There is a big debate between believers and different dominations whether Catholic Church is a false religion. Catholics consider themselves Christians, but Christians don’t consider Catholics being Christians… Christianity has a lot of different dominations as well, therefore which one is true and the most “righteous”?
In my testimony I shared my stand towards Catholic Church. As I grew up in Catholic church, I know Catholicism, so I am coming from experience of fully emersed in Catholicism country of Poland. Catholicism is big here. I’ve also been part of Christian Evangelical Church in the UK so I consider my views to be fairly balanced.
Catholic church during the Roman Empire
Christianity is a major religion stemming from the life, teachings, and death of Jesus of Nazareth. I am not going to be super informative here as there is a lot of information available, however I wanted to give a brief background of the Catholic Church.
Looking at Catholic Church origins, during the reign of the Roman emperor Constantine the Great (306–337 AD), Christianity began to transition to the dominant religion of the Roman Empire.
Constantine ruled the Roman Empire and according to the Eusebius’ Life of Constantine, Constantine saw a vision of “a cross-shaped trophy formed from light” above the sun at midday.
“About the time of the midday sun, when the day was just turning, he said he saw with his own eyes up in the sky and resting over the sun, a cross-shaped trophy formed from light, and a text attached to it which said, “By this conquer.” Constantine was advised in a dream to mark the heavenly sign of God on the shields of his soldiers and then engage in battle.”
After winning the Battle of Milvian Bridge, Constantine sought guidance from the bishops who travelled with him. They explained to him the cross in the vision was a symbol of Jesus’ triumph over death and He was the Son of God.
From then on, Constantine devoted himself to Christ and went on to become the first Roman Emperor to convert to Christianity in 336. A little over 40 years later in 380 under Theodosius I, Christianity was made the official religion of the Roman Empire. Before that, Rome was a pagan country worshiping other gods, with Constantine worshiping the god of sun. After converting to Christianity, pagan practices were forbidden, however some believe those practices were just adapted into Christianity and never really left Rome.
That was the beginning of the Roman Catholicism. What is interesting is the intention of Constantine to convert to Christianity, it wasn’t through repentance, changing of his hearth, but rather willingness to win in a battle…
Currently according to Wikipedia, the Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.28 to 1.39 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2024. It is among the world’s oldest and largest international institutions and has played a prominent role in the history and development of Western civilization.
Why do I have problem with Catholic Church?
Well to start with, looking at the Bible, the second commandment was taken away! Exodus 20:4 that says:
“You shall not make for yourself a carved image – any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth, you shall not bow down to them nor save them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God”
How come the church decided to not include this into their practices and Catechism?? Well because the commandment talks about idolatry and the whole church is about idolatry. When you go to any Catholic church, it is filled with statues and carved images of heaven above and priests, bishops and the pope bowing down to them.
Let me show you rather than write….
God was very clear in the Old Testament about his dislike towards idolatry and carved images.
“Those who make an image, all of them are useless, and their precious things shall not profit; They are their own witnesses; they neither see nor know, that they may be ashamed. Who would form a god or mold an image that profits him nothing?” Isaiah 44:9
“And the rest of it he makes into a god, his carved image. He falls down before it and worships it, prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god!”
Moreover, when you look at the doctrine of the church, it doesn’t align with the Bible fully. It has a lot of additional points like: Virgin Mary devotion, Saints and Devotions, Purgatory, Eucharist, Penance, calling priests the Father…I could go on an on. The bottom line is the church added a lot of additional practices that are not in the Bible
“You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you.” Deuteronomy 4:2
Catholic church boldly adds and takes away from the word of God. It is also a Church that changed the 4th commandment from Sabbath to Sunday. This topic I will explore in a different post, however this is clear, that according to the book of Daniel, Catholic church announced the authority to change God’s law.
“He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, shall persecute the saints of the Most High, and shall intend to change times and law.” Daniel 7:25-26
Some argue, it’s not a big deal, we should worship God every day, Sabbath is just a general term of any day… I’ve heard many convenient excuses to that. However, how people can know and understand what is actually important to God and assume God wouldn’t mind?? The whole Old Testament talks about FALSE WORSHIP! And God’s anger towards Israel and false worship.
