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You could point out 100 scriptural verses for each and they still won’t believe it.
Until they admit that they do not have the proper Bible as Luther scrapped some books and changed some verses you will never get anywhere.
If a Protestant asks me whether we (Catholics) do this or that I am happy to answer and debate however if a Protestant tells me that I do this or that then I know I will never get anywhere with them.
Until they admit that they do not have the proper Bible as Luther scrapped some books and changed some verses you will never get anywhere.
If a Protestant asks me whether we (Catholics) do this or that I am happy to answer and debate however if a Protestant tells me that I do this or that then I know I will never get anywhere with them.
J
Jon_S_1
Guest
Why bother with those horrible sites!
5). The Catholic Church uses the term saints in many ways. All the ways described by the author are done by the church. Canonized saints are those we know for certain are in heaven, there are many more besides canonized and in some context we can speak of ourselves as saints.
- the rosary has 5 sets of 10 hail Mary’s (50). If you do all the mysteries then it’s 200 but those are to be spread through the week. The bible condemns repetitive babbling not heartfelt prayer. It shouldn’t matter how many times someone says a prayer or song (which is a form of prayer) as long as their heart is in it. Perhaps the author never says the Lord’s Prayer for fear of repeating it.
5). The Catholic Church uses the term saints in many ways. All the ways described by the author are done by the church. Canonized saints are those we know for certain are in heaven, there are many more besides canonized and in some context we can speak of ourselves as saints.
G
getysbg
Guest
Last time I checked, the “Our Father” is repititive. So is the “Holy, Holy, Holy” the angels say as mentioned in Revelations.
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Padster
Guest
The big problem for these people is that Jesus Christ founded the Catholic Church, which they split from. Therefore, their ‘protestations’ must be ignored.
They actually defeat much of their own argument. They say that Catholicism took on some of the pagan traditions. So what? It only goes to prove how very old and ancient our rites and rituals are. We are still worshipping God. It is possible that some of the ‘paraphernalia’ even dates back to ancient Greece. So what? All the better, as far as I am concerned.
What they find hard dealing with is that Catholicism is not confined to the Bible, like Protestantism is. Catholicism is a mystical thing. There are several created orders higher than ourselves.
But I have to agree with a previous poster. Why bother with such sites?
Best wishes,
Padster
They actually defeat much of their own argument. They say that Catholicism took on some of the pagan traditions. So what? It only goes to prove how very old and ancient our rites and rituals are. We are still worshipping God. It is possible that some of the ‘paraphernalia’ even dates back to ancient Greece. So what? All the better, as far as I am concerned.
What they find hard dealing with is that Catholicism is not confined to the Bible, like Protestantism is. Catholicism is a mystical thing. There are several created orders higher than ourselves.
But I have to agree with a previous poster. Why bother with such sites?
Best wishes,
Padster
C
captainrick
Guest
“Protestants’ criticism”
“These people”
No, it’s “some idiots who for some reason hate Catholics.”
I was a protestant for 60 years, and never met a protestant who thinks like the haters who produce that site.
J
josephback
Guest
With all charity, unless they come from a Catholic background it is often their distant ancestors who broke away and they’ve been sold a false group justifying history ever since. I for one was never taught to look at Martin Luther as anything other than a courageous, brave, and holy man. Many Christians from outside Catholicism seek to please God. While not making okay the attempted “reform” of doctrine, there were causes for turmoil in the 16th century church, and if we adopt a sanctimonious attitude that acknowledges no wrong, we might turn away a soul that God wants to lead to His Church.
T
thegreypiper
Guest
They start from a false foundation, and so their conclusions are false. They are like (in a more familiar sense) the whackjobs who go around claiming that because some sentence in a volume of Federal Law has a comma between two words instead of a semi-colon (or some such), that we don’t really have to pay income tax. (Those people seem to spend a lot of time in Federal prison for tax evasion, btw.)
And although C.S. Lewis was a Protestant himself, he makes some very discerning observations. This is not exactly on point, but has its own very sharp point regarding some kinds of debate. The context is that the protagonist has just suffered a type of assault by the “dark powers”…
“Oh, they’ll put all sorts of things into your head if you let them,” said Ransom lightly. “The best plan is to take no notice and keep straight on. Don’t try to answer them. They like drawing you into an interminable argument…"
– from “Perelandra”; C. S. Lewis
And although C.S. Lewis was a Protestant himself, he makes some very discerning observations. This is not exactly on point, but has its own very sharp point regarding some kinds of debate. The context is that the protagonist has just suffered a type of assault by the “dark powers”…
“Oh, they’ll put all sorts of things into your head if you let them,” said Ransom lightly. “The best plan is to take no notice and keep straight on. Don’t try to answer them. They like drawing you into an interminable argument…"
– from “Perelandra”; C. S. Lewis
The word baptism comes from* I wash* and dip.
Catholic churches don’t sprinkle the priest pours the water over the head of the baby.
Do Protestants believe that the Holy Spirit can only dwell in a large amount of water?
The one about Christmas which protestants also celebrate and on the same day so they must be protesting against themselves too. I sounds more like something that a Jehovah’s Witness would say as they don’t celebrate Christmas.
Don’t forget there are only 365 days in a normal year so any day that you want to celebrate Christmas on will already have someone somewhere in the world using that day too. Christmas couldn’t be too near Easter could it?
Jude 1:10 But these people abuse anything they do not understand; and the only things they do understand – merely by nature like unreasoning animals – will turn out to be fatal to them.
Catholic churches don’t sprinkle the priest pours the water over the head of the baby.
Do Protestants believe that the Holy Spirit can only dwell in a large amount of water?
