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Tract Number 209
Audio download at bottom of page
______________________
Surprising Discoveries
in the Roman Catholic Bible
Our special desire for all of the sons of the Church is that, knowing well the Bible, they may obtain a superior knowledge of Jesus Christ. This is the expression of Pope Benedict 15.
The sincere catholic who desires to obey the Pope and familiarize himself with the Bible will be surprised as much by what he finds as what he does not find in it. If he can obtain a copy of the Douay Version of the Bible, which has the approbation of the Roman Catholic Church, he will find much that is interesting and profitable.
1. Catholic teachings which you do not find in the Catholic Bible. The Roman Catholic will be surprised to discover that the sign of the cross which is almost indispensable in Catholic worship is not even mentioned in the text of the Catholic Bible. The truth is that the sign of the cross did not originate in Christianity but came from the Pagan Babylonish Mysteries.
2. The Douay Version does not give a single instance of anyone offering a prayer to Mary or to any other saint. This practice did not begin until about 10 years after the time of the Apostles.
3. Holy Water, so important in Roman Catholic worship, is not mentioned in the text of the Roman Catholic Bible and was unknown in Christian worship until about 1000 years after the time of Christ and the apostles.
4. There is nothing in the text of the Roman Catholic Bible to sustain the teaching of the Celibacy of the Clergy, but there is much that proves that the ministers of Christ have the right to marry and that they did marry. It was Pope Gregory 8, who lived about 1,000 years after the time of Christ, who made the declaration forbidding priests to marry.
5. The Rosary is not mentioned in the text of the Roman Catholic Bible. Beads were used in very ancient times in pagan worship but were not used in Christian churches until about 1,000 A. D.
6. The doctrine of Purgatory was not mentioned by Christ nor by any of his apostles and there is not one word in the Catholic Bible which indicates that there is such a place. Purgatory, like many other Roman Catholic doctrines, comes directly from Paganism.
7. Before 1870 the dogma of the infallibility of the Pope did not exist in the Roman Catholic Church and there is not one word in the text of the Roman Catholic Bible to sustain it.
8. The sincere Roman Catholic will be surprised to find that the word pope does not appear in the text of the Catholic Bible.
9. A conscientious study of the text of the Catholic Bible will reveal that no priests, such as the Roman Catholic priests, were ordained by Jesus Christ nor by any other with divine authority.
10. Want of space makes it impossible to mention all of the innovations introduced in Roman Catholic worship without the sanction or authority of the Holy Scriptures of the Church. In vain do we search in the text of the Roman Catholic Bible to find that the cross or relics or images were worshipped. (?) Nothing is found to suggest Lent or fasts on Fridays. There is nothing to approve the sale of indulgences. There is nothing to show that Mary was born sinless; nothing to prove that Peter was ever in Rome, nor what suggests that he was the first pope.
The discovery that so many teachings and practices of Catholic worship are not found in the only Book, the origin of true Christianity, is truly astounding. What can this indicate except that the Roman Church has abandoned the teachings of Christ to follow the commands of men?
Teachings of the Catholic Bible
But the zealous Catholic who desires to know his own Bible will find other discoveries still more surprising. He cannot but see that the text of his Catholic Bible (notice that we are not referring to the so-called “Protestant Bible”) teaches much which contradicts the teachings of his Church. We cite a number of examples. All of these quotations from the New Testament are taken from the 1941 edition of the Revision of the Challoner-Rheims Version edited by Catholic Scholars under the Patronage of the Episcopal Committee of the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine” and published by St. Anthony Guild Press. (The Catholic Bible is called the Rheims and Douay Version because the New Testament was printed at Rheims and the Old Testament at Donay. A Bishop Challoner made a revision which adds that name.)
1. The text of the Roman Catholic Bible forbids the followers of Christ to call any man “Father.” (The word pope means father, as does also the word padre.) “And call no one on earth your father; for one is your Father, who is in heaven.” (St. Matthew 23:9.)
2. The clear teaching of the text of the Roman Bible is that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was not nearer to God than any other who does His will.
“While he (Jesus) was still speaking to the crowds, his mother and his brethren were standing outside, seeking to speak to him. And someone said to him: Behold thy mother and thy brethren are standing outside, seeking thee. But he answered and said to him who told him: Who is my mother and who are my brethren? And stretching forth his hand towards his disciples, he said, “Behold my mother and my brethren! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven, he is my brother and sister and mother.” (Matthew 12:46-50.)
It is well to call Mary blessed, because to her was given the divine favor to be the mother of the human body of Jesus. But not even the Catholic Bible gives anyone the right to call her “mother of God.” The deity of the Saviour has always existed. Mary was not the mother in this sense. She was the mother of the human Jesus.
