3. Deuteronomy 4:16.
"Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and MAKE you a GRAVEN IMAGE, the similitude of ANY FIGURE, the likeness of MALE or FEMALE."
Question 6: Do Catholics make graven images of MALE or FEMALE? Yes. Mary is a female. Jesus and the apostles are males.
4. Deuteronomy 16:22.
"Neither shalt thou SET thee UP ANY IMAGE: which the Lord thy God HATES."
Question 7: Do Catholics SET UP ANY IMAGES? Yes.
Question 8: Does God HATE IMAGES? Yes.
5. 1 Thessalonians 1:9.
"How ye turned to God FROM IDOLS to serve the living and true God."
Question 9: Did the early Christians turn FROM IDOLS? Yes.
6. Deuteronomy 27:15.
"CURSED be the man that MAKES ANY GRAVEN or MOLTEN IMAGE, an abomination unto the Lord, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and putteth it in a secret place."
Question 10: Does God put a curse on any person that makes any image? Yes.
Question 11: Why does God call an image an ABOMINATION? Because He hates it.
7. Isaiah 40:18,19.
"To whom then will ye liken God? or what LIKENESS will ye compare unto him? The workman melts a graven image"
Note: God has no visible form and we cannot liken him to any material object. The Catholic answer is that they say that they do not worship images.
God's reply is not to even MAKE IMAGES.
8. The early Christians had NO IMAGES.
Early Christian writers such as Irenaeus, Clement, Cyprian, Athanasius, and Jerome, wrote strongly AGAINST images, statues and any manner of prayer or veneration regarding them. The Council of Constantinople in 381 AD voted unanimously to remove all images from the churches.
9. The Catholic church removes the second commandment against MAKING graven images from the list of 10 commandments in Exodus 20:1-17. This presents them with the problem of only having 9 commandments. They resolve this problem by splitting commandment number 10 into 9 and 10.
That is. 9. You shall not covet your neighbour's wife.
10. You shall not covet your neighbour's goods.
This is seen in the book "A brief summary of the Ten Commandments" by the Daughters of St. Paul, p.12, 13:
WHAT ARE THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD?
The Commandments of God are these ten:
"I am the Lord your God:
1. You shall not have strange Gods before me.
2. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
3. Remember to keep holy the Lord's day.
4. Honor your father and your mother.
5. You shall not kill.
6. You shall not commit adultery.
7. You shall not steal.
8. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.
9. You shall not covet your neighbour's wife.
10. You shall not covet your neighbour's goods."
Exodus 20:1-17.
The number Two Commandment should be "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image." Exodus 20:4. Check your Catechism to see if they have left it out.
Question: Why do you think they left it out?
10. Every Catholic institution has images of Mary, Jesus and male and female figures. An example of this are two statues at the French Papal Palace of Avignon, one of Jesus about 20 metres above ground level, and the other is an enormous statue of Mary, much larger, grander and higher up than that of Jesus. This gives the greater honour to Mary than Jesus. It also clearly breaks the second commandment forbidding making images of things in heaven.
Question: Who do we believe, the Word of God or the Catholic Church? "We ought to obey God, rather than men." Acts 5:29.
ERROR 19: MARY VENERATION.
There are many errors associated with Mary veneration, some of which are as follows:
1. Historical correction with Pagan mother and child worship.
Mother and child worship started at the Tower of Babel. Nimrod, King of Babel was killed for his great evil. His wife Semiramis, fearing that she would lose control, devised a plan to maintain the people's loyalty. She and everybody knew about the future birth of a virgin born Messiah/Saviour promised in Genesis 3:15 as the "seed of the woman" who would bruise satan's head. So Semiramis had an illegitimate son, whom she named "Tammuz." She commanded that everyone worship herself and Tammuz as the fulfilment of Genesis 3:15, claiming that her son was supernaturally conceived and was the promised saviour.
When the people at Babel were scattered, they carried this mother and child worship with them wherever they went. This is why we see so much mother and child worship in so many ancient societies. For example, in the following ancient cultures, the mother and child were represented as follows:
| Mother | Son | |
| Babylon | Semiramis | Tammuz |
| China | Shingmoo | |
| Germany | Hertha & Child | |
| Scandinavia | Disa | |
| Etruscans | Nutria | |
| Greece | Aphrodite en Ceres | |
| Rome | Venus | Jupiter |
| India | Devaki | Krishna |
| Asia | Cybele | Deoius |
| Canaan | Ashtaroth | Baal |
| Ephesus | Diana | |
| Egypt | Isis | Horus |
| Phonecians | Lady of the Sea, Astark |
They forsook the Lord, and served Baal and Ashtaroth. Judges 2.13
When the early Christian church grew through the preaching of Paul and others, no compromise was made with pagan mother and child worship. When the Ephesians were truly converted, they destroyed their idols of the goddess Diana, so that the silversmith craftsmen were going out of business. Acts 19:24-27.
When the Roman Emperor Constantine professed conversion in 320 AD, he commanded that everyone in the Roman Empire become "Christian". At this time, half the empire were pagan worshippers of mother and child, and the other half professed to be Christian. It is obvious that you cannot pass a law to compel everyone to follow a certain religion, as people have their own free will. A compromise was reached which allowed the pagans to continue their mother and child worship, yet still give the appearance of being Christian. They simply changed their pagan mother and child worship to worship Mary and Jesus.
This resulted in Mary worship becoming an official doctrine of the Roman Church in 431 AD at the Council of Ephesus. Since then, Mary worship has grown, so that Mary is now called the "Mother of God", the "Queen of Heaven", "Madonna", etc.
Please note that Mary is NOT the "Mother of God", as God was around long before Mary was born. Mary is the mother of Jesus (Acts 1:14), she is never called the "Mother of God". Jesus never called Mary "mother", but "woman". She is the mother of Jesus' humanity, but not His Deity.
Note also that Mary never claimed to be the "Queen of Heaven" as this was a pagan goddess that apostate Israelites made cakes to, thus provoking God to anger. "... the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the Queen of Heaven, ... that they may provoke me to anger." Jeremiah 7:18 and 44:17, 18, 19, 25.
