Catholics Have Faith in Religion

Little Church in Cinque Terra, Italy

ART: we have faith in Jesus
not in our religion ;]

BFHU: We have faith in Jesus too! And…we agree with St. Paul who said,

1 Timothy 3:15

I write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and bulwark of the truth. I Tim 3:15

The Church is the Pillar and Bulwark of the truth. The Catholic Church was founded by Jesus Christ (Mt 15:18) and He wanted us to be One. (Jn 17) However, beginning with Martin Luther the Church established by Jesus has watched the unity fracture and splinter into thousands of parts. And yet I have heard Protestants proclaim, in direct opposition to the words of Jesus in Jn 17, that all the many denominations are a good thing.

ART: there’s no purgatory.

why?
…for it is appointed for man to die once,
and after that comes judgment.
–Hebrews 9:27

BFHU: We completely agree with the verse. Perhaps you have been told that Purgatory is a second chance to gain Heaven. It is not. At death we ARE judged to have an eternal destination of Heaven or Hell. Purgatory is ONLY for those destined for Heaven. Its Purpose is for purification of the attachment to sin that we might stand in the presence of God without spot or blemish. And for clarity sake, let me remind the reader that the verse says nothing about Purgatory.

Mary is usually depicted praying for us.

ART: do not make any idols nor icons.
why?

Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. (Exodus 20:4-6)

BFHU: If you will note in the context of the chapter the part you left out is v. 3

³ “You shall have no other gods before me.

So, the context is about worshiping only ONE GOD. Verses 4-6 describe how He wants this to be obeyed.

In v. 5 “Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them” is a reiteration of not worshiping idols. Catholics do not worship idols despite Protestant efforts to assert that we do. The worship of idols is blasphemous and heresy. Protestants uncharitably proclaim, that when Catholics kneel before a statue or picture of a saint, that they are worshiping it. How can they see our hearts?

I,f based purely on the posture of kneeling, they judge us to be  “bowing down” in worship of idols, then what about when they or their children kneel next to their bed to say their prayers? Would it be fair and charitable to accuse them of worshiping their bed? And yet this is precisely what they do to Catholics.

God has no problem with art that represents created things. In Exodus and Deuteronomy He commands that all manner of artistic representations be made to decorate the Temple. Please see this post–>Idol Worship, Statues in Churches, and the 2nd Commandment

ART: only JESUS saves.

11 Jesus is

“‘the stone you builders rejected,
which has become the cornerstone.’[a]
Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”
–acts 4:11-12

BFHU: Absolutely AGREE !

ART: No other man can represent God.

15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
–colossians 1:15

BFHU: Agreed. But man is also made in the image of God. The verse you quote tells us about Jesus’ divinity but it says nothing about our belief that our priests represent/persona christi/ “stand in” so to speak, for Jesus in the sacraments.

ART: you won’t go to heaven by your own good works. only by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ that we are saved.

8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
–ephesians 2:8-9

BFHU: Absolutely! Our good works are in obedience to Christ, an effort to die to ourselves, and purify our souls so we won’t have so much suffering to do in Purgatory as a result of our sin.

ART: those who did not receive Jesus Christ are not given the rights by God to be called sons of God,

Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—– John 1:12

BFHU: Agreed!

ART: we do not pray to any man or woman or any saint..
why?

For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus,– 1 timothy 2:5

BFHU: We DO NOT PRAY TO SAINTS in the manner of prayers to God. We ask them to PRAY FOR US. As we are told to “pray for one another” in James. We merely ask for their intercessory prayer. That is what we are DOING. We sometimes use the words, “I prayed to Mary” because it is shorter that saying, “I asked Mary to pray to God for me.” It does not mean that the Catholic Church teaches us to pray to the Saints and that they alone will answer our prayer. Only God answers prayers.

ART: Receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior . Have FAITH in Jesus. being familiar with the name Jesus Christ is not enough..

BFHU: Agreed. We must die in friendship with God without any mortal sin on our soul.

ART: how can we be saved?

— Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ
and you shall be saved , you and your household.
–Acts 16:31

…and Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life,,.. No one comes to the Father except through me.” ==John 14:6

BFHU: Agree with these verses.

ART: let us all have faith in Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior..who laid down his life for us.
Jesus Loves YOU.;]

BFHU: AMEN!