10 Common Catholic Stereotypes, Myths, and Misconceptions

🌺  Written by Brittany Ann

There are lots of wrong ideas about the Catholic Church out there. Are you guilty of believing any of these 10 very common Catholic stereotypes, myths, or misconceptions?

Text overlay reads "10 Common Catholic Myths that Critics Believe." The underlying image shows people in a church with a small dome and vaulted celing.

Two years ago, I read a book that would change my perspective on Christianity foreverSurprised by Truth* by Patrick Madrid.

While it (and all of the research I did afterward) wasn’t enough to fully convert me to Catholicism, it did poke some pretty big holes in everything I was taught growing up as a Protestant, and it exposed lots of stereotypes about Catholics that I’d heard.

Things I was so sure of before — basic tenets of my faith — were suddenly glaringly wrong.

It was a pretty tumultuous time, as I reevaluated everything I’d believed my whole life. It was the start of something big, and it was the start of the series you’re reading now.

(You can read the whole series here, if you’re interested.)

Now, two years later, I’m still not fully convinced that Catholic Christianity has it all right. But I’m not convinced they don’t either.

What I do know is that much of what people believe about Catholics and the Catholic church simply isn’t true. Lots of what people “know” aren’t facts — they are Catholic stereotypes that don’t hold up when we dig just a big deeper.

And today, I’d like to set the record straight.

Are you guilty of believing any of these Catholic stereotypes and myths?

 

*This post contains affiliate links. Please see my full disclosure statement for additional information.

 

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A Few Things to Keep in Mind Before We Begin…

 

1. This post is about official Catholic belief — not what Catholics do in the privacy of their own homes. 

What a religion officially teaches and how the people put it into practice are two entirely different things. In this post, I want to replace Catholic stereotypes with accurate information. This post is only meant to talk about what Catholicism actually officially teaches — not what people actually do in the privacy of their own homes or in their local churches.

(There will always be individual people messing things up in every religion)

 

2. This post is just an introduction to Catholic stereotypes, myths, and misconceptions.

This post is not meant to be an exhaustive guide to everything the Catholic Church teaches and misconceptions about it. That’d be waaaaay too long for a single blog post! It’s simply an overview of 10 of the most common stereotypes about Catholics and their beliefs.

Please see the links below each point to read about each issue more in depth. There are some really great posts in the rest of this series, and they explain these Catholic myths in ways a simple paragraph or two cannot adequately cover.

 

10 Common Catholic Myths Printable Sheets

Want to Explore Catholic Stereotypes in More Depth?

I have a free guide that will help you do just that!

“10 Common Catholic Church Myths that Critics Believe” contains all the Catholic stereotypes from this article so you can print them out, refer back to them, and share them with others.

Plus – it even includes 5 bonus myths not included in this article!

 

If you are looking for information to help you share with non-Catholic family members OR if you’re thinking about becoming Catholic but you still have some questions about Catholic misconceptions — this is a fantastic resource to have on hand.

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Alright, let’s dive in!

 

10 Common Catholic Stereotypes, Myths, and Misconceptions

 

Myth #1: Catholics Aren’t Christians

 

Actually, Catholics consider themselves to be the original Christians, who are doing their best to hold to the same beliefs and traditions that the church held to in the first century.

According to Catholics, Catholics and Protestants are all Christians, and both Catholics and Protestants can go to Heaven. The Protestant denominations are simply off-shoots of Catholicism (or of other denominations) that branched off over various disagreements about what the Catholic Church was teaching.

Whether Catholics have held fast to the right teachings throughout the ages or whether they veered off and the Protestant denominations got us back on track — that’s something I’m still trying to discover.

This is a big Catholic myth to kick off this post: Even though Catholic stereotype #1 says that Catholics aren’t Christians, the truth is that Catholics are doing their best to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ (and isn’t that one of the things that makes a Christian a Christian?).

