Fundamental Roman Catholicism - First of Series of Six Articles

Introduction

Jesus prayed:

"Neither pray I for those on my own, but for them also which shall believe on me via their word; That they all can be one; as thou, Father, artwork in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world can also agree with that thou hast sent me." [John 17:20,21]

Note first that He prayed in particular for us with the phrase: "for them additionally which shall believe on me thru their word". This reference isn't just for the Apostles however for us who are Christians due to the Apostles and their writings.

Note 2d that Jesus needs us to "be one". Since we Protestants broke off from the Roman Catholic Church in approximately 1500, we aren't now just two (Protestants and Catholics) however now many, many specific denominations. For the primary 1000 years, Christians understood this Scripture to mean "one holy catholic and apostolic church" [Nicene Creed].

Note 1/3 that the cause if this being one was so "that the sector can also accept as true with that thou hast despatched me." Jesus is saying that "now not being one" is a fake witness that "God did now not send Jesus". If we Christians do in fact agree with that God did in fact send Jesus, then we've got a holy responsibility to result in the oneness Jesus prayed for.

I am offering these articles as an effort (with asked help from God) to carry oneness to the present body of all Christians.

For me to select one of the very many Protestant denominations and say this one is right and all others should receive it, is in my mind an even harder sell that what I am trying with these articles, particularly that the Roman Catholic Church is the Church we must all be in fellowship with.

When Protestantism first commenced inside the 1500's, it changed into widely held that the Pope changed into the "anti-Christ" and the Roman Catholic Church become consequently a "non-Christian" faith thoroughly given to idolatry. It is now believed by means of maximum evangelical Christians that the "anti-Christ" is someone who has now not as but been discovered and for that reason the Pope isn't the "anti-Christ". "In reality, as a long way as I can determine, maximum Christians now trust that the Roman Catholic Church is a "Christian" church and has, within the minds of the common Christian, the identical "status" as any "predominant line" Protestant denomination.

What I intend to demonstrate in this series of articles is that the lessons of the Roman Catholic Church, as targeted inside the legitimate "Catechism of the Catholic Church", are totally steady with the lessons of Scripture.

About the Author

I become born in 1942 in Jersey City, New Jersey to mother and father who attended the Vroom Street Evangelical Church there. Before my first birthday, we moved to Kearny however still attended the identical church in Jersey City.

Kearny turned into ordinarily an Irish Catholic network and my first revel in with the real life Catholics changed into through my neighborhood and college pals. If I were to have made a "hasty generalization", I might have lumped them as being godless liars and thieves. Of path, I in shape proper in but, in my mind, they had been bad and I become desirable. I perceived that to them "Jesus" became a curse phrase and white lies had been no longer awful. One of my buddies got his picture at the the front page of the New York Daily News. It became a image taken by way of a bank's hidden digital camera showing him robbing that bank.

It took two busses to get to our Jersey City church so we attempted various independent churches in Kearny.

Somehow I started out going to the Assembly of God Church in Kearny and experienced what is referred to as the "Baptism of the Holy Spirit". During the route of attending this church, I become baptized via emersion inside the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

In 1957, at some stage in the Billy Graham New York Crusade which lasted all summer season, I got re-added to our cousins, the Turners, who attended a Plymouth Brethren church in Kearny. I commenced attending there and turned into general into fellowship which intended that I may want to partake of the Lord's Table with them. For the Brethren, it become a closed occasion which they did weekly.

The Brethren had a children organization which covered evangelical Christian children from numerous denominations. I went out with a woman from that teens institution who attended the Christian Missionary Alliance church in a neighboring city. I went to that church a number of times. She died of pneumonia in 1964.

I dated a Catholic lady inside the mid 1960's who I met at college. After a time frame, I determined to no longer pursue the connection simply due to the fact she become Catholic.

After getting my MS degree, I moved to the Washington, DC vicinity and commenced attending a Southern Baptist Church which I did formally be a part of. It is there that I met my spouse and we had been married in 1968.

We moved to New Jersey rapidly thereafter and joined an American Baptist church in Oakland, New Jersey. My spouse sang within the choir and I have become a "deacon".

We one way or the other became involved with the "Jesus Movement" of the 1970's. We visited the Maranatha Nazarene Church in New Milford, NJ and the Mustard Seed Coffeehouse.

About that point, I additionally became worried with the Full Gospel Business Mens Fellowship International. My spouse and I went with the FGBMFI in 1974 to per week lengthy conference in California and the following week in Hawaii. While in California, we had an possibility to have lunch with Norvel Hayes and Kenneth Hagin. When we went to Hawaii, we have been on the equal aircraft as Kenneth Copeland and stayed inside the equal motel. These 3 individuals are widely known instructors of faith for recuperation and financial prosperity.

We moved to Rockaway, New Jersey in 1979 and commenced attending the Assembly of God church. In the early 1990's, I started maintaining tune of my reading the Bible on a day by day foundation, at least one page from the New Testament and one web page from the Old Testament. With the dimensions print of my Bible, I went via the OT each yr and a half of and thru the NT two times a year.

Sometime in the past due 1990's, I started out watching packages on EWTN, the Catholic tv community. Some of the teachings were very close to a number of the lessons I heard in reference to the FGBMFI. I did not, but, like what I considered a heavy emphasis at the function of Mary.

We moved to Virginia in early 1999 and visited both the Methodist church Peg's Mom performed piano for and the Baptist Church which my wife's brother attends. On Christmas Eve 1999, I visited Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church for the primary time.

In August of 2000, I began teaching math element time in a Christian High School. It makes use of materials produced with the aid of Bob Jones University, the very college George W. Bush got into controversy over due to the fact they have been still holding to the coaching that the Pope is the anti-Christ.

