Depending on where one lives in the world it can often seem like either everyone is Catholic or nobody is Catholic! So it can be hard to get a real sense of just how Catholics fit into the world as a whole. Well, here are some numbers for you.
There are currently an estimated 6.7 billion people on the planet Earth.
Approximately 33% of those, or 2.2 billion, consider themselves Christian. That makes Christians the largest religion in the world by far. However, Islam is currently growing at a higher rate than Christianity.
Just over half of those Christians, or about 1.1 billion, are Roman Catholic (with some additional 240 million Eastern Orthodox). That makes Roman Catholics, by an overwhelming margin, the largest “denomination” of any religion on the planet. No other Christian “denomination” comes anywhere close to comparing.
The only other religious entities that can even start to compare in size are the Sunni Muslims (estimated at 940 million) and the Vishnuism Hindus (580 million) , but neither compare in organization, unity, reach, and influence next to that of the Catholic Church.
So if you are ever unsure about the number of Catholics in the world or their influence, just remember that the Catholic Church is an ocean in a world full of ponds and puddles – just as we would hope Christ’s Church would be.
{ 133 comments… read them below or add one }
Archbishop Fulton J Sheen once said,
“There are not over a 100 people in the U.S. that hate the Catholic Church, there are millions however, who hate what they wrongly believe to be the Catholic Church — which is, of course, quite a different thing.” —Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen
Certainly, this statement also applies to those who “call” themselves Catholic but who have no idea what it really means to be Catholic.
So if you count ONLY those who are living true to the teachings of the Catholic faith–which, naturally only God could really know, that number is otherwise impossible to pin down. It is probably a number very small, in reality.
We know that in the end of time that number will be only a “remnant.”
I have a question why don’t those in the catholic religion preach about the good news of the kingdom? Jesus did Luke 4:43 8:1 . he also commanded his followers to preach as well matt 28:19,20. matt 24:14. and as we know. ” for this is what the love of god means, that we observe his COMMANDMENTS; and yet his cmmandments are not burdensome” 1 john 5:3.
Mark – not sure what you mean? The Good News of the Kingdom and Jesus Christ is the central theme and foundation for ALL that the Church preaches. Can you clarify your question a bit and maybe I can help?
thanks for reposnding! didnt think anyone would. before i can clarify my question of “why don’t Catholics (not just the priest but every member of the church) preach about the good news of God’s kingdom.” I say “every member” becuase Jesus mentions to all his deciples that they should preach, matthew 28:19,20. If you look at the definition of preach it is 1. speak publicly on a religious subject. etc. Jesus went from “city to city and villiage to villiage, preaching and declaring the good news of the kingdom of god.” luke 8:1. I guess before i can clarify that question, I need to know what you think gods kingdom is?.. that is from the Bible, of course. thanks for your time.
Mark – I don’t want to get into too much of a tangential discussion on this post. But I’m definitely happy to discuss it with you as I have time. Why don’t we start here since you seem to be wondering a little bit at what the Catholic Church’s beliefs are regarding the Kingdom…
Here is a reference to the Catechism (w/ references).
And then here is a passage in the Catholic Encyclopedia on it that discusses some of the nuances a bit.
Those may answer your questions or at least give you a better feel for what the Church believes regarding this and what scripture and history back it up. Feel free to respond or shoot me an email if you have more questions from there.
God bless you!
Almost all of the Catholics in the World are located in countries in Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia. Countries Like the United Kingdom, the United States, and France have less than 20% Catholic denominations. The vast majority of the 1.1 billion Catholics live in poor countries like Nicaragua, Ecuador, and Nigeria.
Since when did “poor countries” become an important factor on ones “quality of life”? In fact, our Lord Jesus Christ taught us that money is not important. Think about it, our Savior could have been born into anything he wanted. He could have been a royal King, or a fancy merchant, but instead he chose to be born of a humble family and to be a humble Carpenter.
Actually, in America, Catholics make up about 22% of the population – which would be more than the worldwide 16% percentage. Again, by far the largest single denomination.
If there are really so many active Catholics in the United States then why is their group on facebook so small. There are twice as many Mormons in the group Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I bet there are more active or real Mormons in America than there are Catholics. I know of only one Catholic who actually goes. If a Catholic claims to be Catholic but has not gone to church for five years I say they are not Catholic.
they are called Non Practicing Catholics.
If a Christian is not practicing (Preaching and teaching other the gosple of Christ based on Matt. 28:19, 20) they are not a Christian. Scripture is clear that one has to practice ones faith in Christ and be living a moral life based on teaching of Christ. If a person is claiming to be Catholic and not practicing their faith then they are just faithless as one has to “Exercise” their faith in Jesus Christ (Mk 5:36; John 3:18, 6:29, 12:36, 14:1; 2 Corinthians 4:13).
Im sorry but I have to disagree sir.
Just because they are not active does not make them not religious.
I know of many people who dont go to church but twice (2) a year, Christmas and Easter, but spend three hours a day praying in the quiet because they feel like going to church is like bragging, and I dont think that Jesus likes people who show off little things.
Since when is Facebook a reliable source of information?
Are there really 10 million New Yorkers because i do not see 10 million people in the New York group on Facebook?
Many people do not have Facebook or want to put everything about their personal lives on the website
Not everyone has facebooks buddy. Just saying…..
I have discovered a Roman Catholic “Pilgrims Progress,” written precisely between parts I and II of John Bunyan’s timeless work. It’s title in English will be “Predestined Pilgrim and His Brother Reprobate.” I hope you will watch for it; it’s an excellent Baroque Catholic allegory.
can the mormon church even be considered christian?
Their practices don’t seem to fit into christianity
of course not. Christianity is based in the belief that Jesus Christ is god and died for our sins. Mormons do not believe that.. they are NOT Christians.
Wrong. Christianity is the belief that Jesus Christ is the savior of the world and mankind. Being a christian means following the teachings or manifesting the qualities or spirit of Jesus Christ, (wordnetweb.princeton.edu). “Mormons” do believe Jesus is the savior of the world, and how many “Mormons” have you met that lie, cheat, steal, etc.?
Trevor – the problem there is that WHO Mormons belief Jesus Christ is is a very different Jesus Christ than who history, scripture, the magisterium and orthodox Christianity say that he is.
I do not think you are right. I believe in Jesus Christ of the New Testament in the Holy Bible. Which last time I checked, is the same Jesus Christ that the Catholic church believes in (correct me if I’m wrong). I also believe that he is the Savior and Redeemer of the world and mankind. Is that not who you believe Jesus Christ is? I do not understand what you are getting at here…
To believe in Jesus Christ of The New Testament one has to admit He is your Lord (God) & Savior. He & God are one. John 1:1. Jeremiah 17:10 this is God & Revelations 2:23 this is Jesus. Romans 2:16 & Ecclesiastes 3:17 both of these verses deal w/ only God can judge us. So ask yourself why is Jesus judging in revelations.