 

Myth #2: The Catholic Church Abandoned the Bible for Man-Made Traditions

 

While the Catholic Church does have many traditions that aren’t explicitly found in the Bible, so does every church (and so do you, in your home). Traditions themselves aren’t bad. It’s only when we prioritize them over God himself or when they take us farther away from God instead of drawing us near that they cause problems.

One reason that the Catholic Church has so many traditions is that the first century apostles didn’t write down absolutely every single thing they taught. In fact, John 21:25 tells us,

“Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.”

Catholics do their best to value and uphold both the written and oral teachings that were passed down from the apostles. Protestants look to the written teachings (the Bible) only.

The Catholic Church still highly prioritizes Scripture. It just isn’t their only source of information (and nowhere in the Scriptures does it tell us it should be).

Catholic stereotype #2 tells us that Catholics abandoned the Bible, but the truth is that Catholics use the Bible along with written and oral traditions.

 

For more on this topic, I’d highly recommend my post Who Has the Ultimate Authority? A Biblical Look at Sola Scriptura. You can also find the explanations for many common Catholic traditions in Why Do Catholics…? Honest Answers to Your Burning Questions.

 

Myth #3: Catholics Worship Mary / Saints / Statues

 

It’s easy to see how some Catholic stereotypes (like this one) got started, but again, it really is just another of many misconceptions about the Catholic Church.

Catholics do not worship Mary or statues; they worship God alone.

Instead, they “venerate” Mary, which, according to Google, is just a fancy word for “regard with great respect.” Similar to how we would show great honor or respect to a King or Queen, without actually worshiping them, Catholics hold Mary and other saints in high esteem as good examples of how to live a faithful life.

Yes, to Protestants, the practices definitely look like worship, and it’s easy to understand why this Catholic myth is still around. But since worship is an attitude of the heart, I don’t think you can “accidentally” worship someone and not know it. If Catholics’ hearts are in the right place — and they only want to show honor — then it’s not worship.

And it’s the same with statues as well. Catholics don’t worship statues. Instead, they are used as decorations to help Catholics remember people who have gone before, similar to how you might put pictures of your friends and family on your wall, or even a baseball card collection you may have had as a kid.

You look at them, you remember them, but you certainly don’t worship them.

They’re just decorations or teaching instruments meant to inspire faith.

Sure, Catholics might have statues and talk about saints who lived a long time ago. But contrary to Catholic stereotype #3, the truth is that Catholics honor Mary and other examples of faith (even with statues!) while saving their worship for God alone.

 

*For more information on this, don’t miss my post Do Catholics Worship Mary, Saints or Statues?

 

Myth #4: Catholics Believe People are Saved by Works

 

The Catholic Church does NOT teach that people are saved by their works. In fact, the catechism of the Catholic Church actually specifically forbids this notion.

Rather, the Catholic Churches basically teaches that, “If you call yourself a Christian, but you don’t act like it, maybe you’re not really a Christian after all.” Or, “Yes, God saves you through faith, but it’s a living faith that naturally produces good works.”

This Catholic teaching is actually 100% Biblical (here are plenty of Bible verses that support it), and is even taught by some highly respected Protestant/non-denominational pastors, including the most Godly man I’ve ever heard speak, Francis Chan.

This widespread Catholic stereotype #4 says that Catholics believe they can get to Heaven by earning it through good works. The truth is that Catholics see good works as the Spirit-inspired fruit of a heart saved by God’s grace alone.

 

*For a more in-depth look at this topic, please see my other posts Is Faith Alone Enough? and Are You a Christian? Are you Sure?

 

Myth #5: The Catholic Church Added Books to the Bible

 

The books that are currently in the Catholic Bible are the same books that the church has recognized as being in the Bible for centuries. It wasn’t until the 16th century that Martin Luther and the Reformers moved them to the appendix, before they were ultimately taken out.

(For the record, Martin Luther wanted to remove James, Hebrew, Jude and Revelations as well, but was unsuccessful. The books that he did remove are called Tobit, Judith, 1 and 2 Maccabees, Wisdom of Solomon, Sirach, and Baruch.)

