Catholic Church Teachings

I would like to question some of the teachings of the Catholic Church to see if the Bible scripture has any basis for what is taught. The only problem that I can foresee is that the Catholic Church believes that no matter what is written in the Bible, the Church has the authority to interpret it as they wish. This position they take is based upon the authority that Jesus gave to the Apostle Peter. Jesus told Peter that whatever he bound on Earth had the approval of Heaven. Then comes the Catholic Church and says that Peter was the first Bishop of Rome and the first Pope and whatever authority that Peter was given is passed along to the Popes that followed him.


Now how can you possibly fight that without disproving their claim that Peter was the first Pope? There exists absolutely no hard evidence at all that anyone can prove or disprove that Peter was the first Pope. So, if the Catholic Church chooses to use that as a basis for their right and authority to develop their interpretations of scripture and set forth the Churches teaching from it, who in the World can oppose that premise without any proof.


There is though one thing that must be considered concerning the Apostle Peter’s Ministry. Jesus gave Peter the authority to open the access of the Gospel to the Gentile Nations, but it was not he that was commissioned to preach the gospel to the Gentile Nations, it was the Apostle Paul. When we look at the scripture of Galatians 2:7-8 we see that the Lord commissioned Peter to be an apostle to the Jews and Paul to the Gentiles.

Gal 2:7-8  But contrariwise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me (Paul), as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter;  (For he that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me (Paul) toward the Gentiles:)

Considering this fact spelled out in scripture, it becomes more obvious that Paul was over the Gentile Church in Rome since the Bible tells us that Paul did journey to Rome, but there is no real evidence that Peter ever journeyed to Rome.

Those of us who accept the Bible as the guidelines for our lives and our salvation as being what God revealed to mankind has the choice to interpret the scriptures as we see fit or to accept the scriptures as being the only truth that exists. Somewhere there is only one truth and every man has to decide for himself what he is going to accept as that truth. If a man is persuaded to be a Catholic in his belief, he must accept what the Catholic Church teaches. If anyone does this then they must realize that their soul has been put in the hands of the Catholic Church. Every person has the choice to make to insure that salvation is in their future. If you want the Church to be responsible, then by all means accept all that they teach. If you have any doubt in what you are being taught by the Church, then by all means search for the absolute truth elsewhere.

Take for instance the doctrine of the Trinity. The Catholic Church as well as some other Churches teach that the Godhead consists of three persons. They teach that the Father is one person, the Son is one person and the Holy Spirit is one person. God is in three persons and these three persons make up one God.


The only problem that I have is recognizing the difference between the Father and the Holy Spirit. When I look at the conception of Jesus, I see that the Holy Spirit overshadowed the virgin Mary and caused the conception of Jesus. Then the Angel said that the child she was to conceive would be the Son of God. Why wasn’t the child called the Son of the Holy Spirit instead of the Son of God since it was the Holy Spirit that caused Mary to conceive? The answer is quite obvious. The Holy Spirit and God the Father are one in the same person. If this is correct then there is no Trinity associated with the Godhead.


To look at this dilemma from another perspective, let us examine a couple of other scriptures that might shed some light on this. Matthew 3:16 says that when Jesus was baptized the Holy Spirit came upon Him from Heaven and according to John the Baptist Jesus received the Spirit without measure. In other words, Jesus was completely filled with the Holy Spirit. In another place in the scripture Jesus made the statement that the miracles that occurred in His ministry were not done by Him, but were done by the Father who was in Him. In Jesus’ words recorded in John 14:10 Jesus said: “it is the Father in me that does the works”. So if the Holy Spirit is in Jesus and the Father is also, Then, both the Father and the Holy Spirit are one and the same person, not two persons. So what happened to the Trinity? There is no trinity!


Now I just want to make a comment about what is said in a certain chant or reading that is done in the Catholic Church. The one saying: “Holy Mary mother of God”. The Bible tells us that God is a Spirit. Spirits do not have mothers. This is probably a result of the Trinity belief again saying that God is in the Son and so, Mary must be the mother of God. Jesus made it clear throughout the New Testament that He was the Son of God and not God. Throughout the Bible God makes it clear that there is only one God and His name is Jehovah. Jehovah shares that position with no other person, not even His Son. So even though Mary gave birth to the Son of God, she is not the Mother of God.


The Catholic Church is not by itself by teaching these non biblical beliefs; many other Churches do the same thing. This is what happens when the Church leaders make their own interpretations of Biblical scriptures instead of staying with what the scriptures actually say. Every Church that I know teaches something that is contrary to Bible scripture. For the most part it is one or two doctrines that do not agree with the original scriptures. But, as with the Catholic Church there are many teachings that do not fully agree with scripture. Some of these teachings are; the intercessory prayer to certain saints, confession to priests who have no authority from Heaven to forgive sins, the existence of Purgatory not mentioned anywhere in scripture and penance.


My friends who are in the Catholic Church, it’s your choice whether to believe the teachings of the Church or to believe what the Bible says. If you look close enough, you’ll see that they are not the same. As for me, I’ll put my trust in what the Bible says without accepting any man’s interpretation.


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