as also check out the beliefs of the early Christians

The Roman Church, in advocating the doctrine of transubstantiation, departs from the literal sense of Scripture. May we be able to say with the Apostle Paul: “We at least, are not, as many others, adulterating the Word of God.” (II Corinthians 2:17)

Sorry, just had to laugh here. An interpretation doesn’t get more literal than “This is my Body” means “this is His Body.” Likwise, we interpret John 6 literally as well. This author is the one who’s not being literal and alduterating Jesus’ words

If Christ is offered again by Roman Catholic priests as they claim, then the above Scriptures are not true. There are more than 100,000 Masses said all over the world every day. Jesus suffers the terrible agony of Calvary at least 100,000 times every twenty-four hours instead of “once for all” as the Scriptures teach.

Christ does not suffer agony everytime. The Mass is a unbloody sacrifice. It is a continual offering up of Jesus once and for all sacrifice to God. All early Chrisitians refer to the breaking of the bread as a sacrifice. Plus, it is blatantly foreshadowed in the OT.

Oh, that one among you would shut the temple gates to keep you from kindling fire on my altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you, says the LORD of hosts; neither will I accept any sacrifice from your hands, For from the rising of the sun, even to its setting, my name is great among the nations; And everywhere they bring sacrifice to my name, and a pure offering; For great is my name among the nations, says the LORD of hosts. (NAB Malachi 1:10-11)

Jesus is the only pure offering. He is offered up every Mass all over the world from sun-up to sundown. There’s always a Mass being celebrated somewhere. How can this not refer to the Mass?

In OT times, the Lord’s name was only great among the Jews, not among the nations, so this is obviously talking about the future. When have the nations (Gentiles in other translations) offered up any sacrifice to the Lord, not to mention a pure one, besides at the Mass?

 

[Genesis315]

The list of “inventions” on the links simply misinterprets what the Church means when it defines something or starts using a specific term. These things are not made up on the spot. That would be whole other thread dealing with those inventions. See these tracts for a starter:
catholic.com/library/Catholic_Inventions.asp
catholic.com/library/More_Catholic_Inventions.asp

How come that list doesn’t have the inventions of sola fide and sola scriptura in the 1500s???

 

[Genesis315]

Throughout the Bible remission of sin and salvation are connected with faith in Christ, nowhere with priestly absolution. In order to support her tribunal upon earth, the Roman Catholic Church mis-interprets Matthew 16:19, “I will give thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven”. Also Matthew 18:18, “Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound also in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven”. And John 20:23, “Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained”. First of all, the “keys of the kingdom” refers to the authority to proclaim the terms of salvation in Christ. This is the privilege and duty of all Christian believers. The authority to bind and loose is first and foremost the commission to proclaim the gospel which liberates those who believe it, and consigns to bondage those who reject it. The Roman Catholic Church misinterprets this text in order to support the practice of confessing sins to a priest. The Biblical context clearly indicates, however, that the words of Matthew 16:19, 18:18, and John 20:23 were not only spoken to the apostles but also to those believers who were with them. Christian ministers are to preach repentance, but nothing is said about hearing confession and the granting of absolution (forgiveness of sins).

You have to admit that this guy’s interpretation of these passages is a stretch. Read them yourself in their context. Bind and loose=proclaim Gospel? What happened to this guy’s harping on literal interpretation??? This guy is the one who misinterprets the text in order to support his position.

It is God that forgives sins. The priest is simply the minister of that forgiveness. This tract is good catholic.com/library/Confession.asp

 

[Genesis315]

Heed what God teaches in the following texts: John 3:3. Unless a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.John 3:16. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that those who believe in him may not perish, but may have life everlasting.John 5:24. He who hears my word, and believes him who sent me, has life everlasting, and does not come to judgment, but has passed from death to life.Acts 4:12. Neither is there salvation in any other.Romans 4:5. but to him who does not work, but believes in him who justifies the impious, his faith is credited to him.Romans 4:6. David declares the blessedness of the man to whom God credits justice without works.Romans 3:28. We reckon that a man is justified by faith independently of the works of the Law.Romans 5:1. Having been justified therefore by faith.Romans 10:3. Ignorant of the justice of God, and seeking to establish their own, they have not submitted to the justice of God.Titus 3:5. Not by reason of good works that we did ourselves, but according to his mercy…

I would counter these with these:

“‘Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord,” shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven’” (Matt. 7:21).