Whether or not the additional books should have been left in or taken out — I don’t know. I wasn’t there. Guess you have to ask yourself if the early church could have been wrong for 1700 years and the Reformers knew better than the earlier Christians did.

Either way, I’ve read through all these additional books, and there really isn’t much surprising in them. They read like pretty typical Old Testament books. There are a few verses about praying for the dead, but other than that, I don’t recall reading anything that stuck out as especially “Catholic.”

This Catholic stereotype #5 is a doozy because the truth is actually the opposite — one man decided to take out some books that had been in the Bible for over a thousand years.

 

*For more information, don’t miss my post on Martin Luther, the history of the Catholic Church, and the Bible books issue.

 

Myth #6: Catholic Priests Can’t Be Married

 

(Some) Priests are married! Some even have children and grandchildren. (This happens when a man is already married and a priest in a different denomination and then converts to Catholicism later.)

And of those who become priests the usual way and aren’t allowed to get married–not all of them even want to be. Priests know what they’re signing up for. No one is making them be a priest. They have a choice between God and a wife, and it is their choice to make. No one is forcing them to choose one or the other.

Catholic stereotype #6 is in fact the general rule — but the bigger truth is that the path of some Catholic priests does allow them to marry a woman. And those who don’t often consider themselves to be married to the church, the Bride of Christ.

 

*For more information, read my post on priests, the Pope and confession.

 

Myth #7: Catholics Recrucify Jesus at Mass

 

I haven’t heard this Catholic misconception in real life, but apparently it’s popular. Catholics do not re-crucify Jesus at Mass.

Instead, they believe that Jesus and the crucifixion occur outside the limits of time (because God can do cool stuff like that), and so when they celebrate Mass, they are only making the sacrifice (which has already occurred) “present” on the altar.

While Catholic stereotype #7 imagines Catholics as recrucifying Jesus at Mass, the truth is that Catholics believe they are making the eternal reality present in our non-eternal timeline at Mass.

 

*For a very interesting and in-depth look at the Eucharist, be sure to check out my post Is the Eucharist Really Just a Symbol? 5 Convincing Proofs that Say that It’s Not.

 

Myth #8: Catholics Believe Only Catholics Can Go to Heaven

 

While Catholics do believe their religion is the one true religion and the ordinary (most common) means of bringing people to salvation, it is a common Catholic misconception that they believe this is the only way. Instead, they recognize that God can use any means He wants to to bring people to Himself, including those other than the Catholic church, especially if the person has never had the opportunity or knowledge to join the church.

They believe that Protestants who have no reason to suspect their beliefs are incorrect can go to Heaven, as well as Protestants who were planning to convert before death but hadn’t done so yet.

Furthermore, Catholics do not believe you can say with 100% certainty who will go to Heaven (though you can have a good idea) simply because God is judge and we are not — and who are we to presume to know His thoughts?

Even though Catholic stereotype #8 imagines Catholics as very close-minded about the salvation of others, the truth is that Catholic teaching leaves lots of room for God’s grace to work in every single person’s salvation.

 

Myth #9: Catholic Priests are Child Molesters

 

Yes, the Catholic church has had huge and horrible scandals in which some priests were molesting children. This was absolutely awful and shameful, and they will have to stand before Jesus for what they did. That part is not one of the myths about the Catholic Church.

But if you look at the statistics, only a very small minority of priests were involved, and it isn’t really fair to blame the entire Church or dismiss the Church’s core teachings for what a few did. Scandals like this happen in EVERY church and in every city. That doesn’t make everyone guilty of the crimes of a few, and it does NOT mean that innocent Catholic priests deserve negative treatment today because of this stereotype.

It is heartbreaking that Catholic stereotype #9 does have some truth to it — some Catholic priests have molested children. But the truth is that the vast number of priests are men who serve God humbly and who shepherd their flock instead of harming the sheep.

