The DeGRAFF FREE WILL BAPTIST CHURCH
State Route 235/ 100 East Miami Street
DeGraff, Ohio 43318
Phone: (937) 585-4463
James R. Roby, Pastor
“WHAT DOES THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH TEACH?”
by Pastor James Roby
Following is a brief accounting of what the Roman Catholic Institution teaches and believes.
1.) THE HOLY BIBLE.
* “There was far more extensive and continuous use of the scriptures in the public service of the early Church than there is among us” (Catholic Dictionary, p. 509).
* “The very nature of the Bible ought to prove to any thinking man the impossibility of its being the one safe method to find out what the Saviour taught” (Question Box, 1913 Edition, p. 67).
* “There is nowhere in the New Testament a clear, methodical statement of the teaching of Christ” (Question Box, p 66).
* “Again, it has ever been practically impossible for men, generally, to find out Christ from the Bible only” (Question Box, p. 70).
* “The Bible was not intended to be a textbook of the Christian religion” (Catholic Facts, p. 50).
* “It is that of having for a fundamental authority in all ages, for a means of deciding all doubtful points, not a book alone, or a book with authorized interpreters, BUT SIMPLY AUTHORIZED INTERPRETERS OF THE FAITH such as the Apostles were, with a book perhaps to help them, but still not absolutely needing that book for the discharge of their office any more than the apostles themselves did for theirs.” (Plain Facts, p. 33).
* “By what right do you teach doctrines not found in the Bible? Because the origin of our faith is not in the Bible alone, but in the Church, which gives us both the written and the unwritten word” (Question Box, p. 75).
* “The Scripture indeed is a divine book but it is a dead letter, which has to be explained.” (Our Priesthood, p. 155).
* “As it has been clearly shown by experience that, if the Holy Bible in the vernacular is generally permitted more harm than utility is thereby caused, owing to human temerity: all versions in the vernacular, even by Catholics, are altogether prohibited, unless approved by the holy See, or published, under the vigilant care of the bishops, with annotations taken from the Fathers of the Church and learned Catholic writers” (Pope Leo XIII, in Great Encyclical Letters, pp. 412-413).
* “As far as the New Testament is concerned, a collection of Christian writings, on its face is not essentially more conclusive than the works of other early Christian writers would be, especially if we consider the gospel of St. Mark and the gospel and Acts of St. Luke; for no special reason is evident why their words should be considered infallible.” (Plain Facts, p. 26).
* “It is not necessary for all Christians to read the Bible” (Franciscan Almanac, p. 114).
* “God deigns to make prelates his own equals. If then, you receive a command of one who holds the place of God, you should observe it with the same diligence as if it came from God himself.” (Liguori’s Spouse of Christ, p. 161)
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* “Parts of the Bible are evidently unsuited for the very young or to the ignorant, and hence, Clement XI condemned the proposition that the reading of the Bible is for all” (Catholic Dictionary, p. 82).
It is clear that Roman Catholics have an erroneous view of the Bible. In order for them to establish the authority of the priest, the authority of the “church,” and the authority of tradition...they must do away with the authority of the scriptures. The Bible is viewed as inferior, ineffective, and impossible to understand. We believe that the Bible is the infallible, inerrant Word of God...that it is our final authority in all matters...and that it is complete and forbids any addition to or subtraction from its pages! Christians are told to study it (2 Timothy 2: 15), to search its truths (Jn 5:39; Acts 17:11), to hide God’s Word in their hearts (Psalm 119:11), etc. This certainly does not sound like the advice given by Roman Catholic teachers! The Holy Bible is the divinely inspired Word of God, infallible, inerrant, entirely accurate in every detail. It is the final authority in all matters to which it speaks. It is the COMPLETE revelation of the will of God, and should never be added to or taken away from. The Authorized King James Version of 1611 is God’s pure Word preserved for us. 2 Timothy 3:15-17; 2 Peter 1:19-21; Proverbs 30:5-6; Psalm 119:11,89,140,160; Romans 3:4; 1 Peter 1:23-25; Isaiah 8:20; Revelation 22:18-19; St. John 12:48; Hebrews 4:12; St. John 17:17; Matthew 4:4, 5:18; Psalm 12:6-7.
