Whatever happened to contending for the faith?
Ga*1:8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
Ga*1:9 As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.
I have never read where Paul or the apostles instructed the church to pray to Mary, or believe the bread and wine became the literal body of Christ, or placed anyone in the position of Pope, or collected money (indulgences) to pay the priests for praying people out of purgatory, or purgatory for that matter.
All these things, plus many, many others done by the Catholic church are no question a "different gospel" that was NOT received from the apostles.
No wonder the church is in such bad shape these days. Is there anyone really brave enough to actually contend for the faith?
1. I've had many discussions with Catholics and have Catholic friends. I do not know of even one, who actually prays to Mary. They may ask for her help, but they do not pray to her the way one prays to Christ.
2. As for the bread and wine becoming the literal body of Christ; I've given this much thought. There are Scriptures that do point to this. I'm sure you are all aware of them. I plan to do more study regarding when the idea of the real presence began and when it fell out of favor with Protestants. Many of you may be farther along in your studies, and can provide some quotes from early church fathers compared to Reformation and Post-reformation writers. I welcome any resources you may have.
Regarding the Lord's Supper; we are most familiar with the passage, in Luke 22:19, where Christ says, "Do this in remembrance of me." These are usually the words spoken by Baptist ministers during the Lord's Supper.
Luke 22 (ESV): 19 And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me." 20 And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, "This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.
However, in searching the Scriptures, I found many passages that speak of eating the flesh and drinking the blood of Christ. Jesus said, "I am the bread of life."
Jesus also said, "unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you;" and "my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink." So, do we accept His Words as spoken? Are they literal or symbolic?
John Chapter 6 has given me much to ponder on this issue:
John 6: 35 Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.
John 6: 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh."
John 6: 52 The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" 53 So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. 55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever." 59 Jesus said these things in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum.
I am rather perplexed by the way certain passages of Scripture, such as the creation story in Genesis, are taken literally; and others are reduced to allegory.
I don't think we can condemn our Catholic brothers and sisters in Christ, because they accept Christ's words, literally, as spoken. I do not see how this is teaching a different Gospel.
Many other passages of Scripture also point to consuming the body and blood of Christ.
Matthew 26: 26 Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, "Take, eat; this is my body." 27 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, "Drink of it, all of you, 28 for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
Mark 14: 22 And as they were eating, he took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to them, and said, "Take; this is my body." 23 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. 24 And he said to them, "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.
1 Corinthians 10: 14 Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. 15 I speak as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. 16 The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? 17 Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. 18 Consider the people of Israel: are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar?
3. As for the Pope and Apostolic Succession, I need to do more study on that issue. I do admire the unity in belief of the Catholic Church.
There are times when I feel like I am drowning in a sea of Protestant voices.
There are so many disagreements within Protestantism. So I'm not sure how well we are doing.
I have attended churches where Baptist ministers required far more loyalty to their teachings, than the Pope expects from Catholics.
4. As for indulgences, I need to do more study on that as well. I can say that I have seen some disturbing practices with Protestant TV Evangelists connecting sending them donations within a certain time period to receive your own financial blessings. So, Protestants have some issues regarding money, also.
I do believe in studying and get all the facts in any situation. I think if we want to know what Catholics believe, we should ask Catholics directly.
I do believe that Catholics are Christians. From some of the angry posts against Catholics already posted here, I have a feeling some of you may hate me as well.
In Christ,
Anna
