Verified answer

ignorance.

the pharisees and other leaders of the time rejected jesus christ, it is hardly surprising then that others reject his church especially when there is more than ample evidence to prove the catholic church being his church, namely the bible being a catholic book and the writhings of the church fathers amongst other truths.

jesus did warn us of this he did however also promise his church the guidance and protection of the holy spirit, which is self evident in the churchs survival for 2000 years and still going strong, thank the lord.

the catholic church is the church of christ and the only church with his real presence(the eucharist that makes us one) it is no surprise satan is working very hard to try mislead people from it, even christians.

had it not been for the catholic church there would be no gospel message today sadly not everyone is honest to christ or themselves and remain in darkness. if those claiming they love christ and are not in the catholic church are honest they would do an honest inspection of th e catholic church and with that they would have to become catholic, perhaps that is why they don't do it.

it reminds me of acts when paul is imprisoned, the officials conversed with him often and were intrigued, but as soon as paul mentioned judgement they ended the conversation. you see the way and the truth calls us to change, many fear the change(s) they would have to make. god bless.

EDIT FOR ROBERT R

robert that is all well and good but not accurate, you omit many things and take things out of context, such as paul rebuking peter, this dosen't disprove the papacy, when paul rebuked peter it was because of how peter acted, not a decision he had made. peter is always mentioned first, jesus declared him the rock and handed him the keys, why is this important, well read isaiah 22 in light of matthew 16. i suggest you read the following link at your own pace.

http://www.scripturecatholic.com/

furthermore, in 80 ad the fourth pope worte letters from out of rome with authority. at this same time st john the apostle was a bishop at ephesus and had not yet completed his writings as found in the bible. why would the beloved apostle be a bishop in the church subject to rome if he didnt beleive in the papacy, if anything one would imagine if he was adversed to this he would have complained about it yet no writings are found or recorded to that effect and he remained a bishop in the church.

here is evidence for early christian writings, take the time to read th echurch fathers and you will find how catholic the first christians were and you may also notice that these writings pre exist the completion of the bible and its canon well before constantine had any "impact or influence" etc....

http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/

robert r please take the time to read the links and look for more writings of the early church fathers. the constantine influence on catholicism is a lie coming from the protestant reformers and later. likewise the misconceptions about the crusades and th e inquisiton has long been dispelled by historians, try the following links for what actually happened

http://www.catholiceducation.org/links/search.cgi?...

http://www.catholiceducation.org/links/search.cgi?...

I don't believe the Catholic Church follows a false gospel/bible, however there are some fundamental beliefs I don't agree with.

The veneration of Mary to equal status with Jesus Christ

The concept that the Catholic Church has authority above the bible; thus creating theories such as purgatory

Mary as the eternal virgin, (I believe she had children after delivering Christ)

And others...

It's mainly just one protestant, at least on this website. See above.

Among the general protestant populace, I think it's reasons are several:

1) They don't know a lot of Catholics but know there's a lot more ritual. It seems mysterious and weird and thus possibly bad.

2) Spiritual pride. They can't understand how anyone could *ever* read the Bible differently than they do and anyone who does is wrong

3) Salvation by works vs. salvation by grace through faith. Many protestants know that the official Catholic stance is salvation by faith but have met a lot of Catholics who mix a lot of works into this. It is true that Catholics are more prone to this than protestants, in my opinion. This isn't what the Bible preaches ... so ...

Edit: Is it Catholics who always thumbs down me on these answers or protestants? I always say the same thing: We disagree on a lot but are brothers and sisters in the Lord.

How is that offensive exactly?

Because they take after Reformation theology, which states that we are saved by grace through faith -alone-. Nevermind that this belief never existed prior to the 16th century, neither supported by the Bible nor Church hierarchy. And Catholics, for holding to what has been always believed, are called false.

I agree with shadow. I've carried on some conversations with staunch Catholics who also believed as a any Christian should, yet we disagreed on topics that wont matter two seconds after Christ comes back. I've also met Protestants that believed in a false Gospel/Bible, which will matter forever after Christ comes back.

hello tebone, well, that is true, and all I got to say to those who claim the catholic church did not put the bible together, dont know the facts. probably every protesant theologian knows that this is true.

so what can we say, it is not that they dont know anything, its just that so much of what they know is incorrect.

they probably think the bible fell out of the sky one day.

No matter what you or I or any Catholics say Chris will not believe us, we are praying for him that he sees the error of his way, because Jesus said love one another and Chris hates Catholics so he is disobeying God

Lack of knowledge and understanding...as well as history.

Good luck, and may God continue to shine on you.

-Shalom

PS: Chris (above me), the Catholics were the one who formed the Bible (in 1611) as we know it (the King James).

Well, you presented your view of history. So I'll present mine.

The Roman Catholic Church did not write the Bible. The Jewish prophets and such wrote the Old Testament. The apostles and others wrote the New Testament as they were moved by the Spirit of Christ.The Catholic Church did not the Bible.

There was no papacy set up. Paul rebuked Peter to his face because his doctrine of Jews not fellowshiping with Gentiles was causing a church split. So Peter had made a grave doctrinal error. He was not walking "uprightly according the the truth of the gospel." No infallability there and Paul did not kiss anybody's ring. Don't get me wrong Peter was a great man of God but he was not in the office of a pope and his doctrinal decisions were not infallible.

Gal 2:11 But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed.

Gal 2:12 For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision.

Gal 2:13 And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him; insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation.

Gal 2:14 But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews?

There was no Roman Catholic church before Emperor Constantine published the Edict of Milan in 313 AD. Constantine's "conversion" was very very bad for Christianity.

There is only one gospel, right? It was preached on the day of Pentecost. If you want to know what it is that the apostles preached on how to be saved read that, not a creed. Why is not the Catholic church preaching the same thing that was preached on the day the church was born? Why was the baptismal formula changed?

On the day of Pentecost, the birth of the Church, the apostle Peter preached the first gospel message. If you do what he said to do you will be saved.

The gospel according to the apostles is that Jesus is both LORD (Jehovah, ie God) and Christ (the man promised to redeem us.) He lived a sinless life, died a sacrificial death on the cross, rose from the dead, ascended to heaven, and was glorified and is pouring out the Spirit.

The apostle Peter preaced the first gospel message on the day of Pentecost. When the people were convicted and asked what to do Peter said repent, be baptised in Jesus name, and recieve the Holy Ghost.

Acts 2

14But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words:

15For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.

16But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;

17And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:

18And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:

36Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made the same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.

37Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?

38Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

39For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the LORD our God shall call.

40And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation.

41Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.

42And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.

Now you see that they repented, got baptised in Jesus name, and recieved the Holy Ghost. But they didn't stop there. They went to church regularly, fellowshiped with other believers, and prayed. If you'll do these things then you'll be happier and you'll start living a more holy life.

Jesus said the same thing.

Joh 3:5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

water = water baptism (should be in Jesus name)

Spirit = Spirit baptism (you will speak in tongues)

they shouldnt...we all believe the Trinity.

but that isnt true since God is more powerful than Catholics..