Why does the catholic church worship 'Mary' and use 'Images' in their act of worship? This mantra is common among the protestants which is why they have continued to protest. I want to make something clear here. For you to understand why somebody does something, you should put yourself in that person's shoes. Millions of catholic faithfuls the world over can not be deceived or fooled at thesame time. Suffice to say that one's culture is peculiar to that person. So for you (protestants) to understand what we do, ask questions about the catholic faith and doctrines, instead of being an armchair theorist who just sit right inside the confine of his room, speculates and concludes. In other words, alwayz justify your stands with facts! Now get the point: we catholics dont worship Mary, but honour her for her kind gesture for accepting to bear our saviour Jesus Christ. If God Himself honoured her first through the Angel Gabriel, ('hail Mary full of grace the lord is with thee....') what crime have we catholics committed by towing thesame part? On the issue of the use of Images, they are means to an end, and not an end in themselves. People stand on the commandment that says, we should not make or worship any image, but who do these Images we use resemble? I know people will counter me on this question, but just read on. Now what do you have to say when God commanded Moses to lift up the Bronze Snake in the wilderness that whoever looked at it would be healed. That presently represents our lord Jesus Christ on the cross, thus whoever looks at him shall be saved. Thus the sight of these images reminds us of the presence of Christ among us physically, though He is alwayz present spiritually. What point am I trying to drive home here, we dont worship Mary, but honour her and see her as our intercessor before her son Jesus Christ with reference to what happened at the wedding at Canaan. Don't expect the story from me. We dont worship Images, but see them as points of reference. But let me ask, if all we do is to give God glory and is for the salvation of mankind, which among others are the ultimate of religious act, what is wrong with it. Do not be ethnocentric, but be relative in your religious practices because we all pursue one common goal: 'Heaven' though through different means. This avenue won't permit me to fully express my views, but you (UNN students) can join the Catholic Faith Club at St. Peter's chaplaincy every Saturdays by 8am for proper re-orientation. No pun intended!

more graces to ur elbow

so I honour my father by making an image that I 'feel' looks like him? I honur my mother by making her image and then bowing and praying before her image right? It is such a pity when people fool themselves. People now want to give God a shape and a form aaaaah! God have mercy!
I do not know whether you have ever came across where Jesus said, I am the way the truth, and the life, NO ONE COMETH UNTO THE FATHER BUT BY ME...... John 14.6. Jesus never said some people will come through me while others will come throguh Peter, others can as well choose to come through Mary, some might as well choose Maria. No one cometh unto the father but by me. The word of God is clear, human philosophy and logic does not explain it, The word of God standeth sure, it never fades, it does not change with the course of time.
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down theyself to them........... Exodus 20:4-5. God instructed Moses to make the serpent, yes! Should anyone bitten by the snake look upon it be healed, yes! God never told them to bow to the brazen serpent, God never told them to pray nor design prayers to them, God never also told them to make altars or prayers with them. By the way, the brazen serpent was made on God's instruction, Moses never woke up and thought it to a good thing to design an image or a brazen serpent rather. The brazen serpent was made STRICTLY on God's instruction. On whose instructions were those images you use designed?
At the wedding in Cana, Mary the mother of Jesus begged Jesus to help the cuple wedding, that they were running out of wine, Jesus actually did that but I want to draw you back to what Mary the mother of Jesus said to the servants serving a the wedding before she left..... John 2:5 His mother said unto the servants, whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. Mary was actually telling the servants that she cant do anything with regards to their need at that point in time, the only person that could help them was Jesus!
There is only one mediator between us and the father, and that is Jesus, none other. Jesus is the only way.... There is no other means to the father except Jesus.
Believe me if I tell that I was a Catholic for 20 years, wallowing in false doctrine and human logic. I can boast here on Nairaland that no one knows the Catholic doctrine more than I do. I studied it, lived it, baptised in it, communioned in it, confirmed in it, bread and buttered in it, and received awards as a faithful scholar and teacher of the Catholic doctrine, until when I went down to the roots, started afresh and God showed me the truth I never wanted to accept. Thank God Christ Jesus!
I do not have time to enter deeply into this, if you the poster should get to study the Catholic Church, its doctrine..... Infact everything about it, get to know the truth, I tell you that you will..........
I am not saying that the Catholic Church in itself is evil, NO! All I am saying is that some of their doctrines should not be practiced by anyone who actually is a Christian. Have you done any studies on buddhism, hiduism and other pagan religions of the world ?
I cant actually say I am a protestant, NO I am not a protestant, I am a Christian saved by God's grace and mercy. Till today my parents are Catholics, my siblings are all Catholics, my relations both maternal and paternal are all Catholics, even my community is 90 percent Catholic except me. Thank God for Jesus! I am not trying to claim anything here please, try to understand that I do not hete the Catholic Church nor Catholics, I wish people will get to know the truth. You cant imagine the rate of hatred and insult I got from my family when I declared Christianity, my family hated me so much just for that singular reason, but they failed cos they saw that the change that brought to my soul when I declared Christian is spiritual, and as such came with many spiritual gifts and blessings.
I wish I could have time and enough space to discuss this, but I believe that a word is enough for the wise.
God bless you!
Be rapturable because that is the greatest message not pagan idols and biased religions.
Once again, God bless you!