 

*For more information, be sure to check out my series post on priests, the pope and confession

 

Myth #10: The Catholic Church is Anti-Women

 

The church isn’t anti-anyone. They do believe birth control is morally wrong — the same thing every denomination believed until 1930. But when pretty much every other denomination began to change its mind, the Catholic church held its ground on this teaching. They continue to teach the same thing today, even when this gets interpreted as an “anti-woman” Catholic misconception.

The Catholic church also doesn’t allow women to be priests, which has upset many. But if you look at their rate of women in non-priest leadership positions, it is WAY higher than average. The Catholic church may not do things the “feminist” way, but they do hold women in very high esteem, even referring to them as the “crown of creation.” That’s pretty special if you ask me 🙂

So while Catholic stereotype #10 paints the Catholic church as an “anti-woman” institution, the truth is that many women are in leadership positions in the Catholic church, and the Catholic church holds women in very high regard.

 

Like I said earlier, the intent of this post is ONLY to dispel a few stereotypes about Catholics so that, going forward, your thoughts and opinions aren’t swayed by misinformation. I’m not trying to convert or persuade, just to present you with some information about Protestant and Catholic beliefs so YOU can make an informed decision of your own. 🙂

 

Ready for more? You can read through the rest of the posts in this Catholic vs Protestant series here OR see what I ended up deciding in my latest Catholic update post here.

 

I’d love to hear your thoughts and opinions on these Catholic stereotypes and myths, or others you’ve heard! Leave me a note (or a book 🙂 ) in the comments section below!

 

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10 Common Catholic Myths Printable Sheets

Ready for More?

Honestly, these 10 stereotypes are just the start. Download the print version to get a handy guide you can refer to later or share with others AND get 5 bonus Catholic myths that aren’t included in this article!

 

 

 Is the Eucharist Really Just a Symbol? 5 Convincing Proofs that Say that It's Not

 

 Why do Catholics...? Honest Answers to Your Burning Questions

Brittany Ann Equipping Godly Women

About the author

Brittany Ann is an ECPA bestselling author of “Fall in Love with God’s Word” and “Follow God’s Will” and the founder of EquippingGodlyWomen.com, a popular Christian-living website dedicated to helping busy Christian moms find practical ways to go "all in" in faith and family. Her work has been featured on CBN, The Christian Post, Crosswalk, and more.

    1. I didn’t understand it at first either, but honestly, it would have been REALLY helpful back in the day when the people didn’t have Bibles of their own.

  1. I greet you in Jesus name
    what is your opinion on the legitimacy of the church? is it ordained by God

    1. Personally, I am of the opinion that most Christian churches are all off-shoots from the first church the apostles started. All or almost all have veered at least a tiny bit over the years. If one is still 100% correct, I can’t say for sure (because in order to say so, I’d have to claim that I know everything with 100% certainty and I can’t do that. I’m only human.) But I DO believe that many Christian churches are VERY close, if not 100% correct, in their teaching. Close enough that we could trust and follow what they say, anyways.

      Does that answer your question?

  2. OK your saying that we can’t tar all priest for what the minority did as far the child molestation but we can blame the church for trying to hide it to think that your can solve a problem by simply moving the predator to another parish is surly stupidity on the churches part and it went right up to the Vatican the cover up .

    1. Yes, moving priests around was definitely not the right option, but still. We can only blame those who were actually involved – or who knew about it and should have been involved but did nothing. They absolutely, absolutely were in the wrong and the absolutely will stand accountable to God someday for everything they did and didn’t do.

      But to blame ALL of Catholicism for what some did isn’t right. It wasn’t Catholicism that was to blame. It was the individuals. Catholicism isn’t what led them to do that or to think it was okay. That was sin nature. And Catholic priests serving today – who had NOTHING to do with that – shouldn’t be discriminated against because of what OTHER priests did years ago.

