The
Blasphemies of the Catholic Catechism and its Traditions
Click to go to our Home PageDear Reader, I have been discussing Roman Catholic views
with some members of the SDAIssues forum who converted from Seventh-day
Adventism to Catholicism. I will
interject comments after some of the statements of the following
Catechism. I will make my statements
and/or questions in blue font.
I will highlight certain statement by David
W. Cloud in this color. The New Catholic Catechism By David
W. Cloud The Roman Catholic Church published a
new Catechism in 1992 in Latin and the English translation was completed in 1994.
The following excerpts demonstrate without question that the Roman Catholic
Church is apostate and cursed of God. Bible-believing people are commanded by
God to separate from those who preach a false gospel. Some counter that not
all Roman Catholics believe the following false doctrines. That might be so,
but the fact is that the following is the most recent and most official
declaration of true Catholic belief in print. If a professed Catholic does
not agree with the following dogmas, he should not claim to be a Roman
Catholic, because this IS Roman Catholicism. The blasphemous dogmas of this official
Catholic catechism reveal the blindness and wickedness of those
"evangelicals" who are calling for closer relationships with
Romanism. It is interesting, in passing, to note
that all Scripture references in this new catechism are cited from the
Revised Standard Version or from the New Revised Standard Version. The fact
that the chief Apostate "church" has put such an unhesitating stamp
of approval upon the critical text and the modern versions thereof is
evidence that those versions are corrupted. We turn now to the Catechism itself: Introduction
by John Paul II The Catechism of the Catholic Church is
the result of very extensive collaboration; it was prepared over six years of
intense work ... The project was the object of extensive consultation among
all Catholic Bishops, their Episcopal Conferences or Synods, and of
theological and catechetical institutes. As a whole, it received a broadly
favourable acceptance on the part of the Episcopate. It can be said that
this Catechism is the result of the collaboration of the whole Episcopate of
the Catholic Church ... the harmony of so many voices truly expresses what
could be called the "symphony" of the faith. Ron’s Question: Brandon, when you asked me about
“authority” in the SDA church, and I told you that it was the General
Conference in Session, unless that Session was controlled by a small group of
men, you wanted Biblical support for such rule of a majority vote. Since the above emboldened text says that
the “…Catechism is the result of the collaboration of the whole Episcopate of
the Catholic Church… the harmony of so many voices truly expresses what could
be called the “symphony” of the faith,” how does this differ from the SDA
General Conference in Session as regards an input of a large group of men? The Catechism of the Catholic Church,
lastly, is offered to every individual ... who wants to know what the
Catholic Church believes. These
statements put the lie to the popular idea that there is no one true Catholic
dogma and that Romanism has no symphony of faith. It also proves that it IS
possible for one to know and understand what Catholicism believes without
being a trained Catholic theologian. Following are the heresies of the Roman
Catholic Church which are reaffirmed in the new catechism: TRADITION EQUAL WITH SCRIPTURE 80 Sacred Tradition and Sacred
Scripture, then, are bound closely together and communicate one with the
other. 82 As a result the Church,
to whom the transmission and interpretation of Revelation is entrusted,
"does not derive her certainty about all revealed truths from the holy
Scriptures alone. Both Scripture and Tradition must be accepted and honoured
with equal sentiments of devotion and reverence. BIBLE INTERPRETATION THE SOLE RIGHT OF
POPE AND BISHOPS 100 The task of interpreting
the Word of God authentically has been entrusted solely to the Magisterium of
the Church, that is, to the Pope and to the bishops in communion with him. Ron
responds: I was led to believe that it
was the Pope acting solely. The
Catechism says that the bishops are so entrusted as well. MARY,