In pagan religions, the mother was worshipped as much or more than her son, yet the Bible clearly shows that Christ is to be worshipped and NEVER Mary.
2. The Bible never mentions Mary interceding for us.
Who did the thief on the cross appeal to for salvation? Was it Christ or Mary? Jesus said: "Come unto ME, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28.
"Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." John 6:37
"No man cometh unto the Father, but by ME." John 14:6
Praying to Mary is a device to turn people away from praying to Christ. Acts 4:12 states that there is no salvation in anyone but Christ. Luke records a woman saying to Jesus about Mary in Luke 11:27, 28, "Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked (Mary). But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the Word of God, and keep it."
As a man, Jesus always said "No!" to Mary's requests. For example, in John 2:3,4,5, Jesus rejected Mary's request for more wine by saying: "Woman, what have I to do with thee?" Mary then told the servants "Whatsoever he saith unto you, DO IT." Jesus did not say "Yes mother, I will do anything you ask."
3. The Immaculate Conception.
Definition: "Mary was born sinless and led a sinless life". She was declared to be "infallible" and this was made official by Pope Pius IX in 1854. He said "There is no salvation to those who do not believe this dogma."
Answer: Even St Augustine wrote that Mary's flesh was "flesh of sin" and that "Mary springing from Adam, died because of sin." Mary acknowledges that she is a sinner by calling God her Saviour. Remember, only a sinner needs a Saviour.
"My spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour." Luke 1:47.
"For ALL HAVE SINNED and come short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23
"There is none righteous, no not one." Romans 3:10.
4. Perpetual Virginity.
Definition: "Mary remained a virgin all her life, never having sex with her husband Joseph and therefore having no other children."
Answer: This idea is found NO WHERE in the Bible. This idea was official dogma in 451 AD. Note these Bible verses disproving this false doctrine:
a) "Joseph took unto him his wife: and knew her not TILL she had brought forth her firstborn son..." Matthew 1:25. This means that Joseph knew Mary sexually in normal marriage relations after Jesus was born.
b) Jesus' fellow Nazareth townsfolk who grew up with him asked: "Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary? and his brothers, James, Joses, Simon and Judas? And his sisters, are they not all with us?" Matthew 13:55,56. Jesus here has brothers (adelphos) and sisters (adelphai). Catholicism attempts to explain these away as cousins. This cannot be valid because the greek word for cousin is "anephios." Mark 6:3 also translates these as "brothers" and "sisters".
c) Jesus, when on the cross, spoke to Mary about John saying: "Woman, behold THY SON." Jesus then said to John about Mary: "Behold THY MOTHER." Therefore John and Mary had a mother/son relationship.
d) Jesus had brothers:
"Neither did his brethren believe in him." John 7:5.
"These all continued ... with his brethren." Acts 1:14.
Nine times the Bible says that Mary was not a perpetual virgin.
5. The Assumption of Mary.
Definition: "Mary ascended into heaven in a bodily form." This was made official and "infallible" by Pope Pius XII in 1951.
Answer: This is NOWHERE mentioned in the Bible.
John 3:13 "No man has ascended up to heaven, but ... the Son of man ..." Ascended in the greek means "go up of one's own power", not taken up as was Elijah or Enoch.
Objection: Doesn't Revelation 12:1-7 describe a woman in heaven clothed with the sun, having the moon under her feet and a crown of 12 stars on her head, giving birth to a man child (Christ), refer to Mary?
Answer: No. Because:
a) Genesis 37:9, 10 shows this woman to be the Israelite nation, with the sun representing Jacob, the moon representing his wife Rachel, and the 12 stars representing the 12 tribes of Israel. Christ was born of Israel. The Israelite nation is often referred to as a woman in Isaiah 54:5, "thy mother is thine husband" and Jeremiah 31:32, "although I was a husband unto them."
b) This woman cannot be Mary, because this woman is on earth during the tribulation, whereas Mary's spirit is in heaven at that time.
c) This woman is persecuted on earth during this time, yet Mary in heaven cannot be persecuted on earth.
6. False Prophecies and Miracles attributed to Mary
Many "visions", "miracles" and "prophecies" have been attributed to Mary. For example, the vision attributed to Mary at Fatima in 1917 told three shepherd children to repeat the rosary daily. It called for people to reform their lives and to build a chapel in her honour.
Also, the message at Meddjugorje, Yugoslavia, attributed to Mary said that: "God is not looking for great believers, but simply for those who respect their faith and live peacefully. Peace is more important that conversion, fasting, penance or prayer."
Question: Do you believe that every vision a person claims to have is true and from God?
Answer: Satan can give false visions, miracles and prophecies to deceive people away from the gospel of salvation by faith in Christ. "Though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel, let him be accursed." Galatians 1:8.
Notice how these visions turn people's attention AWAY FROM CHRIST to something else, such as, saying the rosary or peace. These visions have three errors in common:
a) They usually point people to peace and the Catholic church.
b) They glorify Mary, instead of Jesus.
c) They contradict and ignore the Bible.
Beware of satan transforming himself into an angel of light. To avoid being deceived, we must test everything by the Word of God.
Charles Chiniquy, a former priest from Montreal, Canada, who became a Presbyterian minister, tells of the following conversation between himself and his bishop when doubts began to assail him regarding the place given to Mary:
CC: "My lord, who has saved you and me upon the cross?"
He answered, "Jesus Christ."
CC: "And who paid your debt and mine by shedding His blood; was it Mary or Jesus?"
He said: "Jesus Christ."
CC: Now, my lord, when Jesus and Mary were on earth, who loved the sinner more; was it Mary or Jesus?"
Again he answered that it was Jesus.
CC: "Did any sinner come to Mary on earth to be saved?"
"No."
CC: "Do you remember that any sinner has gone to Jesus to be saved?"
"Yes, many."
CC: "Have they been rebuked?"
"Never."
CC: Do you remember that Jesus ever said to sinners, `Come to Mary and she will save you?'
"No", he said.
CC: Do you remember that Jesus has said to poor sinners, `Come to me?'
"Yes, He has said it."
CC: Has He ever retracted those words?"