“‘Why do you call me “Lord, Lord,” and not do what I tell you?’” (Luke 6:46).

“For he will render every man according to his works . . .” (Rom. 2:6-8).

“For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified” (Rom. 2:13).

"For if we sin deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful prospect of judgments . . . (Heb. 10:26-27).

“What does it profit, my brethren, if a man says he has faith but has not works? Can his faith save him?” (Jas. 2:14).

“So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead” (Jas. 2:17).

"But some one will say, ‘You have faith and I have works.’ Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith. . . .Do you want to be shown, you foolish fellow, that faith apart from works is barren? (Jas. 2:18-20).

“You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone” (Jas. 2:24).

That last one’s a real kicker ain’t it. Anyway, Lizzie, I hope that helps. Bod bless you on your journey in the Faith. Come home soon!

 

[AmberDale]

Lizzie1:

Hello Everyone, I thank you all for your posts. I do greatly appreciate all the information you have provided to me and I will search it all out. I want to say a few things to you all. First is that when you respond to people it should be with Love, Kindness, and a willing to share what you have learned. You should want to have them feel comfortable asking and learning from you if you have knowledge of scripture. I have found that on my first day with this forum, most of you have made me feel uncomfortable, insulted and pretty much not welcome. I think that this is one of the main reasons that people are turning away from the Catholics! I can see if this is how you treat fellow Christians, I can see why they may not like the Catholic Church. Jesus loved and would never had treated a believer the way you have treated me today, if you feel I am wrong please read all of the posts and tell me that you were speaking and teaching completely out of love. May God bless you all, please take care, It was a pleasure posting with you all today but for me I would rather take my chances with the Church Of Christ.

Lizzie, my dear heart. I’ve not read anything where anyone, including myself has been rude. We are to the point. We love you and want you here.
From my research many people are actually coming BACK to the Church or just joining the Church.
Many things have changed in the way things are taught than the old days. It’s more about love and compassion now (of course I’m only quoting how my husband remembers being raised in the church and how he feels it has changed for the better)
I pray you stay, but open your heart. What we speak is the Truth, and if as you say you were raised Catholic then you know the Truth and just don’t want to listen or relearn it.

 

[rayne89]

Lizzie1:

). I have a site that is very interesting, please read it, if you would like la.znet.com/~bart/s_truths.htm
and let me know what you think of it. If anything in it is incorrect, please tell me because it sure seems convincing, this is part of the reason i asked what The Vicar Of Christ meant? I am not attacking Catholics or the Pope, I just am seeking answers, if you can help with them, I am greatful, God Bless.

Oh Lizzie there are so many things wrong on the site you listed. SO many twisting of truths, taking things out of context. It would take me a considerable amount of time to address them all. Luckily others have done it for me.

I would recommend reading Upon This Rock by Stephen K. Ray

Info from his website

catholic-convert.com/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=67

*As an Evangelical Protestant, Stephen Ray realized that the real issue dividing Catholics and Protestants was authority. Everything else was secondary to the issue of authority. Protestants accept the authority of the Bible alone, whereas Catholics understand the authority to be residing in the Magesterium, the Scriptures and the Sacred Tradition. *

*Ray goes through the Scriptures and the first five centuries of the Church to demonstrate that the early Christians had a clear understanding of the primacy of Peter in the see of Rome. He tackles the tough issues in an attempt to expose how the opposition is misunderstanding the Scriptures and history. He uses many Protestant scholars and historians to support the Catholic position. This book contains the most complete compilation of Scriptural and Patristic quotations on the Primacy of Peter and the Papal office of any book currently available. It has over 500 footnotes with supporting evidence from Catholic, Orthodox, Evangelical, and non-Christian authorities. *Stephen K. Ray is the author of the best-selling story of his conversion, Crossing the Tiber. His father was a deacon and Bible teacher and Stephen was very involved in the Baptist Church as a teacher of Biblical studies. Since his conversion, he is a frequent speaker at conferences and writes for several Catholic magazines.

