Why am I not a Catholic? Short answer: Papal infalability, Marian dogmas/apparations, dogmas about relics, purgatory, the celibate priesthood, and indulgences . There are more but those are the main stumbling blocks for me.
Welcome to the thread Prodigal! And Telestia, if you too find these issues difficult, then this response is for you too. Tackling these one at a time…
Papal infallibility: it may be helpful to read the conversation I have been having with dingodile on this subject in this very thread.
Marian dogmas:
-Immaculate Conception and sinlessness: Luke 1:28.
Mary is “full of grace” and “the Lord is with you”. Not partially graced, but fully graced. If you were full of grace, would you a) ever be in sin or b) ever have any desire to go against the will of God? It is only fitting that our Lord be conceived, developed, and born from the purest of wombs.
-Perpetual Virginity: Luke 1:34.
Mary’s questioning of the angel of how she might conceive would be preposterous had she not been and intending to remain a virgin. Anyone who is engaged knows
exactly how one will be able to conceive in the near future. And the fact that Jesus gives Mary to the apostle John (John 19:26-27) indicates that there were no other siblings to entrust the care of His mother to.
-Assumption into Heaven, Queen of Heaven, Mother of the Faithful: Revelation 12
Who is the woman who gave birth to the “male child, destined to rule all the nation with an iron rod” if not Mary? And who but a queen wears a crown? And she is there is bodily form (stars under her feet), and the rest of her offspring are “those who keep God’s commandments and bear witness to Jesus” (v. 17). Bear in mind Revelation was written by John, the same John who Jesus gave Mary to.
Marian Apparitions: Because if “every fact may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses” according to Jesus (Mt 18:16), how much more 70,000+ witnesses in the 20th century (Our Lady of Fatima)
ewtn.com/fatima/apparitions/October.htm
"Dogmas About Relics": Matthew 9:20-22, Acts 5:15-16, Acts 19:11-12
Physical objects can be a means of grace.
Purgatory: Matthew 12:32 (implies that there are sins that can be forgiven “in the age to come”), Luke 17:19-31 (Jesus hadn’t risen, so Abraham and Lazarus are not in heaven, and the rich man is clearly in hell), 1 Corinthians 3:10-15 (salvation only after purification), 2 Maccabees 12:38-46 (unfortunately, the book was removed from the Bible by Luther, largely on account of this passage), 1 Peter 3:19-20 (“the spirits in prison”: not hell, for what good would preaching to damned souls do; not heaven, because heaven isn’t prison), Revelation 21:27 (nothing unclean enters heaven, period. Whether it be instantaneous or a drawn-out process, there is a step that purifies someone’s imperfections between death and entry into heaven).
The Celibate Priesthood: Jesus was celibate, and the priest acts in
persona Christi, the person of Christ. They also model the call of St. Paul (also celibate): 1 Corinthians 7:25-38, see especially the end of v. 38.
Indulgences: 1 Peter 4:8, James 5:20, and 2 Corinthians 2:5-11 in reference to 1 Corinthians 5:3-5.
Hope that helps. Any questions?
(to add to that Ieosus is Greek which the Lord wasnt), and Third this is “The NoN Catholic Religions” thread.
. Also if the last portion in red is true, then why are statues of Mary being worshiped??
) A lot of this we find from the Bible which is expanded upon through tradition. It is similar to how the Jewish people have the Torah but they also have the Talmud which is the teachings of the Rabbis which further explains and clarifies the teachings and laws of the Torah. But good luck and God bless.