SINLESS, PERPETUAL VIRGIN, MOTHER OF GOD, QUEEN OF HEAVEN, CO- REDEMPTRESS
WITH CHRIST 491 Through the centuries the Church has
become ever more aware that Mary, "full of grace" through God, was
redeemed from the moment of her conception. That is what the dogma of the
Immaculate Conception confesses, as Pope Pius IX proclaimed in 1854... Ron
comments: Of course there is no
Scripture to back this. 494 ... As St. Irenaeus says,
"Being obedient she became the cause of salvation for herself and for
the whole human race." ... Ron
comments: This is pure, unvarnished
blasphemy. There is one Saviour, the
Lord Jesus Christ. 495 ... the Church confesses that Mary
is truly "Mother of God" (Theotokos). Ron
comments: God is without
beginning. He has no mother. Christ is without beginning. 508 From among the descendants of Eve,
God chose the Virgin Mary to be the mother of his Son. "Full of
grace," Mary is "the most excellent fruit of redemption" (SC
103): from the first instant of her conception, she was totally preserved
from the stain of original sin and she remained pure from all personal sin
throughout her life. Ron
comments: Thus, Jesus would not have a
nature like ours. He would not have
come in the likeness of sinful flesh as the Bible says He did. This is blasphemy. This is Satan’s device to try to make man
think that Christ has an advantage over us as far as overcoming in His
humanity is concerned. All SDA’s who
agree that Christ had an advantage, are really touting Roman
Catholicism. Christ overcame by the
same process we may overcome—by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, His Divine
Nature Holy Spirit. That is the great leveler. When we partake of that gift of all gifts
of the Spirit, we are at no disadvantage, especially since we never have the
sins of the entire world laid upon us, having to deal with the temptations of
those sins. Christ was tempted in all
points by those sins being laid upon Him. Rom 8:3 For
what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending
his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: 2Jo 1:7 For
many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a
deceiver and an antichrist. 964 Mary's role in the Church is
inseparable from her union with Christ and flows directly from it. "This
union of the mother with the Son in the work of salvation is made manifest
from the time of Christ's virginal conception up to his death"; it is
made manifest above all at the hour of his Passion. ... enduring with her
only begotten Son the intensity of his suffering, joining herself with his
sacrifice in her mother's heart, and lovingly consenting to the immolation of
this victim, born of her ... Ron
comments. The Holy Spirit is the life and
Soul of Jesus Christ, says Ellen G. White and Scripture. The role of Jesus Christ is as Saviour,
another Comforter (the Holy Spirit), and Redeemer from sin. Mary is not a Saviour and/or Redeemer from
sin. Ellen White said that Christ
divested (emptied) Himself of His Holy Spirit at His Incarnation. That Spirit was bequeathed to the Father as
a gift to mankind for the purpose of regeneration (redemption) of man back
into the image of God. The Holy Spirit
became a third person at the Incarnation although He had always existed as
the One Eternal Spirit of the Father and the Son. This is part of the mystery of the
Godhead. The One Eternal Spirit makes
all three persons ONE GOD. 966 "Finally the Immaculate Virgin,
preserved free from all stain of original sin, when the course of her earthly
life was finished, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, and
exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things, so that she might be the more
fully conformed to her Son ..." The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin is
a singular participation in her Son's Resurrection ... "In giving birth
you kept your virginity... You conceived the living God and, by your prayers,
will deliver our souls from death" (Byzantine Liturgy, Troparion, Feast
of the Dormition, August 15th.). Ron’s
comments: Mary came from a line of
worst sinners. Why? So that Christ could prove that we can
overcome as He did, thru moment by moment dependence on His indwelling Holy
Spirit Divine Nature. The doctrine of
the Immaculacy of Mary runs counter to the fact that Scripture says that
Christ came in the likeness of sinful flesh.