      Otherwise, that would be like discriminating against all white Americans today because some supported slavery decades ago. Just because some people had slaves then doesn’t mean all white people are evil and bad and wrong today, does it? It was the *slavery* that was wrong, not the entire Caucasian race. Does that make sense?

  3. Wow, there are a lot of comments to read through. I admit, I didn’t even make it through half of them. It was a good blog post. I pray that you continue to seek the truth. I will offer just my two cents as a former Catholic who is very happy to be on a different path now. Happy that the one true God found her and saved her and loves her…someone who never knew the love of God growing up in the Catholic church but when He found her…Wow! The veil has been removed…I was blind and now I see.

    For years as a Catholic I tried to make sense of all of this. I defended the idea that Catholics don’t pray “to” Mary or the saints. I didn’t understand why we did what we did but I tried to defend it to others. I can say now that there’s no wonder I couldn’t understand it because no matter how you slice it, they actually do. They kneel and pray before statues, make the sign of the cross in front of them, and kiss their feet…If that’s not a form of prayer and worship, I don’t know what it is.

    Yes, I understand that they are asking Mary to intercede to Jesus on their behalf…but if that were truly the case, they could just say, “Mary, please pray for me…blah, blah, blah…” But instead, they recite a “prayer” taken from the words of the angel Gabriel, “Hail Mary…” and added to the salutation given to Mary by her cousin Elizabeth…this is obviously a “prayer”. When I was growing up we “prayed” the “Hail Mary, the Our Father and the Glory Be”. If the Our Father, the Lord’s Prayer, is considered a prayer how can anyone say that the “Hail Mary” isn’t? Take for instance the rosary, this prayer is repeated over and over again in what Catholics call “praying” the rosary…which is a devotion in honor of the virgin Mary (as noted in #CatholicAnswers). The definition of a “devotion” is an act of prayer or private worship. You can’t get much clearer than that. I read in one of your comments you like to say, “praying *through* her” . Where is that in the Bible? Praying “through” her or anyone else other than Jesus? Using her to get to God…why? To say she is “more holy” is a bit of a stretch, too…she is obviously holy. She gave birth to our Lord and Savior…but what Christ did on the cross made you holy too. The blood of Jesus bought your freedom; you can pray directly to God. So if it’s true that we can pray directly to God, why would we ask Mary or the saints to pray for us? In that way, it would seem that we are asking them to pray in our stead (instead of) us praying. Asking them, like the Israelites asked Moses to talk to God for them. I believe, it’s totally different if I know you and I ask you to: 1) Pray for me, 2) Keep me in your prayers, etc…I’m not addressing you on a string of beads and crying out your name. And I’m not expecting you to do all the praying while I sit back and do nothing. I believe (because I know some who do) many Catholics “use” these prayers to Mary and the saints as their mainstay…their idea of relationship with Jesus isn’t a personal one…they are trying to get to Him through Mary and the saints (like you said, praying *through* her).

    My final point would be this…and nobody seems to have addressed it…at least I didn’t notice it in the first 20-30+comments that I got through. Mary isn’t omniscient…she can’t hear you. ONLY God can hear our prayers. Again, it’s not the same as me asking a real live flesh and blood human being here today to 1)Please pray for me, or 2) Keep me in your prayers. If I asked you these things, you can hear me and answer me yes or no. And let me just say how very grateful I am for this. It was a beautiful revelation the Lord gave to me when He truly saved me from my life of sin in 2013. People who have died and gone before us can’t see us or hear us or pray for us. This is an interesting concept in an of itself. I find it fascinating. As a child, I used to be totally freaked out about thinking that someone who had died could possible see me. In reality, it freaked me out that God could…but I overcame that by understanding that He is God..the Creator of the universe. He made me…it made sense to me that as God, He could see me and hear me and know me even in all my sin and brokenness. But to think that my grandparents who had died could see me and hear me and “know” me…THAT creeped me out! So what a wonderful revelation it was to learn that simple yet profound truth. Bottom line, we are not to pray to anyone but God (The Triune God-Father, Son and Holy Spirit). Jesus is our intercessor…HE makes intercession on our behalf to God the Father…and the Spirit prays for us when we don’t know what to pray. Nowhere in the bible does it say to pray and ask the saints and Mary to pray for you…but it does say that Jesus and the Spirit will. And we are called to pray for each other…Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. James 5:16 KJV. That means someone who has been born again, walking with Jesus who has died to sin and is alive in Christ…our prayers are powerful. Don’t you think if the bible says this, it would also say, “and don’t forget to pray to Mary”? That would have been PRIORITY #1! Good grief…Jesus would have spoken to His disciples about this over and over again as He did about His kingdom. He wouldn’t have wanted anyone to miss this. I believe if He had wanted us to ask for their prayers, He would have at least mentioned it.