@anthonypeters, your story of being a catholic for 20years but now a PROTESTANT looks very pathetic but guess what, we have had worse cases. Do you know King Henry VIII of England, he was once "A Defender of Catholic Faith" ie a Catholic Knight. Do you know the Bloody Atheist Joseph Stalin, he was an Ex-Seminarian. Do you know Matine Luther, he was once a Catholic Augustinian Monk. Do you know the Heretic Gordiano Bruno, he was a Catholic Priest. Do you know the Arch-ArianHeretic Nosterius, he was an Arch-bishop of Constantinople, the present day Istanbulg. Do you know Cardinal Robert of Geneva, he was a "Pope" (anti-pope). Do yo know Judas Ischariot, he was an Apostle of Jesus. Now know this, It does't matter how many years you are in Catholic faith, what matters is your understanding of The True Catholic Faith. Someone can be in the Catholic Church for 30years, 40, 50years and still remain a fake Christian. The worst part of it is that these people out of PRIDE, thinking they know everthing about The True Catholic Faith, don't ask questions on things they don't understand about the Catholic Church and finally when they leave the Catholic Church, they claim they have seen the "Light" when in the real sense they have plunged into DARKNESS. I can bet my life savings that you did not meet your Parish Priest for questions and clearifications on your doubts before you left the Catholic Church. Let me tell you why this happened. lts because you have been a Catholic for 20years and you think you know everything about Catholicism therefore you poor Parish Priest has nothing to add to your knowledge. Now to show you that you didn't understand anything about The True Catholic Faith in the 20years you wasted as a Catholic, can you with all SINCERITY answer just YES or NO to the following questions. [1] In your 20years of being a catholic did you ever worship any person other than God? I mean did you ever WORSHIP Mary?. [2] Did any Catholic Priest teach you to WORSHIP Mary instead of God?. [3] All the Catholics you know including your Parents, Siblings and the 90% of your community, are they worshiping any person other than God? I mean, are they WORSHIPING Mary or any statue?.

dejo2007: Why does the catholic church worship 'Mary' and use 'Images' in their act of worship? This mantra is common among the protestants which is why they have continued to protest. I want to make something clear here. For you to understand why somebody does something, you should put yourself in that person's shoes. Millions of catholic faithfuls the world over can not be deceived or fooled at thesame time. Suffice to say that one's culture is peculiar to that person. So for you (protestants) to understand what we do, ask questions about the catholic faith and doctrines, instead of being an armchair theorist who just sit right inside the confine of his room, speculates and concludes. In other words, alwayz justify your stands with facts! Now get the point: we catholics dont worship Mary, but honour her for her kind gesture for accepting to bear our saviour Jesus Christ. If God Himself honoured her first through the Angel Gabriel, ('hail Mary full of grace the lord is with thee....') what crime have we catholics committed by towing thesame part? On the issue of the use of Images, they are means to an end, and not an end in themselves. People stand on the commandment that says, we should not make or worship any image, but who do these Images we use resemble? I know people will counter me on this question, but just read on. Now what do you have to say when God commanded Moses to lift up the Bronze Snake in the wilderness that whoever looked at it would be healed. That presently represents our lord Jesus Christ on the cross, thus whoever looks at him shall be saved. Thus the sight of these images reminds us of the presence of Christ among us physically, though He is alwayz present spiritually. What point am I trying to drive home here, we dont worship Mary, but honour her and see her as our intercessor before her son Jesus Christ with reference to what happened at the wedding at Canaan. Don't expect the story from me. We dont worship Images, but see them as points of reference. But let me ask, if all we do is to give God glory and is for the salvation of mankind, which among others are the ultimate of religious act, what is wrong with it. Do not be ethnocentric, but be relative in your religious practices because we all pursue one common goal: 'Heaven' though through different means. This avenue won't permit me to fully express my views, but you (UNN students) can join the Catholic Faith Club at St. Peter's chaplaincy every Saturdays by 8am for proper re-orientation. No pun intended!

is you or human we should as questions or we should as the bible question or rather read the bible to know the truth?

Is it you that should specify how God should be worship or God has spelt that out already in the bible?
*sigh*

I BILIV IN ONE CHATHOLIC AND APOSTOLIC CHURCH..