Where did He have any semblance of “sinful flesh” if it was not
from Mary His mother? Christ never
sinned, by Ellen White says that He had all the affects of the deterioration
of sinful flesh caused by four thousand years of sin. 968 "In a wholly singular way she
cooperated by her obedience, faith, hope and burning charity in the Saviour's
work of restoring supernatural life to souls. For this reason she is a mother
to us in the order of grace." 969 "... Taken up to heaven she did
not lay aside this saving office but by her manifold intercession continues
to bring us gifts of eternal salvation. ... Therefore the Blessed Virgin is
invoked in the Church under the titles of Advocate, Helper, Benefactress, and
Mediatrix." Ron’s
comments: The Bible says that there is
one Mediator, Intercessor, Advocate, Helper, Comforter, Jesus Christ and His
Holy Spirit. ROSARY AND PRAYERS TO MARY 971 "The Church's devotion to the
Blessed Virgin is intrinsic to Christian worship." The Church rightly
honours "the Blessed Virgin with special devotion. ..." The
liturgical feasts dedicated to the Mother of God and Marian prayer, such as
the rosary, an "epitome of the whole Gospel," express this devotion
to the Virgin Mary. FULLNESS OF SALVATION ONLY THROUGH THE
CATHOLIC CHURCH The Second Vatican Council's Decree on
Ecumenism explains: "For it is through Christ's
Catholic Church alone, which is the universal help toward salvation, that the
fullness of the means of salvation can be obtained. It was to the apostolic college alone,
of which Peter is the head, that we believe that our Lord entrusted all the
blessings of the New Covenant, in order to establish on earth the one Body of
Christ into which all those should be fully incorporated who belong in any
way to the People of God." 846 Basing itself on
Scripture and Tradition, the Council teaches that the Church, a pilgrim now
on earth, is necessary for salvation ... thereby affirmed at the same time
the necessity of the Church which men enter through Baptism as through a
door. Hence they could not be saved who, knowing that the Catholic Church was
founded as necessary by God through Christ, would refuse either to enter it
or to remain in it. ALL GRACE COMES THROUGH THE CATHOLIC
CHURCH 819 Christ's Spirit uses these Churches
and ecclesial communities as means of salvation, whose power derives from the
fullness of grace and truth that Christ has entrusted to the Catholic Church.
All these blessings come from Christ and lead to him, and are in themselves
calls to "Catholic unity." 834 Particular Churches are fully
catholic through their communion with one of them, the Church of Rome
"which presides in charity." "For with this church, by reason
of its pre-eminence, the whole Church, that is the faithful everywhere, must
necessarily be in accord" (St. Irenaeus, Adv. Haeres, 3,3,2:PG 7/1,849;
cf. Vatican Council I: DS 3057). Ron’s
Comments: The above statement
demonstrates the hierarchical structure of the church. This means that all particular churches are
in full league with the Headquarters of the church and under its
authority. Hierarchical structure is
like a theocracy, the theocracy of Israel.
There is corporate responsibility in all such structures, and the
Seventh-day Adventist church is organized under the same structure. The converse to such structure is
congregationalism, whereby an independent church is not responsible to any
higher authority than its immediate minister and congregation. NO CHRISTIAN UNITY APART FROM THE
CATHOLIC CHURCH 820 Christ bestowed unity on his Church
from the beginning. This unity, we believe, subsists in the Catholic Church
as something she can never lose ... The desire to recover the unity of all
Christians is a gift of Christ and a call of the Holy Spirit. Ron’s
Comments: But we all know that there
is dissension in the ranks of Catholicism all the way up from members to the
ruling leaders. SALVATION INCLUDES THE MUSLIMS 841 The plan of salvation also includes
those who acknowledge the Creator, in the first place amongst whom are the
Muslims; these profess to hold the faith of Abraham, and together with us
they adore the one, merciful God, mankind's judge on the last day. Ron’s
Comments: This is pure, unadulterated
blasphemy, because the Muslims do not believe in Jesus Christ, but rather
Muhammad, as their god and saviour.
This particular belief of Catholicism will go far in the pope’s effort
to broach a peace treaty with the president of Turkey. The pope has a meeting with the Turkish
Arab leader this coming November, 2006.
