Allow me to temporarily suspend this site's usually color coded system for quotations to perform a little test. I'm going to cite 8 quotations, 4 from the Bible, 4 from the Catechism of the Catholic Church. You, the reader, are going to guess which of the 8 quotations come from which source. Ready? Go.
"For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift— not from works, so that no one can boast. For we are His creation, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time so that we should walk in them."
"No one can merit the initial grace which is at the origin of conversion. Moved by the Holy Spirit, we can merit for ourselves and for others all the graces needed to attain eternal life, as well as necessary temporal goods."
"Do not make an idol for yourself, whether in the shape of anything in the heavens above or on the earth below or in the waters under the earth. You must not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the fathers’ sin, to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing faithful love to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commands."
"The second commandment forbids the abuse of God's name, i.e., every improper use of the names of God, Jesus Christ, but also of the Virgin Mary and all the saints."
"For there is one God and one mediator between God and humanity, Christ Jesus, Himself human, who gave Himself—a ransom for all, a testimony at the proper time."
""This motherhood of Mary in the order of grace continues uninterruptedly from the consent which she loyally gave at the Annunciation and which she sustained without wavering beneath the cross, until the eternal fulfilment of all the elect. Taken up to heaven she did not lay aside this saving office but by her manifold intercession continues to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation .... Therefore the Blessed Virgin is invoked in the Church under the titles of Advocate, Helper, Benefactress, and Mediatrix.""
"He demonstrated this power in the Messiah by raising Him from the dead and seating Him at His right hand in the heavens— far above every ruler and authority, power and dominion, and every title given, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And He put everything under His feet and appointed Him as head over everything for the church, which is His body, the fullness of the One who fills all things in every way."
"Sacramental ministry in the Church, then, is at once a collegial and a personal service, exercised in the name of Christ. This is evidenced by the bonds between the episcopal college and its head, the successor of St. Peter, and in the relationship between the bishop's pastoral responsibility for his particular church and the common solicitude of the episcopal college for the universal Church."
So, how did you do? If you're a new convert, or are otherwise inexperienced in the faith, you may not have done very well. However, those with more experience may have picked up on a pattern here. Of course, I started with the Bible, then cited a related quote from the Catechism, and the pattern just repeats like that. The citations are as follows:
1. Ephesians 2:8-10
2. CCC 2027
3. Exodus 20:4
4. CCC 2146
5. 1 Timothy 2:5-6
6. CCC 969
7. Ephesians 1:20-23
8. CCC 879
But even those who didn't recognise exactly where each quote is from may have recognised something else. There appears to be quite a disconnect, doesn't there? Take, for example, the first two quotes. The first, Ephesians 2:8-10, clearly tells us we are saved by grace through faith, not of works, but rather, we are saved to good works. CCC 2027, by contrast, tells us that while we cannot merit the initial grace, we can merit the continuation thereof.
It doesn't get better as we continue onward. Exodus 20:4 forbids the creation, bowing to, and other worship of idols, which, by Jewish and "Protestant" reckoning, is the second commandment. The Catholic Church, however, swims against the current in its numbering of the 10 commandments, splitting what would normally be the 10th commandment into 9 and 10, merging the 2nd with the 1st, and then changing the wording to exclude the part about the graven images*. The reason for this is obvious; Catholicism is absolutely saturated with idolatry. Catholics can often be found owning, bowing before, and even praying towards idols, which is even spoken about in CCC. Even in CCC 2146, the quote I chose to pair with Exodus 20:4, we see that the third commandment (by the Jewish/"Protestant" system) is horrifically abused. While it only mentions taking God's name in vain, CCC extends this to Mary, and the Saints, elevating them to a divine status.
I then cited 1 Timothy 2:5-6, which clearly states Christ is our only mediator. Yet, CCC 969 flippantly applies this title, among many others, to Mary, claiming she brings us the gifts of eternal life. Then, finally, I cited Ephesians 1:20-23, which clearly identifies Christ as the head of the Church. The Catechism also acknowledges this fact, and I actually couldn't find anywhere in the Catechism that identifies the Pope directly as the head of the Church. Thus, I just settled for quoting CCC 879, which identifies him as the head of the episcopal college.
The goal of this article is not to go through Catholicism's many flaws, so I won't go any deeper into them that I already have. Suffice to say for now, as I hope I have demonstrated to most of my audience, that there is a noticeable difference between Christianity, as found in Scripture, and Catholicism, as found in the Catechism of the Catholic Church alone. I could have expanded my scope a little and included other official Catholic sources, but CCC is the most well known, and was promulgated by none other than the (then) Pope, which "...aims at presenting an organic synthesis of the essential and fundamental contents of Catholic doctrine, as regards both faith and morals, in the light of the Second Vatican Council and the whole of the Church's Tradition." Thus, I figured it was a fairly easily obtainable, single, authoritative source that can be cross referenced by any critical reader.
