Catholic Dogma

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Men often struggle to leave things alone. They have a strong urge to change things with the aim of "improving" them. Regarding the teaching of Scripture, this tendency might be encouraged by Satan, who seeks to undermine the finished works of the Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Timothy 4:1-3, "Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from (foods) which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth"

The Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses, like many other church groups, are small compared to the number of people who call themselves Catholic, estimated to be one billion 400 million. I was raised Catholic (left 50 years ago). Also, my parents and grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins shared this faith. Additionally, about 95% of the neighborhood I grew up in in New York was Catholic.

Here is something that always bothered me, even as a youngster. It was taught to pray to Mary using the rosary. Rosary beads were introduced in 1090 A.D., by "Peter the Hermit" and made popular by St. Dominic in 1208 A.D. Catholics believe that Mary appeared to St. Dominic in 1208 A.D., at the church of Prouille and revealed the Rosary Beads to him.

The following is quoted from the Catholic Catechism. “After her life on earth had ended, Mary was reunited with her Son. She was taken up to heaven in body as well as in soul. ----- Because she was the mother of God, she had been kept holy always by a singular gift of God. As the fruits of the redemption were anticipated to preserve her from original sin, so they were anticipated to bring her bodily to heaven before the general resurrection at the end of time.

Page 119: “She brought Jesus forth without the loss of virginity, even as she conceived him without loss of virginity --- The truth that Mary remained a virgin throughout her entire life is also a dogma of faith taught in the Church.

Catholics are taught to pray to Mary. Globally, there are thousands of Marian shrines around the world, spanning every continent. These shrines are sacred places dedicated to Mary, often marking sites of reported apparitions, miracles, or deep-rooted local devotion.

There is the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City — the most visited Marian shrine in the world, drawing over 20 million pilgrims annually.
The sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes in France — famous for healing waters and is visited by around 6 million people each year.
The sanctuary of Our Lady of Fátima in Portugal — a major pilgrimage site tied to the 1917 apparitions.
The Jasna Góra Monastery in Poland — home to the revered Black Madonna icon.
The Basilica of Our Lady of Aparecida in Brazil — the largest Marian shrine by capacity.

According to Wikipedia’s extensive list, nearly every country has at least one Marian shrine, from Our Lady of Knock in Ireland to Our Lady of Akita in Japan, and even shrines in places like Egypt, Kenya, and the Philippines. And so, millions of Catholics pray to Mary for guidance, help, in times of need, and persecution.

Question: Is any of the above Biblical?
Your thought

[placebofactor]

Men often struggle to leave things alone. They have a strong urge to change things with the aim of "improving" them. Regarding the teaching of Scripture, this tendency might be encouraged by Satan, who seeks to undermine the finished works of the Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Timothy 4:1-3, "Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from (foods) which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth"

The Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses, like many other church groups, are small compared to the number of people who call themselves Catholic, estimated to be one billion 400 million. I was raised Catholic (left 50 years ago). Also, my parents and grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins shared this faith. Additionally, about 95% of the neighborhood I grew up in in New York was Catholic.

Here is something that always bothered me, even as a youngster. It was taught to pray to Mary using the rosary. Rosary beads were introduced in 1090 A.D., by "Peter the Hermit" and made popular by St. Dominic in 1208 A.D. Catholics believe that Mary appeared to St. Dominic in 1208 A.D., at the church of Prouille and revealed the Rosary Beads to him.

The following is quoted from the Catholic Catechism. “After her life on earth had ended, Mary was reunited with her Son. She was taken up to heaven in body as well as in soul. ----- Because she was the mother of God, she had been kept holy always by a singular gift of God. As the fruits of the redemption were anticipated to preserve her from original sin, so they were anticipated to bring her bodily to heaven before the general resurrection at the end of time.

Page 119: “She brought Jesus forth without the loss of virginity, even as she conceived him without loss of virginity --- The truth that Mary remained a virgin throughout her entire life is also a dogma of faith taught in the Church.