Turkey controls the Mosques in Israel, the most notable being the one
that sits on the Dome of the Rock, where the Jewish Temple once stood. The pope and Satan will both rule from
there one day for a short time. The
pope will rule first and then Satan himself will set himself up on that only
spot where God honored sacrifices of ancient Israel. SUPREMACY OF THE POPE 882 The Pope, Bishop of Rome and Peter's
successor, "is the perpetual and visible source and foundation of the
unity both of the bishops and of the whole company of the faithful."
"For the Roman Pontiff, by reason of his office as Vicar of Christ, and
as pastor of the entire Church has full, supreme and universal power over the
whole Church, a power which he can always exercise unhindered." Ron’s
Comments: The only head of the church
is Christ. When men usurp that
position with a president or a pope, Christ is dethroned as the leader of His
church. In 1901, Ellen White and the
lesser committee voted that a committee of 25 men should replace the office
of president in the SDA church. The 25
man committee exists today, but in 1903, the church still retained the office
of President in spite of Ellen White’s counsel. The rule or ruin kingly power which Ellen
White denounced, continued in the SDA church and does so to this day. 891 The Roman Pontiff, head of the
college of bishops, enjoys this infallibility in virtue of his office, when, as supreme
pastor and teacher of all the faithful -- who confirms his brethren in the
faith -- he proclaims by a definitive act a doctrine pertaining to faith or
morals. ... The infallibility promised to the Church is also present in the
body of bishops when, together with Peter's successor, they exercise the
supreme Magisterium," above all in an Ecumenical Council. ... This
infallibility extends as far as the deposit of divine Revelation itself. Ron’s
Comments: There is one that is perfect
and infallible, the Lord Jesus Christ and His Word. That Word mixed with man’s tradition is not
infallible! PRAYERS OF THE DEAD 956 "Being more closely united to
Christ, those who dwell in heaven fix the whole Church more firmly in
holiness. ... They do not cease to intercede with the Father for us, as they
proffer the merits which they acquired on earth through the one mediator
between God and men, Christ Jesus. ... So by their fraternal concern is our
weakness greatly helped." Ron’s
Comments: The above belief establishes
the act of praying to the Saints as an intermediary advocate, when there is
ONE MEDIATOR, the Lord Jesus Christ.
This act is an insult to the Holy Spirit. PRAYERS FOR THE DEAD 958 "In full consciousness of this
communion of the whole Mystical Body of Jesus Christ, the Church in its
pilgrim members, from the very earliest days of the Christian religion, has
honoured with great respect the memory of the dead; and `because it is a holy
and a wholesome thought to pray for the dead that they may be loosed from
their sins' she offers her suffrages for them." Our prayer for them is
capable not only of helping them, but also of making their intercession for
us effective. Ron’s
Comments: Luk 24:5 And
as they were afraid, and bowed down [their] faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead? 1263 By Baptism all sins are forgiven,
original sin and all personal sins, as well as all punishment for sin. 1257 The Lord himself affirms that
Baptism is necessary for salvation. ... The Church does not know of any means
other than Baptism that assures entry into eternal beatitude; this is why she
takes care not to neglect the mission she has received from the Lord to see
that all who can be baptized are "reborn of water and the Spirit."