Jesus Christ IS the judge of man. Personally, I believe it’s because he suffered through all of our sins and pains and weaknesses. So Jesus knows our side of the story so to speak. You mentioned that Jesus and God are one. And your are absolutely right, they are one along with the Holy Ghost. But not one in personnage and being, they are one in purpose. When they act together like this, it’s refferred to as the ‘God-Head’. Now, back to how you stated that only God can judge us, once again you are right. But when the scriptures state that, they refer to the God-Head as God. It is to their standard, their bar, that we will be held accountable. But Jesus will be the main judge over us.
As of now, that is the best way I can explain it. But don’t take my word on it.
If you are interested and daring, I recommend reading the book entitled, “The Plan of Salvation: Doctrinal Notes and Commentary” by Matthew B. Brown. It explains many LDS views and has even taught me much. I must warn you though, you will find many conflicting perspectives to other Christian sects. But if you listen to it to learn more about the Mormon faith, you will find alot of awnsers, and more than likely, more questions.
While thinking about this, I came across a question. If Jesus Christ and God the Father are one of the same, who was Jesus praying to while here on earth?
Thanks for all comments and posts that help enlighten me on this.
You think God doesn’t know everything? Again your Mormon church is putting limitations on God. I prayed on it and got this warm feeling telling me that the Mormon church was not right.
My grandparents were swindled for $250,000 ( their life savings ) by a crooked business man that was mormom. Everyone is human sweety!
I’ve always been confused when someone says the mormon church is not christian. I always thought that to be christian means to have Christ as your center, to believe in Christ, to hope in Christ, to take upon His name and become Christian. The name of the mormon church is actually, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. They believe its the church of Jesus Christ or Christ’s church, and when one is baptised a member, one makes promises with God to take upon Christ’s name and to become a Christian, trying to do as He would do, and following God’s commandments. I’ve just always thought that is what a christian was. If what I just said dosen’t describe a christian, than I guess mormons aren’t christians, just followers of Christ.
Sorry, Dana.
Mormons are followers of Joseph Smith, their founder who changed the bible to suit his needs and completely perverted the message of the true Jesus Christ. Please don’t take my word for it. Look up their founder and his motivations.
What do you mean by “…changed the Bible to suit his needs…”?
Hey Dana. When you get a chance, ask a Mormon why they refuse to pray to Jesus.
It’s because we pray to God (our Heavenly Father) in the name of Jesus Christ as it says in the scriptures.
“can the mormon church even be considered christian?
Their practices don’t seem to fit into christianity”
The mormon church’s official name is The Church of JESUS CHRIST of Latter-Day Saints. Of course they’re Christian.
You can go to mormon.org to find out more.
nonsense. again, you must believe that Jesus Christ is GOD and died for our sins to be christian. they believe that Christ was merely a prophet.
Once again, you are wrong… “Mormons” believe that our Heavenly Father is God, and Jesus Christ was his only son begotten in the flesh and the savior of the world. And to prove to you, through the bible, that Heavenly Father is God and a seperate being from Jesus, read St. John chapter 17. Especially verses 3 and 21. Also read St. Matthew chapter 6. And then think about what you read. Ponder with a soft heart and apply yourself in trying to understand.
Trevor, read my response #16. Before you read the verses pray before and after for God to answer you. God bless you.
Dana and Joe, every Mormon I’ve ever met is a fine and usually exceptionally loving person. But the Mormon understanding of who Christ is is not the same as the Christian understanding. Therefore, simply having Christ in your name or intending to “follow Christ” is irrelevant if the Christ you are referring to is not the historical, Christian Christ.
Jesus Christ is the third person of the Trinitarian God while being one in Being with God the Father and the Holy Spirit. Mormon’s may use similar terms, but they do not ultimately believe in this same Jesus Christ of Christianity.
Here is a brief write-up that talks about a lot of such issues. And this here and here have some interesting questions for Mormon’s good for discussion.
And here’s my post on “What is a Christian?” that you might find helpful.
(sorry if there’s a double-post, I think there was an error in my last one)
Hello Matthew,
Thanks for taking time to respond to my comment. I think it would be advantageous for you to do a bit more research on the false claims and comments you posted above. While I understand your need to defend your religion (I, having been Catholic for about 30 years), it is not proper to spread incorrect comments about the Mormon religion. There are many people who are misled by the same erroneous diatribe which you continue to spread. If you really want to understand why and what they believe, sit down and speak with a Mormon or attend a church meeting and speak with some missionaries. Simply spreading the same anti-mormon material is not good for your image. Every comment you have shared regarding Mormons has already been debated and lost.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle once said “It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.” The point I bring to your attention is that if you want to believe the Catholic church is true and only see it from one perspective, you will find everything else to be false. It is only after you lay down all the evidences with an open mind, will you then see truth.
Merry Browne also said “Preconceived notions are the locks on the door to wisdom.” If you want to continue to believe the things which you are unwilling to research and study, you will fall victim as well.
I am not an apologetic, but I will tell you that there is a plethora of information available regarding the history of Christianity – some of which you already have incorrectly stated on the links you gave above. Theologians and scholars have already pointed these out. I will leave it up to you to do your research, really study, ponder and even pray about them. I will also leave you with two links to study more on Mormons, which you would find very interesting if you desire to learn:
http://www.fairlds.org
and
mi.byu.edu
I wish you the best of luck and hope you will be edified.
Thanks for the info, Joe. I checked out the sites you mentioned, and upon first look I can’t find anything I’ve posted or referred to that contradicts what the Mormon’s teach. I have done quite a bit of research on the subject, myself. I’ve also been to Mormon meetings, visited a Mormon temple, sat down with mormon missionaries and spoken civilly at my front door. All of this has confirmed my understanding of what Mormon’s believe.
Can you please point out to me, maybe at least give one substantive example, of where I’ve got it wrong? I don’t want to get into a big debate in the comment section here, but if you could back up your claim before telling me I should have “data before I theorize” I would appreciate it.
Thanks for the links you provided. But instead of correcting any view I had of what Mormon’s believe, they too actually confirmed it on every point I had time to read.
That first link says “Of course, we believe that God and Christ are separate individuals, one in purpose, heart, and mind.” This belief is staunchly in contradiction with traditional Christian teaching and with one of the fundamental characteristics of who Christ is.
Mormon’s don’t really deny these accusations about what they believe. They just think that their understanding of them is correct and others are wrong. And I definitely agree that those points have been “debated and lost.”
This will help you understand what we believe of God and why we do so.
http://en.fairmormon.org/Nature_of_God/Trinity/Nicene_creed
Masks itself as a wiki site but just like when in college, don’t let them catching you site it!
