Catholicism has existed for centuries•Well-established traditions•Hundreds of millions of adherents•Wealth and power•Not right

When examined by God’s word – perversion of the truth

•Deceitful•Dangerous•Damning

Luke 1:34, “These words can hardly be understood, unless we assume Mary had made a vow of virginity…”“the child Mary in the Temple when she was three years old; that the child herself mounted the Temple steps, and that she made her vow of virginity on this occasion…” CE

Truth•No vow, Lk. 1:34•Nothing about Mary’s childhood in Bible•Three-year old taking a vow?•Context: pregnant without knowing a man, Lk. 1:30-34•Why get married if vow of virginity,Lk. 2:4, 5

“Mary remained a virgin when she conceived and gave birth to her Divine Son, as well as after the birth of Jesus.”“As to Mary’s virginity after her childbirth, it is not denied by St. Matthew’s expressions…(1:18)…(1:25), nor by the fact that the New Testament books repeatedly refer to the ‘brothers of Jesus.’” CE

“…the ‘brothers of Jesus’ are neither the sons of Mary, nor the brothers of Our Lord in the proper sense of the word, but they are His cousins or the more or less near relatives.” CE

Truth•“before they came together,” Mt. 1:18•“did not know her till…,” Mt. 1:25•“a brother, born of the same two parents or only of the same father or mother,” Mt. 13:55•Sisters, mother, father, Mt. 13:56; 12:46; Mk. 3:31; Lk. 8:19; Jn. 7:3, 5; 1 Cor. 9:5

“Mary is truly the mother of God,” CE•God has no beginning, Psa. 90:2•Jesus co-eternal, Mic. 5:2; Jn. 8:58•Mary obligated to submit to Christ,Mt. 12:47-50; Lk. 11:27, 28

“Christ lives in his perfect followers, and as Mary is the Mother of Christ, so she is mother of him in whom Christ lives…” CE

Council of Trent states appeal to Mary must be made to “have recourse to her in order that by her intercession she may reconcile God with us sinners and obtain for us the blessing we need both for this present life and for the life which has no end.” CE

“Wherefore those who are servants of Mary, and for whom Mary intercedes, are as secure of paradise as if they were already there.” Roman Catholicism Against Itself, Vol. II

“…the judge, her Son, cannot condemn them guilty, if she defends them…God himself blesses her for it, and as it were thanks her, that thus she restrains him from abandoning and punishing them as they deserved.”“Because it belongs to Christ, as our judge, to punish, but to Mary, as our advocate, to pity…” Roman Catholicism Against Itself, Vol. II

Truth•No connection or communication between Mary and living Christians•Intercessor, Heb. 7:25; 1 Jn. 2:1•Mediator, 1 Tim. 2:5•Mariolatry, Rev. 22:9; Acts 10:25, 26

“The canonization of confessors or martyrs may be taken up as soon as two miracles are reported to have been worked at their intercession, after the pontifical permission of public veneration…the pope…issues a Bull of Canonization in which he not only permits, but commands, the public cultus, or veneration, of the saint.” CE

Truth•Living saints, Phil. 1:1; 1 Cor. 1:2; Rom. 1:7•God makes saints, 2 Thes. 2:13, 14•Veneration refused by Peter, Acts 10:25, 26

Prayer to saints justified by Paul’s request 2 Thes. 3:1

•Ask living on earth, why not dead in heaven?•Dead in Hades, not heaven, Lk. 16:19-31•Communication with the dead is condemned, 1 Sam. 28:3-14; Lev. 19:31; 20:6, 27Gal. 5:19-21

A saint for everything•Agatha…nurses•Alexander…charcoal burners•Amand…inn-keepers, wine merchants•Andrew…fishermen, old maids•Arnluf of Metz…brewers, millers, lost articles

A saint for everything•Gabriel…postal employees•Hilary…snakes•Lawernce…poor, cooks, fire•Liborious…gravel, stone•Nicolas of Myra…brewers, pawnbrokers

“Mortal sin is defined by St. Augustine… something said, done or desired contrary to eternal law, or a thought, word, or deed contrary to eternal law.” CE

“Venial sin is essentially different from mortal sin. It does not avert us from our true last end, it does not destroy charity…nor deprive the soul of sanctifying grace, and it is intrinsically reparable.” CE

Bible•Forgivable vs. unforgivable, 1 Jn. 5:16, 17•All sin is a transgression, 1 Jn. 3:4•Guilty of one, guilty of all, Jas. 2:10

Purgatory is “a place or condition of temporal punishments for those who, departing from this life in God’s grace, are, not entirely free from venial faults, or have not fully paid the satisfaction due to their transgressions.” CE

Limbo is “the temporary place or state of the souls of the just…until Christ’s triumphant ascension into Heaven or…to the permanent place or state of those unbaptized children and others who, dying without grievous personal sin, are excluded from the beatific vision on account of original sin alone…” CE

Bible•No purgatory•Hades, not limbo, Lk. 16:19-31•Earthly consequences for sin,2 Sam. 12:10-14•Satisfaction not paid by man, Rom. 3:25

Catholicism has existed for centuries•Well-established traditions•Hundreds of millions of adherents•Wealth and power•Not right

When examined by God’s word – perversion of the truth

•Deceitful•Dangerous•Damning