Published by This is not an attack on Catholicism. I am convinced that every Christian denomination has some manmade traditions or beliefs that are not Biblically based. The Bible is too complex a book for any human to understand completely or to interpret perfectly. I am writing about Catholicism because I have noticed that a lot of people who have left comments on my articles have some confusion about Catholic teachings that they thought all Christians believed.
Approximately half of the two billion people in the world who state their religion as Christian are Catholic. For many centuries, the Catholic Church was the only Christian church. In fact, the word catholic is a derivative of the Greek katholikos, which means “universal.” The word was used as an all inclusive term for the Christian church from about the third century AD until the Protestant Reformation in the sixteenth century.
The word ‘Protestant’ has a self evident meaning: one who protests. In this context, it means one who protests against the teachings and practices of the Catholic Church. In 1517 Martin Luther made a list of ninety five church practices (theses) that he believed had no basis in Scripture. The Catholic Church has made many reforms since Luther’s day, but there are several Catholic traditions still practiced that have no Biblical basis; and in my opinion may in fact be doing more harm than good for parishioners.
Infant Baptism
The traditional Roman Catholic belief emphasizes the rite itself-that the power to convey grace is contained within the sacrament of baptism.
In my opinion, infant baptism has harmed the church because of its universal inclusion. Children born to Catholic parents are generally baptized as infants; so they are considered to be lifetime members of the Catholic Church, whether they go on to confirmation and a devout life, or if they stop attending church and live an immoral lifestyle. This has led to what many point out as hypocrisy in the church – people who consider themselves to be Christian because of infant baptism, but do not display Christ-like character.
Most Protestant churches subscribe to a more symbolic view of baptism. Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary defines the symbolic view of baptism as follows: “This view stresses the symbolic nature of baptism by emphasizing that baptism does not cause an inward change or alter a person’s relationship to God in any way. Baptism is a sign, or an outward indication, of the inner change that has already occurred in the believer’s life. It serves as a public identification of the person with Jesus Christ, and thus also as a public testimony of the change that has occurred. It is an act of initiation. It is baptism into the name of Jesus.”
A Celibate Priesthood
In my opinion, this tradition has done much damage to the reputation of the Church. Nowhere in the Scriptures have I found any basis for requiring church leaders to remain unmarried. In fact, the apostle Paul warned against such a ruling: “But since there is so much immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband.” (1 Corinthians 7:2) Paul explains that it is easier to live a life devoted to serving God if one remains unmarried. But he goes on to say: “if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.” (1 Corinthians 7:9)
Sainthood
It may seem odd that I see this as a detrimental tradition, but hear me out.
The Bible is very clear in stating that “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23) Some people have worked harder than others at serving God, but no human is perfect, and only Jesus Christ can intercede for us before God the Father. Prayer to a saint to intercede on our behalf is not Biblical.
In fact, the word “saint” is used throughout the New Testament to refer to all Christians. It has nothing to do with our accomplishments, but rather that we have been sanctified (made holy) because the sacrifice of Christ has wiped clean our hearts. We are granted the status of sainthood because we are made new. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)
Confession and Penance
The Bible does teach that we are to confess our sins to one another, but the doctrine of confession to a priest who serves as an ambassador to God on our behalf is not found in Scripture. Neither is the doctrine of penance, where the priest assigns a work for the penitent to do, and then grants absolution. The Bible teaches that there is no penance by which we earn forgiveness. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God– not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2: 8-9)
The Seven Deadly Sins
The Catholic Church also teaches that if someone commits a mortal sin, they will be in danger of hell until they make confession to a priest. This doctrine is, in my opinion, not only unbiblical but harmful. I have heard from several people who were raised in the Catholic Church who are fearful of dying while committing a mortal sin or before confessing such sin to a priest. 1 John 5:13 assures us: “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.” There is no reason for a Christian to be fearful of losing salvation. There is such a thing as an unpardonable sin, which I have described in my article with that title, but be assured that any sin for which a Christian is repentant is not an unpardonable sin. “If we confess our sins (to God), he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)
My purpose for writing is to point readers to Christ, and I try to base my writings on Scripture alone. I apologise if I have offended anyone.
Other works by Karen Gross:
This is quite the subject to tackle. You have briefly dealt with the catholic church’s false doctrinal teachings. I commend you for being, as you stated, a protester. i had been contemplating writing a similar article. You are correct, because my dad was catholic and he popped in church periodically with his very sinful lifestyle, and thought everything was fine. they never emphasized for him to change his life. take another bow Karen, excellent work.
I rarely leave comments. But I really have to here. Don’t feel apologetic for pointing readers to Jesus Christ by presenting the Scripture. There is so much encouragement and admontion in what you wrote because you based it on Scripture. I wish I could find more writings like this to read.
Karen, Wonderful piece of work…I connected with this on a personal level.