"No".
CC: "And who was, then, the more powerful to save sinners?"
"O, it was Jesus!"
CC: "Now my lord, since Jesus and Mary are in heaven, can you show me in the Scriptures that Jesus has lost anything of his desire and power to save sinners, or that He has delegated His power to Mary?"
And the bishop answered "No."
CC: "Then, my lord, why do we not go to Him, and to Him alone? Why do we invite poor sinners to come to Mary, when, by your own confession she is nothing compared with Jesus, in power, in mercy, in love, and in compassion for the sinner?"
To that the Bishop could give no answer. (Fifty Years in the Church of Rome, p. 262).
ERROR 20: CATHOLIC ATTITUDES TO THE BIBLE.
1. The Roman Catholic church has a history of burning Bibles.
2. When it could not stop Bibles being printed, it denied anti-catholic scriptures by saying "that's your interpretation", meaning that the Bible has no authority if anyone can interpret it in any manner.
3. They allow Catholics to read the Bible, but teach that it is wrong and sinful to put any interpretation on scriptures that is contrary to Roman Catholic doctrine. In other words, don't think for yourself, you may discover that Catholic doctrine is full of error and contradictions. Just blindly accept everything Rome tells you, trust Rome.
ERROR 21: PETER AS THE ROCK (Matthew 16:18, 19).
The whole structure of the Roman church is built on the assumption that in Matthew 16:13-19, Christ appointed Peter to be the first pope and so established the papacy. If we destroy the papacy of Peter, the foundation of the papacy is destroyed along with the whole Roman hierarchy. "And I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter (greek 1 Petros, 2masculine, 3a person, 4a large stone, 5a piece or fragment of rock such as a man might throw); and upon this rock (greek 1Petra, 2feminine, 3not a person, but a 4cliff, a mass of projecting immovable rock.) I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
"And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and WHATSOEVER thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and WHATSOEVER thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." Catholicism claims several false doctrines from this passage:
1. Peter is the rock.
2. Peter is the first pope, with special spiritual supremacy over the church.
3. This same spiritual authority has always resided in the popes of rome, as being Peters successors (This idea is nowhere mentioned in Scripture).
4. Christ built his church on Peter. This is contrary to God's Word which says: "For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Christ Jesus". I Corinthians 3:11.
5. Christ gave Peter keys to admit into heaven only those who came through the Roman Catholic church.
6. Those not coming through the Roman church would be bound in sin and unable to enter heaven.
Each of these six can be shown to be false as follows:
1. Peter is not the rock, because the 12 disciples, knowing well the Old Testament, recognised the Rock as a description or name for God.
"He is the Rock, His word is perfect." Deuteronomy 32:4.
"The Lord is my Rock, and my fortress." Psalms 18:2.
"For who is a God save the Lord? Or who is a Rock save our God." Ps18:31
We see here that there is NO OTHER ROCK than God, not even Peter. Jesus Christ is the foundation rock on which the church is built.
a) The Old Testament prophets said so (Isaiah 28:16, Psalm 118:22).
b) Jesus said so referring to Himself as "the stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner." Matthew 21:42.
c) Paul said so, stating that "the rock that followed them was Christ." 1 Corinthians 10:4 and "other foundation can no man lay then that is laid which is Jesus Christ." 1 Corinthians 3:11.
d) Peter said so, stating that Christ is "the stone ... which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other ... " Acts 4:11, 12.
Catholicism is saying that salvation is not in Christ, but in Peter as the first of a succession of popes. Peter, however, contradicts this wrong idea by saying that, "Christ is the chief corner stone" in 1 Peter 2:4-8.
"To whom coming, as unto a living stone. (v.4)
Behold I lay in Zion a Chief corner stone ... he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. (v.6)
The stone which the builders disallowed is become the head of the corner. (v.7) And a stone of stumbling, and a rock offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient." (v.8)
Even if we allow Catholicism to believe that Peter is a foundation stone upon which Christ built His church, Catholicism has to admit that other New Testament apostles and Old Testament prophets make up the foundation equally as much as Peter does, because:
"And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone." Ephesians 2:20.
And the wall of the city had 12 foundations, and in them the names of the 12 apostles of the lamb." Revelation 21:14.
Peter is given no greater importance than any of the other apostles.
"Thou art Peter (Petros), and upon this rock (Petra) I will build my church." Matthew 16:18.
Answer: In the Greek, the word "Peter" is Petros, a person, masculine, a rock or stone that a man might throw.
In the Greek, the word "Rock" is "Petra", not a person, but a cliff, a mass of projecting, immovable rock. It refers not to Peter, but to Peter's declaration of Christ's deity "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God."
"PETROS" means a small, moveable stone, but "PETRA" means an immovable foundation, in this case, Peter's statement on Christ's deity, upon which Christ would build His church.
Christ made two complete, distinct statements:
He said: 1. Thou art Peter, and
2. Upon this rock (change of gender, indicating change of subject) I will build my church."
Peter was not characterised by a "PETRA" immovable foundation, as seen in these incidents:
a) Peter soon tried to stop Jesus going to the cross, so Jesus gave him a stinging rebuke: "Get thee behind me, satan." (v.23) These are strong words to use against someone who has just been appointed pope.
b) Peter slept in Gethsemene during Christ's agony.
c) Christ rebuked Peter for rashly cutting off Malchus' ear.
d) Peter boasted that he was ready to die for Christ.
e) Peter then shamefully denied with curses that he knew Christ.
f) Paul rebuked Peter for error and hypocrisy at Antioch in Galatians 2:11 "But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed."
g) In Mark 9:33-35 the disciples argued as to who was the greatest among them. Had Jesus already given Peter the chief rank of pope, then Christ would have simply referred to His previous granting of power to Peter. Yet Jesus just said that the greatest shall be last and servant of all.
h) Augustine and Jerome state that the Rock is Christ, not Peter. Mark's gospel was written by Mark, assisted by Peter, yet neither Mark's gospel or Peter's letters mention this incident. They would surely mention it if we needed to know it.
