Inside the Catholic Catechism
By Tom Weaver

Index of Doctrines

PREFACE

My dear friend, I wish to discuss an issue that would be very offensive and divisive to some. It is not my desire to hurt, tear down, or hinder your faith. It is my earnest desire to build you up in faith and truth in the Word of God. I must, first of all, appeal to your logic and intellect. God created you to be a free thinking, free moral agent. There are so many varied religions and beliefs in the world today, and I do not believe it necessary to convince you of the existence of God. However, everybody does not believe the same thing, and everybody does not believe in the same God. Each religion or denomination has their own belief system, and methods of salvation. The question arises, “Who is right?” If one is to know God, how can he come to know Him? How can one be sure of who is right? Where does one start, when seeking to know the truth?

I am hoping that it is truth that you are seeking, for who in their right mind would want to be deceived? Let me be the first to admit that I am capable of error. I am not without fault. I am not without sin. I am a man who, like some, seek to know more about God. I am a man who wants to love God more and more. Since you cannot know for sure the intent of my heart, how can you know what I say is true? If men are all full of error and bias, how can we trust the preaching of a man?

Look at the stars in the sky, the trees, the creation all around. His creation declares that there is a God. If God is capable of creating all that is, then how is He going to deliver His message to man? Can the message be entrusted solely to sinful man throughout the ages? Is not the God that created everything that is capable of preserving His word, His instructions for living, His plan for salvation, throughout the ages? Intellect and logic should tell you that a God so powerful that He could create the universe would have no trouble in inspiring His written Word even through sinful man.

History proves over and over again that man is full of error. Where is man going to find the truth, and the answers to the most important questions in life? Where will you go after death? This is one such question that you or I cannot afford to be wrong about. I will not put my eternal fate in the hands of another man, and hope that he is telling me the truth. I must know for myself, beyond a shadow of a doubt. I hope you would have the same desire to know beyond a shadow of a doubt.

This is where your logic and intellect must play a role. God gave you a brain that is more marvelous than anything imaginable. I pray that you use it. If I am capable of error, how can you trust me? First of all, pray to God. Ask him to lead you to the truth, and away from deceit. It is strange that in everything we deal with in life, except religion, whether it be history, news, or legal affairs, we trust the written page. That is our nature. God, I believe, has preserved for us His written Word, the Holy Bible. Without the written Word of God, how can we, as mortal men, know when someone is telling us truth or telling us un-truth?

I must know the truth! I must have the truth! I must know about my destiny! My friend, I do not wish to lead you astray, and I do not want you to be lead astray. You need to use the intelligence that God has blessed you with, and check these thing out for yourself. The matter of eternal salvation and eternal damnation are too important to be entrusted to me or any other man. I believe the Bible is the very Word of God, preserved for us without error. 

2 Timothy 3:16, “ALL scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.”

Psalm 12:6-7, “The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt KEEP them, O LORD, thou shalt PRESERVE them from this generation FOR EVER.”

God is not much of a God if He cannot preserve His Word without error. Who will you trust? Will you trust man, will you trust me, or will you trust God? I urge you to trust God’s Word and not mine. I urge you to open the Bible, the Word of God, and see for yourself if everything that I tell you is true or not. The Bible says in 1 John 2:27, “But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.” If you are a child of God, then the Spirit of God will lead you and teach you truth through His Word.

The issues that I want to discuss, and repudiate, I will do so using the Word of God as the authority, and not philosophy or traditions. Satan is a masterful deceiver and a liar. His number one objective is to take as many people to Hell with him as possible. If you are a child of God, he knows that he can’t have you, but he can deceive you and cause you to waist your life going after every sort of doctrine under the sun. This is not God’s plan for us. He states in Ephesians 4:14, “That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive.”

Many good people are caught up in false doctrine. Their intention is well meaning, but they were deceived by the “sleight of men”, who for the most part do not set out with the intention of deceiving anyone. These men like most who are deceived, believe what they believe because they were raised up in a particular religion. Hell will be full of well intentioned Baptist, Methodist, Catholics, Pentecostals, Church of Christ, and so on, because they trusted the words of men rather than the Word of God. I hope and pray that you will trust the Word of God rather than the words of men.