2.) SALVATION
THE CONFESSIONAL:
* ”The priest is the man of God, the minister of God. He that despiseth the priest despiseth God; he that hears him hears God. The priest remits sins as God. It is clear that their function is such that none greater can be conceived. Wherefore they (priests) are justly called angels, but also God, holding as they do among us the power and authority of the immortal God.” (The Council of Trent).
* ”Without the priest the death and passion of our Lord would be of no avail to us. See the power of the priest! By one word from his lips he changes a piece of bread into a God! A greater fact than the creation of a world.” (Roman Catholics by the Archbishop of Ottawa).
* ”Confession is the telling of our sins to an authorized priest for the purpose of obtaining forgiveness. An authorized priest is one who has not only the power to forgive sins by reason of his ordination to the priesthood, but also the power of jurisdiction over the persons who come to him.” (Baltimore Catechism, p. 315).
* ”The priest does not have to ask God to forgive your sins. The priest himself has the power to do so in Christ’s name. Your sins are forgiven by the priest the same as if you knelt before Jesus Christ and told them to Christ Himself” (Instructions for Non-Catholics, p.93).
MARY:
* And she (Mary) is truly a mediatress of peace between sinners and God. Sinners receive pardon by Mary alone. Mary is our life. Mary is obtaining this grace for sinners by her intercession, thus restoring them to life. He fails and is lost who has not recourse to Mary. Mary is called the gate of heaven because no one can enter that blessed kingdom without passing through her. The way of salvation is open to none otherwise than through Mary. Our salvation is in the hands of Mary...He who is protected by Mary will be saved, he who is not will be lost.” (The Glories of Mary, 1931 Edition; Redemptorist Fathers, Brooklyn. pp 80-170).
* "God has placed the whole Church under the domination of Mary. The whole Trinity, O Mary, gave thee a name above every name, that at Thy name, every knee should bow, of things in heaven, on earth, and under the earth.” (Glories of Mary, p. 260).
THE MASS:
* ”The sacrifice in the Mass is identical with the sacrifice of the Cross, inasmuch as Jesus Christ is a priest and victim both. The only difference lies in the manner of offering, which is bloody upon the cross and bloodless on our altars.” (Council of Trent).
* ”I profess that in the Mass is offered to God a true, proper, and propitiatory sacrifice for the living and the dead; that in the most holy sacrament of the Eucharist there is truly, really, and substantially, the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ; and that there is a conversion of the whole substance of the bread into the body, and of the whole substance of the wine into the blood, which the Catholic Church calls Transubstantiation.” (Creed of Pope Pius IV).
* ”Jesus Christ gave us the sacrifice of the Mass to leave to His Church a visible sacrifice which continues His sacrifice on the cross until the end of time. The Mass is the same sacrifice as the sacrifice of the cross. Holy Communion is the receiving of the body and blood of Jesus Christ under the appearance of bread and wine.” (New York Catechism).
PENANCE:
Penance and absolution involve confessing to the priest and then receiving his pronouncement of absolution and assigning certain works to be done by the penitent.
* “Penance is the sacrament by which sins committed after baptism are forgiven through the absolution of the priest.” (Baltimore catechism. p. 300).
* ”In the sacrament of penance, God gives the priest the power to bring sinners back into the state of grace and to prevent them from falling into the abyss of Hell.” (Instructions to Non-Catholics, p.95).
BAPTISM:
* ”Infants, unless regenerated unto God through the grace of baptism, whether their parents be Christian or infidel, are born to eternal misery and perdition.” (Trent Catechism).
We believe that all are lost in sin and must be born again to enter Heaven and avoid Hell; that salvation is the free gift of God brought to man by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, Whose precious blood was shed on Calvary’s cross as the ONLY means of redemption. The new birth is available to “whosoever wills” and is instantaneous and not a process. We further believe that nothing prevents the salvation of even the greatest sinner on earth, but his own rejection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Hence, it is the immediate duty of all to accept Him by a repentant and obedient faith. (Romans 3:10-23; St. John 3:7; 1 peter 1:18-19,23; Romans 6:23; Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 5:15-21; Titus 3:5; Hebrews 9:22; Matthew 26:28; Acts 20:28; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4; St. John 14:6; Acts 4:12; Hebrews 7:25; 2 Peter 3:9; 1 Timothy 2:3-6; Revelation 22:17; Romans 5:1; 2 Corinthians 8:9.
The Bible truth of salvation is wholly INCOMPATIBLE with the Roman Catholic view!