I agree Matthew, I am not looking to debate, but rather to bring light into the discussion. I appreciate that, thanks.
Here are a few articles that you can start with:
http://www.fairlds.org/Mormonism_201/m20103.html
and
en.fairmormon.org/Godhead_and_the_Trinity
these have some good references as well:
http://www.fairlds.org/Restoring_the_Ancient_Church
http://www.fairlds.org/apol/ai040.html
for some background on Christian Councils (ie: Nicea) see here:
mi.byu.edu/publications/books/?bookid=42&chapid=211
I apologize for the onslaught of information… There’s quite a bit to read here, but I know if you take some time to read and understand them all with an open mind, I know you will be enlightened!
Regards.
Joe – still looking for one point that I got wrong in regard to Mormon belief?
And I would suggest getting your information regarding history from somewhere other than a Mormon source.
I like the en.fairmormon.org wiki made to look just like wikipedia – very clever! But ultimately not true.
I can see how much of the Mormon material can seem “enlightening” or credible when reading it by itself and without knowledge of traditional, orthodox Christianity (indeed, Joseph Smith had no such knowledge and very obviously brought a lot of already skewed Christian ideas from his limited protestant understanding of God). But if you understand the real history of it all and are educated in the classical and traditional arguments for Christianity and understanding of Christianity, it’s not hard to see the holes. It’s an easy choice.
I would encourage anyone interested in learning about Mormonism to do so. It’s an interesting topic. But please do so having also put in as much effort learning about the Catholic faith (from a credible source) or your own current faith so you can make an educated decision. There was no apostasy in Christ’s Church. Trust me. And if you don’t, then just take an honest look at history.
Like I said, all of the Mormons I’ve ever met are largely outstanding people. But the theology of the Mormon church is very seriously lacking.
Well Matthew, it looks like this conversation isn’t going to go anywhere since you appear to be unwilling to listen. You do not understand early Christianity and it’s origins at all, because if you did, you would know the Catholic religion has a very large problem (actually a number of them). Study Popes and the last living Apostle known. Even take a course at a university on ancient Christianity. Understand how and why the Nicene Creed was “created by man” (all angles of it, not just the Catholic version). There is a plethora of information available online if you so choose. But you do not, and instead continue to just mock. I feel fairly confident that you won’t investigate any matter that appears to place the Catholic church in error. Simply stating “it’s wrong, trust me” doesn’t work.
If you haven’t noticed, by the way, references (given in the footnotes) in the above apologetic sites are valid and have been accepted even in universities. They’re not just Mormon references.
If you were to just read and comprehend the above links given, you would understand more, however you chose to state the obvious – these are LDS related sites. Really? Ya think? Do you think Catholics, protestants, evangelicals, etc, would post this information on their website? Who do you think would do it? The objective I gave you was to *read* it and study it (validate the references given in the discussions) and pray about it. You have merely just shook your head at it and said “nope – not true”. How exactly does that open your mind for discussion or consideration?
As I said earlier, I am not an apologetic, but a former Catholic who has already studied quite a bit. I have researched much about the origins of Christianity, the bible, Popes, apostles, etc. There is much you do not know, for if you did, you would certainly question it yourself. Either that or you have not accepted fact as truth.
Your understanding of the early Christian church is not correct, based on your links you gave above. I can only leave you with a recommendation – to stop shunning things because it appears to make your beliefs incredulous. Stop and research. If you read everything of what I gave to you, you would begin to clearly see where you went wrong in your analysis of ancient Christendom.
I will leave you with this last comment regarding Mormons and Christianity. You may think it’s easy to say Mormons are not Christian, simply because they do not believe in some of the attributes which your beliefs share. I leave you with this. I (a Mormon) believe Jesus Christ is my Savior and Redeemer. I believe that only through him, can I be saved through his atoning sacrifice. That if I also follow his commandments and live in a Christ-like manner, I may be eligible to partake of that special atoning sacrifice. Without him, I do not have a way back to my Heavenly Father. That, my friend, is someone who believes in Christ and I will tell you I am Christian. Not believing entirely in Catholicism does not make me a non-christian, it makes me non-Catholic. If you continue to use the argument that Mormons don’t believe in traditional orthodox views of the trinity – then you should again study what happened *prior* to the “invention” (by men) of the “trinity” via the Council of Nicea in 325AD (don’t rely solely on wikipedia for this info). I will also give you a dose of your own medicine. Study materials that are scholarly, and not from Catholic archives. Calling someone a non-christian because they don’t conform to your specific beliefs, ideals or views, is what makes you a judge (a false one at that).
Might I leave you with two verses from Mark Chapter 9:
38: And John answered him, saying, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and he followeth not us: and we forbad him, because he followeth not us.
39: But Jesus said, Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me.
40: For he that is not against us is on our part.
Take Care
Looks like you’re doing the exact thing you’re accusing Matt of doing: approaching with a completely closed mind.
I submit that you may refer to yourself as a “former Catholic”, but you never were. If you had understood the power of the presence of the true, living Christ, there is no way on Earth you could have left it to follow your false teachings.
And as for Mark 9:38-40, the “us” that Jesus is referring to includes the true physical manifestation of the one Lord in who’s name we can claim and cast out demons, even move mountains; not some empty shadow of an invented nothing.
Look, if Jesus was just a really cool guy, why are people claiming his name to cast out demons. Do you do that? Do you cast out demons in Brigham Young’s name? HE was a really great man – I’m not kidding.
See: Christian = Follower of the true Christ who is Lord and is real and active in our lives.
The “Christ” you describe may have some fine attributes worth emulating; and I can’t deny Mormons do that VERY well; but that “Christ” is not God, by your own admission and so not truly “Christ”. Sorry.
To point to hundreds of bad Christians and claim that that negates the hundreds of thousands of beyond exceptional is as closed-minded as it gets.
Peace and Prayers for you and your dear Brethren to have the scales fall from your eyes and to see the truth. I respect your quest for righteousness, but there is nothing I can say, or anyone can say that will matter until the true Christ, Himself chooses to reveal himself to you.
Carol, I am a Latter Day Saint (A.K.A. Mormon) and yes, we do cast out demons. But we as well do it in the name of Jesus Christ. We also say our prayers in the name of Jesus Christ. A resemblence maybe? And as for Jesus not being God, he is not our God. But, he is a God now. That’s what happens when you become a glorified, celestialized, being, after becoming resurrected and obtaining Godhood. Nonetheless, I am thankful and happy that you believe in Jesus Christ and are at least in this walk of life. I too pray that maybe someday you too can find the Truth. If your still reading, may I suggest reading and pondering St. John chapter 17 and St. Matthew chapter 6? It may shed some light.
