(The following is not an attack on Catholic people but a comparison of Catholic teachings with Scripture. I write from the viewpoint of a former Catholic and altar boy.)

Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers. --1 Tim 4:15-16 NIV

Is doctrine really all that important if you believe in God? If it isn't, then why would God tell us to watch our doctrine closely? Apparently, possessing correct doctrine is essential. By way of example there are those whose doctrine is: "If you are good and you go to church, you will go to heaven." In reality that doctrine is completely false. There are churches who teach that if you follow their ways and become a member, you will have salvation because they follow Jesus the right way. That is also false. Then there are those whose doctrine is: "If we believe that Jesus died for our sins and we have faith in Him, we will go to heaven." That doctrine is correct. Obviously, two of the doctrines cannot be correct because they are incompatible with the third.

As a former electrical contractor I often witnessed about Jesus to my customers. In so many cases people reacted negatively and snapped: "I'm a Catholic! I have my religion!" Sadly, they completely missed my point which is... "Unless a man is born again, he will not see the Kingdom of God. You must be born again." --John 3:2,3. Jesus said that!

The Roman Catholic church has for ages been prominent in much of the world. It claims to be the only true Church established by Christ.

"When the Church is spoken of, it means that visible religious society, founded by Jesus Christ, under one head, St. Peter, and continuing under the governance of his successors, the popes. Christ promised protection of the Church until the end of time (Mt. 28:20) and commissioned the preservation and extension of His teachings in His name. It is thus the role of the Church to present the means of salvation given by Christ, i.e. the sacraments and sacrifice (cf. Marks of the Church.) --The Catholic Encyclopedia.1976. p.115

So the Catholic church's doctrine is that we are saved through the sacraments. This conflicts with the teachings of the bible in which the teaching of salvation through faith in Christ, and Him alone, is woven throughout.

Why - out of all the churches in the world - do I choose the Catholic church to show wrong doctrine? Because of it's prominence and great following throughout all the nations. Also because of the many Catholics who have come to us for deliverance and salvation. If - as they claimed - they are already Christian, then why would it be necessary to preach the gospel to them? None of them were familiar with the gospel but by time we were finished, they all accepted Jesus as their Lord and Saviour and will no longer support the Church of Rome.

For nineteen-hundred years the Catholic church has claimed pre-eminence, that it was Jesus who made the apostle Peter the first pope. This is based on the Scripture in which Jesus says to Peter:

"And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it." --Matt 16:18 NIV.

However, their interpretation from the Greek text is incorrect. "You are Peter (Petros)..." Petros means small pebble or stone. Jesus continues: ".. and on this rock (Petra) I will build my church..." Petra means huge rock, so it is obvious that Jesus was not referring to Peter upon whom He would build His Church. Jesus was referring to Himself as "the rock." See Romans 9:33; 1st Corinthians 10:4; 1st Peter 2:8 and many more, even throughout the Old Testament, such as Genesis 1:24; Deuteronomy 32:4; Deuteronomy 32:15, and more. Jesus is the Rock, not Peter.

Jesus was not so unwise as to entrust His Church to Peter who denied him three times in one night --Matthew 26:34. The blood-stained, idolatrous and corrupt history of the Catholic church proves that it is not of God. (Read "Fifty Years in the Church of Rome" by Charles Chiniquy)

Now we will show some of the teachings of Scripture and compare them with the Catholic teachings.

"And do not call anyone on earth 'father,' for you have one Father, and he is in heaven." --Matt 23:9 NIV

I have asked many Catholics why they call their priest 'Father' and they reply that it is a mark of respect. So it seems that it doesn't matter to them what Jesus said. He did not say it was okay to call a man 'Father' out of respect. He explicitly said don't do it! The whole organization refers to the pope as the 'Holy Father' but there is nothing holy about him because he supports and teaches idolatry.