Moreover, the 4th commandment is the longest commandment that clearly states that Sabbath is a 7th day in the calendar. 7 is an important number to God and He gave us this commandment for a reason.
To add to this, when Jesus was fasting, Satan tempted Jesus and took him on a hill, asked him to be WORSHIPED, and we all know that Satan wants to be like God and take away the worship from God. To this Jesus replied
“And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ” Luke 4:8
We might not understand this while living on this earth, but worship is important. I have expanded on this on my post about the Sabbath, however I believe proper worship is very important to God. We can’t decide or assume what is important to God and to know God’s thoughts.
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-10
“For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. ” 1 Corinthians 2:11
This will be a big surprise to all people who are under the spell of religious spirit that this was all a deception. Catholic doctrines trace back to the worship of Nimrod with the worship of Mary and Jesus as a mother and son as Semiramis and Nimrod. People that worship Mary are actually worshiping a false god from pagan practices. I know this is a controversial topic for many and it is easier to cover your ears than to realize the truth. I only ask people to seek the truth themselves and question everything, don’t accept it just because it was done for centuries.
People are putting those traditions higher than the word of God! The truth is people are in love with those traditions and church community rather that the truth. And as Bible says, their boast themselves in the riches of their idols, statues and temples. But the truth is, it is all opposed to the word of God no matter how you look at it, however it is inconvenient to be doing something that others don’t, to set yourself apart and chose a narrow path.
“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” Matthew 7:13 -14
Moreover, on a recent trip to Singapore, Pope Francis declared that “all religions are a path to God”.
He compared it to different languages saying: “They are like different languages in order to arrive at God, but God is God for all.” This is absolute lie from the pit of hell, because the Bible declares:
“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”” John 14:6
I know I might not be able to convince everyone who reads this and if someone has strong attachments to the church, its culture and traditions, they will bypass that information and ALWAYS find reasonable excuses of why it is a true religion. For me it’s an undercover Satanism and idolatry cult. I know, might be quite strong but I know what I have experienced, saw and facts are there whether you want to admit it or not. Through their practices, they made it as an confusing, ritualistic and idolatry institution that has nothing to do with true repentance, clearing the heart, loving God through actions and obeying commandments. They made it into a very wealthy and materialistic institution! That itself should be a big red flag!
What about other Christian dominations?
Have a look at the trees below:
When I wanted to convert from Roman Catholicism, I had a hard time knowing what is right! I mean look at that! Why they can’t all agree but everyone is coming with an improved version?? At first, I experience a lot of positives when I joined Evangelical church that is part of the Church of England. But I guess like any new experience, anything new is exciting but then the cracks started to show.
What I discovered after researching other dominations is that all of the dominations are not 100% true, therefore if they are not all based on truth, they are not the church that Jesus will build:
“And on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” Matthew 16:18
Catholic Church was too ritualistic, idolatry worship and false, however Evangelical Church was too sugar – coated. The positives were that I’ve learnt the importance of developing relationship with Jesus, that it’s not about religion but about relationship. Evangelical church lacked the fear of the Lord and following the law of Moses by covering that it’s just legalistic and that Jesus fulfilled the law, therefore we don’t have to.
Moreover, the church was only portraying God as merciful and good, forgetting about the other side of God, less pleasant that is portrayed in the Old Testament. Like it is just convenient to skip that part, which would actually bring the fear of the Lord. God creates both good and bad, God is merciful and just but also vindicates and punishes for disobedience. The church would confirm with the scripture that “God is the same yesterday, today and forever” , however the God from the Old Testament is an old story not relevant today because today God is just merciful and good.
I am not trying to portray God as a bad God, but by inflicting the fear of the Lord, people would automatically want to obey God without finding excuses. It’s like knowing your parents are good, but if you do something they don’t like, expect punishment! This will put you off from disobeying your parents next time, because you will know the consequences.
In reality, today’s churches lack truth, integrity and preaching about spiritual truths. If I was relying on church to help me find the truth, I would still be a lost sheep. That is why I am grateful for being a lost sheep that has been found by Jesus.
“If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying? And if he should find it, assuredly, I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray.” Matthew 18:12-14
By Dagmara Z.