Trevor (and anyone else considering the Mormon belief system), I encourage you to check out these links which only scratch the surface of the problems found in Mormon theology. Again, most Mormons I meet are awesome, loving people. But their theology is a perfect example of what happens when we decide to become our own popes, ignore the Church that Jesus Himself founded, and interpret scripture (and indeed add to it) out of the context of the fullness of scripture, Apostolic Tradition and the Magisterium (which Jesus gave us).
- Quick questions on Mormonism
- Problems with the Book of Mormon
- The Mormon Christ
Yes, ponder these things in your heart. But also ponder them in your mind and intellect. That’s why God gave us reason. Faith and reason work together. And reason keeps our heart and faith in check so it doesn’t become simply whims of our own emotion or feelings we mistake for the Holy Spirit.
Matthew, again I admire your faith. And I did read through the links your provided. However, I must say that in some articles it hurt me. It hurt because, God demands respect no matter what Christian faith he is of. But I also found some comfort and joy in reading most of the claims against the Book of Mormon and Mormon beliefs, because in the explanation against the claim, the author would support the Mormon side. EX: Question- “Mormon missionaries condemned as unbiblical the Catholic custom of paying priests and bishops. They said the Mormon Church has no paid clergy, claiming this was the pattern of the first Christians. How can I answer them?” Answer- “Start your next discussion with 1 Corinthians 9:11: “If we have sown spiritual seed for you, is it a great thing that we reap a material harvest from you? If others share in this rightful claim on you, do not we still more?” Paul says that even though he would have been justified in being paid for his ministry (v. 18), he chose to forego payment in order to eliminate a potential source of criticism from his detractors. He explains in verses 14 that “the Lord ordered that those who preach the gospel should live by the gospel.”"
(from http://www.catholic.com/thisrock/quickquestions/keyword/Mormons/page2 )
Noticed the last part, “…live by the Gospel.”. Is that not what your general authorities are/should be doing?
And here is something that I ask you view and look over. http://www.jefflindsay.com/BMEvidences.shtml . Scroll down and read the part about “Bountiful and Nahom in the Arabian Peninsula”. Does this not almost by itself declare the Book of Mormon as a true and divine inspiration of the Testament of Jesus Christ.
And to further refute some claims made by Robert H. Brom, he stated that to pray about the Book of Mormon is like praying about whether adultery is wrong or not. I’m going to jump to a conclusion here and ganter that Mr. Brom knows that praying about the Book of Mormon’s truth actually works. Why else would he disparage it? If it really isn’t a true book, then shouldn’t he recommend it to all Catholics so they know what they’re up against and what is not correct? Is it right to keep people to a limited knowledge and just tell them that the Book of Mormon is wrong and “evil”? Of course not! At first, he talks about praying and the feeling you get from it. He describes it as something common that one could get from reading ‘Communist Manifesto’. But he is absolutely wrong. When one reads the Book of Mormon and ponders it with much consideration and then prays to God for understanding of whether it is true or not, the confirming sensation one feels leaves absolutely no doubt that it is true. There are no willy dillies that you get after reading the ‘yellow pages’. To know if something like the Book of Mormon is true or not, don’t ask your fellow man. Ask God. Does it not say in St. Matthew 6:7-8 to ask God and he will giveth you an answer?
Here’s something that I’m ignorant on as to your side of the debate. If the Catholic church is the original church of Jesus Christ, where is the Aaronic and Melchizedek Priesthoods? Why don’t you have apostles and a prophet? Why is the period when the Catholic church ran supreme ruler commonly called “the dark ages”? Once again, I’m a little ignorant on these subjects for your side of the arguement. Please do inform me on them.
Trevor –
I didn’t think any of the links I posted were disrespectful in the slightest. I’m sorry if you got that impression. I certainly didn’t mean to be disrespectful at all.
I appreciate your questions. And actually, I started responding, but it was getting too long, so I just made it into a full blog post. You can read my response to you here .
I’m really sorry if I came across in a negative way. And you wasn’t disrespectful, I just think that some articles were a bit too liberal. But then again, I take it a little more serious than I should sometimes. And thanks for the new blog. It really did awnser some of my questions, and I’ll deffinately keep reading through it and others. (To strengthen my own testimony have you). Thanks again for everything.
Nice Matthew,
I commented on your blog but you removed it. How exactly is that a peaceful pursuit of the true, the good and the beautiful, as your blog so suggests? Oh, wait. I guess it’s because I asked you to read up on your Christian history. I guess you have no valid arguments with history, so you just remove them.
Nice.
Actually, AvSP, I did no such thing. It hadn’t been approved yet. New comments are not shown until they are approved. Either way, you wrote your comment on an entirely different post than this one. Additionally, I don’t normally approve comments from people who don’t use their real email address (which I don’t think you did). So please use a correct email address in the future. It is not made public. Thanks for your contributions!
What would you suggest I read as a source of history on this issue? Thanks for any help.
I leave you with a verse
“He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who gathers not with me scatters” Matt.12:30
Please read the writings of our early church fathers, God bless.
You corrupt the true message of Christ…Just STOP
I don’t believe Matthew is saying that Catholoics are always right,, but I have no obligations to criticize Mormons either, what I want to know is what did Joe see that was wrong with the Catholic Church? Please send this information to c_t_headlam@yahoo.com cause I don’t believe I will remember to visit this site. Thank you!
All ” Christian” denominations of the world is false, they serve only to split the Body Of Christ into factions, and pervert the truth of Jesus’ Gospel. You don’t have to be a part or member of a denomination, church or religion to realize the salvation that Jesus gave his life for.
Jesus died so we can be saved, and he gave the gift of a helper in the form of the Holy Spirit. Anyone who is not born again, and lives in the Holy Spirit’s truth and Word, is fake. No man, no physical act, no membership, no church, no religion, can give one salvation, and those who believe otherwise is in danger of eternal damnation.
Following The Way is simple, but religion and denominations make it difficult to understand, and confuse the masses, and they will pay dearly for their errors. Forget rituals, denominations, religions, status, human scholars, names, labels and any other man made construct of religion, and believe in Jesus, his life, miracle, death and resurrection, and give your life to him, accept and recieve the Holy Spirit, to be saved.
It so simple.
It is simple, but at the same time you must remember that Jesus Christ did in fact establish the Roman Catholic Church in his name. All other secular churches who have claimed to “reform” the church have simply split away from Jesus Christ and his original foundation for Christianity.
According to G.K. Chesterton, there is the Catholic Church and all other religious bodies. He calls this relationship The Well and the Shallows.
Any how, if a person is catholic, he must regard himself that he is a person saved by the Blood of Christ for his sins now on earth.