God has bound salvation to the sacrament of Baptism... Ron’s
Comment: By this condition, the thief
on the cross would not be saved, nor any person and/or all little children
who had not had the opportunity to be baptized. 1265 Baptism not only purifies from all
sins, but also makes the neophyte "a new creature," an adopted son
of God, who has become a "partaker of the divine nature," member of
Christ and co-heir with him, and a temple of the Holy Spirit. 1267 ... From the baptismal fonts is
born the one People of God of the New Covenant... PENANCE NECESSARY FOR SALVATION 980 It is through the sacrament of
Penance that the baptized can be reconciled with God and with the Church:
"Penance has rightly been called by the holy Fathers `a laborious kind
of baptism.' This sacrament of Penance is necessary for salvation for those
who have fallen after Baptism, just as Baptism is necessary for salvation for
those who have not yet been reborn" (Council of Trent (1551): DS 1672; cf. St. Gregory of
Nazianzus, Oratio 39, 17: PG 36,356). Ron’s
Comments: As though we can buy God or
atone in any way for our own sins! THE CHURCH CAN FORGIVE SINS 982 There is no offense, however
serious, that the Church cannot forgive. ... Christ who died for all men desires
that in his Church the gates of forgiveness should always be open to anyone
who turns away from sin. Ron’s
Comments: There is a sin that no
church can forgive. In Jeremiah
11:9-15, God defines that type of sin. Also, any man who curses the Holy Spirit
commits the unpardonable sin. There is
a sin unto death. Jeremiah 11:9-15 is
an example of a sin unto death, as is Isaiah 8:9-13, which amounts to the
same thing. Many SDA’s are committing
this sin willfully, knowingly via ecumenical liaison with Babylon, God’s
enemies. 1Jo 5:16 If
any man see his brother sin a sin [which is] not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There
is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it. PURGATORY 1030 All who die in God's grace and
friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their
eternal salvation, but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve
the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven. Ron’s
Comments: Ecc 9:5 For
the living know that they
shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the
memory of them is forgotten. Luk 24:5 And
as they were afraid, and bowed down [their] faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead? Hbr 9:27 And
as it is appointed unto men once
to die, but after this the judgment: After
we die there remains only the judgment.
It does not say after death men are purified and perfected. Those who become eleventh hour converts
will grow up in Christ during the Millennium when they will be taught by the
144,000. 1031 The Church gives the name Purgatory
to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the
punishment of the damned. The Church formulated her doctrine of faith on
Purgatory especially at the Council of Florence and Trent. The tradition of
the Church, by reference to certain texts of Scripture, speaks of a cleansing
fire. "As for certain lesser faults, we must believe that, before the
Final Judgment, there is a purifying fire." Ron’s Comments: Brandon Ogden upbraided me for saying that
the SDA General Conference in Session was to be the voice of God WHEN IT IS
NOT CONTROLLED BY A FEW MEN. He asked
me where in the Bible there is any mention of rule by majority vote. Where in the Bible is there sanction for
any council, such as the Counsel of Trent, to dream up doctrines like
Purgatory? INDULGENCES AND GOOD WORKS FOR THE DEAD 1032 From the beginning the Church has
honoured the memory of the dead and offered prayers in suffrage for them,
above all the Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus purified, they may attain
the beatific vision of God. The Church also commends almsgiving, indulgences and
works of penance undertaken on behalf of the dead. Ron’s
Comments: Contrary to the fact that
men are often “bought,” God cannot be bought! SACRAMENTS AND LITURGY COMMUNICATE GRACE 1084 By the action of Christ and the power
of the Holy Spirit they [the sacraments] make present efficaciously the grace
that they signify. 1131 The sacraments are efficacious
signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which
divine life is dispensed to us. SACRAMENTS NECESSARY FOR SALVATION 1129 The Church affirms that for
believers the sacraments of the New Covenant are necessary for salvation. ...
The fruit of the sacramental life is that the Spirit of adoption makes the
faithful partakers in the divine nature by uniting them in a living union
with the only Son, the Saviour. Ron’s Comments: The Sacraments as practiced by Roman
Catholicism include the doctrine of Transubstantiation. This is heresy and does total despite to
the Incarnation Sacrifice made by the Son of God, by which He emptied Himself
of His Divine Nature in order to give it to us as a bequeathed “greatest
good” “crowning gift for the purpose of regeneration back into the image of
God. I have covered the blasphemy
aspects of the Eucharist bread or host teaching of transubstantiation in the
following document: https://omega77.tripod.com/trintrans.htm sac·ra·ment
INFANTS BORN AGAIN THROUGH BAPTISM 1250 Born with a fallen human nature and
tainted by original sin, children also have need of the new birth in Baptism
to be freed from the power of darkness and brought into the realm of the freedom
of the children of God ... The Church and the parents would deny a child the
priceless grace of becoming a child of God were they not to confer Baptism
shortly after birth. Ron’s Comments: The doctrine of Original Sin is not
biblical. God says that we are not
responsible for the sins of our ancestors.