3. The text of the Catholic Bible clearly and emphatically teaches that there should be no image in any Christian church and that we should not bow down to say image or relic.
“Thou shalt not make to thyself a graven thing, nor the likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, nor of those things that are in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not adore them nor serve them: I am the Lord thy God.” (Exodus 20:44). (This quotation is from the Donay version of the Old Testament first published by the English College at Douay, A. D. 1603.)
“Dear children, guard yourselves from the idols. Amen.” (1st John 5:21.)
4. The Christian will find that the text of the Roman Catholic Bible commands sinners to confess their sins one to another and to God, but there is nothing to indicate that we should confess them to a man with the thought that he has power to forgive sins. “Confess, therefore, your sins to one another.” (James 5:16.) “If we acknowledge our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all iniquity.” (1st John 1:9) (The preceding verses show that the reference is to God.)
5. The text of the Catholic version does not teach that we are saved by works of any kind, but by the precious blood of Jesus Christ which was shed upon the cross for sinners. “But we know that man is not justified by the works of the Law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ.” (Galatians 2:16.) “The blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.” (1st John 1:7.)
6. The text of the Roman Catholic Bible teaches that salvation is free and that those who require money for religions services do so in violation of the teachings of the Word of God. ‘Freely you have received, freely give (Matthew 10:8.)
7. It will surprise the Catholic to find that the text of his Bible teaches that God sent His Son as Saviour and Friend of man, and that He hears our prayers when we pray directly to God in the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ.
Jesus said, “Amen, amen, I say to you. If you ask the Father anything in my name he will give it to you.” (St. John 19:13) “For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, himself man, Christ Jesus.” (1st Timothy 2:5.)
8. The text of the Catholic Bible clearly teaches that God ordained no man to be vicar of Christ upon earth, but that He has sent the Holy Spirit into the world to be the Comforter of the sad and the Master who will guide us into all truth. “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your mind whatever I have said to you.” (St. John 14:26.)
“Let the anointing which you have received from him, dwell in you, and you have no need that anyone teach you. But as his anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true and is no lie, even as it has taught you, abide in him.” (1st John 2:27.)
9. Studying the text of his Bible the Roman Catholic will discover that all who accept Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour are saved at the moment they believe, here and now. They do not need to wait until the hour of death to have the assurance of heaven, neither do they have to suffer in purgatory.
Jesus said, “Amen, amen, I say to you, be who hears my word, and believes him who sent me, has life everlasting, and does not come to judgment, but has passed from death to life.” (St. John 5: 24.)
“For God so loved the world that be gave his only-begotten Son, that those who believe in him may not perish, bet have life everlasting.” (St. John 8:11.)
10. The text of the Catholic Bible emphatically declares that tradition makes the Word of God null and that it is an evidence of disobedience to the revealed truth.
“For, letting go the commandment of God, you hold fast the tradition of men, you make void the commandment of God by your tradition, which you have handed down; and many suchlike things you do.” (St. Mark 7:8 and 13.)
To what conclusion can the sincere Roman Catholic come from these clear teachings of his Bible? Surely he will be obliged to conclude that his Church has departed from the pure and precise Word of God.
The Most Surprising Discovery of All
Amazing as have been the discoveries already mentioned to any sincere man who studies the Catholic Bible there are still more astonishing discoveries reserved for him.
He will find that his Church has deliberately added to the Word of God in direct violation of the will of God concerning His Word.
This is the warning! “I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone shall add to them, God will add unto him the plagues that are written in this book. And if anyone shall take away from the words of this book of this prophecy, God will take away his portion from the tree of life; and from the holy city, and from the things that are written in this book.” (Apocalypse 22:18, 19). This warning is given on almost the last page of the Holy Scriptures.
The faithful Catholic will note that his Church has violated the other half of the recommendation of Christ. They insert foot-notes in their authorized editions of the Bible. In these notes they try to explain or change the clear meaning of the Word of God to make it conform to their erroneous teachings.
Furthermore, without blushing, Rome insist that the decrees of their councils, the declarations of popes and others are as obligatory and of as much value to the ex-cathedra declarations of popes and others are as obligatory and of as much value to Christians as the Word of God. They boldly violate the commands of Christ in His Word.
To no one has God given authority in this way to violate His Holy Revelation given for the hearts and necessities of mankind. And He will not hold those innocent who thus sin against Him.
Oh! friend, read for yourself the Word of God. It is written for you. God will teach you its meaning. Do not allow yourself to be misled by anyone. Let Christ be your personal Saviour and the Holy Spirit your divine and infallible Teacher. Then you will “know the truth and the truth shall make you free.” (St. John 8:32.) —Copied
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