I am a Roman Catholic. I say only a real Catholic would the real answer. I been going to church for my whole life every Sunday. Looking at all of you comments it seems that some of you are not even Catholic and don’t even know what you are really talking about. You may be right about less Catholic in the United States Of America. Think before you white something.
It doesn’t matter what you are if you really believe in god you are a Christian . Just because you don’t go to church doesn’t mean your not a christian . You still a Christian if you really believe in God. God bless you all
Hello People I hate to say this to you but the catholic faith is completely wrong and should not be followed. If a catholic would actually pick up a Bible and read it they would discover that what they preach and teach is wrong. The plan of salvation is in the book of Acts Chapter 2:38 and to back up that scripture you must read Roman’s Chapter 8:9 Also, If you look up the word Baptism in the original text the word means to be fully submerged from my recent dealing with the Catholic church it is my understanding that they just sprinkle water on the forehead that is wrong and will not get you to heaven. Also, You confess your sins to a priest or a father Jesus says confess your sins to the Father in Heaven. And one more thing you pray to Mary. No disrespect but Mary is still dead until Jesus comes back to resurrect the church and she should not be prayer to Jesus is God and he is who you should pray to ask him for forgiveness and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your Sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. God Bless I hope you all find true salvation and stray away from this watered down doctrine.
Patrick – thanks for the thoughts. I would urge you to learn a little bit more about why the Catholic Church teaches what it teaches. God bless you, too!
God Speed!
Patrick, it seems that you really don’t understand what the Catholics teaching want to impart in us all. Well its your opinion i respect it, but you know what even though we believe in different doctrines, still we are all connected through Christ Jesus the Lord (if you believed in Jesus Christ) . The first commandment that Jesus teaches us is to Love God above all, second is to Love our neighbor as we love our self. In the first commandment of course we must Love God above all, (the question do we?) in terms of praying to Mother Mary does not mean that we love her more than our God, definitely not! we pray for her for her intersession cause she is the mother of our Lord Jesus isn’t? and we believed that if we ask her intersession we pray together with her to our God, one more thing Mary is not just an ordinary Woman if you already read the book of revelation i think you know already that she is the Queen of Heaven that is to be Crown with the twelve star, the second one is very clear to understand, dealing with our neighbor i hope you do it with Love and with Love it covers all.
Lastly, all of you, I just want you to know that if you love your neighbor you should RESPECT them who ever he/she is, no matter what whom he/she believe in, all you need to do is to respect them as a sign that you love him/her. and keep always praying him/her, cause God does not sees or judge only on what you have,what you are now, or what your position in life, God only sees a humble heart the simplicity of a heart (like our Mother Mary, no doubt why she was chosen to be the Mother of our savior ) and he will answer your prayer always in accordance to His will. If you believed that He is just, you don’t need to worry, if you are not guilty of the commandments that Jesus taught us.
GOD BLESS US ALL…
Mattew,
Great site and interesting discussion. What many seem to forget is that the church on Earth is made up of humans, who by their very nature are subject to fail. There is way too much focus on the missunderstandings and human mistakes commited by individuals of the Catholic Church. You are right with respect of the teachings and principles of the church, and unfortunately many people, including preists and sisters (who are human) are not inspired by the Holy Spirit and make mistakes or are incorrect in their teachings. Apparently many do not feel a necessity to dig deeper and find out what is the truth.
I have been in a healing ministry for almost ten years now, within the Catholic church and am astonished at the amount of fallen away catholics who, because of someone elses opinion, feel hurt by the church. At one point in Liverpool England we had more people in our healing prayer group than were going to mass on sunday. We were surprised to find that more than half were not catholic, but from other denominations in search of healing too. I have found and seen through actual miracles that the Holy Spirit does not distinguish between those He heals.
I leave with one last thought. Our Blessed mother Mary, who was assumed into heaven (just like Elijah and others and therefore is not dead!) in Medjgoria told the children there that God does not make distinctions, man does.
All through time God had done nothing but tell of his Divine Mercy and love of man. Why is it so hard for people to accept it? (by the way Divine Mercy in hebrew implies “new life through forgiveness and healing)
God bless,
Paul
Great site, great info. God bless you brother. Keep up the good work.
God bless all of you for posting these opinions and “facts” about your own denominations of christianity so that I may learn more about them. I my self am Roman Catholic and I try to do my best to go to church twice a week (once on Wednesday before I attend middle school.) I am not going to state what I think is wrong about your particular believes but I do want to make some things clear about the catholic church. No matter what any one says the catholic church did create the bible ( notice how I didn’t say write). As we all know Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were under the influence of the holy spirt when they wrote the gospels of the new testament I do not argue with this. The catholic church did not write the Bible but they did construct it. There are various books composed in the Bible, but those books were hand pick out of many others of the time if they were saw fit to the teachings of christ. And if the Catholic church is as “evil” as so many say than how can you explain the many miracles that have occurred; the ones that I my self have experienced first hand in my own diocese. That alone is proof enough for me. Catholics do not worship Mary as you also state but we love and honor her and she is an important symbol in the Catholic church maybe it’s because she was born with no original sin she was assumed into heaven and she conceived the son of God himself with the holy spirit and gave her self, will, and soul totally to god… who knows. (pay honor where honor is due) I would go on but I grow tiresome off typing on this small keyboard. If you truly understood the catholic church and her teachings I believe we would all be Catholic, for it is one thing to know but it’s another thing to understand, and she (the church) is truly a beautiful thing. I wish for you not to throw me down for my believes for I do understand everyone perceives the Bible differently and I will not do so to you because you are all my fellow brethren and as such I love you, I may not like you or support your ideals, but I love you none the less. I encourage you to not show hate toward other Christians for we all share one common thing and that is the love for our God. In the name of the Father, the Son, the Holy spirit Amen. -M.G
From an outsider looking in. The argument between the two different ‘Christian’ factions here seems about as relevant as squabbling over whether Martians are green or blue. In the end, Martians don’t exist and neither does Christ. There is no evidence here, so why bother sending links trying to win each other over? It’s an exercise in futility. Your admirable passion would be better spent focused on real issues and not on chasing after illusions. Peace and may you both find true enlightenment.
River you are a fool and ignorant. Jesus is coming back and if I were you I would repent and stop being mad at yourself.
Jason do not bother there is no point arguing with a brick wall. We must pray for people like River not condemn them, and for River, I strongly believe that someday you will find the truth in Jesus Christ, follow his way and you will live a happy prosperous life, do not and you shall never be satisfied with your self and what you have been blessed with. I know it is hard for you to understand but then again it was hard for people to understand that the earth was round not flat, that it was possible to put a man on the moon, and so much more. + there is a reason we reset our calendars to AD.
Matthew.
“not just another denomination”
You say this ( which is true) and then go on to say that Catholicism is the largest denomination. Other Catholics also say that the Catholic Church is the only Church and then go on to talk about the other churches. Don’t you thin that this is rather confusing.