God is called the "Rock" 34 times in the Old Testament. It was clearly a title of God. Every Jew would be shocked to call a man the "Rock". Therefore "Peter" and "Rock" are translated as two different words, with two different meanings.
Note: In John 1:42 Jesus said "Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called CEPHAS, which is by interpretation, a STONE." Cephas (2786) is a Syriac surname given to Simon, which is "Petros" in greek, not "Petra". Peter did not call himself by his Syriac name (Cephas), but by his Greek name (1 Peter 1:1, 2 Peter 1:1). The word for rock (Petra) in Matthew 16:18 is the same word used for the rock fortress at Edom, known as "PETRA". It is 1.4 kilometres long, 226 metres high, 457 metres wide. Jesus did not say that Peter was the PETRA rock fortress, but that Simon was Petros, a piece of rock. Only God is called "a ROCK." Jesus is just saying to Simon "I will make you a firm and distinguished preacher in building my church."
2. Peter is NOT the first pope, with supremacy over the Church because of these reasons:
a) At the Jerusalem council in Acts 15:13-19, the advice of James not Peter was sought and followed. James, not Peter was the spokesman who handed down the decision.
b) If Peter was the first pope, he would have had a greater position than the other disciples. When the disciples discussed which of them of the greatest in Mark 9:33-35, Jesus had a great chance to affirm Peter's headship as the first pope, but Jesus simply said that the greatest shall be a servant of all. Thus Jesus showed no special papal leadership to Peter. Nor should we.
3. Peter was given the keys of the kingdom of heaven (Christian profession in the Church Age), only in the sense that it was Peter who opened the door of Gospel preaching opportunity to Israel on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:38-42), and to the Gentiles in the house of Cornelius (Acts 10:34-46). Peter opened the door, and everybody who received Christ as Saviour went into the Kingdom of God through Christ.
ERROR 22: FIFTEEN APOCRYPHA BOOKS added to the Old Testament Bible in 1546 AD.
Roman Catholicism added these books in order to undermine Protestant belief in the Bible as sole authority. Some apocryphal books seemed to support Catholic dogma. We reject the Apocrypha for these reasons:
Reason 1: The Jews never received these books. They were rejected by both Jews and all Christians up till 400 AD. Jesus never quoted from the Apocrypha.
Reason 2: They have many errors of time, history, geography, as well as contradictions to the Bible. Examples of errors are:
1. Judith falsely states that Nebuchadnezzar reigns over the Assyrians, whereas he ruled Babylon instead.
2. Judith has Holohernes moving an immense army 300 miles in 3 days (2:21).
3. Tobit could not have witnessed the division of Israel into the Northern and Southern kingdoms in 931 BC (Tobit 1:4), and have been deported 200 years later in 734 BC (Tobit 1:10).
4. Ecclesiasticus 3:3 states that giving money forgives sins, which contradicts the work of Christ on the cross.
Reason 3: Christ and the apostles in the New Testament quote 260 times from 35 out of 39 Old Testament books, yet they never quote from the Apocrypha.
Reason 4: Josephus in 90 AD listed all the 39 Old Testament books, yet he did not include the Apocrypha. The Catholic church only added them at the Council of Trent to defend the Protestants attack on purgatory, where 2 Maccabees 12:40-45 tells of Judas Maccabeus offering a sacrifice for soldiers who died while guilty of the mortal sin of idolatry.
ERROR 23: NAMES OF BLASPHEMY.
Officials of the Roman Catholic church take names for themselves that are reserved to God, the Lord Jesus Christ such as:
1. Pontifix Maximus is a papal title meaning in Latin "chief bridge maker" between earth and heaven. However, Jesus Christ is the only One who can claim this title because "no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." John 14:6. This was a title of Julius Caesar and of the Roman Emperors of paganism, thus showing how modern Roman Catholicism is of pagan origin. Constantine, a politician, in 320 AD, hijacked the church of Rome, taking control of it for himself. Hence, all popes accept the title "Pontifix Maximus" which title belonged to the Roman Emporers from Julius Caesar onwards.
2. Holy Father is a title the pope claims for himself. However, this title occurs only once in the Bible, and used when Jesus addresses His Heavenly Father in John 17:11 in His great prayer before His betrayal, arrest and crucifixion. It is blasphemy for any man to claim this title for himself. It belongs only to God, the Father.
3. Father is a title that every Roman Catholic priest claims for himself and expects to be called. Jesus warns in Matthew 23:9 "Call no man your father upon the eaSrth: for one is your father which is in heaven."
Objection: But isn't it wrong to call your earthly parent "father"?
Answer: No, because in Romans 4:1 "Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found?" God refers to Abraham as "our father pertaining to the flesh" which is an acceptable usage. Obviously the Roman priest is not your physical father, but claims to be a spiritual father, which is what God forbids. We ought not to call a priest "father", unless he is your physical parent.
4. Monsignor means "my Lord", and this clearly is a title belonging only to God, the Lord Jesus Christ. This is a name of blasphemy that Romanism takes from God.
5. Reverend is a title of many Roman Catholic priests and Protestant ministers. This is also a title for God in Psalms 111:9 "Holy and Reverend is his name." It is always blasphemy for any man to take to himself a title of God. No preacher in the early church claimed "Reverend" as his title, nor can we today.
In Revelation 17:3 John saw a whore riding a beast described as "full of names of blasphemy." These five names of blasphemy of the Roman Catholic church link it with the whore called "Mystery Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots, and abominations of the earth." Revelation 17:5.
6. "God himself on earth" is a papal title in the New York Catechism.
7. Mary as "Mother of God". Mary was the mother of Jesus Christ's humanity, but not the mother of Jesus Christ's divinity. Jesus is Mary's creator. Hence we reject this blasphemous title given to Mary. This title puts Mary before God. God has no mother. God has always existed.
8. Other Blasphemous titles given to Mary are Queen of Heaven, the Gate of Heaven, our life, Mother of Grace, Mother of Mercy, etc. Heaven has no Queen, only the King. Christ is the Door, the Life etc. For Mary to hear all Catholic prayers she would need to have the omniscient powers of God. This is Blasphemy!
ERROR 24: ROSARY PRAYER BEADS.
