Bible Question:
I don't know if I can ask this question in this forum without upsetting people, but I will try. I keep trying to ask the Bible Answer Man on the radio, but keep getting busy signals. Anyway, having been raised Catholic and then starting to read the Bible at the ripe age of 35, it seems like many of the Catholic truths do not "jive" easily with the Bible. Can it really be that the Catholic Church's teachings are wrong? Can it be that so many Catholics (I think I heard the number 1 billion) could be believing the wrong concepts, and if so, does that call into question their salvation? I ask these questions not in an inflammatory way, not to induce any sort of anti-Catholic rhetoric, but it seems amazing to me that so many people for so many centuries could be so wrong. I am considering leaving the Cath Church for a more Bible-based church, but feel like I'm getting ready to jump off a cliff (perhaps this feeling is from 35 years of hearing how there is only one "true" Church). Striving to be Berean-like, Stephanie |
Bible Answer: "I keep trying to ask the Bible Answer Man on the radio, but keep getting busy signals." For a Protestant view on Catholicism, I would recommend looking into Alpha and Omega Ministries: http://www.aomin.org "I ask these questions not in an inflammatory way, not to induce any sort of anti-Catholic rhetoric, but it seems amazing to me that so many people for so many centuries could be so wrong." Well, the number of adherents does not mean that the beliefs themselves are true. Look at the Muslim world. Look at liberal Protestantism. While there are significant differences between Catholicism and Protestantism, both have existed for centuries at this point, and at least one of these branches of Christianity has to be in error. Catholics hold that the Protestant Reformation was a turn from the truth. Protestants hold themselves to have returned to the essential truths that the RCC gradually drifted from over the centuries. In addition to studying Scripture, I would recommend a good book on church history, such as Bruce Shelley's _Church History in Plain Language_ to examine the path that led to where the church is today. --Joe! |