Love your work…
I was intrigued by the title because that is one of those very difficult questions, and not just for Catholics. There are also plenty of protestants who have been taught (based on the scripture you quoted I John 1:9) that if they died while committing a sin, thereby not having a chance to confess and repent in this life, that they will go to hell. I was hoping you were going to address that scenario. It says ‘if you confess’, so…what if you died before you confess, not to a priest but to God? Love you’re writing Karen but I think the question wasn’t fully answered. Perhaps you could clarify that here in the comments? PM me and let me know if you do, so I can check back.
Thanks Katie Marie, for pointing this out. I am sure that I addressed this question somewhere, but I am at that stage of short term memory where I can’t remember if it was in one of my articles, or as a comment on someone else’s article, or in the forum. At any rate: There is a difference between sin and sins. When we accept Christ (or are Born Again, say the Sinner’s Prayer, Ask Jesus into your heart – they are all terms that mean the same). God forgives us from the penalty of sin, which is separation from God both now and when we die. The payment has been made and we are now free.
Unfortunately, we still sin by making wrong choices and doing wrong, or failing to do what is right. Confessing these sins to God, and making restitution where possible is kind of like spiritual housekeeping – keeping our hearts clean.
Theologians call this the doctrine of Eternal Security. People who disagree call it the doctrine of Once Saved, Always Saved, or Eternal Fire Insurance.
I personally believe that once we are saved, God puts His Holy Spirit into our hearts as a deposit guaranteeing our eternal salvation. For more information about this, read my article called “The Unpardonable Sin”.
Your article was both enlightening and reassuring. Raised a protestant in an anti-catholic atmosphere it’s always refreshing to read knowledgable information. Avoiding mortal sins might make the issue a moot point at one’s demise.
Thanks for the added clarification on that point Karen. I did go to your other article too via the link at the bottom of this one. The two articles compliment each other well.
Karen
An excellent article Like you said it is good to point out to those who claim Christianity from a Catholic position, that most Protestants march to a different drummer.
Karen,I’m a little saddened,if that is the word,because this tramples a little on the way I was raised,but I’m also happy to see you challenge this as you know we’ve talked about it.
For my first part,we were a good Christian/Catholic family it wasn’t for show,I went to school every day faithfully praying and following as best I could but you are right,lingering fears/thoughts still hover in my mind and I don’t think I should feel that,we’re the same age and I’m still somewhat afraid I’ve not repented enough.Confession was very comforting however,and The priest were good in those days.We were taught is a baby was baptised they were secured a spot up above rather than below.I mean we all fall short of the glory of God,but what has an infant who has died in infancy done wrong?
Anyway THIS is the kind of thing I’d like to post on Sundays,at the very least gets people thinking.
Great piece overall!!
I loved reading this. It was at once refreshing and enlightening.
@Bo Jack – Thank you for your comment. I know that when I ran this idea passed you and asked if you thought Catholics would be offended, you said they probably would. Then Triond declined it anyway, so I let it go, but then they posted it anyway.
Protestants believe that baptism is only an outward symbol of the change that has already taken place in the heart of the believer. We do have a dedication ceremony for babies, where the family stands on the stage with the pastor, and we all pray for the baby, and vow to teach them to love Jesus and take them faithfully to church.
We also believe that there is an age of accountability, most believe it is at about 12, but it depends on the maturity of the child. Children under this age are considered innocent and will go to Heaven. That’s why in the Left Behind fiction series, all of the children age 12 and under are taken with the Christians in the Rapture of the Church.
Outstanding work. You do seem to tackle some subjects that most would live alone. I praise you for how brave you are and I will leave it at that.
Sorry, I am back. I was raised to believe that most everything is a sin. I was forced to go to church as a child and taught that God will punish you for each little sin. So for many years I stayed away from the hateful church. I now believe that God is a loving God and he does not want to punish you for everything. Such as not going to church because you have the flu, etc. God is love and joy not hate. In 2003, I almost died on the table having emergency surgery. I was in the OR for 6 hours. I knew it was bad before I went in but I was at total peace with myself and God. My only thought was my family was not ready for me to leave them, yet. So I stayed for a while longer. Guess I had more to say.
First of all, I was aware Catholicism is the original form of Christianity, but wondered before where the name came from. Thank you for your explanation.
Although I am not Catholic myself, I think if any form of Christianity holds legitimacy, it is probably Catholicism. Being the first, it would probably be the most direct from the word of God. Every denomination after it is simply an altered version with adjustments made to please the church members.
I do not mean to agitate anyone. I only bring up this argument for the sake of intelligent discussion. I’ve explained my own religious views in “My First Communion” and welcome others to do the same to me.
Although I disagree with anyone who believes in an organized religion, I can tell from your writing that you are an intelligent person and would like to hear more from you on the subject.
Confession- Read John 20:23, Matthew 16:13-19
Baptism John 3:5, there is no Baptism of Desire, there must be water and words.
You reject original sin.
Short answer to your question is Yes,
Confession is a sacrament instituted by Jesus Christ Himself in John 20:
22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.