Saying the rosary is often assigned to a person after he has been to confession as a penance or as a means of storing up merit in heaven. The rosary may be defined as:
1. A series of prayers, in its long form consisting of:
15 "Our Fathers" (the Lord's prayer, addressed to God the Father)
15 "Glory be's" and
150 "Hail Mary's" addressed to Mary as follows:
"Hail Mary, full of grace ... pray for us sinners ..."
2. A chain of beads for counting the prayers. Note that the rosary has TEN TIMES as many prayers addressed to Mary (150), as are addressed to God the Father (15), with none addressed to Christ. It thus exalts Mary 10 TIMES more than GOD.
Jesus forbids the rosary prayer in Matthew 6:7,8 "But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them."
The Bible teaches that the true believer should pray to God from the heart reverently, thankfully, humbly, thinking of what he is doing, and of God to whom he is speaking. Buddhists and Moslems use a prayer device similar to rosary beads. Reject the rosary.
ERROR 25: LOW MORAL STANDARDS.
The Protestant moral code comes directly from the Bible. For example, "Don't steal" means "Don't steal."
The Roman Catholic moral code is mainly based on Catholic canon law, and only secondarily on the Bible. For example, "Don't steal" means "stealing is alright provided that the value of the thing stolen is not excessive." (Liguori).
The authority of the church as interpreted by the priest is what matters. The Catholic standard of morality is not to stir the conscience to decide right and wrong for itself, but to let the papal church decide what is right and wrong. Drinking liquor and gambling considered as vices by Protestants, are not counted as evil by Romanist's except when indulged to excess.
Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits states that "if anything shall appear white to our eyes which the church has defined as black, we likewise must declare it to be black." This means "DON'T THINK, just accept whatever Rome tells you."
Consider these moral sins perpetrated by Roman Catholicism:
1. Alcoholic Liquor.
"LOOK NOT upon the wine when it is red ... it bites like a serpent." Proverbs 23:31, 32.
"Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise." Proverbs 20:1.
"Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink." Habakkuk 2:15.
Roman Catholic theologian Liguori states that "It is not a mortal sin to get drunk, unless one loses completely the use of his mental facilities for over one hour." The Protestant cannot force his will and conscience to approve, believe and do what his mind knows to be wrong.
Jack Kennedy is considered a good Catholic, even thought he made his millions illegally selling liquor in the prohibition days. This liquor ruined millions of people's lives through domestic violence, road deaths, deformed children of alcoholic parents etc.
2. Gambling.
Roman Catholicism favours games of chance, especially as they play bingo in church halls. Gambling is an attempt to get something for nothing through the throw of dice, turn of a wheel etc. It is an attempt to live off the greed of others, not by honest toil. Gamblers often end up broke. Bingo familiarizes young people with other forms of gambling, and gives gambling the church stamp of approval. Organised gambling flourishes where the muscleman is boss and where business is done by threats, coercion and corruption, which are common methods used to extract gambling debts.
Gambling is addictive to many people, and this enslaves whole families into a life of poverty and fear.
"Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." Matthew 19:19.
Gambling wants to take as much as possible from one's neighbour, not love him as ourself.
3. Sexual abuse by priests of children.
The Roman Catholic church has spent hundreds of millions of dollars in compensating the victims of priest's sexual abuse of children. In many cases, these priests have simply been moved to another parish when their crime came to light. If the Roman Catholic church is the mother of holiness, how can this be?
ERROR 26: DEVOTION TO THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS AND MARY
This is simply false, having no foundation in the Bible, yet why do Catholics accept this so blindly?
ERROR 27: CROSSING ONESELF.
This is a practice that is not found in the Bible either. Jesus never crossed himself, nor did the apostles, nor should we.
ERROR 28: WAS PETER THE FIRST POPE?
No, because:
1. Peter was married, and popes cannot be married. In Matthew 8:14, 15 Jesus healed Peter's mother in law. "When Jesus was come into Peter's house, he saw his WIFE'S MOTHER laid, and sick of a fever."
"Have we not power to lead about a sister, a WIFE, as well as ... Cephas (Peter)?" 1 Corinthians 9:5.
2. Peter would not allow men to bow down to him, as he forbad Cornelius in Acts 10:25, 26. "Cornelius met him, fell down at this feet, and worshipped him. Peter ... said stand up; I myself am a man." The pope likes men to bow down to him.
3. Peter rejected the "tradition from your fathers." (1 Peter 1:18), yet the Catholic church and popes base their teachings on man's traditions.
4. Peter wore no crown as the pope does.
5. Peter had no wealth as the pope has: "Peter said, silver and gold have I none ..." Acts 3:6. Peter never ACTED like a pope, never DRESSED like a pope, never SPOKE like a pope, and people never APPROACHED him as a pope.
6. Peter never took to himself the title "PONTIFIX MAXIMUS" as all the popes willingly accept, as seen by the initials P.M. after their names in the Vatican. This was a title of the pagan Roman Emperors from Juluis Caesar's time on. It means "Chief Bridge Maker between earth and heaven." This is a name of blasphemy for a man to take, and Peter never saw himself as such. Jesus Christ is the only Bridge Maker between earth and heaven. John 1:51.
ERROR 29: ROMAN CATHOLIC LIES, IMMORALITY and CORRUPTION
More than 50 popes show themselves to be atheists or unbelievers. The history of the popes records homosexuality, rape, murder, adultery, drunkenness, selling religious offices, etc. This is hardly behaviour fitting a "Holy Father" or "The Vicar of Christ".
Examples include the following:
1. Pope Sergius III (904 - 911) obtained his office by murder. He fathered several illegitimate children by Marozia, who assassinated Pope Leo VI (928 - 929), and put her own teenage son (John XI) as Pope.
2. Pope John XII (955 - 964) is described in the Catholic encyclopedia as a coarse, immoral man. The Catholic collection of the lives of the Popes, the "Liber Pontificalis" said: "He spent his entire life in adultery." Catholic bishop Luitprand states that "he had no respect for single girls, married woman or widows - they were sure to be defiled by him."
