The Roman Catholic Church claims to have
started in Matthew 16:18 when Christ
supposedly appointed Peter as the first Pope.
However, the honest and objective student of
the Scriptures and history soon discovers that
the foundation of the Roman church is none
other than the pagan mystery religion of
ancient Babylon.


While enduring the early persecutions of the
Roman government (65-300 A.D.), most of
professing Christianity went through a gradual
departure from New Testament doctrine
concerning church government, worship and
practice. Local churches ceased to be
autonomous by giving way to the control of
"bishops" ruling over hierarchies. The simple
form of worship from the heart was replaced
with the rituals and splendor of paganism.
Ministers became "priests," and pagans
became "Christians" by simply being sprinkled
with water. This tolerance of an unregenerate
membership only made things worse.
SPRINKLED PAGANISM is about the best
definition for Roman Catholicism.


The Roman Emperor Constantine established
himself as the head of the church around 313
A.D., which made this new "Christianity" the
official religion of the Roman Empire. The first
actual Pope in Rome was probably Leo I
(440-461 A.D.), although some claim that
Gregory I was the first (590-604 A.D.). This
ungodly system eventually ushered in the
darkest period of history known to man,
properly known as the "Dark Ages" (500-1500
A.D.). Through popes, bishops, and priests,
Satan ruled Europe, and Biblical Christianity
became illegal.


Throughout all of this, however, there remained
individual groups of true Christians, such as
the Waldensens and the Anabaptists who
would not conform to the Roman system.


THE PAPACY AND PRIESTHOOD


In the Bible there are no popes or priests to
rule over the church. Jesus Christ is our High
Priest (Heb. 3:1; 4:14-15; 5:5; 8:1; 9:11), and
all true Christians make up a spiritual
priesthood (I Pet. 2:5). Jesus Christ has
sanctified all Christians who believe on Him
(Heb. 10:10-11), so all priests today are
unnecessary and unscriptural. Furthermore, the
practice of calling a priest "father" is forbidden
by Jesus Christ in Matthew 23:9. There is only
ONE mediator between God and men (I Tim.
2:5).

The Catholic church teaches that Peter was
the first Pope and the earthly head of the
church, but the Bible never says this once. In
fact, it was Peter himself who spoke against
"being lords over God's heritage" in I Peter 5:3.
Popes do not marry, although Peter did (Mat.
8:14; I Cor. 9:5). The Bible never speaks of
Peter being in Rome, and it was Paul, not
Peter, who wrote the epistle to the Romans. In
the New Testament, Paul wrote 100 chapters
with 2,325 verses, while Peter wrote only 8
chapters with 166 verses. In Peter's first
epistle he stated that he was simply "an
apostle of Jesus Christ," not a Pope (I Pet.
1:1). The Roman papacy and priesthood is just
a huge fraud to keep members in bondage to a
corrupt pagan church.


WORSHIP OF MARY


Roman Catholics believe that Mary, the mother
of Jesus, remained a virgin after the birth of
Jesus and was sinless all of her life. She is
worshiped in the Catholic church as the
"Mother of God" and the "Queen of Heaven."
St. Bernard stated that she was crowned
"Queen of Heaven" by God the Father, and that
she currently sits upon a throne in Heaven
making intercession for Christians.

The Bible teaches otherwise. In the Bible, Mary
was a sinner just like the rest of us. She said
herself that she needed a "Saviour" (Lk. 1:47),
and she even had to offer a sacrifice for her
sins in Luke 2:24. Jesus was only her
"firstborn" son, according to Matthew 1:25,
because she later had other children as well
(Mt. 13:55; Gal. 1:19; Psa. 69:. There's only
ONE mediator between God and men, and it
isn't Mary (I Tim. 2:5). The last time we hear
from Mary in the Bible she is praying WITH the
disciples, not being prayed to BY the disciples
(Acts 1:14). The Bible never exalts Mary above
anyone else. Neither should we.


PURGATORY

The Catholic Church teaches that a Christian's
soul must burn in purgatory after death until
all of their sins have been purged. To speed up
the purging process, money may be paid to a
priest so he can pray and have special masses
for an earlier release.

This heresy began creeping into the Roman
Church during the reign of Pope Gregory
around the end of the sixth century, and it has
no scriptural support. In fact, Jesus warned us
about this pagan practice in Matthew 23:14
when He spoke of those who devoured widows
houses and made long prayers for a pretence.
Psalm 49:6-7 tells us that a person couldn't
redeem a loved one, even if such a place did
exist: "They that trust in their wealth, and
boast themselves in the multitude of their
riches; None of them can by any means
redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom
for him:"

Peter addresses this issue in Acts 8:20 when
he says, "Thy money perish with thee, because
thou hast thought that the gift of God may be
purchased with money." God's word is clearly
against the doctrine of purgatory.

