Since today's catholicism so obviously contradicts the entire book of Romans, along with other Scriptures,?

The Roman Catholic Church claims to have started in Matthew 16:18 when Christ supposedly appointed Peter as the first Pope. However, the honest and objective student of the Scriptures and history soon discovers that the foundation of the Roman church is none other than the pagan mystery religion of ancient Babylon.

While enduring the early persecutions of the Roman government (65-300 A.D.), most of professing Christianity went through a gradual departure from New Testament doctrine concerning church government, worship and practice. Local churches ceased to be autonomous by giving way to the control of "bishops" ruling over hierarchies. The simple form of worship from the heart was replaced with the rituals and splendor of paganism. Ministers became "priests," and pagans became "Christians" by simply being sprinkled with water. This tolerance of an unregenerate membership only made things worse. SPRINKLED PAGANISM is about the best definition for Roman Catholicism.

The Roman Emperor Constantine established himself as the head of the church around 313 A.D., which made this new "Christianity" the official religion of the Roman Empire. The first actual Pope in Rome was probably Leo I (440-461 A.D.), although some claim that Gregory I was the first (590-604 A.D.). This ungodly system eventually ushered in the darkest period of history known to man, properly known as the "Dark Ages" (500-1500 A.D.). Through popes, bishops, and priests, Satan ruled Europe, and Biblical Christianity became illegal.

Throughout all of this, however, there remained individual groups of true Christians, such as the Waldensens and the Anabaptists who would not conform to the Roman system.

The Papacy and Priesthood

In the Bible there are no popes or priests to rule over the church. Jesus Christ is our High Priest (Heb. 3:1; 4:14-15; 5:5; 8:1; 9:11), and all true Christians make up a spiritual priesthood (I Pet. 2:5). Jesus Christ has sanctified all Christians who believe on Him (Heb. 10:10-11), so all priests today are unnecessary and unscriptural. Furthermore, the practice of calling a priest "father" is forbidden by Jesus Christ in Matthew 23:9. There is only ONE mediator between God and men (I Tim. 2:5).

The Catholic church teaches that Peter was the first Pope and the earthly head of the church, but the Bible never says this once. In fact, it was Peter himself who spoke against "being lords over God's heritage" in I Peter 5:3. Popes do not marry, although Peter did (Mat. 8:14; I Cor. 9:5). The Bible never speaks of Peter being in Rome, and it was Paul, not Peter, who wrote the epistle to the Romans. In the New Testament, Paul wrote 100 chapters with 2,325 verses, while Peter wrote only 8 chapters with 166 verses. In Peter's first epistle he stated that he was simply "an apostle of Jesus Christ," not a Pope (I Pet. 1:1). The Roman papacy and priesthood is just a huge fraud to keep members in bondage to a corrupt pagan church.

The Worship of Mary

Roman Catholics believe that Mary, the mother of Jesus, remained a virgin after the birth of Jesus and was sinless all of her life. She is worshiped in the Catholic church as the "Mother of God" and the "Queen of Heaven." St. Bernard stated that she was crowned "Queen of Heaven" by God the Father, and that she currently sits upon a throne in Heaven making intercession for Christians.

The Bible teaches otherwise. In the Bible, Mary was a sinner just like the rest of us. She said herself that she needed a "Saviour" (Lk. 1:47), and she even had to offer a sacrifice for her sins in Luke 2:24. Jesus was only her "firstborn" son, according to Matthew 1:25, because she later had other children as well (Mt. 13:55; Gal. 1:19; Psa. 69:8). There's only ONE mediator between God and men, and it isn't Mary (I Tim. 2:5). The last time we hear from Mary in the Bible she is praying WITH the disciples, not being prayed to BY the disciples (Acts 1:14). The Bible never exalts Mary above anyone else. Neither should we.

Just because the Catholic Church doesn't agree with your personal, fallible interpretation of the Bible doesn't mean we don't follow the Bible. It's YOU we don't agree with - not the Bible. All Catholic teachings have roots in the Bible.