@lovethywillbedon... Thats a nice response. Just waiting for him to respond to your questions.

This topic has been overflogged times without number. We will explain, give evidences, talk and but their hearts are conditioned by their indoctrination. To everyone his ways! I am a Catholic and I've never worshiped anyone but God, that is my conviction and consolation.

Enough please, do not waste your time answering this post, it would yield nothing.

@Poster & Lovethy...,

What do you hold as the foudation of your faith. The bible, words from your priest, church traditions?

Mayb u r nt aware of d fact dat dis practice of referencing Images started as far back as d seventh century nd Protestantism started in d fifteenth century,NW,U CAN EXPLAIN HOW D KINGDOM OF DARKNESS OVERCAME THE CHURCH FOR more dan seven hundred years nd millions of souls rushed to hell,THINK!

@Eben...are u also aware that the Bible is of traditions of people of old times.

Pls do not waste your time answering these people like someone said. They have google, they can search! Information is free and available abundantly on the website. If your mind has been conditioned by the Pentecostal people to belief Catholic church is this and that, nothing anyone tells you will mean anything to you.

By the way I found this article of the logic for choosing 25th December as Christ-MASS day! I really enjoyed reading it. May God bless Pope Julius and other fathers of the church that decided on this day. It was bang ON!

Enjoy and happy CHRISTMAS IN ADVANCE TO ALL

http://www.mgr.org/ChristmasDate2.html


[b]The M+G+R Foundation
December 25th is a


JUDEO CHRISTIAN RELIGIOUS DAY Of NOTE

Thus...

The Logical Day to Celebrate the Birth of the Messiah




PURPOSE

The purpose of this brief document is to explore the Divine Logic which moved the early Christian leaders to fix the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ on December 25th.


BACKGROUND

Although we have had this matter in the inkwell for years, the "Go Ahead" from Heaven came in the form of the following communication received in the year 2005 from one of our friends:


Why do we continue with the 25th as part of some old pagan celebration of light coinciding with the shortest day of the year? Why not make the Easter celebrations the focal point for Christian celebrations?


Keeping very clear in mind that Jesus is a Jew, born under the Mosaic Law and from a Jewish Mother and is indeed the promised Messiah, we should then seek the logic used by His Father in moving men to celebrate the date of His birth on December 25th. Notice, we say "celebrate" and are not stating that His birth indeed took place on that date, although it could have very well been.


DETAILS

History has it that it was not until A.D. 350, that December 25 was declared the official date for celebrating Christmas by Pope Julius I. When the fathers of the church decided to settle upon a date to celebrate the event, they chose the day of the winter solstice (as it was on the then-current Julian calendar), since it coincided with some rival religions' celebrations and the rebirth of the sun, symbolized by bon-fires and yule logs.

December 25 was a festival long before the conversion of the Germanic peoples to Christianity, so it seemed fitting to them that the time of their winter festival would also be the time to celebrate the birth of Christ. The darkness of paganism that had frightened and threatened to defeat the spirit of the ancient people, was forever defeated by the coming of Christ.

Well, that was man's logic. They felt they needed to tie-in to a Pagan rite so that the celebration of the Birth of the Messiah - the true Savior of the World - would become popular. Their own lack of Faith (1) prevented them from believing that God, the Father, by His Own Divine Right, would see that the celebration of the birth of His Son would take hold on its own without resorting to the "bait-and-switch" technique frequently used by the Church Administration in an effort to "create" faith.

Result: The date was set on the right day and month, for all the wrong reasons (2).

Why God chose that particular day? Well, as we have consistently reminded the Faithful, Jesus was a Jew. (3) Thus, scrolling back to the time of the destruction of Jerusalem and the great captivity of the Jews by Nabuchodonosor, the mighty King of Babylon, around the year 586 BC, we find Jehoiachin (Jechonias), King of Judea, amongst the captives. Then, right after the ascension of Evil-merodach to the Throne of Babylon, something marvelous happens as related by dear Jeremiah [52:31-34]:


And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, in the five and twentieth day of the month, that Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the first year of his reign, lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah, and brought him forth out of prison; And he spake kindly to him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings that were with him in Babylon, and changed his prison garments. And Jehoiachin did eat bread before him continually all the days of his life: and for his allowance, there was a continual allowance given him by the king of Babylon, every day a portion until the day of his death, all the days of his life.


Lo and behold! A key link in the genealogy of Jesus [Matthew 1:2-16] is saved and restored to his throne on the five and twentieth day of the twelfth month by his own captors.

Well, there you have it, the five and twentieth day of the twelfth month : December 25th.