We ought to say "it is a small global", or let's imagine "God can be attempting to inform us some thing".

Ground Rules

These collection of articles are being presented on an "facts handiest" foundation. This isn't intended to be a promoting job of any type. Should you disagree with the statistics offered, please check my assets and if they do now not line up with my conclusions, please allow me recognize (in a friendly manner).

The preferred result is to bring oneness to the various Christian church buildings and isn't always designed to inspire conversion to the Roman Catholic Church. Jesus prayed that we is probably one whilst Jesus and God the Father are one. My understanding is that Jesus favored that each one who call themselves Christian be in fellowship one with some other.

For the purposes of those articles, we're assuming the Scripture to be the infallible Word of God. I even have continually held the concept of "if the Bible says it, I accept as true with it". What follows from that is "if you could display me from Scripture that a role of mine is towards clear Scriptural teaching, then I will right away change my position". These articles then are intended to be primarily based on what the Scriptures train and the Scripture is taken to be the very last authority.

These articles are being written to Protestant Christians who firmly agree with in Jesus and the authority of Scripture. This leaves out "modernists" who've left the entirety approximately the religion besides the word "Christian". It also leaves out Roman Catholics, no longer because of anything concerning their faith however handiest due to the angle being provided and not the real material presented. In fact, Roman Catholics could thoroughly advantage from what's supplied.

The data provided will also assume which you have an sincere hobby in gaining knowledge of. This way that you'll be open for brand new fact if backed up with facts. The New Testament refers to one particular organization who "searched the Scripture" to look if what the Christians had been telling them was true to Scripture or not. This was considered a positive attitude. I could now not want each person believing me just because I said it. I need whatever ideals which are generated to be based at the supply documents no longer at the way they may be supplied.

The format I will use in those articles is one in which I try to cover the challenge with enough thoroughness that the readers questions may be responded in advance. This might be a aim which I expect to overlook rather. Therefore I inspire feedback of questions that I will solution inside the next article.

Confrontational questions, however, will no longer be entertained as they may be usually generated out of severe poor emotion and the author of such questions is typically now not interested by the solution no matter how a great deal it might be grounded on Scripture and/or motive.

I intend to reply all questions. Depending on the quantity and nature of the questions acquired, simplest the ones beneficial to maximum readers could be spoke back within the next article. The others might be replied by way of e-mail. If you've got a question and do not have e mail and you want a query responded, the most effective other preference you have got is to have a friend e-mail for you. You need to consist of a legitimate return email address to receive a reaction. No reaction may be give to ordinary mail questions.

Topics to be Covered in Series

There may be five topics blanketed, one in each article, specifically:

Private Interpretation
Presence of Jesus
Baptism in Salvation
Communion of Saints
Veneration of Mary
I do now not intend to get into any of the concern matter of any of those five gadgets on this first article. What I will do, however, is to give an explanation for what the scope may be of every one.

Private Interpretation refers back to the Reformation idea that every Christian has the opportunity and for that reason responsibility to determine for himself/herself simply what Scripture means. We will discuss this inside the mild of Scripture. We will also convey out what the early church believed and the way that relates to us here and now. We can even talk the authority of Church which include:

Infallibility of Pope
Line of Popes
Preeminence of Peter/Rome
Public/Private Revelation
Body of Knowledge
Presence of Jesus refers specially to the idea that in the communion service the elements virtually come to be the frame and blood of Jesus rather than simply symbols to get us to think about Jesus and His sacrifice at the go. Specific gadgets to be included consist of:
In Remembrance of Me
This is My Body
Early Church Documents
Fathers of Church
Baptism in Salvation is the topic discussing the importance of baptism to the Christian. When does someone come to be "stored" and simply what does "saved" imply?
Acts 2:38
Mark 16
Apostles Creed
Catechism of Catholic Church - Calling God Father
Backsliding
Communion of Saints is a word from the Apostles' Creed that is quite universally adhered to through pretty much all denominations. After forty years plus of hearing sermons in many unique evangelical churches of various denominations, I cannot remember even one sermon handling the problem or even one connection with it in any sermon. We will speak the concept of "praying to the useless" in light of:
Dead or Present with the Lord
Worship in Heaven
Transfiguration
Angel's Ministry
Lazarus Come Forth
Veneration of Mary in which "veneration" method showing honor in preference to worship. What function, if any, did Mary play in Jesus' sacrifice on the pass? Was the ark of the covenant worshiped within the Old Testament?
Enoch vs. Mary
Faith of Mary
Honor to Whom Honor is Due
Hail Mary
Mary Proves Jesus Came within the Flesh
Conclusion
Before I present (or you read) the next article of this series, any questions and or comments regarding format of this series could be liked. If you would really like something protected that does not seem to in shape the categories listed or you want to make certain some thing specific that does relate to one or greater of these classes, please allow me realize.

I do ask however, that simplest tremendous remarks take delivery of even if you are in general confrontation with this assignment. Even if you are sure positive specifics are absolutely against the Scripture, I do solicit your opinion so long as you can positioned it in a civil and logical written presentation. (Please do no longer ship me any tapes.)

There are  precise substances that I propose you have in an effort to "check out" what I might be providing. The first is a Bible in a translation that you could recognize. I might be quoting strictly from the King James Version however you have to re-study the ones verses from the version you choose simply to make sure that nothing is misplaced in the translation nor introduced to. The second aid cloth you should have is the "Catechism of Catholic Church", preferably the second version. With that report, you can pick out just what you do not trust and what you do agree with. It is available on line.