Walter
there is no such thing as god and religon is the biggest lie ever told and were all going to rot in the ground accept it
Really? well, u should afraid about it cause after this life you will fade like a dust, and all this things that you work on is just useless,..
but! for me who believed that there is GOD above their who is watching us and ever ready to help us anytime, will definitely not afraid of anything, even to the end of the world cause i know where i will be going after this life.
you should believed!
remember: GOD is a Merciful GOD you have no reason or to feel doubt to approach HIM cause HE is always near to listen, no one can ever fathom His MERCY!
JESUS KING OF MERCY WE TRUST IN YOU.
ur a freaking atheist of course u don’t believe in god. what a stupido. it’s all in ur name…..
Good Day!
Matthew,
what do you mean by i removed it?well, i don’t really think so cause i did never remove it, it’s just I’ve made my comment to patrick and its still there.
I don’t think that the 1.1 billion Catholics when compared to the 0.94 billion Sunnis can be described as oceans as compared to ponds and lakes. An ocean is way more than a thousand times larger than a lake and there seems to be about a 5% difference between the size of Catholics and Sunnis.
Besides Christianity used to be the smallest religion in the world and that didn’t make it any less (or more) true or significant.
Yes, but there aren’t any where near .94 billion Sunnis who are unified in their teaching. They are all divided, much like protestant Christianity.
The fact that Christianity started with a single person and grew does not take away from the fact that it did grow into 1.1 billion catholics all united in the same Church. And that it remains unified. And it continues to grow. That’s a testament to the fulfillment of (or at least a working towards) the command of Jesus to take his message unto all nations, evangelize and to be “one” as He and the Father are one.
Even if the Sunni denomination were as diverse as all of the post-reformation denominations and even if the Catholic denomination were uniform in belief (neither of which I could say) still I think the ocean/pond metaphor is incorrect. The world’s smallest ocean (Arctic)is a hundred times larger than the world’s largest lake (Lake Superior)… I do not discredit the preeminence of the Roman Catholic denomination in terms of size but oceans verses ponds? Not even if the Roman Catholic were ten times larger than the next largest denomination (which it isn’t by a long shot).
But as a Christian I certainly tip my hat to my eldest brother in the family of Christ with love and admiration.
Mikey,
First, it’s hyperbole, not a science report.
Second, you are still a bit wrong – if you’d like to get technical. When you compare sizes in terms of individual denominations, the Roman Catholic Church is certainly ten times bigger. The next biggest protestant “denomination” is the Assemblies of God (I think) at 60 million – about 1/20th the size of the Roman Catholic Church. The Eastern Orthodox are at about 1/10th. And from what I understand, Sunnis are very divided as to their interpretation of Islamic Law. So it’s hard to count them as unified in teaching despite their nominal size.
The Catholic Church is unique not only because of its size and unity in teaching, but because it has the leadership mechanism necessary to keep it as such. No other religious groups have any such thing. That’s why all of the others continue to splinter, branch and divide.
.hello to everyone
there are so many non-catholics ignore its faith. becuase they say catholics are
so “idolatry”.but..a very BIG but…catholics does not consider those images as an idol..they consider it as sign or a model that person was also living in earth in their time..without it..we do not know that they are saints who was so called a lowly servant of a God..example of that is Mother Mary..let just STOP debating about our WORLDLY FAITH..to Jesus christ our lord…what i mean..lets just observe and respect its faith..although there are so many religion in this world but still we come up in one God..the Almighty Father..we praise in one God…
stop arguing. Mormons can believe what they wana believe and so can Catholics atheists and whoever. Jesus is merciful and will forgive nonbelievers on judgement day. I will pray for u all when that day comes
how many types of catholic religions are in the world because i am in fourth grade and we are learning about it and i an catholic and i really want to know for my project! please help me! thank you ;)
thats really awesome that ur interested!
there’s only one type of catholicism. and then there are different religions that came from catholicism; these are the ones that “broke away” a long time ago. if u wanna learn more type “history of protestantism” in google and u’ll find a lot of websites to learn from!
Good day everyone!!! I am marc from philippines,,,..
I am searching for the truth about the genuine religion on earth,,,
To define it ,, there must be evidences that truly God interacted with man on that religion.. THen,, I was really surprised to know about Mother Mary’s apparition like in fatima, accounts are really true and well documented,, .More than that,, What astonished me more are the INCORRUPTIBLES!!..,,this are bodies of the saints that were mystically preserved without any medicine or whatsoever but because of their purities..Look, phaoros in egypt are mummified yet they still decayed especially when exposed to air yet our incorruptible saints are not. You may search this word INCORRUPTIBLES in yahoo and look at their so meek not decayed bodies.. Now,, I truly believe that their is only one true religion on Earth and that is ROMAN CATHOLICISM..
Mr. Evans, your comment on Catholics mainly comprised of Latin American countries and not European countries is not completely accurate. Remeber it’s the Europeans that brought Catholicism to Latin America.. You left out Spain, Italy, France, Poland and a good part of Ireland. England was once Catholic until King Henry wished to divorce his first wife, Catherine. She was from the Spanish monarchy.. Divorce was not permitted and killing her (as he did with a few other wives) would have provoked a war with Spain.. so this is the time when he “created” the Protestant religion that would allow divorce. The Anglican religion, however, is very, very similar to Catholicism.
I am not saying facebook is an accurate measure of membership. I am just saying it is evidence that Catholics are really not as numerous as people think. If there really are 16 million Catholics in America, surely they would have more people on facebook than Mormons. Look at it another way. Go to a Catholic church in America and then go to a Mormon church. You might actually count more Mormons than Catholics. Catholics are a paper tiger. They are really small.
If Catholics are so huge in California and Mormons are so small then why did Catholics beg Mormons for help. The answer is obvious. There are not very many practicing Catholics.
Come back a year later and still arguing i see. Well tom that is a valid point, but i would like to correct you. Yes there are many catholics that don’t practice their faith (most of them young and out of college) but there are many many many practicing catholics in the united states, they are in no way small. Maybe you are in an area were there aren’t many catholics, i don’t know. And there are many protestants that don’t practice their faith as well, not just catholics, maybe it’s just a phase people go through? And I do go to a catholic church and the majority of the time it’s PACKED full of people.
Membership of the Catholic Church is attained though baptism. That means, that I, being a full-blown atheist, am considered a catholic under church membership standards.
What do you think the result would be if on the next census, every country in the world asks what religion one pertains to? I would guess under half the number the church says they have now.
“Membership of the Catholic Church is attained through baptism…” Actually, that’s only a small (though vital) part of the process. A bit more research of very, very basic fact would be in order before you comment on things you clearly know very little about at the moment.