Refreshing the mind of the Faithful regarding the genealogy of Jesus we read in Matthew 1:17 the following:


So all the generations from Abraham unto David are fourteen generations; and from David unto the carrying away to Babylon fourteen generations; and from the carrying away to Babylon unto the Christ fourteen generations.


Thus, David was a key link between the first and second sets of fourteen generations in the Genealogy of Jesus and Jehoiachin was the other key link, this time, between the second and third sets of generations which led to the birth of Christ.

"Hold it!", some will say, while quickly adding "There is a calendar problem! The twelfth month for Jews is not like our twelfth month, December."

As if God would not have thought of that too!

The names of the twelve months are of Babylonian origin. Israel adopted all twelve months of the Babylonian calendar as their civil calendar. Therefore, the twelfth month in our current civil calendar (Gregorian) is December. That is, when we read in Jeremiah about the "twelfth month", it is the twelfth month of the civil calendar and not of the Jewish religious calendar.

But that is not all. God likes to "cover all bases", as the saying goes.

Around (4) the date we celebrate Christmas, the Jews celebrate the Festival of Lights (Chanukah). This Jewish holiday commemorates the victory of the Jews over the Hellenistic Syrians back in 165 BC. After their victory, the Maccabees went in to clean and dedicate the Holy Temple in Jerusalem that the Syrians had defiled.

The Judean heroes could find little undefiled lamp oil. Miraculously, the tiny amount they did find kept the lamps going eight days, until new oil could be had. Thus, the miracle is celebrated with the lighting of the Chanukah candles over eight days.

And just exactly on what day did that such festival started originally? In 1 Macabees 4: 52 we read exactly when:


And they arose before morning on the five and twentieth day of the ninth month (which is the month of Tevet)....


...and that would have been exactly our December 25th of today! But that is not all.

Ninth month? That is the exact period of Mary's gestation of Jesus which started on March 25th, which, Lo and Behold! is the first month of the Jewish Religious Calendar. We would not doubt it at all if upon accurate calculations, on the year Jesus was born (5 B.C.), the Annunciation did take place exactly on the first day of the Jewish Religious Year.

By the way, in the year 2005 the Feast of Purim occurred on March 25th, Feast of the Annunciation.

The reader may ask: So? What is celebrated on the Feast of Purim? The Feast of Purim celebrates how the Jews of Persia narrowly escaped annihilation thanks to the bravery of Queen Esther. (5)

And thanks to the bravery of Mary, humanity escaped annihilation thorough its Redemption brought to it through Mary by Jesus Christ. Amazing, isn't it?

The eight days of Chanukah celebration?..... The Octave of Christmas which counts the days from December 25th until Jesus is circumcised, something that is not a fabrication of the Church leaders. It was the Jewish custom.

It seems that we could go on indefinitely "connecting dots" since, in spite of man, everything from God is coherent and harmonious.


CONCLUSION

As always, and thanks be to Him!, God had the last word. The celebration of His Son's Birth could not have been set on a better date - regardless of what flawed human reasoning was used to set it on December 25th.

Now perhaps the Faithful may understand why it seems that miguel de Portugal keeps denouncing some (some, not all!) of the Roman Church Administrators while upholding the foundations of the Catholic Faith to the last word (6).... As you have been reminded through the above example, even satan has to serve God, and even if the motives of the leaders of Christianity were totally wrong, God's Will was done!

Amen![/b]



NOTES


(1) True Faith, as the reader can see, was lost by the Church "fathers" a long time ago.
(2) As we have said before, God is quite capable of doing what He Wills and does not need man to lie or "make do" to establish His Kingdom - He only needs the obedience of man - something He seldom has.
(3) He would have also been sent into exile, together with all the other Jews, by the "Oh-so-holy" Queen Isabella of Spain., also known as "Isabella the Catholic"
(4) It is a date that appears to change, yet the dates of Jewish holidays do not change from year to year. It just seems that way to us because feast dates fall on different days on the commonly used Gregorian calendar.
(5) We highly recommend the Book of Esther (Old Testament). In said Book we can see God in King Ahasuerus, the fallen Archangel Lucifer in Haman, Mary in Esther; the true children of God - us - in Mordecai. It is an extremely Prophetic Book.
(6) The position of miguel de Portugal regarding the pristine Catholic Faith.

