Many people remain unsure about Roman Catholics. Are they Christians with a few wrong ideas or have they been fatally deceived about salvation? Because our ministry has a wonderful book available to help people learn the truth about the main area of disagreement between Protestants and Catholics—Mary—its contents has been viciously attacked by some. Below is one such critical and condemning appraisal by an upset Catholic. These objections are somewhat typical and the best answers many Catholics can give. Afterwards are my comments. (The book being criticized is: Is This The Mary of the Bible?):
This book is incredibly inaccurate in it's portrayal of the Roman Catholic Church's position on Mary. To claim that Catholics hold Mary as a “goddess” is simply a lie. Look in the Catechism!!! Besides all this, to put the “Biblical Mary” against the “Roman Mary” is ridiculous! The Catholic Church put the Bible together!! Before 395 AD, there was NO bible!! All we had was the Traditions of the Apostles which have been handed down through 2000 years. “The pillar and foundation of Truth is the Church” -Timothy 3:16. Not the Bible! The CHURCH. Read the early Church Fathers. They were all undeniably Catholic. Now I ask you...who are you going to believe? A bunch of men who lived 1500 years after Christ, or those men who actually knew the apostles? In short, this book does no justice at all to Catholic beliefs.
Objection 1:
This book is incredibly inaccurate in it's portrayal of the Roman Catholic Church's position on Mary. To claim that Catholics hold Mary as a “goddess” is simply a lie. Look in the Catechism!!!
Comment: Nowhere in our book is it stated that Catholics believe Mary is a goddess. Hence, our book is misrepresented and I am falsely charged with something I never wrote. The truth is, Catholics often distort what we are saying because they can't refute the arguments. Our book only cites the word goddess one time and that is on page 23 where it is stated:
The only Queen of Heaven mentioned in the Bible was a pagan, female goddess that the Israelites got in trouble with God over.
Furthermore, the Catholic Catechism is frequently quoted in our book among other authoritative sources! Hence, we accurately portray Catholicism and then refute it with Scripture.
Objection 2:
Besides all this, to put the “Biblical Mary” against the “Roman Mary” is ridiculous!
Comment: It is not ridiculous to teach the Mary of the Bible is different from the Mary of Catholicism. They are totally dissimilar with major discrepancies. The non-existent Mary of Catholicism is the sinless Queen of Heaven, who is co-redeemer, our life, sweetness, hope, the way to God, prayed to and trusted for deliverance and salvation. Furthermore, she uniquely has the exalted role of mediatrix and dispenser of all grace. The real Mary of the Bible is none of these things and has absolutely no role in our salvation.
Objection 3:
The Catholic Church put the Bible together!! Before 395 AD, there was NO bible!! All we had was the Traditions of the Apostles which have been handed down through 2000 years. “The pillar and foundation of Truth is the Church” -Timothy 3:16. Not the Bible! The CHURCH. Read the early Church Fathers. They were all undeniably Catholic. Now I ask you...who are you going to believe? A bunch of men who lived 1500 years after Christ, or those men who actually knew the apostles? In short, this book does no justice at all to Catholic beliefs.
Comment: The Catholic church did not put the Bible together. The Jews wrote the Old Testament (rejecting the Apocrypha as inspired) and the New Testament was written by Christians much like some Protestants of our day. The 27 books that would be included in the New Testament were officially designated and set apart from spurious writings, but that does not mean they finally became authoritative at that point. They were already authoritative. Moreover, the people at Hippo and Carthage were not like the Catholic people of our day. This is very easy to prove since many present-day practices such as reciting the rosary, wearing the brown scapular and the miraculous metal didn't even exist in that time. These were added much later to the Catholic system.
It is fallacious to say all the early church had before the official New Testament was the Traditions of the Apostles. They had the whole Old Testament as well as the books that would later be considered the New Testament. Hence, Christians living in 150 AD had access to the same books of the Bible we have today.
The so-called Sacred “Traditions” in the Catholic church that are exalted to a par with the Bible can't be from God, since they contradict the Bible. For example: The Rosary tradition is a violation of the Scripture given at Mt. 6:6,7:
But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.
(The Rosary reciters pray, in part, to Mary and then use repetitious prayers. It is a sin to pray this way, according to the Lord Jesus.)
While it is true that the pillar and foundation of truth is the church, the church is not an organized religious system such as we might know today. The church, according to the Bible, consists of all true Bible-defined Christians. Hence, each individual Christian is to represent and guard the truth of the Bible. 1 Tim. 3:15 is not support for the Roman Catholic Institution being the pillar and foundation of truth nor Sacred Tradition being equal to Scripture, especially as defined by Roman Catholicism.
The man of God is thoroughly equipped for every good work with the Scriptures alone. That includes teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness (2 Tim 3:16,17). If you think the Scriptures alone are inadequate then you must not be a man of God.
The so-called early church fathers embraced both true and false doctrine. One glaring example was Origen. To think those people were 100% sound is to show yourself unfamiliar with their writings and/or the New Testament.
Our book, Is This The Mary of the Bible?, cites Catholic sources and Scripture for evidence not the Reformers, etc. To say it does no justice at all to Catholic beliefs is also untrue. What our book does is expose and disprove the Mary of Catholicism as defined by Catholic sources. It is a heart blow to Catholicism since their Mary is at the center of their theology. Our book, in Christian love and concern for eternal souls, accurately represents Catholicism on Mary, then refutes those false and dangerous concepts which hinder many from finding salvation.
I continue to desire to debate any qualified Catholic about Mary's role in salvation.
To order our book, Is This The Mary of the Bible? click Evangelical Books. This book could help your Catholic friends come to true salvation, which is only found in the Lord Jesus. GOD BLESS YOU.
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