All men are made culpable to sin because of Adam’s sin, but we are not
born sinners. Thus, Ellen White said
that the destiny of a baby that is not of baptizable age will be determined
by the destiny of the parent(s). 20 The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of
the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him. Ezekiel 18:20. THE MASS A RE-SACRIFICE OF CHRIST 1414 As sacrifice, the Eucharist is also
offered in reparation for the sins of the living and the dead and to obtain
spiritual or temporal benefits from God. Ron’s
Commentary: We cannot sacrifice for
the sins of the dead or the living.
After death, the judgment. 1365 Because it is the memorial of
Christ's Passover, the Eucharist is also a sacrifice. ... In the Eucharist
Christ gives us the very body which he gave up for us on the cross, the very
blood which he "poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins." Ron’s
Comments: Thus the body of Christ is
crucified over and over. https://omega77.tripod.com/trintrans.htm 1367 The sacrifice of Christ and the
sacrifice of the Eucharist are one single sacrifice: ... "In this divine
sacrifice which is celebrated in the Mass, the same Christ who offered
himself once in a bloody manner on the altar of the cross is contained and
offered in an unbloody manner." THE MASS IS A CONVERSION OF BREAD AND
WINE INTO THE VERY CHRIST 1376 The Council of Trent summarizes the
Catholic faith by declaring "... by the consecration of the bread and
wine there takes place a change of the whole substance of the bread into the
substance of the body of Christ our Lord and of the whole substance of the
wine into the substance of his blood. This change the holy Catholic Church
has fittingly and properly called transubstantiation." 1413 By the consecration the
transubstantion of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ is
brought about. Under the consecrated species of bread and wine Christ
himself, living and glorious, is present in a true, real and substantial
manner: his Body and his Blood, with his soul and his divinity (cf. Council
of Trent: DS 1640; 1651). Ron’s
Comments: The evil of
transubstantiation doctrine is explained in the following document: https://omega77.tripod.com/trintrans.htm 1374 ... In the most blessed sacrament of
the Eucharist "the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity,
of our Lord Jesus Christ and, therefore, the whole Christ is truly, really,
and substantially contained." PRIEST HAS THE POWER TO CONVERT BREAD
AND WINE INTO CHRIST 1375 It is by the conversion of the
bread and wine into Christ's body and blood that Christ becomes present in
this sacrament. ... The priest, in the role of Christ, pronounces these
words, but their power and grace are God's. This is my body, he says. This
word transforms the things offered. ... The power of the blessing prevails
over that of nature, because by the blessing nature itself is changed. MASS CONDUCTED IN COMMUNION WITH THE
DEAD 1370 ... In communion with and commemorating
the Blessed Virgin Mary and all the saints, the Church offers the Eucharistic
sacrifice. ELEMENTS OF THE MASS TO BE WORSHIPPED
AND CARRIED IN PROCESSIONS 1418 Because Christ himself is present
in the sacrament of the altar he is to be honoured with the worship of
adoration. 1378 Worship of the Eucharist. In the
liturgy of the Mass we express our faith in the real presence of Christ under
the species of bread and wine by, among other ways, genuflecting or bowing
deeply as a sign of adoration of the Lord. ... reserving the consecrated
hosts with the utmost care, exposing them to the solemn veneration of the
faithful, and carrying them in procession. ALL SINS MUST BE CONFESSED TO A PRIEST Ron’s Comments: Psa 32:5 I
acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I
will confess my transgressions
unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah. Rom 14:11
For it is written, [As] I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and
every tongue shall confess to
God. 1493 One who desires to obtain
reconciliation with God and with the Church, must confess to a priest all the
unconfessed grave sins he remembers after having carefully examined his
conscience. The confession of venial faults, without being necessary in
itself, is nevertheless strongly recommended by the Church. 1456 All mortal sins of which penitents
after a diligent self-examination are conscious must be recounted by them in