@Anthonypeter....it amazes when a human like me tell me just like you have just said that am fooling myself forgetting that he is also a human jus lik i am. Do u think leaving the Catholic has made you u feast on thesame table with christ? Dont forget christ said not evry body dat calls him will enter his fathers kingdom. Dnt think u ar rite because Moses dat spoke wit God on Sinai didnt enter d promise land. Rememba Judas was with d light u claim u av seen but didnt see it until time. Remember the chief priests tot they knw the laws of God, but Jesus told them d contrary, dnt u think u cud b told so in time. Remember u ar a human being and u cud b acting by instinct and thinkin it God's revelation. Dnt always forget we ar limited in life no mata hw much faith we av, nd only God is unlimited. If u think u ar doin wot God commanded, hw many burnt offerings have u offered in an altar. And if u say its nt necessary any more, u ar indirectly saying God didnt knw wot he was saying wen he saaid dat. It also means we ar limited.
Talking about the Holy Catholic church, i think Mary is more than hw we see her. If u belif God is Holy, you u see dat Jesus(God nd man while on earth) cannot dwell in a filty vessel. This makes me belif dat d mother of Jesus is the Holy Mary. Also based on Rev. 12:1, Mary's appearance shows she has shared in d life of christ glorious life, based on his transfiguration on mount tabor. No other human is recorded in the Bible to av appeared in such form. The Bible also confirmes us as decendants of the blessed Virgin, so lng we are christians, see Rev. 12:17-18. The catholic church neva worships Mary,its nt possible, if u can practically worship in a catholic church for once, even d settings of d church tells you dat it stands for christ. All other saints mentioned in d church is because they were in union with christ, notin mor to it. even based on d prayers wher Mary is mentioned, its Jesus dat gives her name dat relevance to b mantioned but nt for worship. So wen its mentioned, its jus only for christ sake. mary also appeared on several occassions nd gave prophecies dat hav cum to past. I beg those dat disregard glorious beings to stop because d Bible regards dem as false prophets, talking of things they do not knw about. Nd ther is a judgement upon dem.(see 2 peter 2, d buk of Jude etc....Talkin about use of images, we shudnt take dis too far because its nt d most important issue in d catholic church. Its jus one of its practices nd of course if u have a proper understanding of Bible, u wud see dat its not the makin of images dat is forbidden but idolatary which is d worship of images, nd it doesnt occur in the church. If dont think so, y dnt u try Exo 25 vs 18, 1 chronicles 28 vs 18, nd d buk of Ezekiel, in short jus go through ur old testament nd see if u wil av any tin to say about the use of images in the church. These practices are ancient traditions of d Isearelites dat shudnt b ungodly as God commanded. But i tink u shud b concered more wit ur relationship God. To call it a rap, if u were a catholic nd nw a non catholic, i dnt tink u knw wot u were doin dat made u leave. because if u ar familiar wit d Bible, u wud see dat Jesus (who is God d son) nd his entire disciples dat truely dis God's will wer criticized, nd condemned to death, i and wil neva b surprised if the catholic chrch is also condemned by d world because it stands for Christ nd Christ alone. I av my personal encounters for saying dis. I was born a catholic,at a tym i started attendin a pentecostal chrch but am back in the catholic church nd neva wil i leave the catholic. Tnk God for me because its beyond words to b back jus lik d prodigal son. No amount of boldness nd arrogance frm any human preacher moves me, i reference d scriptures. May God b praised now and for ever.Amen...

Isnt it cute that you 'honour' your mary more than you worship God!