Introduction:

My dear Catholic friend, you are not my enemy. Satan is my enemy. Ephesians 6:11-17 teaches that we are in a spiritual warfare. Friend, I am not your enemy, Satan is. He is out to destroy you and I. I believe that if most Catholics knew what the Catholic Church really taught, verses what the Word of God says, they would be obedient to God’s word and separate themselves from the false teachings. I want to make myself clear, I am not attacking the Catholic people. Most are good, decent people. The largest religion in the world is Roman Catholicism, but the majority doesn’t make it right. As a matter of fact, God’s Word teaches that the majority is always wrong when it comes to religion. In the book of Matthew chapter seven, Jesus paints a very bleak picture of this fact. In Matthew 7:13-15, Jesus says, “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for WIDE is the gate, and BROAD is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and MANY there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and NARROW is the way, which leadeth unto life, and FEW there be that find it. Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.” My friend, I want to be counted with the few that find the narrow way to life everlasting.

I am convinced that most Catholics do not know the teachings of the Catholic Church. I have had many tell me that they are misunderstood, or that those outside the Catholic Church do not know what is being taught inside. This may be true to some degree. I agree that all Catholics cannot be grouped into one group when it comes to there individual Parish, just as one cannot group all Baptist together, or all Pentecostals together. For example, all Baptist do not believe the doctrine of eternal security. Some Baptist believe in doctrines that were at one time predominately found among charismatic. Some Baptist are very ecumenical in their theology. You have some groups of Baptist, and Methodist, and non-denominational groups that have separated themselves from a unified parental organization, such as the Southern Baptist. They call themselves independent. Many of these independent churches believe in the autonomy of the local Church, that it has a responsibility to give an answer to no one other than God.

For one to know or understand what a Church or organization believes, one must go to the source. The Church I belong to is a fundamental independent Bible believing Baptist Church. If you want to know what our official position or doctrine is, you could request a copy of our doctrinal statement. Some call them their “Statement of Faith.” I have been told by various Catholics that the church did not teach or they did not agree with various doctrines that I espoused that the Catholic Church held. I decided to go to the source.

If you want to know the official position the Catholic Church takes on any particular doctrine, you can find it in their Catechisms. I went to the Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Huntsville, Alabama, and purchased the book, Catechism of the Catholic Church, Image, Doubleday Publishing. This book contains the entire Catechism of the Catholic Church which was updated and first published in Latin in 1992, and publish in the English version in 1994. It is the official statement of faith of the Roman Catholic Church. It is the Catholic Church’s doctrinal statement.

Children of God are commanded in God’s Word to separate themselves from those who teach and preach a false gospel. In 2 John 1:9-10 the Bible states, Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, RECEIVE HIM NOT into your house, neither bid him God speed.”

We are commanded to hold fast the teachings or doctrines of Christ. If one brings teaching that is contrary to the teachings of Christ then we are to reject the teaching, make known those that bring such teachings, and avoid them. Romans 16:17 states, “Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and AVOID them.” “Contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned” does not mean doctrine according to the traditions of a church, or philosophies of men. It means, “Contrary to the doctrines you have learned according to sound Bible teaching, or doctrines.”

Now, whether you will read the rest of this depends on whether you want to know truth or you want someone to tickle your ears with what you want to hear. The Bible says that many will be like that, 
2 Timothy 4:3, “For the time will come when they will not endure SOUND DOCTRINE; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears.” Do you have itchy ears? Remember, I said don’t take my word. Check me out. See what the Bible says.

There are 2865 catechisms of the Catholic Church. All catechism references will be taken from the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Image, Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc. For the sake of time, I cannot cover all catechisms. However, I do want to cover, what I believe are, major doctrinal heresies according to the Word of God. I will give the catechism number, the catechism, and the page number referenced. I will then list Bible verses that repudiate the teachings of the catechism. I purchased the book for about $8.50. You would do well to purchase this book and compare it to the Word of God.

Turning to the first page, one would find a 6 1/2 page introduction from Pope John Paul II entitled, Apostolic Constitution Fidei Depositum On the Publication Of The Catechism Of The Catholic Church Prepared Following The Second Vatican Ecumenical Council. That is some impressive title! That should impress any reader to believe that the writer is pretty smart, and only he, or men like him are capable of fully understanding and interpreting theology. Don’t be fooled by it. God gave you good common sense and a good brain. I challenge you to use it. It may mean the difference between everlasting life or everlasting damnation.



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