    2 Corinthians 3:16 says, “Whenever someone turns to the Lord the veil is taken away”. He will reveal His truth…Jesus said, “I AM the way and the TRUTH and the life, no one comes to the father except by me.” I certainly don’t have all the answers. I have been questioning everything since Jesus rescued me. I only want His truth. I continually pray for Him to reveal His truth to me. Catholic’s I know say they put their faith in the Catholic Church and “it’s” teachings. My faith is in His word. John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” That’s good enough for me. And I have faith that when I ask for something that is in accordance with His will, it will be given to me. I believe He is revealing His truth to me through His word. His word says that when I seek Him with all my heart, I will find Him. I am seeking; I can tell that you are too. I pray that you continue to ask, continue to seek and continue to knock. I pray that the eyes of your understanding will be enlightened. He will bless your efforts to learn His truth.
    Blessings, Jackie

    1. Yeah, praying to the Saints is definitely a big sticking point of mine and a big part of the reason I never converted. Especially the rosary with 10 Hail Marys to 1 Our Father. I understand the logic of both sides, but it just seems so unbalanced, so unnecessary and just a distraction. I do believe that we each have personal responsibility for our worship, so you absolutely CAN still worship God in a Catholic church or miss him altogether in a Protestant one, but yeah, there are a lot of differences.

      As to whether they can hear us and act – that I have no idea. I haven’t really looked into it thoroughly though because I… kind of don’t care. If I can just pray to God and KNOW He can hear me – why wouldn’t I? His time, attention and power aren’t a limited resource….

      Thanks for your thoughts 🙂

      1. I have bookmarked your blog…I stayed up until after 3am reading through many of your posts and the comments after. I so appreciate your honesty in your journey and how you are seeking the Lord. I find your writing style refreshing, your website aesthetically pleasing and your comments back to your readers sincere. I commend you for your invitation for others to explore their beliefs and their faith. So often (especially in the area of faith) we go through life just doing what we’ve always done because we don’t take the time to search for ourselves. God bless your journey.
        Oh…and apologies for my above comment being so long. It could have been my own “blog post” lol. But I took you seriously when you said to feel free to leave a comment (or a book)! =)

  4. Brittany, Grace And Peace from The LORD And Saviour JESUS CHRIST! (I also am “a lover Of JESUS! Amen!)

    You stated previously, “Whether Catholics have held fast to the right teachings throughout the ages or whether they veered off and the Protestant denominations got us back on track–that’s something I’m still trying to discover.”

    This “veering off” was Already a “problem” in Paul’s day, as he was obeying God by preaching God’s Gospel Of GRACE to the Gentiles. He tells us “ALL of Asia had TURNED AWAY FROM HIM!” (2 Timothy 1 : 15) And that leads us to the “next chapter” And 2 Timothy 2 :15!:

    After 38 years of diligent Bible study, my own perspective (which may be wrong) is that most are NOT “approved Of God,” And causing “religious confusion” today because of
    ignorance of, Or “completely rejecting” The Plain And Clear Scripture Passages teaching The God Has Two (2) “Different” Programs! (If “interested,” a PDF file is available with “Basic Distinctions” in these “Programs”)

