According to the Roman Catholic Church, submission to Jesus, acceptance of the Gospel, and following His commandments are not sufficient for salvation. God can work only through the Roman Catholic Church, the Bible can only be interpreted by the Roman Catholic Clergy, and Roman Catholic Tradition is equal to scripture, making it necessary to be in congruence with God’s will.
“Believing” is an ecclesial act. The Church’s faith precedes, engenders, supports and nourishes our faith. The Church is the mother of all believers. “No one can have God as Father who does not have the Church as Mother” (St. Cyprian, De unit. 6: PL 4, 519). (CCC 181)
“There is indeed one universal church of the faithful, outside of which nobody at all is saved, in which Jesus Christ is both priest and sacrifice.” (Fourth Lateran Council)
“The task of interpreting the Word of God authentically has been entrusted solely to the Magisterium of the Church, that is, to the Pope and to the bishops in communion with him.” (CCC, 100)
As a result the Church, to whom the transmission and interpretation of Revelation is entrusted, “does not derive her certainty about all revealed truths from the holy Scriptures alone. Both Scripture and Tradition must be accepted and honoured with equal sentiments of devotion and reverence.” (CCC, 82)
I take issue with this, because the Roman Catholic tradition is overwhelmingly unbiblical, and at times, flagrantly anti-biblical. Because of the divine power the Roman Catholic church has falsely assigned itself, using scriptures (be they the instruction of the apostles or the actual word of God Himself) to pull their church back into Christian practices is generally meritless.
This practice is especially predatory toward their congregation. Roman Catholics are purposefully conditioned from the moment they enter the church, often from infancy, to believe that only the Roman Catholic clergy has the ability to interpret scripture and represent the will of Jesus. The church makes Roman Catholics take an oath to raise their kids in their church during their wedding rites, giving rise to “Cradle Catholics.” The Roman Catholic church is so dogmatically controlling that they even to claim that their offices are replacements for Christ on earth:
Let everyone revere the deacons as Jesus Christ, the bishop as the image of the Father, and the presbyters as the senate of God and the assembly of the apostles. For without them one cannot speak of the Church. (CCC, 1554).
It is the same priest, Christ Jesus, whose sacred person his minister truly represents. Now the minister, by reason of the sacerdotal consecration which he has received, is truly made like to the high priest and possesses the authority to act in the power and place of the person of Christ himself (virtute ac persona ipsius Christi) (CCC, 1548).
“We declare, say, define, and pronounce that it is absolutely necessary for the salvation of every human creature to be subject to the Roman Pontiff” (Unam Sanctam, 1302).
The Pope enjoys, by divine institution, “supreme, full, immediate, and universal power in the care of souls” (CCC 937)
Therefore, if the scripture refutes Roman Catholic teaching, a Catholic is conditioned to becoming unconsciously averse not only to criticism, but even any sort of honest analysis of anything that threatens the integrity of their church and its dogma.
I used to find this incredibly frustrating, often blaming the individuals themselves. However, after becoming more deeply immersed in Roman Catholic readings and literature, I’ve come to realize this incredible feat of social engineering within the Roman Catholic church. All of this is precisely toward the end of fostering the belief that the Roman Catholic Church must be infallible and sovereign.
“The holy Roman Church believes, professes, and preaches that no one remaining outside the Catholic Church, not just pagans, but also Jews or heretics or schismatics, can become partakers of eternal life; but they will go to the ‘everlasting fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels’ (Matt. 25:41), unless before the end of life they are joined to the Church.
For the union with the body of the Church is of such importance that the sacraments of the Church are helpful to salvation only for those remaining in it; and fasts, almsgiving, other works of piety, and the exercise of Christian warfare bear eternal rewards for them alone. And no one can be saved, no matter how much alms he has given, even if he sheds his blood for the name of Christ, unless he remains in the bosom and unity of the Catholic Church. (Pope Eugene IV; Session 11 — Feb. 4, 1442)”
Source: https://www.catholic.com/qa/the-council-of-florence-on-hell
Additional arguments for Roman Catholic sovereignty usually come in the form of only Roman Catholicism possessing the Pope, apostolic succession, the power of Magisterium, and the “Real Presence” of the Eucharist. By their claim, only the Roman Catholic church is historically congruent with the early church and only the Roman Catholic church possesses authority on Christian specific history. The conditioning is so severe, that even to question the tradition of the Catholic church is worthy of condemnation in their very own religion:
If anyone rejects any written or unwritten tradition of the church, let him be anathema (Second Council of Nicaea).
Source: http://www.catholictradition.org/Tradition/catholic-tradition.htm
This is problematic, because as we have discussed prior in the statement, the Roman Catholic Church preaches a lot of heretical teachings. Their heresy is subtle enough that they can defend it through consistent twisting of scripture. However, these cumulative perversions of scripture are often so severe, that without assurance of the divine support of the Roman Catholic clergy and the inerrancy of the Magisterium, they would be deemed not just foolish, but actively dangerous.
With salvation being professed as unobtainable without the Roman Catholic Church, submission to the Pope, literal worship of Mary, and their dedication to overwriting scripture in ways that are solely empowering to the Roman Catholic Church, I believe that Roman Catholicism preaches a wholly different Gospel from Jesus Christ. I also strongly believe that they have become a fulfillment of the wolves in sheep’s clothing the founding apostles often preached about.
In that regard, I have constructed an additional set of foundational arguments in climactic order against these Roman Catholic practices, as I believe I can conclusively prove that many of them are historically and scripturally unsound and that all of them are constructed to aggregate power for the Roman Catholic Church, rather than to magnify devotion to God.
I know this statement will find its way into the hands of several Catholics, and I know how tempting it is to write me off as a heretic or a malicious fool. I’ve witnessed both assumptions quite a bit. I am also aware that my above observations of your church culture are quite inflammatory. However, it is not for my sake, but as a service to God, that I ask that you to give this a chance and to continue to read this statement.
I promise that in the following arguments I will treat you with more honesty and dignity than what had previously been afforded to myself. We still profess to worship the same God and I am arguing for practices congruent with His divinely breathed scriptures. To my Roman Catholic brethren, I truly believe you are being preyed upon.
All I ask is that you give it a chance, as a Christian nothing should come between you and God, He is all that matters. In that regard, knowledge of Him and true obedience to His Word is of utmost importance in Christian life. When presented with evidence that contradicted the teachings of my church and beliefs, I studied, learned, and grew, even to the ends of leaving multiple churches and entire denominations.
After years of such growth, I have found my peace attending a “Bible Church” and practicing a doctrine that is founded solely in scripture and a life lived with an undivided spiritual submission to the Triune God. I simply ask you to consider a reality where you may need to follow a similar path.