Also Scott Hahn also a convert is another excellant source. His Catholic for a Reason books would probably be particularily helpful in answering your questions.
scotthahn.com/

Scott received his Bachelor of Arts degree with a triple-major in Theology, Philosophy and Economics from Grove City College, Pennsylvania, in 1979, his Masters of Divinity from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in 1982, and his Ph.D. in Biblical Theology from Marquette University in 1995. Scott has ten years of youth and pastoral ministry experience in Protestant congregations (in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Massachusetts, Kansas and Virginia) and is a former Professor of Theology at Chesapeake Theological Seminary. He was ordained in 1982 at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Fairfax, Virginia. He entered the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil, 1986.

If you don’t have much time for reading St. Joseph’s Communications would be a great help to you. They have audio books, and also vidoes available.
I would recommend Tim Staples conversion story titled “The Bible Made Me Do It”
saintjoe.com/p/prod_desc.pl?id=481

Also “The Mass of the Early Christians” by MIKE AQUILINA
saintjoe.com/p/prod_desc.pl?id=60

“Peter and the Papacy” by SCOTT HAHN
saintjoe.com/p/prod_desc.pl?id=112

“The Seven Sacraments” by STEPHEN RAY
saintjoe.com/p/prod_desc.pl?id=411

“Infallability” by TIM STAPLES saintjoe.com/p/prod_desc.pl?id=490

“Catholic Questions-Catholic Answers” by JESSE ROMERO
saintjoe.com/p/prod_desc.pl?id=442

And also the conversion stories they have available would be another great source.
saintjoe.com/p/conversion.pl

There’s many others but examining some of these sources should be a tremendous help in getting accurate information about the Catholic church. God Bless, I will pray that God always lead you in His Truth as I do for myself and my family.

 

[Ignatius]

Lizzie1:

Hi, I wanted to thank those that posted with care and love, may God bless you and thanks for your kindness.

God bless you as well. I think you may be misinterpreting a direct, forthright tone for hostility. I find the best way to express the Truth is to state it directly and unambiguously. I apologize if my intention was not clear.

May the Lord bless and protect thee.
May the Lord smile upon thee, and be gracious to thee.
May the Lord lift up His countenane upon thee and give you His peace.

 

[Church_Militant]

Lizzie1:

Hello, I was also sad about the Pope. I am not exactly what you would call anti-Catholic, I myself was Catholic and Baptised my son Catholic. I found that as time went on and on that The Catholic Church I attended was not truly teaching. I also feel that the Catholic Church is very money and politically focused. I also feel that no matter what church you attend if you truly love and wish to follow Christ he knows this. Their are many things I dont understand and so I will ask and you can teach me instead of being angry with me and by the grace of God the truth will come out through him and only him. So here it goes. Why do you pray to Mary? Why do you pray to Saints? It is to my understanding we should pray only to God! Why cant priests marry? I thought they were to be married men? Why does the Pope have a upside down cross on his chair? Why is the Crucifix he carried bent with a very odd looking Jesus on it? What does it mean? Why does the Church do things according to tradition and not all things according to the Bible? Thanks for all your help, God bless.

Lizzie…you need to get your facts straight and stop listening to anti-Catholic teachers.

If the Catholic Church is so money hungry…then why did we donate thousands of dollars out of our own pockets to send to Catholic aid agencies in the Tsunami areas. This from my own parish which was waiting to be repaired from the damage of hurricane Ivan and our mission church in the beach which was nearly destroyed. We had to wait to begin our serious repairs because we housed all the FEMA relief workers in our county.

Or were you not truly listening? Check this out and see if you don’t find some very good Catholic Bible teaching. amm.org/chss/chss.htm

Why do you ask others to pray for you? Marian devotion is being dealt with on other threads see them here:
forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=38808

Priestly celibacy IS Biblical and the thread on that is right here: forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=43272

The chair that you mention is not “the pope’s chair” at all but just some artists wrok on a chair that was at some appearnce of his somewhere. It is nothing more than art, and has no significance to His Holiness or to Catholics. I’ve seen the online picture and someone posted it to a thread somewhere, but I can’t find that thread right now… The site that posted it is some anti-Catholic site that alleges all manner of weird stuff. This particular one is just somebody’s poor excuse for art. It may even been a nod to the historical tradition that St. Peter was crucified upside down by the Romans because he said he was not worthy to die the same way as his master.
cont’d