When the Church says that there are 1 billion catholics in the world, they mean that 1 billion people have been baptized. Although true membership is attained in confirmation, the Church considers everyone who’s been baptized a catholic, which is an insult to sociological science.
actually thats not true. u are sooo misinformed
So… many… uneducated… arguments… it makes me sad. =] Happy Easter however.
And, regardless of denomination or religious views, the Lord loves each one of us unconditionally, and we are called to love God and one another. And that’s the important thing. =] so let us stop our continual bickering. =]
Called to love one another? It implies you’ve summed up everything just like follow your heart :) but sadly know because once you ask questions and want to know exactly what that means for you the bible pops up the catechism jesus, human greed, natural disaster suffering etc. God’s love is not that simple. Arguing over what is Christian isn’t going to get you’s anywhere because to begin with you don’t have a fixed defintion of what “Christian” means. The church does have a fixed definition and that is why the mormons don’t fit it. You as a morman think you know what christianity is despite not having anything to do with terms definition. This sense of belonging to words and their meanings is an age old problem because no body likes to be named and described in writing. Imagine that i simply wrote one sentence to explain all that you are; an exact meaning. You could not have any gripes because the criteria fits your description and so it fits said name.
damn i dislike postmodernism :| what id give to be told son your father was a carpenter now you take over.
I would love to share this with my friend who told me two months ago (while I was attending RCIA classes) that people do not convert to Catholicism.
Kelle – there is a lot of other stuff you could share with such a person. Not only do a lot of people convert to Catholicism, but a lot of really smart, intellectual non-Catholic leaders/evangelicals/protestants end up converting to Catholicism.
I wrote an article for the National Catholic Register on just that topic awhile back. You can read it here.
Additionally, you could point them to sites like:
- Why I’m Catholic
- Coming Home Network
Welcome home, btw! God bless!
Why are the catholics created man made doctrines that are not in the bible.?? Why are they teaching that Mary is equal to the Lord.. when Mary herself is just a human that only represents the physical entrance of the human embodiment of God to the world??… Why do catholics worship Mary when it is stated in the bible not to bow down into any creation except to the Lord?? Why??
Chivas – You are bit (very) mixed up on Catholic teaching, sorry. I’m sorry you’ve received such horrible misinformation. Here are a few other posts that might help you out. Then I’d be happy to answer any other questions as I am able.
Why do Catholics Believe in Things Not in the Bible?
Do Catholics Worship Mary?
God bless you!
Why are you so concerned with Christ’s followers? If any work is appreciated from the Father it is to convert the non-believers. Do not judge lest you be judged….BTW The Greek and Roman Catholic Church was the first true Church of Christ. You can follow a straight line from Pope Benedict right to the Pope and Apostle Peter.
This is a very interesting situation, where the Vatican is proclaiming itself to be the one true church of Christ, and that all non-Roman Catholic denominations “suffer from defects” and “are not Churches in the proper sense,” and other religions “are in a gravely deficient situation”; while at the same time they are denying that faith in Jesus Christ is necessary to salvation, teaching Christ-rejecters and non-Catholics can still get to Heaven without any Biblical faith. So which is it? As you can clearly see, the Catholic Church even CONTRADICTS THEMSELVES doctrinally. They can’t even stay on the same page with each other…..
The Catholic Church recognizes all denominations except from the crazy snake charmers and televangelists wanting money, which is in fact a symptom of parting from the Catholic Church. The Church is regulated so that the message is the same as when Christ walked the earth. As a Catholic I have 7 Sacraments. Others 2 at best. All of our sacraments come straight from the New Testament. Early Christians would meet, break bread, talk about Christ’s teachings, Baptize with the Holy Spirit, confess their sins and forgive one another, anoint oil on the head of the dying, to mention a few. Only Catholics practice all 7. That’s why the Church thinks that other sects have some but not all of the truth, yet remain brothers and sisters in Christ. I would feel incomplete without the very same sacraments that Christ taught the 12 Apostles. I want every Christian to experience Christ in His fullness… God Bless
Chivas – God bless ya. You clearly have some grave misunderstandings of Catholic teaching and it doesn’t seem that you are open to actually correcting those misunderstandings. So your comments come off as severely uninformed and ignorant of the very things you are preaching/scolding the Church about. I wish you the best.
Peace be with you!
PS – in the meantime, please do not copy and paste duplicate versions of your same comment on multiple posts on my blog. It is a bit spammy and an abuse of the comment section here. Thank you.
Regarding the thread duplicates, I’m sorry about that I just want to express my thoughts to everyone in the other topic and I resort to copy what I’ve posted… But you can refer to the other thread you can read my replies there..
Chivas is right in one thing – Catholics do worship Mary. You can read it here from an ex-nun:
[link removed]
It is very well written and thought out. I hope you take the time to read through it.
AVD – well if an ex-nun said it…it MUST be true!
FYI – I don’t allow links to hate sites or sites that are deliberately setup to spread lies and misinformation (especially so blatantly). That’s why your link was removed. Additionally, you need to use a real email address in order to comment. No anonymous spreading of ignorant websites, please. Thank you.
There you go you admit it’s true! believe me Mary worship is of the pagans because all of you catholics declare that Mary is the queen of heaven which contradicts the scriptures! Wake up man its not too late.
Exactly! catholics do worship Mary. As you can see bowing down into her sculptured image synonymous to a graven image is a sin and God condemns it. Even the catholic bible testifies the truth and it will be clear to you if you just read and by heart remember God’s word because He made His word clear.
we DO NOT worship Mary…. when you worship an object it means your worshipping the object itself, not what it represents. Statues of Mary are used so that humans can visualise the beauty and grace of the mother of our lord Jesus Christ.
And what those graven images represent contradicts the bible. Exodus 20:5 said “You shall not bow down to them or serve them”. The pope bows down to Mary they create a concept of her as a sinless being that contradicts even to your catholic bible. If you read the definition of the word “graven” written in the dictionary it stands for made formed by carving. Those images were carved and you know it by yourself!
You are an outsider looking in. Are you Catholic? So how can you judge what’s in the Bible? Can you see the hearts of men? I tell you this now, when I’m on bended knee in my Church my mind is not concentrated on a statue, it’s miles from that place. So judge all you want, doesn’t make you right? Why do you speak in fake tongues and charm snakes and make people pass out as a charade? Why do calvary chapel ministers ride Harley’s and drive Escalades??? See, it goes both ways …
I’m done with you. Pure ignorance and hate. Can’t abide. You are no Christian.
with all the evidence you have in any document, u bend and distort it to your liking. u will make it seems legitimate to prove ur losing point. u disgrace the bible for using it in such a way
Why do Catholics worship idols????
its is written in the ten commandments that “you shall not have other gods besides me” yet they still worship the image of mary and other saints images.