anthonypeters:
so I honour my father by making an image that I 'feel' looks like him? I honur my mother by making her image and then bowing and praying before her image right? It is such a pity when people fool themselves. People now want to give God a shape and a form aaaaah! God have mercy!
I do not know whether you have ever came across where Jesus said, I am the way the truth, and the life, NO ONE COMETH UNTO THE FATHER BUT BY ME...... John 14.6. Jesus never said some people will come through me while others will come throguh Peter, others can as well choose to come through Mary, some might as well choose Maria. No one cometh unto the father but by me. The word of God is clear, human philosophy and logic does not explain it, The word of God standeth sure, it never fades, it does not change with the course of time.
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down theyself to them........... Exodus 20:4-5. God instructed Moses to make the serpent, yes! Should anyone bitten by the snake look upon it be healed, yes! God never told them to bow to the brazen serpent, God never told them to pray nor design prayers to them, God never also told them to make altars or prayers with them. By the way, the brazen serpent was made on God's instruction, Moses never woke up and thought it to a good thing to design an image or a brazen serpent rather. The brazen serpent was made STRICTLY on God's instruction. On whose instructions were those images you use designed?
At the wedding in Cana, Mary the mother of Jesus begged Jesus to help the cuple wedding, that they were running out of wine, Jesus actually did that but I want to draw you back to what Mary the mother of Jesus said to the servants serving a the wedding before she left..... John 2:5 His mother said unto the servants, whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. Mary was actually telling the servants that she cant do anything with regards to their need at that point in time, the only person that could help them was Jesus!
There is only one mediator between us and the father, and that is Jesus, none other. Jesus is the only way.... There is no other means to the father except Jesus.
Believe me if I tell that I was a Catholic for 20 years, wallowing in false doctrine and human logic. I can boast here on Nairaland that no one knows the Catholic doctrine more than I do. I studied it, lived it, baptised in it, communioned in it, confirmed in it, bread and buttered in it, and received awards as a faithful scholar and teacher of the Catholic doctrine, until when I went down to the roots, started afresh and God showed me the truth I never wanted to accept. Thank God Christ Jesus!
I do not have time to enter deeply into this, if you the poster should get to study the Catholic Church, its doctrine..... Infact everything about it, get to know the truth, I tell you that you will..........
I am not saying that the Catholic Church in itself is evil, NO! All I am saying is that some of their doctrines should not be practiced by anyone who actually is a Christian. Have you done any studies on buddhism, hiduism and other pagan religions of the world ?
I cant actually say I am a protestant, NO I am not a protestant, I am a Christian saved by God's grace and mercy. Till today my parents are Catholics, my siblings are all Catholics, my relations both maternal and paternal are all Catholics, even my community is 90 percent Catholic except me. Thank God for Jesus! I am not trying to claim anything here please, try to understand that I do not hete the Catholic Church nor Catholics, I wish people will get to know the truth. You cant imagine the rate of hatred and insult I got from my family when I declared Christianity, my family hated me so much just for that singular reason, but they failed cos they saw that the change that brought to my soul when I declared Christian is spiritual, and as such came with many spiritual gifts and blessings.
I wish I could have time and enough space to discuss this, but I believe that a word is enough for the wise.
God bless you!
Be rapturable because that is the greatest message not pagan idols and biased religions.
Once again, God bless you!

thank you so much my brother, you just said my mind whoever does not want to listen will have himself to blame on the last day, i just pity mary bc catholics have turned her to God, in all their prayers all i hear is mary do dis mary do that without recourse to God himself or even jesus his son, so many idols in the name of prayer thereby putting no heed to the 10 commandments. (Father forgive them for they know not what they do...

magaux:
thank you so much my brother, you just said my mind whoever does not want to listen will have himself to blame on the last day, i just pity mary bc catholics have turned her to God, in all their prayers all i hear is mary do dis mary do that without recourse to God himself or even jesus his son, so many idols in the name of prayer thereby putting no heed to the 10 commandments. (Father forgive them for they know not what they do...

Catholics will always have a relationship with the Blessed Virgin Mary just as protestants would never comprehend it and it would remain like that till Christ comes again. If anyone feels Catholic are [b]idol worshippers [/b]they should show their Christian charity by praying for them, committing them God and face their own personal journey as we are equally pilgrims because this same topic will be on in the next 100 yrs and by that time both of us would have our eyes closed in death.

catholics worships semiramis,an ancient moon goddess,d mother and d wife of nimrod,d sun god,d founder of ancient babylon. dis old practice was infiltrated into the christian church during the 4th century and semiramis became mary,d mother of d sun god
dey gave birth a son and they named him tummuz,which is now jesus
the catholic church is an evil church
to know more about dem please contact me at
i am willing to share d true gospel to you
we need jesus and him alone and nobody else
prince4real16@gmail.com
thanks and God bless u

nicepick02:
catholics worships semiramis,an ancient moon goddess,d mother and d wife of nimrod,d sun god,d founder of ancient babylon. dis old practice was infiltrated into the christian church during the 4th century and semiramis became mary,d mother of d sun god
dey gave birth a son and they named him tummuz,which is now jesus
the catholic church is an evil church
to know more about dem please contact me at
i am willing to share d true gospel to you
we need jesus and him alone and nobody else
prince4real16@gmail.com
thanks and God bless u

I hope your purity does not make you use services/things made by Catholics, the phones you are using are probably made by some Asians who do not believe in the existence of the true gospel. how do you get to live with that?

Please, in God's name I want to plead with my Catholic brethren to please ignore all those who are bent to provoke, through their acts.Catholics should please stop arguing with non Catholics, for they will never understand,for this platform here is certainly not were issues of this magnitude should be discussed.Glory to Jesus, and honour to our blessed Mother Mary....!

my church is not Catholic, but truly I believe in their doctrines...n I don't see anything wrong with that,even God said we shouldn't judge,who r u pple to judge other people's doctrines?show me where in the bible that God forbids the use of statues as a religious worship?