3. Pope Boniface VII (984 - 985), John XII and Leo VIII were described by the Bishop of Orleans as "monsters of guilt, reeking in blood and filth."
4. Pope John XV (985 - 996) split the churches finances among his relatives and was described as "covetous of filthy lucre and corrupt in all his acts."
5. Pope Benedict IX (1033 - 1045) committed murders and adulteries in broad daylight, robbed pilgrims, and was regarded as a hideous criminal. The people drove him out of Rome: The Catholic encyclopedia says, "He was a disgrace to the chair of Peter."
6. Pope Innocent III (1198 - 1216) promoted the Inquisition, surpassing all his predecessors in killing over one million people.
7. Pope Boniface VIII (1294 - 1303). The Catholic encyclopedia states "Scarcely any possible crime was omitted - heresy, gross and unnatural immorality, idolatry, magic, simony ... his whole pontificate was one record of evil." Dante visited Rome and described the Vatican as a "sewer of corruption" and assigned Boniface VII, Nicholas III and Clement V to the "lowest parts of hell." He proposed to be an atheist and in 1302 issued the "Unum Sanctum" officially declaring the Roman Catholic church as the only true church, outside of which on one can be saved.
8. Pope John XXIII (1410 - 1415) was accused by 37 clergy witnesses of fornication, adultery, incest, sodomy, simony, theft and murder. It was proved by a legion of witnesses that he had seduced and violated 300 nuns. He kept a harem at Boulogne of 200 girls. He was publicly called the devil incarnate. He has been called the most depraved criminal who ever sat on the papal throne.
9. Pope Pius II (1458 - 1464) fathered many illegitimate children and taught others to do likewise.
10. Pope Paul II (1464 - 1471) maintained a house full of concubines.
11. Pope Sixtus IV (1471 - 1484) financed his wars by selling church offices to the highest bidders.
12. Pope Innocent VII (1484 - 1492) fathered 16 illegitimate children by various women.
13. Pope Alexander VI (1492 - 1503) committed incest with his two sisters and daughter. On October 31, 1501 he conducted the worst ever sex orgy in the Vatican.
14. Pope Paul III (1534 - 1549) as a cardinal fathered three sons and a daughter and sought advice from astrologers.
15. Pope Leo X (1513 - 1521) the Catholic encyclopedia says "was possessed by an insatiable love of pleasure, revelry and carousing. Luther visited Rome and said: "No one can imagine what sins and infamous actions are committed in Rome." A saying was: "If there is a hell, Rome is built over it."
16. Pope Joan was a female pope whose name was changed later to Pope Zacharias. Luther, on visiting Rome reported her statue in a back street, and John Huss referred to her in his defence as the Council of Constance and this went unchallenged. She died in childbirth while in a public procession.
17. Pope Stephen VI (896 - 897) brought the dead body of former Pope Formosus (891 - 897) to trial, hacked off his decaying finger and had him dragged through the streets of Rome and thrown into the Tiber river.
18. Pope Eugene IV (1431 - 1447) condemned Joan of Arc to be burned alive as a witch, but Pope Benedict IV (1919) declared her a saint.
19. The "great schism" of 1378 lasted 50 years, where Italian and French popes cursed each other. Is this the same morally pure church that Christ left to preach the gospel? When confronted with such evil papal history, the Catholic church, which claims "infallibility", teaches that "A sinful pope ... remains a member of the church, and ... from whom we may not withdraw obedience." Catholic encyclopedia Volume 4 page 435.
Jesus said in Matthew 7:18, 20 "A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit ... by their fruits ye shall know them."
20. Pope Alexander III decreed in 1170 that wills had to be made in front of a priest, or excommunication (cutting off from church and sentence to hell) would result.
The Catholic church has much to be embarrassed about in it's history, as seen from the sample of 20 popes actions.
ERROR 30: THE INQUISITION TORTURE, MASSACRES, MURDERS AND WARS.
So openly corrupt was the Catholic church, that many noble people left in protest, looking to Jesus Christ for salvation and to the Bible for truth, while rejecting the false claims of the popes. These were called heretics and bitterly opposed and tortured by the Roman Catholic church.
Pope Innocent IV in 1252 approved torture and ordered civil authorities to burn "heretics" in the "Ad exstirpanda" Bull. This torture was reinforced by Popes Alexander IV, Clement IV, Nicholas IV, Boniface VIII and others from 1254 - 1303.
Roman Catholic documents revealed that they murdered around 68 million protesters from 1100 to 1800 AD when the Inquisition stopped.
The following torture devices were used against protesters:
1. The rack which stretched and dislocated joints.
2. Heavy pincers tore out fingernails.
3. Thumbscrews dislocated fingers.
4. "Spanish boots" crushed legs and feet.
5. The Iron virgin was a hollow metal case with knives inside, which pierced the victim placed in it.
6. Hanging.
7. Eyes gouged out.
8. Molten lead poured into ears and mouth.
9. Being forced to jump off cliffs onto sharp spikes below.
10. 100,000 Albigenses (Protestants) were massacred in one day in 1211, then burned in heaps.
11. Pope Pius IV sent the Italian army to massacre many women and children at Orange in 1562.
12. 10,000 Hugenots (French Protestants) were killed in Paris on St Bartholomews Day and 75,000 the week after. The Hugenot wars killed 200,000 Protestants.
13. The "30 Years War" in Germany saw the population drop from 15 million to 5 million due to Catholic invading armies killing 900,000 protestants.
14. The Spanish Armada was sent to conquer Protestant England by Catholic King Philip of Spain. "Bad weather" destroyed this fleet off the coast of England. The inquisition was ordered by papal decree and confirmed by pope after pope. Why did no pope stop the Inquisition torture? Jesus said "turn the other cheek", "love and forgive our enemies", and "do good to them that despitefully use us". Was the Roman church acting like Jesus Christ here?
15. Galileo was sent to a dungeon and publicly flogged because he believed that the earth moved around the sun. On 22 June 1663, Galileo had to fall on his knees to escape the cruel death ordered by Pope Urban VIII and sign a retraction "I abjure, curse and detest the error and heresy of the earth moving around the sun ... it is absurd, false and erroneous."
