As a former Catholic, I would like to share the differences between Christianity and the cult of Catholicism.
Christian beliefs are based on the Bible entirely without the traditions of man. The Catholic church adds man's rules and traditions that the Bible never speaks about. In fact, their traditions have higher priority than the Commands of the Bible. Sadly many Christian denominations have copied the traditions of the Catholic church violating more of the Scriptures than they obey. Mark 7:13 13 Thus you nullify the word of God by the tradition you have handed down. And you do so in many such matters.”
There are many pagan practices that have been added to the Bible in the Catholic religion. The holidays all originate from paganism the Catholic hierarchy added to entice cults to join with them.
The reason Catholicism is constantly changing to fit with the world in their rules, such as embracing homosexuality and women priests is that they adhere much more to their traditions and being accepted by the culture around them than they do to the Bible. Actually, they promote manmade traditions more than they do the Bible.
The Bible teaches immersion for baptism as a picture of being completely cleansed of sin, going under the water coming up in newness of life. Baptism does not save anyone from hell, it is a spiritual picture of what Christ does in us when He comes to dwell in us. It is a public pronouncement of what God did for the born-again believer. Baptism is a choice made by a newly born-again person who made the choice to follow Christ. Nowhere in the Bible does God speak of “infant baptism”, as is the practice of the Catholic religion as well as the Lutheran denomination and others. Infants cannot make a choice to follow Christ nor does the baptism itself save them from anything.
God said that there is only one mediator between God and man and that is Christ Jesus.
1 Timothy 2:5-6 “5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave Himself as a ransom for all—the testimony that was given at just the right time.
Within the Catholic system, the pope acts as the mediator between Catholics and God. The priests act as mediators when the people are required to confess their sins to him rather than to God.
1 John 1:9 - If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
We confess our sins to Christ Who lives in us in order to be cleansed, there is no other mediator than Christ.
The Catholic religion calls Mary, “the Co-redemptrix”, in other words, she is a mediator between God and man and has the ability to do miracles on behalf of God. The Catholic church claims that Mary never had other children, was sinless, and was taken up into heaven without dying, none of this is true.
In the Bible Mary called Jesus Christ her Savior. Luke 1:46-56 She was not sinless, she was not taken into heaven without dying and she did have other children.
Mary had four other sons, Joseph was not the father of Jesus, God was His father, but Joseph was the father of the four other sons. It would have been a violation of Scripture for Mary to withhold herself from her husband. 1 Corinthians 7:5
The Catholic church forbids the marrying of the priests, another violation of God’s Word.
1 Timothy 4:3-4
Every Catholic mass is a re-sacrificing of Christ over and over again. This is opposite of what Christ said on the cross when He said; “it is finished.” Even worse the Catholic church teaches that the emblem or host as they call it, actually turns into the body and blood of Christ, a mental form of cannibalism which is also forbidden in the Bible. This is why the Mass is called “The Sacrifice of the Mass.”
The Catholic church teaches that your deeds get you to heaven, they deny that Christ’s blood was enough to cover the sins of those who are born again by the Spirit of God. Each Catholic is working their way to heaven and never knows if they ever make it.
God said; 1 John 5:12-13 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. 13 I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life. 14 And this is the confidence that we have before Him: If we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.”
In the Catholic church, Mary is referred to as the “Queen of Heaven”, this is downright frightening since in the Bible the Queen of Heaven is referred to as the Harlot of Babalon. The false goddess of fertility also known as Ishtar the goddess who ushered in the idea of Easter. The celebration of Easter is not in the bible, no where do we find commands or instructions in the Bible to celebrate the pagan holiday of Easter (Easter is the English word for Ishtar). Ishtar was the wife of the god Baal or Molech, who the people sacrificed their children to.
The holiday Christmas came from the pagan holiday having to do with the winter solstice. Every tradition celebrated in the Christ-mass comes from paganism. This is the reason Catholics love the holiday, they celebrate and mention Santa but rarely mention Christ. Santa is a false god, when this god was introduced to Catholicism pagans understood it, but as time went on they forgot where all this came from and never bothered to question it because it was so enjoyable for them. Protestants have tried to add Christ to these holidays because they loved the celebration but often will not evaluate them to see if they are acceptable to God.
God told us in the Scriptures not to call anyone our “Father”, that title is reserved for God the Father.
The priests in the Catholic church are called “fathers” as though they have authority over their congregations. They have no authority over the people, only Christ does for the born-again believer.
There are those who would say Catholics do not worship but only venerate the statues they bow to, kiss, and pray to. The fact is that kissing, praying, and bowing are all acts of worship reserved only for God. Calling a thing by a different name doesn’t change the nature of that thing.
In the Catholic church, the members are intimidated into following the priest and the other hierarchy of the church rather than Christ. I was discouraged from reading the Bible as a Catholic which made no sense to me. I felt no compulsion to follow the priest so I became born-again through reading the Bible. This made me the enemy of Catholic relatives and was shamed by priests for not believing only they could know God.
In the Bible, God teaches us that the leaders lead by example and teaching never by hierarchical rules they decide.
It is the Holy Spirit Who teaches and trains each and every born-again believer, we are to follow Him alone, evaluating everything the teachers say and do according to the Bible.
John 16:13-14 “ 13 However, when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. For He will not speak on His own, but He will speak what He hears, and He will declare to you what is to come. 14 He will glorify Me by taking from what is Mine and disclosing it to you.”
When we compare the dictates of the Catholic church to the Bible we find so many violations of God’s Word it takes a book to explain them all. This is the case with all cults, especially those who attempt to add the Bible to their false beliefs rather than taking God at His Own words and obeying them.
Cults are noted for intimidation and guilt to control people into following them rather than Christ. One sure clue when dealing with religion is when they become angry and mocking when we ask questions according to the Bible to clarify their beliefs, we know they do not care what God has to say.
Christianity is not a religion full of man-made rules, it is a relationship with God through His Son Jesus Christ. We love to obey the Bible because it is the very essence of Who Christ is, it is His Words full of wisdom and truth. Hallelujah!