As a Christian and one who is committed to the propagation of truth , I must register here that the major problem with Christianity is the effort of many to beat some Bible teachings to the extreme, or add their own human doctrines to fill their self observed lacuna, or interpret the Bible as per what should be and not what it really is.
This is common with a number of denominations and teachers/pastors/priests in many denominations.
However, any little shift from the biblical demands irrespective of our human rationalization is a spiritual error. Accept it or not, God is very emphatic on the way He wants to be worshipped, both in the time of old (old covenant) and under the new covenant.
Whether Catholic worship Mary or not is not more an issue. I can't condemn anybody (since I know the power of grace) but biblical truth I must always unmask.
1. Yes, God abhors the use of images for the purpose of worship, and bowing to them. Unless & except expressly commanded, there is no exception to this, albeit the purpose we attach (to honour, for remembrance etc). He knows the heart of man, and that man always looks for something physical to offer allegiance to. That is why He doesn't manifest through one particular medium, so that people won't start worshipping that medium, thinking that in it is God. Remember that the bronze serpent was destroyed by Hezekiah when people started worshipping it. The time has come when we have to worship Him as he truly is. We worship in truth and in spirit. We need no mountain nor Temple nor sculpted image nor any material article. He has shed His Spirit on us to actualize the new covenant consummated by Christ.
2. We have only one mediator, Christ. However, we have a helper who resides within us always. He was sent to us to teach us, guide us, help us and to pray/intercede to/with the father as we know not what to pray for. He is the Holy Spirit.
We can only pray to the father through Christ alone. The Holy Spirit is there to help us in areas of infirmities and weaknesses. No other person, the saints and angels alike, can do this. Anything outside this is a spiritual tangent and is harmful.
Our problem is that because of our human reasoning, we feel Christ is like an emperor that we need his servants, mother or wife to penetrate. No! Actually, Christ is the servant. He was brought down that we may be elevated. He was made sin that we be set free. He beckons on us who are burden to come. He wants us to cast all our cares and concerns upon him.

NB: Some of the doctrines of some churches are built upon one's personal and subjective ethereal visitation, apparition, vision etc which can neither be verified nor substantiated, but are not well rooted in the Word. Let us be careful, most doctrinal errors have elements of truth that makes them believable. Satan can disguise as the angel of light and can even deceive unwary elect of God.

who wrote the bible ,who are the origination of christianity ,who has keep christianity for you and i to talk about being a member today,your touch light discovery of today can not be as bright as the catholic fluorescent tub of decades , you want to be at the tip of a tree and see as your elder who is at the roots?,

(Peter's trace is the Pope of today).

Peritus:
As a Christian and one who is committed to the propagation of truth , I must register here that the major problem with Christianity is the effort of many to beat some Bible teachings to the extreme, or add their own human doctrines to fill their self observed lacuna, or interpret the Bible as per what should be and not what it really is.
This is common with a number of denominations and teachers/pastors/priests in many denominations.
However, any little shift from the biblical demands irrespective of our human rationalization is a spiritual error. Accept it or not, God is very emphatic on the way He wants to be worshipped, both in the time of old (old covenant) and under the new covenant.
Whether Catholic worship Mary or not is not more an issue. I can't condemn anybody (since I know the power of grace) but biblical truth I must always unmask.
1. Yes, God abhors the use of images for the purpose of worship, and bowing to them. Unless & except expressly commanded, there is no exception to this, albeit the purpose we attach (to honour, for remembrance etc). He knows the heart of man, and that man always looks for something physical to offer allegiance to. That is why He doesn't manifest through one particular medium, so that people won't start worshipping that medium, thinking that in it is God. Remember that the bronze serpent was destroyed by Hezekiah when people started worshipping it. The time has come when we have to worship Him as he truly is. We worship in truth and in spirit. We need no mountain nor Temple nor sculpted image nor any material article. He has shed His Spirit on us to actualize the new covenant consummated by Christ.
2. We have only one mediator, Christ. However, we have a helper who resides within us always. He was sent to us to teach us, guide us, help us and to pray/intercede to/with the father as we know not what to pray for. He is the Holy Spirit.
We can only pray to the father through Christ alone. The Holy Spirit is there to help us in areas of infirmities and weaknesses. No other person, the saints and angels alike, can do this. Anything outside this is a spiritual tangent and is harmful.
Our problem is that because of our human reasoning, we feel Christ is like an emperor that we need his servants, mother or wife to penetrate. No! Actually, Christ is the servant. He was brought down that we may be elevated. He was made sin that we be set free. He beckons on us who are burden to come. He wants us to cast all our cares and concerns upon him.

NB: Some of the doctrines of some churches are built upon one's personal and subjective ethereal visitation, apparition, vision etc which can neither be verified nor substantiated, but are not well rooted in the Word. Let us be careful, most doctrinal errors have elements of truth that makes them believable. Satan can disguise as the angel of light and can even deceive unwary elect of God.