Jakers – please read some of the other comments so you can educate yourself. Catholics do not worship (in the sense you are accusing) idols or Mary or anything other than God. I’m not sure how anyone could still be confused about something like this. I’m willing to give you the benefit of the doubt that you have honestly been misinformed. I’m sorry you’ve been given such misinformation. I wrote another post on the confusion about Catholics worshipping Mary here, if you’re interested.
Thanks Matthew, for defending the truth. You’re an inspiration. God bless Brother!
Do you have anyone you love? Do you keep pictures of them to remind yourself of them? Same thing with statues. It’s a piece of wood but made for remembrance.
Thanks for showing me the light, Chivas. God bless you.
Brother Matthew I’ve read about your page and I know you love God more than anything else in this world I do pray that you’ll grow in faith with Jesus Christ alone and with the authority of His word the bible.
So do you revile the millions of men and women on missionaries in the darkest places in the world trying to spread God’s love? It’s real easy to judge from a recliner with the AC on. The Catholic Church is the largest non-profit Charity in the world. Your on shaky ground there buddy….
Every time I consider starting a blog of my own, I come and read the comment boxes on someone else’s and I realize I could never do it. Matthew, your patience is endless, bottomless, and so admirable. Brother, you have a level of patience that is GIFT-like. I’m not kidding. Wow.
Nicole – you could always start one and just disable the comments! :-) …something I reconsider often on weeks like this… *sigh* lol. But the good comments usually make up for the shenanigans. So it is worth it in the end…and sanctifying in the process.
God bless you and thank you for the kind words! I can assure you my patience is not so endless. :-o
people who troll here are sooo misinformed. to make sure that ur actually CORRECT, try attending church once in a while, maybe ask a priest or a nun. but if your relying on the internet to prove your point, your just making urselves look stupid.
and second, for those idiots out there, do not distort the Bible just to make it sound like your right
Are you speaking to me? If you are can you be more specific instead of just throwing out childish insults. A debate is not won by insults. Use facts and address them directly.
if ur subscribed to this blog you’ll see all the comments, so no i am not talking to you -___-
There are several things that are not true here:
1. Jesus was a Jew when he died on the cross and did not know anything about Christianity and had no intent on starting a religion.
2. Jesus did not die for everybody’s sins.
3. Jesus did not intend for the world to exist beyond the generation of his own people. He was a world ender and believed the world would come to an end in his own generations lifetime. There are scriptures to prove this.
4. The intent of Christ was changed by later Christian followers to deny this and other principles that Christ believed in.
5. Christ often refers to the Father as another entity and did not ever say he was divine.
6. Christ also refers to the Son of Man many times and said He would be the judge of the people on earth, not himself. Scriptures were doctored to make people believe it was him, Jesus, that would do the judging.
7. Jesus was a man who probably got his philosophy from John the Baptist who belonged to one of the many groups of Jews who felt differently about God, etc.
8. Jesus often refers to the Pharisees and the Seducees, two Jewish sects that troubled him.
9. Jesus did not come to bring peace to the world but, as he said, to take up the sword and pit brother against brother.
10. Jesus was a rebel himself and left his family, and disagreed with a lot of people. It is why he was killed.
11. The historical Jesus is hardly mentioned by historians and several people have written convincingly that he never existed. I believe he did, but he was not anyone special to the general populous, only to the poor, the blind, the sick and the needy.
12. Jesus did not like rich people and was a champion of the poor. Nothing wrong with that but there is no sin in being rich. The “easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle” is a testament to that philosophy.
13. Jesus repeats himself so often that it becomes suspicious that he may have been used as a vehicle to get people to join the new monotheistic religion of Christianity.
14. Christ was an apocalyptic Jew who thought the world would end and all judgments made in 20 years of his life.
Richard – please. This is just not serious.
Hey i can make a ton of a absurd claims too, but if you don’t have an evidence to back it up why the hell should i believe you
Meanwhile the beliefs of the Catholic Church (which you are so casually pushing aside) has thousands upon thousands of proofs that have been built upon by members of the Church since its inception over 2000 years ago.
EVERYONE is entitled to their opinion about religion. I for one was raised a Catholic and during my youth and early adulthood, the thought of religion was just a way to try and curb my rebellious ways. The idea of being force fed religion just caused me to apply more resistance.
Now, the love of Christ is so important to me and I am very proud to be a Catholic. I have embraced my faith and have asked God to forgive me for my past. The one hour I spend every week at mass has become my personal salvation. What I have interpreted from my faith is that Jesus was sent to this earth to relay a very simple message. That message is the gift of eternal life while trying to do what is right in the process of helping one another. There are so many ways that help can be provided as just a smile or a kind gesture can surely go a long way.
May God bless all who worship the symbol of the cross and may we all experience peace in our day.
It was Christs’ wish to send his twelve apostles to different parts of the world. These apostles and their disciples preached what they experienced from their master. so the origin of catholic church is divine. it is not a human institution as some of the protestant churches say. the main aim of the council of Trent was to hold up this view. these apostles with their christs experience preached what they heard. experienced and touched by heart. that finally gave shape to the formation of catholic church. so the catholic church is the true church.
Catholic Christianity is not just one of the great religions in this world, but it’s a communion of the Eternal Father and mankind through HIS Son Jesus Christ our Lord in the Holy Spirit our Almighty Advocate.
What’s wrong with becoming an adult here whereby, you are able to determine the difference between fairy stories and reality?
I see ‘guys’ talking about prayer. No one yet has ‘developed’ a prayer which will exonerate them from screwing as many people as possible in order to get into ‘heaven’. I’m terrified of heaven. Imagine having to put up with every god-fearing, dog-loving, ball game supporting clown who ever existed FOREVER?
I can’t wait to go to hell!
You’re terrified of Heaven, sorry to hear that but even hell people fear God, even more so. Now you know He exist & must spend eternity separated from your creator, oh yea & the nashing of teeth. Even the demons believe & shudder! James 2:19.
why is religion such a bitch. I use bitch because sometimes it can leave us feeling like we are the runts of earth left here to rott away from our ancestory, maybe even mythical mother of a dog, who is our higher Monarchy. Do we all need religion to break us up into our seperate groups, to make us feel included in our religion and give the mystery of other religions to our ever knowing, but never understanding concious? Do we need religion to set our ethics right, that we will never be greater then civilization itself or any other of our mankind? Do we need it to stay sane? To keep or label the unknown into something that we do not know ourselves so how can we explain it? We cant. So we need to make up our own version of the events that have an impact on our lives.
So Christ never prayed in the Synagogue? He never fell prostrate during prayer as is common with devout Jews? Who are you to tell me not to kneel to my LORD? You need to be educated before you assume…
who needs an education for the obvious ?