"For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." --1 Tim 2:5 NIV

The late pope John Paul emphasized the worship of Mary. This is known as 'Mariolatry' and is a slap in the face to God. Most - if not all - priests advocate praying to Mary. So now the Catholic church has not one but two mediators, despite what the Scripture says, and Jesus is bypassed for Mary. She can do or say nothing on anyone's behalf. It was Jesus who died for the sinner, nor Mary!

I was listening to shortwave radio, one afternoon, and heard a program called "The Marian Hour" in which one of the Mary-worshippers explained why they pray to Mary. "You know how it is when you ask your father for something and he refuses you? You go and ask your mother and she talks your father into letting you have what you want. In the same way, Mary is like your mother and she talks Jesus into giving you what He refused you when you prayed to Him."

The Saints of God were and are living people, not just dead ones. The Catholic teaching is this:

"The faithful may render veneration and prayers of intercession to those members of the mystical body of Christ who have lived and died, whose lives were notable for holiness and virtues practiced, and who have been officially declared saints by the [Catholic] Church through the process of beatification and canonization" -- p.538 The Catholic Encyclopedia.

Again, the Catholic church violates the teaching that there is only one mediator between men and God. They actually have a saint for every day of the year, so with Mary and Jesus, they have 367 mediators. In truth, the Scriptures teach us that the saints may be...

All of the above does not suggest that the saints are dead people. Indeed, we have learned through a spiritual source, that a number of those people who have been declared 'saints' by the Catholic church never actually made it into heaven.

Purgatory. There is no such place. The doctrine of purgatory is one in which a person who died with venial sins enters purgatory to be cleansed of those sins. A mass is then said in order to pray the person's soul into heaven. This doctrine is a direct denial of the doctrine of the cross. When Jesus died He paid for all of our sins. He left nothing unfinished. The bible tells us that there is no more sacrifice left for sin.

On top of this, there are no such things as "mortal" and "venial" sins. These are more inventions of the Catholic church. To them, a mortal sin is one in which the person will go to hell. A venial sin is a lesser sin. Stealing expensive things is a mortal sin, while stealing inexpensive things is a venial sin. God says: "Do not steal!" He didn't split hairs with mortal and venial sins.

Failure to attend church on days of "holy obligation" are considered to be mortal sins. In other words, if you don't attend church on those days (including Sunday) you will go to hell. Yet the bible is explicitly clear that we cannot be saved by our own good works, which includes church attendance.

"If we confess our sins [to Jesus] He is faithful to forgive." --1st John 1:9

We must confess our sins to Jesus, not a priest, for it was Jesus who died for our sins, not the priest. The only sins the priest can forgive are those done against him, personally. I was angered when I first learned of this through reading the Scripture, because I thought of the many Saturday evenings I spent in a confessional, spilling my heart to a priest, only to find that I had not been forgiven for one sin.

"Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.' But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God's throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one." --Matt 5:33-37 NIV

Is there any doubt about taking oaths? In some minds there is no doubt that it is fine. Following is the oath taken by Catholic priests:

The Catholic church makes every priest take the oath, against the command of Jesus. And in the very first part of this oath, the priest confesses that he is aware that Jesus is being sacrificed for our sins. In other words, in every mass conducted in the world, Jesus is sacrificed over and over again. In the final part of the oath, the priest curses and condemns the doctrines of the holy bible which God gave us as truth because they oppose the doctrines of the Catholic church.

"The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth." --1 Tim 4:1-3 NIV

The Catholic church forbids its priest to marry. The bible calls this the "doctrine of demons." It is hard to understand how anyone can read the bible and not see this. The apostle Paul says:

"Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I am. But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion." --1 Cor 7:8-9 NIV.

There is much more which could be said but it should not be necessary. If these things are not sufficient, then no amount of revelation of false doctrine will be enough. If you are a practicing Catholic, please prayerfully consider what you have read, and ask God what to do about it. Bear in mind the warning of Jesus:

"There is a way which seems right to a man but in the end it leads to death."  --Proverbs 14:12

For further reading: Biblebelievers.com "False Doctrine"