Catholicism Is Not a Christian Faith

I thank Throwback for being civil and polite during this debate. Obviously the salvation of Catholic people is a very emotional issue, but it is not my intention to cause any offense. I will first address the points that were brought up, then I will go on to demonstrate exactly what I mean by an usaving gospel. First, let me address the point that calling the Catholic gospel an unsaving gospel is simply gratuitous. I do not believe this is the case since I apply the same standard to other groups (including protestant denominations) that make the error that I will explain in a bit. I am not only picking on Catholicism. I also highly disagree with the idea that any group that "centers" around Jesus is really Christian; it isn't really that simple. Mormons belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but they aren't a Christian group because they miss some of the essential truths of the Christian faith. Jehovah's witnesses center their religion around Jesus, but they are not Christians because they do not see Him as God. I believe there are certain non-negotiable truths that are absolutely essential according to scripture itself. With this in mind, I will demonstrate why I believe Catholicism denies one of these essential truths. Galatians 1:6-9: I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel" not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed. These few verses in the opening of the book of Galatians provide the basis for my belief that there is another gospel (in fact many false gospels). He says anyone who preaches this false gospel must be accursed. The Greek word anathema as used in this context is the strongest word in the Greek language that Paul could have picked, meaning eternal damnation to hell. The rest of the book of Galatians goes on to explain in great detail exactly what this false Gospel is so that we may not make the same mistake. In this book, Paul is obviously furious since he uses the harshest language in all of scripture to make his point. He nearly exhausts the Greek language to communicate his righteous anger. Galatians 3-1-14 1 O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. 2 Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? 3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? 4 Did you suffer so many things in vain"if indeed it was in vain? 5 Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith" 6 just as Abraham "believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness"? 7 Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, "In you shall all the nations be blessed." 9 So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. 10"For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, "Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them." 11 Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for "The righteous shall live by faith." 12 But the law is not of faith, rather "The one who does them shall live by them." 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us"for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree"" 14 so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith. Interestingly, verse 3 above tells us that Paul's audience believes faith is required for salvation, but they were adding good works to the equation. The did not believe in salvation by works alone, but by faith plus works. They believed that they needed to have faith, then do something additional in order to be saved, and, because of this, they are condemned and called foolish by Paul. Any version of the gospel in which we contribute anything to our salvation is the false gospel that Paul was speaking of at the beginning of this book. Paul continues to explain how it was faith alone that justified Abraham; he did not do anything to merit his salvation. True faith makes us realize that it is in Christ alone, and not of ourselves, grace is a gift. If works are required for grace, then grace is no longer grace. Of course, one might wonder what good works were added to faith, so, fortunately, Paul tells us: Galatians 5:2-6 Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. 3 I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. 4 You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. 5 For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love. The only thing that Paul's audience did was add circumcision as a requirement for justification. Because they added just one thing on top of faith, Paul said that they are severed from Christ, and He will be of no advantage to them. Anyone who adds anything on top of faith believes a false Gospel and is severed from Christ. If you believe such a gospel, as the Catholic church teaches, you are severed from Christ. Therefore, the Catholic church itself is severed from Christ and cannot be Christian. Circumcision is also noteworthy since it is basically the sign of being a part of the old covenant. Now, after Jesus sacrifice, we have the ability to be a part of the new covenant. The sign of this is baptism rather than circumcision. If one adds baptism to faith, they fall into the same trap as the Galatians. Since the Catholic church teaches that Jesus grace is fused to us at baptism, and that this is a prerequisite for salvation, they teach a false gospel. Of course, one might object and say that James taught works as a requirement for salvation. Before this is brought up, I figure I better address it now: James 2:14-16 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled," without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. The key to understanding Paul and James is to carefully understand the subject of each author. Paul is addressing the issue of what is required for justification, and he concludes faith alone. James is more concerned with what type of faith can save. Is it enough to just say you have faith? Can that faith save? James answer is no. A person who does not do good works does not have true faith, but a person with true faith will do good works. The good works do not justify us (in fact to believe so is to believe a false gospel), they are simply the fruits of true, saving faith. The issue is that this clearly contradicts Catholic teaching: Council of Trent Canon 24:" "If any one saith, that the justice received is not preserved and also increased before God through good works; but that the said works are merely the fruits and signs of Justification obtained, but not a cause of the increase thereof; let him be anathema." The same anathema that Paul applies to the Catholic church is applied to James and Paul by the Catholic church itself. Of course they may use nicer language now, but the theology has not changed. Since the church clearly teaches works contribute to our justification, they teach a false gospel. Anyone who believes this false gospel is anathema and severed from Christ. With that in mind, let's examine a statement you made: "Catholicism and its Christ centered teachings and practices are directed toward saving souls by having them earn that right through serving God in the manner Christ taught us to do while on earth. In this way, it will appear that Catholicism is in fact a very Christian religion." Sadly and ironically, in trying to prove that Catholicism is Christian, you actually go on to prove my point. We do not earn a right to anything. We do not have the right to anything, nor do we earn, merit, or contribute to our salvation, that is why it is called grace. While we should serve God, this serving grants us the right to nothing. The only wages we earn is death, so if we rely, to any extent, on ourselves, we will receive that death. If you really believe what you said above, you have missed Christ. We could have wasted a lot of time talking about Papal infallibility or praying to the saints, but the heart of the issue is nothing less than the gospel. By missing the essential doctrine of salvation by faith alone, the Catholic church has lost precisely everything. Sorry for such a rather depressing post, although I suppose that is the nature of this debate. Regardless, have a very merry Christmas!