Why is this difference so noticeable? The answer is simple: While Catechism of the Catholic Church is a very obviously Catholic book, the Bible is self evidently not. It does not read like a Catholic book, even in more modern translations, such as the HCSB, which I used in the test at the beginning of this article. It does not contain any of Catholicism's unique doctrines, such as the Papacy, Purgatory, or the Marian dogmas. It actively opposes Catholic doctrine, right down to the anathematisation of works-based "gospels". The Bible is very much not a Catholic book, and anyone capable of reading a Bible can prove it.
In the past, the Catholic Church had the advantage of an illiterate population, combined with the great difficulty in obtaining books. At the peak of Catholicism's power, even if you could read a book, you probably couldn't afford one. Add that to the fact Bible translation and private ownership was actually illegal, and punishable by death, and it's obvious why, historically, the Catholic Church was so dominant.
But finally, the printing press was invented, and it became possible to mass produce written works. The Reformation, which Rome had managed to hold back for quite some time (mostly by murdering "heretics"), finally gained steam, as Bibles in the "vulgar tongue", as well as "Protestant" materials, could easily be produced and distributed. One benefit of the Reformation? Increased literacy rates. Even in our post-Christian culture, the ability to read is very common. I'm not justifying this attitude, but those who can't read, in our culture, are often looked down on. If you can't read, a lot of people will think you're stupid.
And the Catholic Church thinks you are. While it lost the power to physically censor Scripture, it did not lose the audacity to tell you not to study it. It is an official Catholic teaching that only the Catholic Church has the authority to interpret the Bible, and that anyone who dares "rely on their own skill", "wrest Scripture to their own senses", or otherwise "presume to interpret Scripture contrary to the Church", is heretical, and was historically able to be punished, sometimes by death.
In the beginning of this article, I cited Scripture and the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which you read equally. And very well you should, for you are a literate person, and both are works of literature. Interpretation is the whole point of reading, and a failure to do so is, more often than not, a failure on the part of the reader, not the writer. A good writer will say what he means, and the majority of his or her audience will understand what, exactly, that is. Indeed, when the Catholic Church commits its own teachings to writing, it intends the faithful to do so.
Why, then, can we not cut out the middle men? God, after all, is a far better teacher than any Catholic will ever be, and His word, according to Scripture itself, gives understanding to the simple (Psalm 119:130), and is useful for teaching, rebuke, correction, and instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete and thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17). It makes sense, therefore, to use it for teaching, rebuke, correction, and instruction in righteousness, even if you are "simple".
"No, no, no, no, no!", says the Catholic Church. "We tell you what the Bible means." How am I supposed to take this religion seriously? As Galileo once said, "I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use." When you throw in the fact that He gave us Scriptures, many commands to learn, study, and meditate on them, and even commands us to test our teachers against them, I am astounded that any sensible person can lend their ear to a Catholic apologist for one single hour and still think "that's totally the Church for me".
A Church that tells you not to read the word of God does not have authority from God. A Church that used to kill the people of God has no legitimate fellowship with the people of God. A Church that stands in contrast with the doctrines presented in the word of God does not stand upon the word of God. A Church that tells you not to think is not compatible with the omniscient God. A Church that will not submit to Godly testing knows it would fail a Godly test (as it already has). A Church that will say to fully literate people "you cannot interpret the written word" is not a sensible Church, and it is not fitting for fully literate people to surrender their literacy skills to it.
Ladies and gentlemen, the Catholic Church is an anti-intellectual, anti-Christian cult, and I am convinced at this point that the only reason it is not officially classified as such is because it is too big. Far too many people have signed that demonic contract, forbidding them to bring their brains to a Bible study. If indeed there is any point in going to a Bible study, for what is the point in studying a book if you're only allowed to believe it when your denomination gives you permission?
But here is your permission: In Acts 17, Paul and Silas, legitimate Apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ, took the Gospel to the Jews in Berea. The Apostles knew Jesus, the Bereans knew the Scriptures. These, according to Luke, were "fair minded", but not because they blindly accepted Paul. Rather, they "searched the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so". And because they were, Paul and Silas passed the test of the word of God! My friends, be a Berean! Search the Scriptures daily to see if the Catholic Church preaches the truth, and when you see that it doesn't, don't let it tell you it's because you're not reading it correctly because you do so without authority. Trust your senses, believe what is written to you in black and white, by none other than God Himself! Who has more authority than Jesus Christ? Has not all authority in Heaven and Earth been given to Him? And yet the Bible is His! Who, then, can claim authority over it? May Catholics repent of their heresy, and may the children of God forever have His word, studying it unimpeded by Satan's counterfeit Church. In Jesus' name, amen!
*In the initial test, I deliberately used the HCSB, because using something more like the KJV would immediately identify the quotes as coming from Scripture. The HCSB uses the word "idol", as opposed to "graven/carved image", but the meaning is the same.