Your misunderstanding is nothing new. There are some Eastern Orthodox Christians who have the same mistaken idea. An article on the topic here: http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/vie... . But your pretty alone in your understanding of the passage:

"Everyone else — Protestant, Catholic, Eastern — recognizes that while the Greek word ekklesia does sometimes denote a local congregation, here in Matthew 16:18 the context is clearly Messianic. The substance of Peter's confession is Messianic. In Jewish thought, Messiah could never be detached from the messianic community, the whole body of his people. So here, when Jesus uses the term he is referring to all his people: the Universal Church."

ETA: Yes. I've read the Book of Romans (in Koine Greek which I studied for a few years) and recently read the English translation. I find that is reinforces rather than contradicts Catholic doctrine on justification and salvation, especially when read in context with the rest of the Bible. So perhaps you're misunderstanding Romans or you don't have an adequate understanding of the Catholic doctrine on justification.

For a person who does not know this or that you certainly are opinionated. The word Catholic means Universal. l first read the use of Catholic in some of the books that were not accepted into our current Bible. The year around 68 A D. As for Peter and Paul in the Bible they are buried on the Vatican grounds. Peter is directly under the the alter of the church their.

'Tom' your problem is you cannot handle the truth !

http://members.shaw.ca/bmaundy/Extras/Proof_of_One...

I don't belong to a religion or denomination,I belong to the church Jesus Christ established in 33AD,The Catholic Church is over 2,000 years old.

@ Tom. If we merely pray to God and then interpret the bible on our own, then what we are essentially doing is setting up ourselves as our own infallible source of interpretation and learning. We assume that whatever the verses say to us is true. And what did the Apostles say regarding how to settle matters between Christians? Paul says to take along a second Christian as a witness when someone tries to argue something which is wrong. IF that person refuses to accept what you say as equals. Paul says to take the matter "to the church" -- this implies an organisation which can 'settle' doctrinal matters.

Let’s look at it this way. Who founded your church? Surely it was started by some man or woman, more than likely within the last 500 years. There are some 38,500+ protestant churches in the world teaching different things and having differing theological beliefs since 1517AD. To see when your church started check out this list http://members.shaw.ca/bmaundy/Extras/Protestant_H... If you are still not convinced then prove to me that your church existed before 1517AD. I say this because what can be affirmed without proof can be equally denied without proof. Hence any written proof by a church father or someone of antiquity from your denomination would suffice.

Tom, who founded your church? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NG3QdH7Z74s

Catholic †

Not only is that not obvious...

It certainly is not correct. I can think of several teachings found in Romans that are also taught by the Catholic Church.

- Jim, Fundamentalist Christian, http://www.bible-reviews.com/

P.S. In reply to your response:

So: you are admitting that what you wrote is incorrect? You admit that the claim, "catholicism so obviously contradicts the entire book of Romans" is false, and that what you ***meant*** to write was ""Catholicism so obviously contradicts the thoroughly-explained theme of The Letter to the Romans"?

1. There's nothing in the Catechism that contradicts the Book of Romans.

2. In fact, you will find Romans quoted in the Catechism in multiple locations, including paragraph 1977 (Christ is the end of the law, cf. Ro 10:4), paragraph 658 (Christ is our justification, cf. Ro 6:4, and He will impart new life to our bodies, cf. Ro 8:11), paragraph 1918 (There is no authority except from God, cf. Ro 13:1), paragraph 420 (The victory of Christ gives us greater blessings than that which sin took away, cf. Ro 5:20) and so on.

3. We insist that our religion was founded by Christ in Mt 16:18 because it's true.

4. The word "Catholic" (Greek, "from the whole") was first used to describe the Church Jesus started (which still exists today, per His promise that the gates of hell would not overcome it) in the 2nd century. Details: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_term_%...

5. The Catholicism does not contradict the Bible in ANY way. Apparently, you've not bothered to read it. You can do so online for free: http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc.htm Here's an easier-to-read q&a version: http://www.vatican.va/archive/compendium_ccc/docum...

6. The office of the papacy doesn't contradict Scripture, and in fact is supported by Scripture. (See my answer to you in your direct question about the papacy here on Y!A).

7. The Church started by Jesus is indeed "universal" because He started only ONE Church for all believers in all nations of all times. That's what "universal" means.