The one about Christmas which protestants also celebrate and on the same day so they must be protesting against themselves too. I sounds more like something that a Jehovah’s Witness would say as they don’t celebrate Christmas.
Don’t forget there are only 365 days in a normal year so any day that you want to celebrate Christmas on will already have someone somewhere in the world using that day too. Christmas couldn’t be too near Easter could it?
Jude 1:10 But these people abuse anything they do not understand; and the only things they do understand – merely by nature like unreasoning animals – will turn out to be fatal to them.
C
Charlemagne_III
Guest
The “Bible only” authority is easily refuted by the fact that it was men who wrote the Bible, assembled its books, and formally approved them in the fourth century. So for the first 4 centuries there was no Bible precisely built as we know it until the Bible books were put together in the 4th century. What then did the early Christians know of the same bible we use until the 4th Century?
It was the Catholic Church in the 4th century that conferred absolute legitimacy of the books of the Bible that we read today. It was the Catholic Church that gave the New Testament to the world. And it was a Catholic inventor, Johannes Gutenberg, who invented the first printing press, by which the first book, the holy Bible, was mechanically printed rather than hand copied.
But you will never hear all that Good News from certain Protestant sources.
It was the Catholic Church in the 4th century that conferred absolute legitimacy of the books of the Bible that we read today. It was the Catholic Church that gave the New Testament to the world. And it was a Catholic inventor, Johannes Gutenberg, who invented the first printing press, by which the first book, the holy Bible, was mechanically printed rather than hand copied.
But you will never hear all that Good News from certain Protestant sources.
B
boomerang
Guest
- The angels in heaven endlessly repeat the same prayer. (Apocalypse of John). Jesus said the same prayer three times during His Agony in the garden.
- We don’t have to take both species. The Bread is enough.
- The Pope never said only “special” people are saints. Everyone in heaven is a saint. An official “Saint”, one who is venerated as such, is a special title. This title in no way diminishes the reality of “sainthood” for the ordinary person in heaven.
- I Tim. does not say “bishops SHOULD be married”. It says bishops, if married, can only have been married ONCE.
- Latin Mass forbidden? That’s a stretch. Paul here was referring to the instruction of Christians. The unlearned should be instructed in a way that is edifying, a way they can understand. We presume that at the Mass, even if it is in Latin, the faithful understand what they are doing.
- The Scriptures does not “condemn” the celebration of anything. Just because it’s not specifically spelled out in the Bible, does in no way mean that thing is “condemned”. Brushing your teeth is not in the Bible. Are we condemned for doing it? Ridiculous.
- False, false, false. Catholics don’t baptize babies by “sprinkling a little water”. The water is poured over them. The first mention of non-immersion baptism is not from 257 AD as this website states. It is in the Didache, which dates from the time of the Apostles, and mentions pouring water over the person as being a legitimate baptism. How did the Apostles baptize prisoners or the home-bound, or people living in harsh deserts? There wasn’t always a flowing river handily around.
P
Padster
Guest
Agreed. I was organist at an Anglican/Protestant church for 10 years. The people there were very kind to me, and were good people. One ought not to get too defensive about these things and tar everyone with the same brush. I apologise if I came across like that.
Best wishes,
Padster
L
Leo2014
Guest
Kudos Padster,
I have family members that left the Church years ago and not for philosophical reasons. I also have many friends and associates that are not of the Catholic faith. We keep a good relationship because we are cordial and care for one another. I am just as quick as they are to offer up a prayer when they are experiencing times of crises.
I believe these encounters in my life serve a purpose. I have always been Catholic, but in my younger days I was so busy with work and my career that Church worked more as a distraction. Yes, I would rather be at my desk or playing golf on a Sunday morning than sitting in a pew.
However, when I started encountering these types of questions from non-Catholics…I could not answer them. Eventually, this lead me towards picking up my Bible and researching through others sources to what I believe was being objective. I figured if I was going to convert - so be it! But that never occurred.
There are many things I learned about the Church that was initiated by someone outside the Church. Therefore, I have to hold them in some regards towards strengthening my faith. We can all be forceful and the subject matter does not have to be limited to our faith. I believe when there is a lack of respect for one another, there is no piety and the conversation becomes argumentative & pointless.
C
Charlemagne_III
Guest
1. Calling the Priests “Father” is forbidden
Not really. The origin of the tradition of calling priests Father may well stem from:
1 Corinthians 4:15
“Even if you should have countless guides to Christ, yet you do not have many fathers, for I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.”
The passage in Matthew which Christ forbids that we call anyone father but the Father who is in heaven is a figure of speech known as hyperbole. Jesus was very prolific at using figures of speech, especially metaphors and hyperboles. The Father of us all is the Father in heaven, so that we should think of calling him, first and foremost, Father. But that does not mean we should not address our human fathers as Father, or that we should not use another hyperbole such as, “George Washington is the Father of our county.”
Paul did not sin because he called himself the spiritual father of the Corinthians.
Not really. The origin of the tradition of calling priests Father may well stem from:
1 Corinthians 4:15
“Even if you should have countless guides to Christ, yet you do not have many fathers, for I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.”
The passage in Matthew which Christ forbids that we call anyone father but the Father who is in heaven is a figure of speech known as hyperbole. Jesus was very prolific at using figures of speech, especially metaphors and hyperboles. The Father of us all is the Father in heaven, so that we should think of calling him, first and foremost, Father. But that does not mean we should not address our human fathers as Father, or that we should not use another hyperbole such as, “George Washington is the Father of our county.”
Paul did not sin because he called himself the spiritual father of the Corinthians.
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