Why Aren't You Roman Catholic?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Why aren't I Roman Catholic? Because I hate to be on the wrong end of James White's debates, that's why.
 
I agree with Tim Phillips when he said in the opening of this blog "I am not a Roman Catholic because Roman Catholicism is a false religion. It is headed by an imposter, a man who claims to be something he is not. The Pope is not the Vicar of Christ, he is not the head of the Christian Church, he is not a “Holy Father,” and I owe him no fealty, honor, nor respect in the religious sense. Roman Catholicism is a man-made perversion of the truth.

Just for clarification, those quotes I posted were by James White, not I. Though I would agree with Dr. White, of course.
 
I wish I could say that but the truth of the matter is for me I still am drawn to Catholicism, as well as the other churches I left

Having studied the claims of Romanism, there is one thing of which I am certain. Romanism is not catholicism. I know of nothing more anti-catholic than the exclusive claims of Rome with respect to its condemnation of the gospel at Trent, and its usurpation of the crown prerogatives of Jesus Christ as the one and only true head of His church.

DTK
 
Because I have a Bible and can read

WCF 1

V. We may be moved and induced by the testimony of the Church to an high and reverent esteem of the holy Scripture; and the heavenliness of the matter, the efficacy of the doctrine, the majesty of the style, the consent of all the parts, the scope of the whole (which is to give all glory to God), the full discovery it makes of the only way of man's salvation, the many other incomparable excellencies, and the entire perfection thereof, are arguments whereby it doth abundantly evidence itself to be the Word of God; yet, notwithstanding, our full persuasion and assurance of the infallible truth and divine authority thereof, is from the inward work of the Holy Spirit, bearing witness by and with the Word in our hearts.

Lest we be persuaded that our persuasion of such things is nothing more than our intellectual capacity.

There is still a difference between apprehending "The Bible teaches X" and apprehending "X is true"; the Spirit provides the latter and helps us provide those truths to ourselves as one of the elect. I have an unregenerate friend who personally argues against Arminian and RC claims, showing that the former does not necessitate regeneration. (He is slowly progressing towards Christianity, but currently he is not saved. In fact, his belief that Romans 9 teaches Calvinist soteriology was what deconverted him overnight!)

And of course, any understanding we have of any subject at any time is ultimately by God's grace and not of ourselves, but it still doesn't follow that unregenerates can't understand that Calvinism is Biblical.

I think Don really provided a good reason why people are not Roman Catholics: the Bible does not teach it, but rather denies it! An offensive but nonetheless correct rebuke of Catholics is, "No, seriously, you can read." One of the "defenses" by papists is that, essentially, the authoritarian Church-State interprets for them and therefore Scripture is interpreted correctly. Some Jesuit said that if the RCC says something is white when he thinks it is black, then it is white.

Recently I presented an exegesis of John 10:26 to a Romanist in order to show that God's choice to save us must logically precede our choice to put faith in Christ, and he told me, "You know I'm not sola Scriptura"! Romanism amounts to a complete ignoring of the Bible. "I can read" is in my opinion a perfect reason why I reject Catholicism.

(I don't mean to sound as if I'm trying to confront you, Rich. I had several points I wanted to make and I thought you provided a good platform.:))
 
Having studied the claims of Romanism, there is one thing of which I am certain. Romanism is not catholicism. I know of nothing more anti-catholic than the exclusive claims of Rome with respect to its condemnation of the gospel at Trent, and its usurpation of the crown prerogatives of Jesus Christ as the one and only true head of His church.

:up:
 
Why Aren't You Roman Catholic?
I don't know, I don't know

Apart from the grace of God, I'm sure I would be many things: but I would say that I am not Roman Catholic because of how precious it is to me that Christ is sufficient for my salvation. I do not need to pray to Mary or the Saints to get God on my side: I know that God is on my side in Christ, who proved His eternal love and favor by dying for me. My faith can rest in this even when I cannot 'feel' God's love and favor in circumstances or because of my own accusing conscience. I can pray to God in Christ knowing that He is inclined towards me in love and pity, and that I am accepted: 'I need no other advocate'.

This means also that I do not have to earn forgiveness through penance or confession to a priest or that I earn grace through sacraments -- or that I can lose God's electing love in Christ. The grace God gives to me in Christ through appointed means is free; and my own efforts to obtain it would be just more sins that need to be repented of. I am reminded of how the priests in the OT had to make satisfaction for 'the iniquity of the holy things'. There is no cleansing in the RC doctrine for the iniquity of my holy things, which will never be good enough to meet God's standard.
 
I'm not Catholic by the grace of God. As I was coming to faith, my Catholic background drove me to seek out a saint to pray to, specifically, St. Jude - Patron Saint of lost hope. Yet, when I tried calling a prayer hotline to assist me in praying to the saint, by the grace of God, I unintentionally ended up calling a Protestant prayer hotline. The man on the phone, whose name happened to be Jude, informed me that the only person I can trust my prayers to is Jesus Himself. I haven't looked back since.
 
What a cool story! Our savior is flat out awesome. And he has a sense of humor, too ... His name happened to be Jude :rofl:

I'm not Catholic by the grace of God. As I was coming to faith, my Catholic background drove me to seek out a saint to pray to, specifically, St. Jude - Patron Saint of lost hope. Yet, when I tried calling a prayer hotline to assist me in praying to the saint, by the grace of God, I unintentionally ended up calling a Protestant prayer hotline. The man on the phone, whose name happened to be Jude, informed me that the only person I can trust my prayers to is Jesus Himself. I haven't looked back since.
 
I'm not Catholic by the grace of God. As I was coming to faith, my Catholic background drove me to seek out a saint to pray to, specifically, St. Jude - Patron Saint of lost hope. Yet, when I tried calling a prayer hotline to assist me in praying to the saint, by the grace of God, I unintentionally ended up calling a Protestant prayer hotline. The man on the phone, whose name happened to be Jude, informed me that the only person I can trust my prayers to is Jesus Himself. I haven't looked back since.

God's providences are beautiful.
 
I'm not Catholic by the grace of God. As I was coming to faith, my Catholic background drove me to seek out a saint to pray to, specifically, St. Jude - Patron Saint of lost hope. Yet, when I tried calling a prayer hotline to assist me in praying to the saint, by the grace of God, I unintentionally ended up calling a Protestant prayer hotline. The man on the phone, whose name happened to be Jude, informed me that the only person I can trust my prayers to is Jesus Himself. I haven't looked back since.

God's providences are beautiful.

Yes they are! That was just one of several amazing providences that happened that blessed night that finally brought me to faith.
 
I'm not Catholic by the grace of God. As I was coming to faith, my Catholic background drove me to seek out a saint to pray to, specifically, St. Jude - Patron Saint of lost hope. Yet, when I tried calling a prayer hotline to assist me in praying to the saint, by the grace of God, I unintentionally ended up calling a Protestant prayer hotline. The man on the phone, whose name happened to be Jude, informed me that the only person I can trust my prayers to is Jesus Himself. I haven't looked back since.

Thanks for sharing that. Truly amazing!
 
I am not a Roman Catholic because I would be taken in and brainwashed by their vein repetitions, rituals, huge Gothic Cathedrals, and beautiful Art styles.

Oh, and....I don't want to worship bread and wine....
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top