Catholic Teachings
"anti". The Greek term "anti" (G473) can mean against, opposite to, but can also mean in place of (something). Interestingly, both definitions fitly describe the vast portion of Catholic dogma. That is, Catholic teaching can be considered as being both against and a replacement of true Biblical teaching. Effectively, Catholic teaching is anti-Christ, because it replaces the three fundamental roles of Christ as Prophet, Priest and King. They are then anti-Prophet (i.e. anti-Word of God), anti-Priest (i.e. anti-Savior), and anti-King (i.e. anti-Lord).
(*) Most Protestant denominations believe in the basic Protestant tenets. However, most do not believe in the seventh-day Sabbath or the one true God (i.e. monotheistic, non-tritheistic and non-trinitarian).
Skubalon teachings. "To borrow the language of the apostle Paul, any attempt at self-righteousness, no matter how noble the effort, no matter how frequently the God vocabulary is used and the divine is brought into it, any attempt to self-righteousness Paul classifies as skubalon in Philippians 3. That word is about as vivid a word as he could possibly use. It can be translated rubbish, the most accurate translation is dung. . . . And what you’ve got is a whole system built on skubalon, and you can’t throw your arms around that system. You can’t embrace it and simply say, 'Well, they talk about Jesus and they talk about God and they talk about faith and they talk about grace and we’ve got to embrace them. And if we don’t embrace them, we’re violating the unity of the body and we’re being ungracious to other disciples.' That is a frightening misrepresentation of the distinctiveness of justification by faith and faith alone" (Irreconcilable Differences: Catholics, Evangelicals, and the New Quest for Unity, Parts 1-3).
Catholic fundamental errors.
- anti-Divinity. Three equal Gods - Trinity.
- anti-Creation. Immortal soul.
- anti-Law. Tradition + Magisterium have the final word on Law and Truth.
- anti-Rest. Sun worship—rising sun, midday sun; setting sun. Replacing the 7th day Sabbath.
- anti-Grace. Merits. Virgin Mary is the "Source of Eternal Merit" (indulgences).
- anti-Justice. Eternal hell. Only escape through priestly mediation, indulgences, purgatory.
- anti-Mercy. Moon worship - female deity. Mariology + saints as mediators.
Indoctrinations
Resistance to truth comes as a result of many Catholic indoctrinations:
- "The Bible is too difficult to understand"
- Catholics are utterly dependent upon their priests
- Catholics believe Heaven can be merited by their works
- "Venial" sins do not send them to hell
- Pressure to remain Catholic from family.
Catholicism denies the all sufficiency of Christ.
- To Christ's finished work they add the Mass (continual Victim)
- To Christ's word they add tradition
- To Christ's headship they add a Pope.
- To Christ's role as the Advocate, Helper, Mediator, they add Mary.
- To Christ's high priestly office they add the confessional box.
- To Christ's merits they add their own
- To Christ's forgiveness they add purgatory
- To Christ's righteousness they add their own (filthy rags)
Notes (unfinished work)
Salvation by faith alone. Catholics declare, "CANON XXX.-If any one saith, that, after the grace of Justification has been received, to every penitent sinner the guilt is remitted, and the debt of eternal punishment is blotted out in such wise, that there remains not any debt of temporal punishment to be discharged either in this world, or in the next in Purgatory, before the entrance to the kingdom of heaven can be opened (to him); let him be anathema." —The Council of Trent, Session VI. For Catholic rebuts anti-Catholic views here: Satan loves Catholicism (REBUTTED). Also see: Scripture, Tradition, and Rome, Part 5.
Council of Trent. As a consequence of the Protestant Reformation, the Catholic Church held an ecumenical council in three parts from 1545 to 1563 (an 18 year period of 25 meetings). Among the things agreed to, the Protestant reformers doctrines—justification by faith alone, the authority of Scripture alone—were anathematized, in the name of a “both/and” doctrine of justification by both faith and works on the basis of the authority of both Scripture and tradition. Other declarations regarding doctrines and practices was the fixing of the sacraments to seven, the doctrine of transubstantiation, the sacrament of penance was extensively defined, the sacrament of extreme unction explained, issued doctrinal statements on holy orders, matrimony, purgatory, indulgences, and the veneration of saints, images, and relics. Protestant reformers rejected the Apocrypha as part of the biblical canon, but the Council issued a decree damning anyone who rejected these books. The reason is that many doctrines unique to Catholicism, such as the teachings of purgatory, prayers for the dead, and salvation by works, are found in these books. The declarations and anathemas of the Council of Trent have never been revoked. The decrees of the Council of Trent are confirmed by both the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) and the official “Catechism of the Catholic Church” (1992).