    It is the improper “combining” Of These Programs, “mixing” Law with GRACE, hence “thousands” of religions All saying something “different!” How pleased God must be with that, correct? In brief:

    God’s Prophetic Program “prophesied since the world began,” Under Law, committed to the twelve
    apostles, to the Jews Only, before “Israel fell!” (Luke 1:70; Acts 3:21; Genesis 49:28; Isaiah 9:7, 32:1; Matthew 19:28; Luke 22:30; Acts 7:54-60!)
    James 1:1)

    Rightly Divided (2 Timothy 2 : 15) From:

    God’s Revelation Of The Mystery, Under GRACE, “Never made known before Paul, And committed to him as The ONE apostle, Paul {to/for us Jew & Gentiles TODAY! Amen?} (All Of God’s Love Letters To Paul, and us, Romans – Philemon; start with: Romans 16:25;
    Ephesians 3:2-3, 3:9; Colossians 1:26; Acts 26;
    Acts 20:24; Galatians 1:6; Acts 20:24; 1 Corinthians 1:18;
    2 Corinthians 5:18; Acts 22:27-28; Philippians 3:5;
    1 Corinthians 12:13; Ephesians 2:11-16, 5:30!)

    Brittany, please be Richly Blessed by your own “personal” Bible study Of These Things, which may “assist” in your discovery Of Further Truth! (Keeping us from “veering!”)

    I do give thanks to God Daily For His Truth in this “view,” because it has, for me anyway, Solved And Answered
    All “confusion” And “Contradictions” that I had “seemed”
    to find In His HOLY Word.

    Again, GRACE And Peace! And thanks for listening!

    Sincerely yours And Securely HIS!
    Grace ambassador
    Saint Christopher (Bro Chris)
    [email protected]
    for above PDF mentioned!

  5. GRACE And Peace To All Dear Readers – Please Be Richly Blessed In HIM (JESUS CHRIST!)

    Truth 1_1 “study” God’s WORD Is Above All!

    The BIBLE Alone Is The Final Authority in all matters of faith and practice!:

    “I will worship toward Thy holy temple, and praise Thy Thy Name
    For Thy LovingKindness and for Thy TRUTH: for Thou Hast

    **MAGNIFIED Thy WORD Above All Thy Name!”** (Psalm 138 : 2)

    “And these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and
    to Apollos for your sakes; that ye might learn in us

    **NOT TO THINK ABOVE THAT WHICH IS WRITTEN, {God’s HOLY WORD!}**

    that no one of you be puffed up for one against another!” (1 Corinthians 4 : 6)

    Please Do Not Be Deceived By Any Means – Satan “Can Appear as an angel of light!”

    Thus The BIBLE Alone Is THE Final Authority!

    Be Richly Blessed!

    GRACE/repentance And faith, Found In SCRIPTURE, to The Honor And Glory
    Of GOD The Father, Through The LORD and SAVIOUR, JESUS CHRIST! Amen.

    Sincerely yours and SECURE-ly HIS!

    Grace ambassador
    Saint Christopher (Bro Chris)
    [email protected]
    PDF file available with
    Basic Distinctions In **God’s Two (2) Different Programs!**

    1. Actually, the Bible is not THE only authority — Jesus’s teachings are. And there are two ways we learn about his teachings — some of them were written down (in the Bible), while others were passed down (orally/tradition).

      No where in the Bible does it say that we are to go by the Bible ALONE. In fact, it says that Jesus said many, many more things that were not written down. The Bible is absolutely a fantastic, reliable, error-free, inspired source, but it isn’t the ONLY one.

      I’d love for you to check out this post of mine — it goes into much more detail: Who Has the Ultimate Authority? A Biblical Look at Sola Scriptura

  6. I completely disagree. I grew up “Catholic” and attended private school most of my life. You are taught many “traditions”, one of which is to “Hail Mary, full of grace…”, x amount of times based on the severity of confession.

    Does the Bible not tell us “no gods before me”?
    What is the purpose of praying to Mary versus our savior Jesus?