Truly, the Roman church is "drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus." Revelation 17:6.
Two Roman Catholic devices to muzzle opposition are:
a) Accusations of "bigotry". A bigot is "one who is obstinately and intolerantly devoted to his own church, party, belief or opinion." Romanists gag opposition by branding their opponents as "BIGOTS". Anyone who opposes Romanism in writing is branded as a "HATE MONGER" or "HATE LITERATURE" distributor, hoping to silence anyone who disagrees with it. "The Jesuits have urged the Catholic church in America to label every criticism of it as "bigotry"." - Christianity Today, October 28, 1957.
When romanism and communism are in the minority, they talk of tolerance and freedom. When they are in the majority, they show very little tolerance or freedom to Protestantism or Democracy. The Roman church shows herself to be the biggest bigot ever.
It has been said that:
Rome in the minority is a lamb.
Rome as an equal is a fox.
Rome in the majority is a tiger.
Pope Boniface VIII in 1302 decreed in the "Unan Sanctum", the doctrine of the "two swords": the spiritual sword of the church and the earthly sword of kings which should submit to the Roman Catholic church. Dr de Luca of the University of Rome, was commended by Pope Leo XIII in 1901 by saying: "The Catholic church has the right and duty to kill heretics by fire and sword." This proves that Rome has not changed.
b) Whenever Rome is refuted by a Bible verse, they reply: "That's just your interpretation", meaning that no one can really interpret the Bible, so leave it up to Rome to be the authority rather than the Bible. It is a device to wrest authority from the Bible to Rome.
ERROR 31: FIFTEEN EVIDENCES that the ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH is MYSTERY BABYLON the GREAT, THE WHORE OF REVELATION 17.
Who is the whore/woman in Revelation 17? God has given us similarities to prove conclusively that she is the Roman Catholic church. What are these similarities of the whore with the church of Rome?
1. The WOMAN which thou sawest is that great CITY, which reigns over the kings of the earth. Revelation 17:18.
Question: Which city reigned over the kings of the earth in the first century?
Answer: Rome, no doubt. The Roman emperors were called "Pontifix Maximus". So too are the popes called by the same title.
2. She is called the "GREAT WHORE" 17:1. A whore is unfaithful to one husband, by having relationships with many suitors. So is the Roman Catholic church, unfaithful to God's Word as seen by her adopting so much false, unbiblical doctrine.
3. "With whom the KINGS OF THE EARTH have committed fornication. 17:2. The Roman Church has always sought to further her purposes by controlling politicians, kings and governments. She is the state church in so many countries like Spain, Portugal, Italy, Poland, South America and Ireland. She seeks to control governments in every country. In Revelation 17:3, she is sitting on a beast, as a rider sits on a horse controlling it.
The early Church kept separate from the State because its task was to win people to Christ, baptise and teach God's Word. The Roman Catholic Church's association with governments is outside God's instructions, hence God calls this relationship "fornication" with the kings of the earth.
4. "Inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication." 17:2. It is very hard to reason with a drunk person. The alcohol controls his mind so that he cannot see reason. So it is with many Catholics world wide, who are so convinced of the false doctrine of the Roman Catholic church, even though the Bible so clearly oppose it. They cannot see the truth of God's Word and salvation. They will not search the Scriptures to see if the Bible's claims are true. Acts 17:11. They are controlled by false doctrine, like alcohol controls a drunkard, so they cannot see Bible truth.
5. She sits on MANY WATERS 17:1. 17:15 tells us that "The WATERS which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples and multitudes, and nations and tongues." The Roman Catholic church has an influence in many, if not every nation in the world.
6. She is FULL OF NAMES OF BLASPHEMY. 17:3. Rome claims titles and attributes which belong only to God, such as 1"Holy Father", 2"Father", 3"Monsignor" = my Lord, 4"Mother of God", 5"Pontifix Maximus", 6"Pope" = Father of Christians, 7"Reverend", 8"His Holiness", 9"Filii Vicarii Dei" = in the place of the Son of God.
7. "The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sitteth." 17:9. Rome is well known as being built on seven hills.
8. The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour. 17:4. Popes, cardinals and priests dress in scarlet on festival occasions.
9. Decked with gold and precious stones. 17:4. Much gold and wealth is possessed by the Roman church.
10. Having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication. 17:4. Much sexual immorality is committed by priests such as fornication, homosexuality, child molestation etc. This is hateful to God.
11. "Mystery". 17:5. Much mystery exists in her services. For example, Latin services, converting bread to body of Christ, how long must people spend in purgatory etc.
12. Babylon the Great. 17:5. Roman Catholic mother and child worship was adopted from the ancient mystery religion of Babylon's mother and child worship. As Rome conquered counties, it adopted their religions.
13. The Mother of Harlots 17:5. Rome has given rise to many other religions, with practices similar to herself.
14. The woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. 17:6. The Roman church has constantly persecuted, tortured, and burned at the stake, any people who disagree with papal control and who try to break away. For example, John Huss, Savonarolla, etc.
15. The ten horn nations that the Roman church tries to control, turn on Rome, hate her, strip her wealth, EAT HER FLESH, and burn her with fire. 17:16. Eating her flesh is a very clever judgment on a system that claims to eat Christ's flesh every day. As Roman Catholicism eats Christ's flesh, so too will the antichrist eat Roman Catholicism's flesh in the future seven year Tribulation.
ERROR 32: WHO GAVE US THE BIBLE? GOD OR THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH?
The Roman Catholic Church claims that it gave us the Bible, and that it determined which books should comprise the New Testament and Old Testament.
Their argument is as follows:
"The church existed before a word of the New Testament scriptures was written. After they were written, the church determined the Canon. Therefore the church is the authoritative voice that must be obeyed, for without the church, we would not have the Bible."
"Q.17 Who can determine what books make up the Bible? Just as Christ's infallible church alone can assure us that the Bible is divinely inspired, so the church alone possesses the authority to indicate which books are included in it."
"This is Catholicism", John Walsh (Garden City, NY, Image Books, 1959) p/177.