THE MASS

By perverting the Christian practice of the
Lord's Supper (Mat. 26:26-28; I Cor.
11:23-27), the Catholic Church has created the
Mass, which they believe to be a continual
sacrifice of Jesus Christ:

"Christ...commanded that his bloody sacrifice
on the Cross should be daily renewed by an
unbloody sacrifice of his body and blood in the
Mass under the simple elements of bread and
wine." (The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 10, Pg.
13, Article: "Mass, Sacrifice of"

Jesus never made such a command. If you'll
check the above references in Matthew 26 and
I Corinthians 11, you'll see for yourself that the
Lord's Supper is a MEMORIAL and a SHOWING
of Christ's death until He comes again. It is
not a sacrifice. The Catholic Encyclopedia
states the following:

"In the celebration of the Holy Mass, the bread
and wine are changed into the body and blood
of Christ. It is called transubstantiation, for in
the Sacrament of the Eucharist the substance
of bread and wine do not remain, but the
entire substance of bread is changed into the
body of Christ, and the entire substance of
wine is changed into his blood, the species or
outward semblence of bread and wine alone
remaining." (Vol. 4, pg. 277, Article:
"Consecration"

The Catholic Church teaches that the "Holy
Mass" is a LITERAL EATING AND DRINKING OF
THE LITERAL FLESH AND BLOOD OF JESUS
CHRIST. The priest supposedly has the power
to change the bread and wine into the body
and blood of Christ.

Now, what does God's word say about such
practices? If you'll read Genesis 9:4, Leviticus
17:11-12, and Acts 15:29, you will find that
God absolutely FORBIDS the drinking of blood
all through the Bible.

Rome teaches that the Mass is a continual
"sacrifice" of Jesus Christ, but God's word
states that Jesus made the FINAL sacrifice on
Calvary! This is made perfectly clear in
Hebrews 10:10-12:

"By the which will we are sanctified through
the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once
for all. And every priest standeth daily
ministering and offering oftentimes the same
sacrifices, which can never take away sins: But
this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for
sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of
God."
The mass is unnecessary and unscriptural.

IMAGE WORSHIP


The Catholic religion is filled with all sorts of
symbols, images, and relics. The Catechism of
the Council of Trent states these words:

"It is lawful to have images in the Church, and
to give honor and worship unto them..."


It's lawful to honor and worship images? Not
according to God's word. Exodus 20:4-5 says,
"Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven
image, or any likeness of any thing 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 thyself to them, nor serve
them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous
God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon
the children unto the third and fourth
generation of them that hate me." Image
worship is unscriptural and will end with the
eternal damnation of those who practice it
(Rev. 14:11).

SALVATION BY WORKS

Through infant baptism, keeping sacraments,
church membership, going to mass, praying to
Mary, and confession (just to mention a few),
the Catholic church has developed a system of
salvation through WORKS. God's word says
that we are saved by grace through faith in
Jesus Christ, not through works:

"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and
that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not
of works, lest any man should boast." (Eph.
2:8-9)

"But to him that worketh not, but believeth on
him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is
counted for righteousness." (Romans 4:5)

Jesus Christ came into this world to lay down
His sinless life for YOU--to pay for your sins,
because you couldn't. Jesus is your only hope
for salvation. Only by receiving Him as your
Saviour can you enter the gates of Heaven.
There is no other way.

"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth,
and the life: no man cometh unto the Father
but by me." (John 14:6)

The Lord Jesus Christ has come and PAID for
your sins by shedding His own Blood on
Calvary. By receiving Him as your Saviour, you
can be WASHED from all your sins in His
precious Blood (Rev. 1:5; Col. 1:14; Acts
20:28; I Pet. 1:18-19). Notice these important
words from Romans 5:8-9:

"But God commendeth his love toward us, in
that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for
us. Much more then, being now justified by his
blood, we shall be saved from wrath through
him."
Jesus PAID your way to Heaven for you! By
receiving Him as your Saviour, you will be
receiving God's ONLY means of Salvation for
you. Are you willing to forsake YOUR
righteousness and receive Jesus Christ as your
Saviour, your ONLY HOPE for Salvation?
Romans 10:13 says, "Whosoever shall call
upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."
Romans 10:9 says, "That if thou shalt confess
with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt
believe in thine heart that God hath raised him
from the dead, thou shalt be saved." Are you
willing to forsake your own righteousness, and
trust Jesus Christ alone? He will save you just
as He promised. Why not receive Him today
and trust Him to give you a better way of life?


James L. Melton ( 1998)

dear lord, all the energy that was put into typing all this, and to what aim?

Christianity and confusion are like that popular Zuma pics... And they claim they have the same holy spirit...

this is one reason why I drive joy in being an unbeliever.
everyone is claiming that his own doctrine is the right one.

when everyone is talking no one is talking.
when everything is right at the same time, it means none of them is right.

the only religion that can be universally accepted is love humanity.

you religious people can go and argue about who's right and who is Wrong until you discover that all of you are wrong.

Catholics knows all you just said except the ignorant ones, but can do nothing about it.