    1. I know. My son is in Catholic school right now and that’s the one thing I have the BIGGEST problem with. For me, I’m really just trying to make a distinction though between the “official” Catholic teaching and what Catholics actually practice. I don’t want to let the ways that people mess things up (and everyone in all denominations does mess something up somewhere) – affect how I see what the church officially teaches.

      But yeah, I’m not a fan of that either. At all.

    2. I doubt that you ever understood what you were taught.regarding the faith.
      Because there is nowhere that you were taught that Mary is God,
      What you were taught is to ask her for her intercession as the mother ofJesus,
      but directing your prayers to God.
      Look @the whole rosary prayer and tell me its all about Mary and not Jesus.
      You just reflecting on his entire life from birth to Resurrection and saying a hail Mary(which is in the bible anyway)as you meditate on his life and remember how much he did for us.
      I have realized that she points us directly to her son (not self)and is our aide as the mother of all christian believers.
      I dont agree with you on the traditions part unless you are able to put them here and let us know.

  7. I am a Catholic mother and wife. The reason why women can not be priests is not a discussion about suppressing women but more on the bride and bridegroom relationship. The church is the bride the priest is the bridegroom. Catholicism and the Bible teach us of the sacred bond between bride and bridegroom. You can not have a bond of bride bride and multiple. The bond must be bride and bridegroom to flourish.

  8. I wanted to say also that on the subject of Mary not having original sin being an amazing thing. Do we all not remember reading in Luke about the massacre of young Jewish baby boys???? Mary and Joseph both said Yes. Imagine if anyone of them would have said No. God gave all of us free will but what we do with that is up to us. We have choices. God gave us the choice to be a sheep or to be a goat. To follow him or to fall into the fire.

  9. Amazing….and not in the way most people here would like. This article AND many of the comments after show once again the facts that mankind should not be allowed to put their two cents into what the original context of God’s Holy Perfect Word meant it to mean. God’s Word is Infallible Perfect and sure making wise the simple. It DOESN’T need OUR “OPINIONS”. Things like “oh that sounds good”…etc… This is the precise problem with so many different sects like the JW’s , Mormons, Catholic, etc… They all put their humanistic or presuppositions spin on scriptures thus adding or taking away from God’s original meanings. Luke 1:48 Mary says He has regarded my LOW ESTATE…. MMmmmmmm. In the original Greek that word is VILE. Mary knew she was not sinless. Now yes she was highly favored but that doesn’t mean she was perfect or sinless. Also if one follows the Word of God and not their own ideas. In Matthew 1:25 The word KNEW and When Mary says to the Angel In Luke 1:35 I KNOW not a man…… These two word don’t mean what they mean to us today as in “head Knowledge”. Here in the Greek it is the word for INTIMACY.. She had no INTIMACY with Joseph until she bought forth her firstborn Son….The CONTEXT supports this reality etc…. These are just 2 quick examples of Following God’s intent in it’s contexts WITHOUT our Pea brains getting involved. God says we are to COMPARE SCRIPTURE WITH SCRIPTURE. Plus THE BIBLE DOES ALSO SAY THAT THE WORD OF GOD ALONE IS PROFITABLE FOR OUR LEARNING…etc…. NOT other ideas or teachings added to it. And So ON….

    1. Actually, those are your opinions too 🙂 Because I could (and do) read the exact same Scriptures and come away with a completely different interpretation. I don’t know the original Greek for your first example (Wish I did!), but for the last one — no where does the Bible say “Word of God ALONE” — in fact, it says it is NOT the Word of God alone in James 2. This post gives a good breakdown, if you have time to check it out and see what you think: https://equippinggodlywomen.com/faith/faith-alone-enough/

    2. From as early as the early christian church that is before bible was put together to what we have today,She is regarded highly by them and there is supporting evidence from writings of the early church fathers.Did they all eer?How is it that the real facts are overlooked and what everyone says after 1600yrs becomes gospel truth?

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