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Do you hate Catholics?
 Today’s Question: Your cassette tape, "The Truth about the Virgin of
Guadalupe", should have
been labeled, "My Hate for the Catholic Church!" It is
not the work of God!
The Church that Jesus established was and is
the Holy Catholic Church. The Holy Catholic Church was first
created in God’s mind and in His plan, the Virgin Mary was
chosen to be the Temple of God. She was from the beginning the
"favorite daughter of the Father," and at the moment of
her "yes", she became the spouse of the Holy Spirit and
the Mother of the Second Person of the Holy Trinity!
From this
tiny cell grew the "mustard tree" that can only
describe the Holy Catholic Church!
Before 1519 there was only one
"Christian" church. No Baptist church, no
fundamentalist church, no non-denominational church, definitely
no Mormon Church or Jehovah Witnesses. There was only one church,
it was the Catholic Church!
The Catholic Church has been around since
the year 33, and other so-called "Christian Churches"
are withering branches that, by the grace of God, hold on to the
Trunk by a thin thread.
The Protestant Reformation movement was, in
fact, Judas Iscariot personified—the greatest betrayal in
the history of the Holy Catholic Church.
May God touch your heart, so that like Saint
Paul and others you may see "the light" and return to
your true Home. If not, that at least He enlightens you so that
you may treat your brothers and sisters everywhere with kindness
and respect!
Rodolfo Pineda
(This letter was edited for
brevity.)
Bible Answer: What amazes
me the most is that because I don’t accept the claims of the
Catholic Church that somehow I’m labeled a "Catholic
Hater." I no more hate Catholics than I hate Jews or
Muslims. I love everyone. However, I don’t think that love
should force me to keep quiet when I disagree with others.
Rodolfo, just because I disagree with your
church does not mean I hate you. I love you, but I strongly
disagree with your church and your belief that it is the one and
only true church.
Because of God’s promise that the gates of
hell shall not prevail against the Church, God has sent reformers
to bring the Church back to where God has called it. Martin
Luther, though certainly not perfect, was not a "Judas
Iscariot" as you claim, but was a man who spoke the truth.
The Protestant Reformation has produced great leaders like
William Tyndale (gave us the English Bible), John Smyth (paved
the way for democracy), Billy Graham (won many to Christ), etc.
It seems like these men have done a wonderful
job without returning to their "true Home." They
don’t look like "withering branches" as you
alleged.
I know that you take comfort in believing that
the Catholic Church is the true church and that no other church
existed prior to 1519, but the Eastern Orthodox Church will
certainly disagree. They, too, believe that they are as old as
your church, and the Catholic Church agrees with their claim. The
Catholic Church simply rejects their full rights into their
church because the Orthodox Church rejects the claims of the
Papacy.
The Bible agrees with the Protestant ideal of
each person searching the Scriptures to prove or disprove any
person’s teaching, for the Bible says, "The Bereans
were of more noble character than the Thessalonians for they
received the message with great eagerness and examined the
Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true"
(Acts 17:11). I have, like the Bereans, examined Catholic
teachings in light of the Scriptures, and found that the Catholic
Church is teaching grave error regarding prayers to the saints,
the Papacy, and salvation by works.
You see, the difference between you and myself
is this: I have exercised my moral responsibility to examine the
teachings of the Catholic Church, and you have neglected your
moral responsibility by blindly accepting the authority of the
Catholic Church and its teachings. You, as a Catholic, believe
that you don’t have a right to disagree with the Catholic
Church. You’re wrong. You not only have the right, but the
responsibility to disagree with not only the Catholic Church but
any church that does not teach in agreement with the Word of God.
For example, you must blindly accept the
Catholic Church view of Matthew 16:13-20 where Jesus gave Peter
the keys of the kingdom. They believe that Jesus delegated one
man to lead the entire church, and that there would be successors
to continue to lead the church.
But if you read Matthew 18:18, you’ll see
that Jesus gave all the apostles the keys of the kingdom, so
Jesus taught a plurality of leadership, and not just one person
leading all Christians.
And if you’ll look at Galatians 2:9
you’ll see that there were three main leaders of the Church,
not just one. You’ll also notice in that chapter that Paul
rebuked Peter for acting in hypocrisy. In that letter Paul said
Peter and him had reached a mutual agreement that Paul was to
preach to the Gentiles and Peter to the Jews. This seems strange
if the Catholic Church’s teaching is correct about Peter
being the sole head of the Church.
As far as the early church’s position of
Matthew 16:18, most of the church fathers taught that the phrase
"rock" referred to Peter’s confession, not to
Peter himself. Were most of the church fathers wrong in their
interpretation?
It wasn’t until the bishop of Rome usurped
his authority by claiming that he was the head of the entire body
of Christ, that Catholics began using Matthew 16:18 to make all
Christians submit to the Pope’s authority. This caused a
split between the Eastern branch of Christianity (four bishops
were against the one bishop of Rome) with the Western branch. The
bishop of Rome definitely was not acting in line with the
humility in which Christ taught about the greater leaders serving
the lesser leaders.
The Papacy throughout history is filled with
atrocities that even make you blush. The Papacy has been
responsible for the martyrdom of millions of believers. This
doesn’t sound like love to me.
Now concerning my tape on the truth about the
Virgin of Guadalupe, I researched the apparitions of Guadalupe,
Fatima, and the Miraculous Medal, and was appalled at the
messages. The apparitions constantly urged prayers to Mary. This,
I believe, promotes idolatry. As a Christian, I believe that
prayers should be directed to God only, through our one mediator,
Christ Jesus. (see John 16:23)
I don’t believe that we need the
intercession of Mary or any other saint that has gone to heaven.
I believe Christ intercession is sufficient (Heb 7:25).
I also believe it is grave error for many in
the Catholic faith to promote the Co-Mediatrix role of Mary. I
see that as blasphemous. According to the clear teaching of the
Bible, "For there is one God and one mediator between God
and men, the man Christ Jesus" (1 Tim 2:5).
It is my hope that my tape will cause Catholics
to turn back to Christ and cease to pray to the saints.
[You can receive free of charge, the cassette
tape, "The Truth about the Virgin of Guadalupe." Call
(915) 855-9676 or click here.]
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