Is this argument correct? Did the Catholic church produce the Bible, or did it come into existence some other way? Catholicism claims that by its authority we have the Bible, and therefore it alone is the official interpreter of scripture. If we want to know the true meaning of the Bible, we are told that we must listen to the church that gave us the Bible.
This Catholic church claim is false because:
1. The Catholic Church today with its many man made doctrines is an entirely different system as to the first century church.
2. Nowhere in the Bible does the church claim to have given us the Bible. The Bible came as follows:
From God, to the Apostles and Prophets, and then to the Churches.
The Churches submitted to the Apostles and Prophets, who submitted to God. The Bible is an expression of the mind of God.
The Bible is authoritative as God.
The Church is not of higher authority than God.
God gave the Bible for the church to submit to it not for the Bible to submit to the church. True, the Apostles and Prophets were part of the church, but even they submitted themselves to the Word of God.
3. The Old Testament Canon of 39 books of scripture was established by 400 BC, well before the Roman Catholic church was started, as seen by the Dead Sea Scrolls containing all Old Testament books except Esther.
4. Jesus endorsed the 39 books of Old Testament Scripture as being the authentic Word of God, well before the Roman Catholic church ever came about.
5. The main criterion in determining whether a book should be included in the Canon of scripture pertained to its author. If the author was a known prophet of God, his works were preserved. This was at the direction of God, not the Catholic Church. No Pope ever said: "Thus saith the Lord." The Old Testament was accepted by the people of God because it was written by the Prophets of God.
Though the people of God were involved in gathering these sacred writings, this never gave the people authority over or equal with the scripture.
6. By 96 AD, the early church had accepted the 27 New Testament books as canonical, as seen from early church writings. The early church accepted the scriptures because it believed them to be from God. The early church saw itself as subject to the Bible's authority, not the other way around.
The Catholic church maintains that the books comprising the New Testament Canon were determined at the Council of Carthage in 397 AD. THIS IS INCORRECT.
This council simply affirmed and restated what the early churches had always accepted.
We must not make the mistake of thinking that the Scriptures received their authority because some council made a public statement of their acceptance. The early church of pastors, deacons and people all submitted to the Bible as authority because it came from God.
Though the church existed before the New Testament was written, this does not give the church authority over or equal to the Scriptures. The church must always be subject to the authority of God's written Word.
7. Israel as a nation existed before the Old Testament was written, yet it would be wrong for Israel to claim authority equal to or greater than the Old Testament.
The same must apply today, that no institution (like the church, home or government, even though it is older than the New Testament) can claim authority greater than the New Testament.
8. To support its position, the Catholic church advances the error that the scriptures never claimed to be adequate to meet all our needs, based on John 21:25 "And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written." John here never hints this idea. He just says that people could write an unlimited number of commentaries on all Christ's words.
Paul says the opposite to the Roman Catholic church in 2 Timothy 3:16, 17 "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, (not by the Roman Catholic church) and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be PERFECT, (or complete) thoroughly furnished unto ALL good works.
Here the Bible can furnish us to all good works.
Peter says that the Bible is sufficient to meet all of our needs:
"His divine power has given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness". II Peter 1:3.
9. The procedure which God used to gather these books did not give the collecting agency an authority equal to the scriptures. God gave us the scriptures as our final and only authority in all matters of faith or morals.
ERROR 33: THEY TURN PEOPLE AWAY FROM CHRIST TO 12 OTHER THINGS.
I Peter 4:14. Christians in history who were reproached for the name of Christ, were martyred, glorifying Christ by their death. The Roman Catholic Church, who martyred these Christians for their love and faith in Christ, is referred to as:
"on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified."
The Roman Catholic Church speaks evil of Christ as follows:
1. People are turned from trusting Christ alone to save them, to trust in church sacraments and good works to save them.
2. People are turned from trusting Christ's Word, the Bible, to trust Catholic ideas and tradition as the guide to life.
3. People are turned from confessing sins directly to Christ as mediator to confessing sins to a priest as mediator.
4. People are turned from trusting Christ as the sole sufficient Saviour, to trust a wafer that is said to become Christ.
5. People are told to pray to saints, instead of praying to Christ.
6. People are pointed to statues, medals and images to protect them, instead of trusting Christ for protection.
7. People are pointed to fear purgatory at death, instead of looking to Christ lovingly welcoming them into heaven.
8. People are pointed to pray to Mary as merciful, and are turned away from praying to Christ as harsh, unwelcoming and unapproachable.
9. People are pointed to Peter as the Rock on which the church is based, and are turned away from Christ as the Rock.
10. People are pointed to Popes as pontif (bridge builder) instead of Christ as the only bridge to heaven. John 14:6.
11. People are pointed to do works of penance and contrition to regain God's favour, instead of accepting Christ's promise of forgiveness in I John 1:9.
12. People are told to believe Catholic doctrine and Papal infallibility and to reject Christ's speaking to their consciences about Rome's errors and evils.
All of this is speaking evil of Christ, His Word and His work.
The Roman Catholic influence in the New International Version has resulted in part of I Peter 4:14 being omitted.
By turning people from Christ to other things, truely the Catholic Church is speaking evil of Christ. As such, they can be justly called an antichrist.
CONCLUSION.
God says: "COME OUT OF HER, MY PEOPLE, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues." Revelation 18:4
Religion may make a person feel comfortable and righteous, but God reminds us that "all our righteousness are as filthy rages." Isaiah 64:6. Nicodemus was one of the most religious men in Israel, yet he needed to be born again.
Religion is man's efforts to reach God by good works and sacraments, but salvation is trusting in Christ's blood sacrifice on the cross as the full payment for our sins. You can be religious, yet not saved and still go to hell. Receive Christ as your Saviour and you'll then become a son of God.
There are seven possible reasons why some people choose to remain in the Roman Catholic church:
1. Lack of knowledge of the Word of God.
2. Fear of rejection by family and friends.
3. Fear of going against ancestors.
4. Fear of becoming a social outcast.
5. Habit.
6. Fear of going to hell.
7. Fear of change to the unknown.
Choose Christ to save you rather than a church. Choose the Bible to guide you rather than a man made system.
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