Catholicism is NOT real Christianity

Guidelines: -This is not an argument over the existence of God, the divinity of Jesus, or the divine inspiration of the Bible, but of the credibility of the Catholic religion -Round 1: Opening statement by each person (no arguing/rebuttals in R. 1) -Round 2: Rebutting opening statements -Round 3: Argument period -Round 4: More argument period -Round 5: Closing statements. No new arguments in R. 5 are accepted -------------- I do not believe that Catholicism is real Christianity. My argument will be split in to four points which I will later address: 1. Catholics pray to dead saints and worship idols. 2. Having a Pope is not Biblical or necessary. 3. Catholics worship Mary. 4. The Catholic Church has pagan and anti-Biblical roots and views. 1) We have all heard Catholics say things like "Saint _____, pray for us". The Catholics have special prayers for saints, such as "A Parent's Prayer to St. Joseph", which can be read here: . http://www.catholic.org.... According to Catholics, they are not praying to the saint, but asking the saint to pray with them. The idea is that, because the saint is in heaven, they can offer a "better" prayer to God. I challenge the Catholic to find me one verse in the Bible where this doctrine is taught. The Bible clearly says in II Timothy 2:5: "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;". Scripture tells us that if we offer a prayer in Jesus' name, God will hear us and answer the prayer (John 14:13-14). To say that it is not necessary to pray in Christ's name to God, but to ask a saint pray for you would be calling Jesus a liar. We humans posses the ability to pray to God without the assistance of saints. The Catholic claim that the saint will pray for them is erroneous. I urge my opponent to read the "Parent's Prayer to Saint Joseph" again. My opponent will notice that not once does the prayer ask Joseph to pray to God for us. The prayer was solely written to glorify and thank Joseph. This violates the 1st Commandment. Besides breaking Commandment 1, Catholics also break the 2nd Commandment and the command given in Rev. 22:19: "And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book". Here is the list of the Ten Commandments taken from the Catholic Catechism: . http://www.catholicbible101.com.... Read Commandments 2 and 10. Now read this list of the Ten Commandments taken from the Book of Exodus: . http://www.bible-knowledge.com.... Read Commandments 2 and 10 on this list. My opponent will notice a difference. The Catholic version has omitted the 2nd Commandment and split the 10th in half. They have taken from God's Word. Why would they remove the 2nd Commandment? It says, in part: "You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them;. .. " (Ex. 20:4-5a). Why omit the Commandment that says "You shall not bow down to them"? . http://so4j.com... . http://ivarfjeld.files.wordpress.com... Because they DO bow down to "them"! The reason they split the 10th Commandment into two parts was so there would still be 10. 2) Catholics often say that the papacy was created when Jesus called Peter the "rock" in Mt. 16:18. To stay within character limits, I ask that my opponent read this article: . http://www.wordoftruthradio.com.... Peter was not the rock; Jesus was, and is. "And he [Jesus] is the head of the body, the church. .. " (Colossians 1:18a). The only real leader of the Church body is Jesus. There is no need for a pope. How can a sinful man lead Christ's Church? The pope is not infallible. Romans 3:4: "God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged. " Notice it says that every man is a liar. Romans goes on to teach that everyone is guilty of sin. The pope is called "The Vicar of God", or "The Vicar of Christ", vicar meaning someone who is allowed to be a substitute for someone else. What does the Bible say? "And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;" (John 14:16). The Holy Spirit is the Vicar of Christ, not any man. The Holy Spirit is God, so when the pope says he is the Vicar of Christ, he is saying he is God. Again, the Catholic "church" has broken the 1st Commandment. 3) To worship means to "show reverence and adoration for (a deity); honor with religious rites. " Catholics revere Mary to a point of worship. They believe she was sinless, despite the fact that the Bible says all have sinned, and that Mary herself said she needed a savior: "My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour" (Luke 1:46,47). She is called Queen of Heaven, yet the Book of Jeremiah describes "the queen of heaven" as a pagan goddess. This is not Mary. "When the Church invokes Mary under the title, 'Coredemptrix', she means that Mary uniquely participated in the redemption of the human family by Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour. " (from . http://www.catholicsource.net...). According to the Bible, however, Jesus is the ONLY way to salvation (John 14:6); there is no "co-redemption" by Mary. 4) When the Catholic religion began in the early 300's A. D. , it was designed to attract Roman citizens who were pagan. Roman emperor Constantine drew in "former" pagans by simply giving old pagan gods Christian names. He allowed pagan rituals and traditions to be continued while covered by a mask of Christianity. In Genesis 10 and 11, we see parts of the story of Nimrod, who founded Babylonia. Nimrod in a nutshell: He is outcasted, marries his mother, builds up a great empire, dies, mother/wife claims that their child (conceived before Nimrod's death), was given to her by the sun. This is the birth of false religion, or paganism. Nimrod's mother/wife was from then on called "Queen of Heaven", and the sun was worshipped. Priests would also wear "fish hats" to honor their river god (. http://tinypic.com...). Now notice that the Catholic Mary is called "Queen of Heaven". Notice the halo (light; sun) in these Catholic renditions: Read: . http://www.aloha.net... . http://www.aloha.net... Please read: . http://www.jesus-is-savior.com... All pagan religions are polytheistic (have multiple gods). Technically, the Catholic Church is polytheistic. Catholic "gods": God (Father, Son, Holy Spirit), the pope, Mary, and the canonized saints. Christian God: God (Father, Son, Holy Spirit).