8. It's fine to be opinionated, but I think you'll find that when you base your opinions on rumor instead of finding out the facts, you tend to make yourself look rather foolish.

9. The Catholic doctrine of salvation - which is that Jesus died for our sins and is the one and only source of salvation - is thoroughly supported by Scripture, not opposed to it. Here it is from the catechism: http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/para/1741.htm http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/para/620.htm http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/para/183.htm (Etc - the catechism has a LOT to say about Jesus' saving Grace. Read it and see for yourself.)

ETA:

The Catholic Church today teaches the SAME way of salvation that Jesus taught - He died for our sins and nobody can be saved except through Him. He rose from the dead to give us eternal life. Catholics proclaim this at EVERY Mass and we have Mass EVERY day. In fact, at any given hour on any given day, in at least one Catholic parish in the world is celebrating Mass and proclaiming Jesus' gospel. Your contention that Catholics believe something different is a lie, entirely wrong, and if you would BOTHER to look it up in the Catechism, you would see that what you are stating is incorrect, and you'd stop making yourself look so pig-headed.

ETA2:

Oh, I see. You misunderstand the role of the Sacraments in Catholicism. We believe Jesus gave us the sacraments as a means of providing grace to us. Salvation is actually independent of these - a person can be saved without receiving any of the Sacraments at all. But when the sacraments are available to us, there is an continuous influx of Grace that enables us to live more fully as Christians. Hardly anybody receives ALL the sacraments - most people only get 5 of the 7, so obviously they are not ALL required. You must admit, however, that Jesus Himself instructed us to be baptized (Mt: 28), instituted the Eucharist (Mt 26, Luke 22, etc.), gave priests the ability to forgive sin in His name for the Sacrament of Reconciliation and instituted Holy Orders (both in John 20:21-23), sanctified Holy Matrimony (John 2) and so on. Care to explain why Jesus gave us these Sacraments if not to use them?

The catholic church is the ONLY church from 33AD to 1000Ad, before the orthodox split.

The church canonized the holy bible; so the issue is what caused the CC to contradict its own bible.

Sound ridiculous,

Why the Roman; focus on the gospels of Jesus as it is the teachings of Christ, before you expound on the work of St. Paul, who has not even seen Jesus in person. Duh!

The office of Pope is biblical.

John 21:15-17 states:

When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." He said to him, "Feed my lambs."

He then said to him a second time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." He said to him, "Tend my sheep."

He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" Peter was distressed that he had said to him a third time, "Do you love me?" and he said to him, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you." (Jesus) said to him, "Feed my sheep.

Matthew 16:17-19 states:

Jesus said to him in reply, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

The Catholic Church believes the Lord made Simon alone, whom he named Peter, the "rock" of his Church. He gave him the keys of his Church and instituted him shepherd of the whole flock.

The Pope is the senior pastor of 1.1 billion Catholic Christians, the direct successor of Simon Peter.

The Pope’s main roles include teaching, sanctifying, and governing.

For more information, see the Catechism of the Catholic Church, section 880-882.

Catholic

According to the four Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles, about the year 33 C.E., the structure of the Church was set up by Jesus Christ before His Ascension and then the early Christian Church was born on Pentecost when the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles and disciples.

This same Church has referred to itself as the “Catholic Church” at least since 107 C.E. (about 10 years after the last book of the New Testament was written), when the Greek term "Katholikos" (meaning universal) appears in the Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Smyrnaeans:

"Wherever the bishop appear, there let the multitude be; even as wherever Christ Jesus is, there is the Catholic Church."

http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/ignatiu...

We do not know how long they had been using the term "Catholic" before it was included in this rare surviving letter.

All of this was long before the Council of Nicea and the Nicene Creed from 325 C.E. which states, "We believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church."

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07644a.htm

With love in Christ.

Your question basically is:

When proven wrong, why do some people not change?

Jesus had a decent answer.

"This people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far removed from me. It is in vain that they keep worshiping me, because they teach as doctrines commands of men.’

Mark 7:6,7

"Since today's catholicism so obviously ... " If it is so obvious, why are there so many Catholics?