Catholics are taught to pray to Mary. Globally, there are thousands of Marian shrines around the world, spanning every continent. These shrines are sacred places dedicated to Mary, often marking sites of reported apparitions, miracles, or deep-rooted local devotion.

There is the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City — the most visited Marian shrine in the world, drawing over 20 million pilgrims annually.
The sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes in France — famous for healing waters and is visited by around 6 million people each year.
The sanctuary of Our Lady of Fátima in Portugal — a major pilgrimage site tied to the 1917 apparitions.
The Jasna Góra Monastery in Poland — home to the revered Black Madonna icon.
The Basilica of Our Lady of Aparecida in Brazil — the largest Marian shrine by capacity.

According to Wikipedia’s extensive list, nearly every country has at least one Marian shrine, from Our Lady of Knock in Ireland to Our Lady of Akita in Japan, and even shrines in places like Egypt, Kenya, and the Philippines. And so, millions of Catholics pray to Mary for guidance, help, in times of need, and persecution.

Question: Is any of the above Biblical?
Your thought

I would like to add this to the above comments. On the front cover of the Catholic Catechism, they wrote, "The teaching of Jesus Christ." If you can find any of the above Catholic dogma in Jesus' teaching, please let me know where; I can't find it.

[1213]

...Page 119: “She brought Jesus forth without the loss of virginity, even as she conceived him without loss of virginity --- The truth that Mary remained a virgin throughout her entire life is also a dogma of faith taught in the Church.

Catholics are taught to pray to Mary. ...

I think it would be better to pray like Jesus taught. It is not Biblical to pray Mary, because the Bible doesn't say we should do so.

And about the virginity, doesn't' the Bible say Jesus had brothers from Mary?

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...Page 119: “She brought Jesus forth without the loss of virginity, even as she conceived him without loss of virginity --- The truth that Mary remained a virgin throughout her entire life is also a dogma of faith taught in the Church.

Catholics are taught to pray to Mary. ...

I think it would be better to pray like Jesus taught. It is not Biblical to pray Mary, because the Bible doesn't say we should do so.

And about the virginity, doesn't' the Bible say Jesus had brothers from Mary?

1213, you are correct on both accounts. I would like to add the following: praying to images, any images, be they Mary, Luke, angels, altars, candles, etc. I understand it to be idol worship. Anyway, why pray to stand-ins when the real is available? Jesus told his disciples, Pray like this, 'Our Father who art in heaven... '"

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[Replying to placebofactor in post #4]

Inferences must be inferred from the genuine sense of the words, not from a false or counterfeit sense, whether literal or mystical meaning hidden or secret.

Let me give you an example by looking at two verses. I use this example because it was a horrible period for the Christian community at large, and for mankind in general when this verse was interpreted incorrectly.

Peter had a vision; he saw heaven open, and a vessel descended down to him. It was like a great sheet and held all types of four-footed beasts of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and fowls of the air. It appears that every species of animal and bird was contained in this sheet. To the Jew, these were both clean and unclean. The unclean were forbidden by the Jew to eat, and were not to be used in their ceremonial law, yet Peter saw tham all together.

Acts 10:10-20, "And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill and eat." Peter at first refused the Lord, saying, "I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean."

This verse has been wrongly used in the past by the Catholic hierarchy.

Compare "Kill and eat," with John 21:16, when Jesus said to Peter, "Feed my sheep." Catholic leaders in past centuries claimed and still claim to be the successors of Christ and Peter, using these verses in the following manner.

From the command, "Rise, Peter; kill and eat, as opposed to the Lord's directions to Peter, "Feed my sheep." Catholics have, by a two-fold false inference, with one hand, fed the Church, and with the other, put thousands of Christians to death. Those who chose to dispute church doctrine would be jailed or killed. It becomes obvious that this tragedy was derived from putting a false and fabricated sense upon these passages.

[Difflugia]

I would like to add this to the above comments. On the front cover of the Catholic Catechism, they wrote, "The teaching of Jesus Christ." If you can find any of the above Catholic dogma in Jesus' teaching, please let me know where; I can't find it.