confession, even if they are most secret and have been committed
against the last two precepts of the Decalogue. ... those who fail to do so and
knowingly withhold some, place nothing before the divine goodness for
remission through the mediation of the priest, `for if the sick person is too
ashamed to show his wound to the doctor, the medicine cannot heal what it
does not know.' Ron
Comments: Two devout converts to
Catholicism, from Seventh-day Adventism, Marsha Adams and Brandon Ogden, are
on the SDAIssues forum, and they adamantly maintain that the law is done away
with, but the Catechism says that violation of the last two precepts of the
Decalogue must be confessed. Why? If they have been done away with? 1497 Individual and integral confession
of grave sins followed by absolution remains the only ordinary means of
reconciliation with God and with the Church. FORGIVENESS OF SINS AND ESCAPE FROM PURGATORY
THROUGH INDULGENCES 1471 An indulgence is a remission before
God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been
forgiven, which the faithful Christian who is duly disposed gains under
certain prescribed conditions through the action of the Church which, as the
minister of redemption, dispenses and applies with authority the treasury of
the satisfactions of Christ and the saints. ... Indulgences may be applied to
the living or the dead. 1478 An indulgence is obtained through the
Church who ... intervenes in favour of individual Christians and opens for
them the treasury of the merits of Christ and the saints to obtain from the
Father of mercies the remission of the punishments due for their sins. ... 1479 Since the faithful departed now
being purified are also members of the same communion of saints, one way we
can help them is to obtain indulgences for them, so that the temporal
punishments due for their sins may be remitted. Ron’s
Comments: As though God can be
bought! First, the church has denied
the human sinful flesh Christ partook of as an example
to us that we can overcome in the same sinful flesh. That encourages sin by the inference that
we cannot overcome as Christ did—that He had an advantage. Then the church collects indulgences as
payment for sins that have already been forgiven. The motive here is all too apparent. This is the type of mammon production that
built the luxurious Cathedrals of Catholicism. Christ and His disciples had no such
provisions. They met in home churches. SALVATION THROUGH THE GOOD WORKS OF THE
"SAINTS" 1475 In this wonderful exchange, the
holiness of one profits others ... Thus recourse to the communion of saints lets
the contrite sinner be more promptly and efficaciously purified of the
punishments for sin. Ron’s
Comments: No man can atone for
another’s sins. This horror of
blasphemies suggests that the holiness of one can profit or atone for
another’s sins. This is an abomination
of abominations. 1476 We also call these spiritual goods
of the communion of saints the Church's treasury.... 1477 This treasury includes as well the
prayers and good works of the Blessed Virgin Mary. They are truly immense,
unfathomable and even pristine in their value before God. In the treasury,
too, are the prayers and good works of all the saints. ... In this way they
attained their own salvation and at the same time cooperated in saving their
brothers in the unity of the Mystical Body. VENERATION OF RELICS 1674 Besides sacramental liturgy and
sacramentals, catechesis must take into account the forms of piety and
popular devotions among the faithful ... such as the veneration of relics,
visits to sanctuaries, pilgrimages, processions, the stations of the cross,
religious dances, the rosary, medals, etc. VENERATION OF IMAGES 2131 Basing itself on the mystery of the
incarnate Word the seventh ecumenical council at Nicaea (787) justified
against the iconoclasts the veneration of icons -- of Christ, but also of the
Mother of God, the angels and all the saints. By becoming incarnate, the Son
of God introduced a new "economy" of images. [The above material is from O Timothy
magazine, Volume 12, Issue 1, 1995. David W. Cloud. O Timothy is a
monthly magazine. Annual subscription is US$20 FOR THE UNITED STATES. Send to
Way of Life Literature, Bible Baptist Church, 1219 N. Harns Road, Oak Harbor,
Washington 98277. FOR CANADA the subscription is $20 Canadian. Send to Bethel
Baptist Church, P.O. Box 9075, London, Ontario N6E 1V0.] Biblical
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