The Catholic Question

"My hope is built on nothing less,
Than Jesus' blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus' name"
--EDWARD MOTE

Many Catholics don't even know why they are that denomination, often because they were born into it or married into it.  Protestants stand united in the gospel message, which Martin Luther had revived, that it was by faith that a man is accepted by God.  Faith alone or sola fide became the rallying cry or the battle cry and the Counter-Reformation at the Council of Trent, 1545-1563 pronounced anathema on anyone who adhered to such "heresy" that wasn't "biblical."

Catholics had distorted the gospel to the max: by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, with Scripture alone as the authority, so that all the glory goes to God alone!  What they did was add merit to grace, works to faith, and the church and clergy to Christ, and even tradition to Scripture. Jesus condemned the tradition of man in Matt. 15 and Mark 7, and tradition is only appropriate when concordant with Scripture.  We are saved by grace through faith, and not by works per Eph. 2:8-9. Christians do works as a "therefore," not an "in order to."  In sum, I say:  "Look for Scriptural warrant or precedent, not for tradition."  Contention arose from the so-called "Counter-Reformation" that gave tradition equal authority as Scripture--Protestants affirm the Bible as the guide and rule of faith.

Religion says "do," while Christianity says "done."  We are not to become rules-obsessed like the Pharisees and know a code or a creed, we are to know a person!  Paul pronounced anathema anyone who preaches another gospel in Gal. 1:6-9 and this is the danger, not in praying the Rosary, or invoking saints, but in spreading a false gospel which is damnable; however, be at ease, Catholics can be saved, if they call upon the name of the Lord in faith in repentance; so put aside all apprehension that I'm trying to condemn them all; at worst, they are ignorant of the Word and are living defeated lives because of it. 

Caveat:  In determining truth, it's paramount to realize that Christianity isn't true because it works (yoga and TM work!), but Christianity works because it's true the converse!  You cannot say, "It works for me," without defeating the purpose of Christ, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life and that these are absolute, not relative to your experiences or situations.

I don't care if you believe in the Fairy Godmother, Easter bunny, Santa Claus, Prince Charming, mermaids, dragons, the abominable snowman (Sasquatch), leprechauns, aliens, ghosts, haunted houses, Halloween, unicorns, knights in shining armor, the Loch Ness monster, cavemen, Cinderella, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Mother Nature, or the Tooth Fairy; those are not damnable though implausible beliefs.  Many of Catholic traditions, such as believing in the Apocrypha are not damnable per se, but just "extra-biblical," rather than "anti-biblical."  You must get this right to become a Christian (cf. Matt. 16:15; 2 John 9):  Who is Jesus Christ?  He is God in the flesh, or you're not a believer and unsaved. Technically, Catholics are Christians, because they know Jesus, but there is so much baggage that it is hard to get to the meat of the Word in that church, and many who find the Lord do leave it for more evangelical churches.

Praying the Rosary, invoking saints, and other religiosity may not be prohibited in the Word, but there are sins of omission as well and these are often mutually exclusive and when you know the Lord, you pray intimately with him and not by rote or in a perfunctory manner, or even to show religiosity as the Pharisees did.  Our prayer life is to be kept in our prayer closet and not "advertised" or promoted, for then we will have our reward--the approbation of man and his praise.

Unfortunately, many Protestants today have come full circle, in that they no longer read the Bible, but rely on their church to tell them what to believe rather than be like the believing Jews in Berea, who searched the Scriptures out in order to see if the things Paul said were so.  This is what Protestants were objecting to:  the authority of the Pope and clergy.  Martin Luther proclaimed:  I dissent, I disagree, I protest!  Hence we are known as Protestants.  

Here's an example of Protestants coming full circle:  "I don't read the Bible or believe in its authority anymore for the ultimate authority and arbiter of truth!"  Q: "How do you know what God's will is and learn about God?"  "I listen to the preacher!"  Q: "How do you know what to believe?"  "He agrees with me!"  Q: "And whom do you agree with?"  "I agree with him--we both believe the same thing!"  Soli Deo Gloria!