. . .Could anyone help me with the argument that the Pope considers himself God. . .
E-mail to a pastor on an anti-Catholic website:
Dear Pastor,
I read Baptist vs. Roman Catholic Beliefs. I am a conservative Anglican convert (I grew up in the Southern Baptist Church.) However, I am very familiar with Catholic doctrine. You have seriously misrepresented Catholicism in your comparison. Please review the following quotes from The Catechism of the Catholic Church:
Catholics do not worship icons or statutes. Veneration does not equal “worship.”
1192 Sacred images in our churches and homes are intended to awaken and nourish our faith in the mystery of Christ. Through the icon of Christ and his works of salvation, it is he whom we adore. Through sacred images of the holy Mother of God, of the angels and of the saints, we venerate the persons represented. Link:
scborromeo.org/ccc/para/1192.htm
Catholics do not believe in “salvation by works.”
1067 “The wonderful works of God among the people of the Old Testament were but a prelude to the work of Christ the Lord in redeeming mankind and giving perfect glory to God. He accomplished this work principally by the Paschal mystery of his blessed Passion, Resurrection from the dead, and glorious Ascension, whereby ‘dying he destroyed our death, rising he restored our life.’ For it was from the side of Christ as he slept the sleep of death upon the cross that there came forth 'the wondrous sacrament of the whole Church.”’
For this reason, the Church celebrates in the liturgy above all the Paschal mystery by which Christ accomplished the work of our salvation. Link:
scborromeo.org/ccc/para/1067.htm
183 Faith is necessary for salvation. The Lord himself affirms: “He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned” (Mk 16:16). Link:
scborromeo.org/ccc/para/183.htm
161 Believing in Jesus Christ and in the One who sent him for our salvation is necessary for obtaining that salvation. “Since “without faith it is impossible to please [God]” and to attain to the fellowship of his sons, therefore without faith no one has ever attained justification, nor will anyone obtain eternal life ‘But he who endures to the end.’” Link:
scborromeo.org/ccc/para/161.htm
2044 The fidelity of the baptized is a primordial condition for the proclamation of the Gospel and for the Church’s mission in the world. In order that the message of salvation can show the power of its truth and radiance before men, it must be authenticated by the witness of the life of Christians. “The witness of a Christian life and good works done in a supernatural spirit have great power to draw men to the faith and to God.” Link:
scborromeo.org/ccc/para/2044.htm
1816 The disciple of Christ must not only keep the faith and live on it, but also profess it, confidently bear witness to it, and spread it: “All however must be prepared to confess Christ before men and to follow him along the way of the Cross, amidst the persecutions which the Church never lacks.” Service of and witness to the faith are necessary for salvation: “So every one who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven; but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.” Link:
scborromeo.org/ccc/para/1816.htm
Catholics do not “re-sacrifice Christ” during Communion.
1364 In the New Testament, the memorial takes on new meaning. When the Church celebrates the Eucharist, she commemorates Christ’s Passover, and it is made present the sacrifice Christ offered once for all on the cross remains ever present. “As often as the sacrifice of the Cross by which ‘Christ our Pasch has been sacrificed’ is celebrated on the altar, the work of our redemption is carried out.”
Link:
scborromeo.org/ccc/para/1364.htm
I’m not sure where you found these false claims regarding the Catholic Church. I would urge you to edit your comparison between Baptists and Roman Catholics to reflect the truth.
May the peace of the Lord be with you and your congregation. +
Baptist pastor’s response to me:
I too have extensively studied Roman Catholic doctrine. And yes, Catholics do indeed worship both statues and icons, as both of us already know. To bow before a statue is worship. Bowing down before a statue = worship (See Exodus 20). You can call it “veneration” if you wish, but it is still bowing down before a stature or idol, which is worship and which is strictly forbidden by God in the Bible
Yes, Roman Catholics do most definitely belief in salvation by works. You either belief in salvation by your own works or you do not. We believe in salvation by works - the work of Christ in the cross. You live in salvation by your own works, which is what we both mean by the term used “salvation by works”. Roman Catholics believe that the seven (Baptist have only two) sacraments (name removed by moderator)ut grace. Therefore they believe that their works are necessary for salvation.
Of course Roman Catholics believe in the re-sacrifice of Christ during communion. That is the very definition of the Mass. This is what the wafer and goblet is when the bell is wrung. Ask any priest. Are you that ignorant of basic Roman Catholic doctrine?
So out of three complaints, you are wrong on all three. Sure, many New Evangelicals, all the way back to Billy Graham have been fooled by lying Roman Catholics, but I am not.I am a Fundamentalist Baptist. I believe what the Bible says… That is my authority.
Shame on you for trying to deceive a Baptist preacher! (Christ wrote down your wicked sin in His book and will read it out at the last Judgment. Be afraid. Be very afraid.)
Furthermore, if JPII believed he was God then by going to confession he would be saying God was a sinner which of course is absurd. Finally, if JPII believed he was God then by going to confession we would have to conclude he was asking himself for absolution, another absurdity.