A Project For All Of Us

[infinitelord1]

[url="http://lavistachurchofchrist.org/LVanswers/2004/2004-04-01.htm"]My link[/url]

Please pick a topic and unravel these lies that have been fed to these people. I can already see at least one false claim about Confessing sins to a Priest didn't start until 329 A.D.

[Archaeology cat]

I think other sites have debunked those. IIRC, those are pretty much all taken from Loraine Boettner's [i]Roman Catholicism[/i]. There's also a misunderstanding that a dogma being defined means it was introduced at that time, when that's not what it means at all. It's just that things aren't usually defined until there's some confusion about it. After all, Jesus' nature wasn't defined until later, but that doesn't mean it wasn't true or believed prior to that, just that at that point there were heresies popping up about Jesus' nature, and so a definition was needed. Not to mention that many of the things listed (Purgatory, confession, clergy, etc) are Biblical!

Here's [url="http://www.catholic.com/library/Catholic_Inventions.asp"]something[/url] from Catholic Answers. [url="http://www.catholic.com/library/More_Catholic_Inventions.asp"]More[/url] from them. Here's a [url="http://www.philvaz.com/apologetics/num4.htm"]link[/url]. And [url="http://matt1618.freeyellow.com/traditions.html"]last one[/url] for now.

[AudreyGrace]

[quote][b]Catholics believe they (the saints) serve as mediators between the living and God.[/b][/quote]
-From the link infinitelord posted

False. Catholics believe Jesus is the one and only mediator between the living and God. We believe instead that there are ways to get to Jesus and better form a relationship with him. Ex: "to Jesus, through Mary". We don't view Mary as a mediator between the living and God, but simply as a channel to get to Jesus. After all, God chose her as his mother, she knows him better than any human on earth did.

I always thought the Church acknoledges Jesus as the one and only mediator between the living and God, and saints as simply examples of living out our Christian faith, and sometimes "channels" to Jesus, to ask them for help in coming to know him better. Kind of like spiritual mentors. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, please.

Also, the majority of items on that timeline can be linked to Biblical practices and messages. They were not simply "created" by the Catholic Church.

[Archaeology cat]

To add to what you said, Audrey, the vast majority of Protestants allow and encourage intercessory prayer, so they must explain why they allow those upon the earth to pray for each other, and how that doesn't undermine Jesus' role as mediator and that asking the Saints in Heaven to pray for us somehow does undermine Him. The only difference is location, so if they want to be consistent, they need to either say that prayer to the Saints is OK, or say that no one can ask another to pray for him.

[Nihil Obstat]

[quote name='AudreyGrace' timestamp='1296834688' post='2208681']
-From the link infinitelord posted

False. Catholics believe Jesus is the one and only mediator between the living and God. We believe instead that there are ways to get to Jesus and better form a relationship with him. Ex: "to Jesus, through Mary". We don't view Mary as a mediator between the living and God, but simply as a channel to get to Jesus. After all, God chose her as his mother, she knows him better than any human on earth did.

I always thought the Church acknoledges Jesus as the one and only mediator between the living and God, and saints as simply examples of living out our Christian faith, and sometimes "channels" to Jesus, to ask them for help in coming to know him better. Kind of like spiritual mentors. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, please.

Also, the majority of items on that timeline can be linked to Biblical practices and messages. They were not simply "created" by the Catholic Church.
[/quote]
One of Mary's titles is "Mediatrix of all graces".

She puts herself "in the middle," that is to say she acts as a mediatrix not as an outsider, but in her position as mother. She knows that as such she can point out to her son the needs of mankind, and in fact, she "has the right" to do so. Her mediation is thus in the nature of intercession: Mary "intercedes" for mankind. And that is not all. As a mother she also wishes the messianic power of her Son to be manifested, that salvific power of his which is meant to help man in his misfortunes, to free him from the evil which in various forms and degrees weighs heavily upon his life. Precisely as the Prophet Isaiah had foretold about the Messiah in the famous passage which Jesus quoted before his fellow townsfolk in Nazareth: "To preach good news to the poor . . . to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind . . ." (cf. Lk 4:18.

(Redemptoris Mater)

[Papist]

First response I would have is, what is the author's/website's source.

Regarding Mary:

At the wedding at Cana, Mary looked at the wedding guests, saw what they needed, and made her request to Jesus, on their behalf, for more wine. Jesus replied that His "hour is not yet come." Knowing her place, Mary doesn't [i]insist[/i], but she [i]trusts[/i] that Her Son would comply. She is the Queen Mother, she'd made her request, she trusted in Him and in His trust of her, and just after He said that His hour had not yet come, she told the waiters there with all confidence, "Whatsoever He shall say to you, do ye." And then Jesus did comply, asking those waiters to fill six jugs with water...water that He then changed into the wine Mary sought for the thirsty guests. It was at Our Lady's request that Jesus performed His first public miracle and that He first revealed His divinity to the masses. What we must remember is that He performs miracles and reveals Himself at her request even today. By asking for Mary's intercession, by honoring her, and by perfectly imitating her, we can get closer to Jesus.

Catholics honor our Queen and Mother in many ways, most especially by "doing what He tells us" per her advice to the waiters at the wedding at Cana. This is her greatest wish, her deep desire: that we come to know, love, and serve her Son! To better serve God is the ultimate objective of any honor given to Our Lady and the very purpose Marian devotion.

Per Matrem ad Filium

Edited February 9, 2011 by Papist