Response to Anonymous (fixed formatting)

Dear Anonymous,

It's a shame that you didn't include any of the biblical or historical proofs the Catechism and other Catholic sources put forward for the points you put forward to allow your readers to get the full picture. Allow me:

You said: T"hese Catholics are so out of it that they can't even be considered Christian."

The Bible says that all who have been Baptised have been Baptised into Christ and His Death and resurrection (see Romans 6:3 for one example). Given that the Bible says that the power of Baptism to save us comes from Christ (1Peter 3:21), then Catholics really are Christians. All who have been Baptised and hold the faith revealed by God (in the most basic terms: God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit (The Trinity), and Christ is God the Son made man (The Incarnation) and the Christ suffered and died, rose again and ascended (The Redemption) are properly called Christian. Man made doctrines such as Sola Scriptura and Sola Fidei cause scandalous divisions that oppose the desire of Christ that "all may be one", but these divisions don't frustrate the power of Baptism to do what the Bible says it does.

You said: "As a former Catholic, here's what the Catechism teaches."

I'm often amazed that former Catholics think that being a former Catholic qualifies them as an expert on a whole range of matter Catholic. The Catholic Church has had what can be called a "middle management issue" for the last 50 to 60 years that have seen very (VERY!!!) few schools, universities and even seminaries teach classical apologetics in any serious way. How is it that all these former Catholics got to learn the basics of the faith and know the arguments for them and be able to judge this for themselves while the average schlub, high school, university and even seminary graduate has no idea? It can't be a "discovery of the Bible", since the befuddlement about what something as basic as the definition of Christian is that you demonstrated above shows that your Biblical knowledge runs very shallow.

You said: "Mary will help save you from your sins."

The Bible says St Paul aimed to do the same. Read 1 Cor 9:22. Now, either St Paul is a Catholic, or you've just proved him to be a non-Christian, or you're wrong to hold this objection.

You said: "Mary was a virgin all her life and ascended into heaven like Jesus"

The Bible teaches Our Lady's perpetual virginity in St Luke's Gospel, where, even though she is married to St Jospeph she questions St Gabriel the Archangel as to how she will conceive given her virginity. (They are married too by the way, hence St Jospeph considering a divorce). The "brothers and sisters" of Our Lord are identified in other parts of Scripture as being sons of other women apart from Our Lady. This is perhaps the clearest example: Gal 1:17-19 identifies James as BOTH "the brother of the Lord" AND an Apostle before St Paul. St Mark 3:16-20 identifies the Apostles "before St Paul" (with the exception of St Matthias who succeeded Judas Iscariot). In St Mark's list there are two Jameses. James the son of Alphaeus is "the brother of the Lord" that St Paul mentions in Gal 1. Alphaeus is the Greek name of Clopas (Clopas is Aramaic). Guess where Clopas gets a mention? His wife is standing at the foot of the Cross in John 19:35 with Our Lady. So unless Our Lady is two persons (and her own sister!) then Clopas' wife - the mother of the son of Alphaeus - the mother of "the brother of the Lord" is NOT Our Lady. Instead, the Catholic claim, that the "brothers and sisters" of Our Lord are relatives and not siblings is demonstrated right in the pages of Scripture.

Also, the Catholic Church does not teach that Our Lady "ascended" like her Son. Instead the Church teaches that she was assumed (taken up, not under her own power) (like Enoch and Elijah). This doctrine is implied in Rev 12.

You said: "They pray to "saints" along with Jesus."

The Bible doesn't strictly equate praying with worship/adoration. That's a Protestant invention. Instead, in the Bible, worship is always sacrificial (that's why Our Lord didn't stop after the great prayer in St John's Gospel, but went on to offer Himself on the Cross to God the Father). Praying (talking to, and even honouring) others isn't condemned in Scripture.

You said: "Catholics believe in Purgatory"

The Bible says that after we die we will be saved, or we will be saved after suffering and passing through fire, or we will be condemned. Read 1Cor3:13-17. In Catholic speak, that means heaven, heaven via purgatory, or hell. Catholics do believe in purgatory. The Bible teaches purgatory. The Bible, therefore, must be Catholic, no?

You said: "They call the Pope "Holy Father""

The Bible says that those who nourish us with the truth are fathers to us (read 1Cor 4:15). Does the Bible ever say that this title is reserved for God alone?

You said: "Reconciliation"

Read John 20:19-23. There you will see Our Lord instituting the Sacrament of Reconciliation (aka Confession or Penance).

You said: "These are just a few of the perversions that the Catholic Church teaches. Once I read the Bible for myself, it was clear that all of these pagan Catholic rituals were blasphemous."

I hope I've helped you to see that what many anti-Catholics think is unbiblical really isn't. I invite you to return to full union with the Church that Our Lord died to give you for love of you.