Since the Catholic Church isn't bound by the Protestant concept of sola scriptura, that doesn't seem like a huge hurdle to overcome. Protestants already make similar apologetic arguments for Matthew 27:9, which doesn't match anything said by Jeremiah. If one believes that Jesus taught everything as part of the Catechism and relayed that through revelation to the faithful, that doesn't seem much different than other strictly nonbiblical doctrines, both Catholic and Protestant. Many Protestants believe that the Bible is verbally inerrant, for example, but that's taught nowhere in the Bible, either. Even if you try very hard to shape them to what you think the Bible says, those very traditions can't help but affect how you read and engage with the Bible in the first place.

[placebofactor]

I would like to add this to the above comments. On the front cover of the Catholic Catechism, they wrote, "The teaching of Jesus Christ." If you can find any of the above Catholic dogma in Jesus' teaching, please let me know where; I can't find it.

Since the Catholic Church isn't bound by the Protestant concept of sola scriptura, that doesn't seem like a huge hurdle to overcome. Protestants already make similar apologetic arguments for Matthew 27:9, which doesn't match anything said by Jeremiah. If one believes that Jesus taught everything as part of the Catechism and relayed that through revelation to the faithful, that doesn't seem much different than other strictly nonbiblical doctrines, both Catholic and Protestant. Many Protestants believe that the Bible is verbally inerrant, for example, but that's taught nowhere in the Bible, either. Even if you try very hard to shape them to what you think the Bible says, those very traditions can't help but affect how you read and engage with the Bible in the first place.

I agree in part. The idea of Protestantism covers a wide range of churches, thoughts, and teachings. Baptist, Pentecostal, Church of Christ, even Mormon, and Jehovah's Witness fall in part under the umbrella of Protestant. I am an independent, meaning my teacher is the Holy Spirit, and not a man, men, or organization. And because I have to depend solely on the Holy Spirit, and because the Scriptures claim thy are God breathed, and because Jesus is the author and finisher of my faith, I have to trust ALL scripture to be watched over and cared for by them. Are there things I don't understand? Of course, there are. It's not because they have not been protected by God, it's because of my limited understanding of God and his way.

As far as the Bible being inerrant, let's put your comment to the test. Revelation 22:18-19. You know the verses that demand that God's word is not to be added to or taken away from. Th

[placebofactor]

I would like to add this to the above comments. On the front cover of the Catholic Catechism, they wrote, "The teaching of Jesus Christ." If you can find any of the above Catholic dogma in Jesus' teaching, please let me know where; I can't find it.

Since the Catholic Church isn't bound by the Protestant concept of sola scriptura, that doesn't seem like a huge hurdle to overcome. Protestants already make similar apologetic arguments for Matthew 27:9, which doesn't match anything said by Jeremiah. If one believes that Jesus taught everything as part of the Catechism and relayed that through revelation to the faithful, that doesn't seem much different than other strictly nonbiblical doctrines, both Catholic and Protestant. Many Protestants believe that the Bible is verbally inerrant, for example, but that's taught nowhere in the Bible, either. Even if you try very hard to shape them to what you think the Bible says, those very traditions can't help but affect how you read and engage with the Bible in the first place.

I agree in part. The idea of Protestantism covers a wide range of churches, thoughts, and teachings. Baptist, Pentecostal, Church of Christ, even Mormon, and Jehovah's Witness fall in part under the umbrella of Protestant. I am an independent, meaning my teacher is the Holy Spirit, and not a man, men, or organization. And because I have to depend solely on the Holy Spirit, and because the Scriptures claim thy are God breathed, and because Jesus is the author and finisher of my faith, I have to trust ALL scripture to be watched over and cared for by them. Are there things I don't understand? Of course, there are. It's not because they have not been protected by God, it's because of my limited understanding of God and his way.

As far as the Bible being inerrant, let's put your comment to the test. Revelation 22:18-19. You know the verses that demand that God's word is not to be added to or taken away from. Th

I lost part of my post, will finish it later.