If you scroll down, I have summaries on each of the topics below:
- Praying/Talking to Mary & Saints (Idolatry)
- Purgatory
- Apocrypha
Praying/Talking to Mary & Saints (Idolatry)
When a human dies, they do not become Omnipresent like God. The saints, Mary or any person who has died, cannot hear your prayers. Only God is Omniscient and Omnipresent. When you attempt to speak to Mary you are giving her God-like qualities. You are only to pray to the Lord your God! You are playing with fire when you do this because God calls it spiritual prostitution. Leviticus 20:6, “I will also turn against those who commit spiritual prostitution by putting their trust in mediums or in those who consult the spirits of the dead. I will cut them off from the community.God killed King Saul and his sons because he did not turn to God for guidance but sought guidance from the dead spirit of Samuel (1 Chronicles 10:13 & 1 Samuel 28). Isaiah 8:19, should not a people inquire of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living?
Mary herself stated she needed a savior in Luke 1:46-47. The golden calf has been replaced with a statue of Mary. Deuteronomy 4:16, Beware lest you act corruptly by making a carved image for yourselves, in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female. People have made statues in her image in direct disobedience to commandment #2. They will bow to and kneel in-front of her statue at weddings and on other occasions. Most will say they don’t worship Mary when asked but, they are doing exactly what the definition of worship says. Mary was definitely blessed but some churches have made her like God by saying she is sinless co-redeemer with Christ, which is contrary to the word of God. Romans 1:25, Because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator.
The Bible says the queen of heaven is an idol in Jeremiah 7:18. God said he divorced Israel because of her adultery with idols. Ezekiel 23:37, They committed adultery with their idols. Jeremiah 3:8, backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away and given her a bill of divorce. If we want Jesus to bear the penalty for our sins then we need to make sure idolatry is not in our life. Ezekiel 23:49, you shall bear the penalty for your sinful idolatry. See also Jonah 2:8.
Purgatory
Purgatory is a false doctrine with no Biblical support. The Bible describes in detail both heaven and hell, but is surprisingly silent about purgatory. The danger with this doctrine is when you believe that you have to pay for some of your sins, then you are not trusting in the finished work of Jesus. Jesus said to the man on the cross, today you will be with me in paradise. Jesus didn’t say, after you pay off the sins I couldn’t pay for on this cross, then I will meet you in paradise. If you are working for you salvation by sacraments, purgatory or the law, then you will earn your wages based on YOUR works and NOT the work of Jesus. Remember, only perfection in thought, word and deed, gains you access to heaven. I, being a sinner, do not want the wages I earned, or I will end up in hell.
Romans 6:23, For the wages of sin is death, but the FREE GIFT of God is eternal life… Romans 4:2-5, For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham BELIEVED God, and it was COUNTED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.” Now to the one who works, his wages are NOT counted as a GIFT but as his due. And to the one who DOES NOT WORK BUT BELIEVES IN HIM who justifies the ungodly, his FAITH IS COUNTED AS RIGHTEOUSNESS. See also Galatians 5:1-6.
Catholics believe they are imperfectly purified. The Bible says we are purified with blood. Hebrews 9:22, Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. We have redemption and forgiveness through his blood (Ephesians 1:7). A purification through purgatory does not allow us to enter into the presence of God, it’s Jesus’ blood alone. Hebrews 10:19, Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus. 1 John 1:7, …The blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from ALL sin.
Indulgences were only implemented for the church to make money. It would be like trying to bribe the God of the universe. Psalm 49:7, No man can possibly redeem his brother or pay his ransom to God.
Apocrypha
The Jewish people never
considered the Apocrypha to be Divinely inspired. They are the ones to whom God
entrusted with his Word (Romans 3:2).
Jesus and the disciples
specifically quote and refer to the books in the Old Testament giving them
validity. You can do a search and find lists with hundreds of New
Testament verses directly quoting or referring the OT books. Jesus and the writers of the Bible quoted
from the Apocrypha 0 times. There isn’t one direct quote from any of the
books in the Apocrypha.
All of the Old Testament
writers were called prophets (Luke 1:70, Luke
24:27, Romans 16:26). The writers of the apocrypha do not claim to
be prophets, in fact they say that the prophets have ceased to appear (1 Maccabees 9:27 & 1 Maccabees 4:46).
The Bible is filled with quotes from God. Unlike the authors of the Old and New Testament,
the authors of the apocrypha never claimed to be divinely inspired. The
apocrypha does not have any quotes from God.
Not a single, Thus says the Lord, The Word of the Lord came to me saying…. Not one verse says, God said or God spoke. This is because God did not speak through the
authors of the apocrypha.
All of the Old Testament
was written in Hebrew. None of the
apocrypha was written in the Hebrew language.
One third of the Bible is prophetic. The apocrypha does not have any prophecies.
The Bible says we are
saved by grace and the apocrypha says we are saved by works (Tobit 12:9
vs Romans 11:6). You can’t bribe the judge of the universe for
salvation with alms (2 Maccabees 12:43-45 vs 1 Peter 1:18-19). The apocrypha promotes black
magic, and the Bible condemns it (Tobit 6:6-8 vs Deuteronomy 18:9–12). If
you have no sin, you don’t need a savior.
The apocrypha said Mary was sinless, the Bible said she needed a savior
(Wisdom 8:19-20 vs Luke 1:47).
The apocrypha has
historical inaccuracies and the bible has none.
Feel free to Google them. Please
stick with the original 66 books of the Bible (Proverbs 30:6) and you won’t be led astray into false doctrines (2 Peter 2:1).