God bless you for the Truth

anthonypeters:
so I honour my father by making an image that I 'feel' looks like him? I honur my mother by making her image and then bowing and praying before her image right? It is such a pity when people fool themselves. People now want to give God a shape and a form aaaaah! God have mercy!
I do not know whether you have ever came across where Jesus said, I am the way the truth, and the life, NO ONE COMETH UNTO THE FATHER BUT BY ME...... John 14.6. Jesus never said some people will come through me while others will come throguh Peter, others can as well choose to come through Mary, some might as well choose Maria. No one cometh unto the father but by me. The word of God is clear, human philosophy and logic does not explain it, The word of God standeth sure, it never fades, it does not change with the course of time.
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down theyself to them........... Exodus 20:4-5. God instructed Moses to make the serpent, yes! Should anyone bitten by the snake look upon it be healed, yes! God never told them to bow to the brazen serpent, God never told them to pray nor design prayers to them, God never also told them to make altars or prayers with them. By the way, the brazen serpent was made on God's instruction, Moses never woke up and thought it to a good thing to design an image or a brazen serpent rather. The brazen serpent was made STRICTLY on God's instruction. On whose instructions were those images you use designed?
At the wedding in Cana, Mary the mother of Jesus begged Jesus to help the cuple wedding, that they were running out of wine, Jesus actually did that but I want to draw you back to what Mary the mother of Jesus said to the servants serving a the wedding before she left..... John 2:5 His mother said unto the servants, whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. Mary was actually telling the servants that she cant do anything with regards to their need at that point in time, the only person that could help them was Jesus!
There is only one mediator between us and the father, and that is Jesus, none other. Jesus is the only way.... There is no other means to the father except Jesus.
Believe me if I tell that I was a Catholic for 20 years, wallowing in false doctrine and human logic. I can boast here on Nairaland that no one knows the Catholic doctrine more than I do. I studied it, lived it, baptised in it, communioned in it, confirmed in it, bread and buttered in it, and received awards as a faithful scholar and teacher of the Catholic doctrine, until when I went down to the roots, started afresh and God showed me the truth I never wanted to accept. Thank God Christ Jesus!
I do not have time to enter deeply into this, if you the poster should get to study the Catholic Church, its doctrine..... Infact everything about it, get to know the truth, I tell you that you will..........
I am not saying that the Catholic Church in itself is evil, NO! All I am saying is that some of their doctrines should not be practiced by anyone who actually is a Christian. Have you done any studies on buddhism, hiduism and other pagan religions of the world ?
I cant actually say I am a protestant, NO I am not a protestant, I am a Christian saved by God's grace and mercy. Till today my parents are Catholics, my siblings are all Catholics, my relations both maternal and paternal are all Catholics, even my community is 90 percent Catholic except me. Thank God for Jesus! I am not trying to claim anything here please, try to understand that I do not hete the Catholic Church nor Catholics, I wish people will get to know the truth. You cant imagine the rate of hatred and insult I got from my family when I declared Christianity, my family hated me so much just for that singular reason, but they failed cos they saw that the change that brought to my soul when I declared Christian is spiritual, and as such came with many spiritual gifts and blessings.
I wish I could have time and enough space to discuss this, but I believe that a word is enough for the wise.
God bless you!
Be rapturable because that is the greatest message not pagan idols and biased religions.
Once again, God bless you!

Any body that wants to worship God must begin from the root.

God's commandment is very clear and can never be interpreted in another form.

God is a spirit and we must worship him in spirit and in truth, not by the use of images.

Exodus 20 : 4 explained it all.

Do not make for your self any graven image of any kind, not even in the likeness of anything in heaven.

So, no matter how the Catholic Church justifys it, they're practicing idolatry. This is just the fact, no matter how you put it.

I'm a Catholic, all the teachings you see in the Catholic are all about doctrine and not what the Bible says.

When I started to read the Bible on my own, that was when I discovered the truth.

The Catholic Church only use bulletins and you'll be limited to what is written in the bulletin.

What they use to defend their self is that God told Moses to make a bronze serpent.

Now, let me clear this.

In Numbers 21 vs 8, God instructed Moses to make a brozen serpent. God gave the instruction and He never told them to bow, pray to it or worship it.

In Deuteronomy 4 : 23 - 24, it says. Be careful not to forget the covenant of the Lord your God that He had made with you. Do not make for your self an idol in the form of anything.

The reason for reminding them of this is because some people will take advantage of What God said to Moses to make a graven image for their self.

The Catholics like what they see and not the spiritual aspect.

My mind and spirit is no longer in the Catholic Church because all their teachings are full of doctrine and not what the Bible teaches.

Even their rosary is a prayer completely dedicated to Mary, yet they claim that they don't worship her.

90% of the prayers in the Catholic Church are completely dedicated to Mary, even their books are all about Mary and how to be in Devotion to her.