Veneration of angels. “Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, archangels.” Venerating angels as God’s good servants is a good and holy Catholic practice. See angels.
Infant baptism. "Infant Baptism has been practiced since apostolic times. Infants need to be baptized because through this Sacrament, they are freed from Original Sin and are welcomed into the community of the Church, where they have access to the fullness of the means of salvation." See [#1250]
Helpless Jesus. Catholics reduce Christ to a crucifix, a babe, and a wafer. He becomes a Victim, a helpless Babe, or his Body is turned into a Wafer (transubstantiation) by the power of the priest.
Christ Child. Also known as Baby Jesus, Infant Jesus, the Divine Child, and several other titles. Christmas, which commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ on December 25, is central to the Christian liturgical year. The origin of Christmas has a pagan background which was a festival celebrating the birthday of the Sun (see History of religions hypothesis).
Inquisition. The Catholic Church has a long history of the Inquisition, Torture, Massacres, Murders, and Wars.
Immorality. The Catholic leadership has a long history of Lies, Immorality, and Corruption.
Mystery Babylon. The whore of Revelation 17 fits perfectly with the Catholic Church. They turn people away from Christ to honor other things.
Babylon and Sun worship. Solar seals (magic square of the Sun) contained the veneration of the sum of numbers 1-36 = 666. The 36 gods of Babylon were numbered, with the Sun being the chief god and the Moon followed.
- "The tower of Babel was actually the worship of Satan in the form of fire, the Sun and the Serpent. However, Satan worship could not be done openly because of the many who still believed in the true God of Noah. So a mystery religion began at Babel where Satan could be worshipped in secret." —Alexander Hislop, The Two Babylons.
- "In the astrological religion of Babylon, every god had his sacred number or numbers which were often used in place of the god's name. These numbers indicated the god's place and power among the astrological gods."
- "Going deeply back into Babylonian astrology we find the real reason for the sanctity for the number 36. The Babylonians divided each of the 12 houses in the zodiac into three rooms, making 36 in all. They then divided the entire remainder of the sky in to 36 constellations, and appointed the ruling god of each constellation to rule over one of the 36 rooms of the zodiac. Since the spirits of the departed were believed to go to and dwell in the stars - a teaching still much alive today, there was therefore not a spirit in the heavens, not a star in the sky which was not represented in the 36 rooms of the zodiac, and to swear by the number 36 was to swear by every god in the heavens above, as well as by all the spirits of the departed. The 36 gods were called decans because each ruled over 10 degrees of the zodiacal circle and over 10 days of the 360-day year.
- "The seven planets or the 7-headed astrological dragon ruled over the 36 decans and over them all, as we have noted, ruled the sun, 'the father of the gods.' It was natural and inevitable that since the summary number of the numbers from 1-36 is 666, this number (called the Grand Number of the Sun), should have been assigned to the sun-god as the cosmic god who not only ruled over all the other gods but also was their heavenly parent. Herein lies the reason for the 'Solar Seals' in use before the time of Christ as amulets to ward off any evil that might come from the 36 decans." (Vance, pp. 26-27).
- "...as to why anyone should use the number 666 lies in the very nature of pagan idolatry, which is...nothing but disguised demon worship. The principle behind all demon worship is fear, and the worship is nothing more than an effort to placate the evil one. Since in the fear religions, all misfortune, sickness, and death are the result of the operation of evil spirits, the worshiper, knowing by his conduct that he is not on God's side and therefore cannot expect, as long as he continues in open rebellion, to have his prayers for help addressed to God answered, turns to the only ohter supernatural power available to him, Lucifer himself.
- One characteristic stands out in any of these fear religions: the worshiper ever tries to stay in the good graces of his god by revering or wearing some symbol representing that god. Not only does he offer his most cherished possession—perhaps his own children—he must ever, to avoid disaster, have on his person some object in which the spirit of his god dwells, he must carry his god around with him. This is the principle behind all charms, amulets, and magical objects ever found in pagan idolatry." —Murl Vance, Trail of the Serpent. pp. 108-109.
- Babylonian Trinity: Nimrod, Semiramus, Tammuz.
- Indian Trinity: Brahma, Shiva, Vishnu.
- Egyptian Trinity: Osiris, Isis, and Horus. Many other triads.
- Classical Greek: Zeus, Athena, Apollo.
- Roman Capitoline Triad: Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva (daughter).
- Triple deity. A deity with three apparent forms that function as a singular whole. Such deities may sometimes be referred to as threefold, tripled, triplicate, tripartite, triune, triadic, or as a trinity. The number three has a long history of mythical associations and triple deities are common throughout world mythology. Example: Diana (Roman goddess) as dvia triformis, "three-form goddess".
- Christianity did not destroy paganism; it adopted it.
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