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10 Bible Passages That Point To The Catholic Church, Not Protestantism

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10 Bible Passages That Point To The Catholic Church, Not Protestantism

By: John Seiler

Here are 10 Bible passages that point to the Catholic Church, proving the Catholic Church is the true Church of God, and other interpretations are wrong. All passages are from the Douay-Rheims Version (DRV).

1. James 2:14, 17: "What shall it profit, my brethren, if a man say he hath faith, but hath not works? Shall faith be able to save him?... So faith also, if it have not works, is dead in itself." This refutes those who maintain salvation comes from "faith alone." Some heretics even have tried to cut the book of James from the Bible because of these verses! [Note: For apologetics related to this topic, please click here]

2. Romans 2:6-8, 13: "[God] Who will render to every man according to his works... For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified." But this passage clearly shows that St. Paul, like St. James, insists that salvation comes both from faith and good works. [Note: For apologetics related to this topic, please click here]

3. John 6:54-58, 61, 67-70: "Then Jesus said to them: Amen, amen I say unto you: Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath everlasting life: and I will raise him up in the last day. For my flesh is [food] indeed: and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, abideth in me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father; so he that eateth me, the same also shall live by me... Many therefore of his disciples, hearing it, said: This saying is hard, and who can hear it?... After this many of his disciples went back; and walked no more with him. Then Jesus said to the twelve: Will you also go away? And Simon Peter answered him: Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. And we have believed and have known, that thou art the Christ, the Son of God."

It's clear Jesus meant this passage literally, what we call the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. This is what is called transubstantiation, or the total transformation of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. It was not, as some heretics maintain, a "metaphor" or "symbol," as shown by how He was willing to allow the unbelievers to "walk no more with him." Note the repeated use of the word "indeed." [Note: For apologetics related to this topic, please click here]

4. 1 Corinthians 11:23-27: "For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus, the night in which he was betrayed, took bread, and giving thanks, broke, and said: Take ye, and eat: this is my body, which shall be delivered for you: do this for the commemoration of me. In like manner also the chalice, after he had supped, saying: This chalice is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as often as you shall drink it for the commemoration of me. For as often as you shall eat this bread, and drink the chalice, you shall shew the death of the Lord until he come. Wherefore, whosoever shall eat this bread, or drink the chalice of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and of the blood of the Lord."

St. Paul clearly endorses the Real Presence of the Eucharist - that the bread and wine truly are transubstantiated into Jesus' Body and Blood. Otherwise, if this were just a "metaphor" or "symbol," how could one "eat" and "drink" "unworthily"? [Note: For apologetics related to this topic, please click here]

5. Luke 1:26-28, 41-42: "And in the sixth month, the Angel Gabriel was sent from God into a city of Galilee, called Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the name of the virgin was Mary. And the Angel being come in, said to her: Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: Blessed art thou among women... And it came to pass, that when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the infant leaped in her womb: and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: And she cried out with a loud voice, and said: 'Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.'" This is the basis of the "Hail Mary" prayer Catholics pray, including with the Rosary. [Note: For Marian apologetics, please click here]

6. Luke 1:43: Elizabeth continues, "And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?" This clearly shows that Mary is the Mother of God - of the Lord Jesus Christ. Some heretics have tried to reduce Mary's stature, but the Bible is clear about her high position. The Council of Ephesus in 431 declared Mary "Theotokos" in Greek - meaning "God-bearer." [Note: For Marian apologetics, please click here]

7. 2 Thessalonians 2:14 (or 2:15): "Therefore, brethren, stand firm; and hold the traditions which you have learned, whether by word, or by our epistle." There are two great things taught here by St. Paul. First, the Catholic Church is a traditional church; it's not about novelties being introduced by whim. We must "hold the traditions." Second, the Catholic Faith comes to us "by word," meaning by oral tradition handed down from Jesus and the Apostles, and "by our epistle," that is, the written word. After all, before the Bible books were written down, the Catholic Church was created by Jesus, and its doctrines handed down after his death and resurrection by the apostles. Only later were the New Testament books written. [Note: For apologetics concerning tradition, please click here]

8. 1 Corinthians 11:2: "Now I praise you, brethren, that in all things you are mindful of me: and keep my ordinances as I delivered them to you." The Latin Vulgate has "ordinances" as "tradidi," traditions. The meaning is the same as with the previous passage, from Thessalonians: The Catholic Church is a traditional Church that follows both the written Word of God and the unwritten ordinances, or traditions, handed down to us. [Note: For apologetics concerning tradition, please click here]

9. 2 Peter 1:20-21: "Understanding this first, that no prophecy of the Scripture is made by private interpretation. For prophecy came not by the will of man at any time; but the holy men of God spoke, inspired by the Holy Ghost." The first pope clearly comes out against just interpreting scripture yourself, by "private interpretation." That refutes the heresy of basing faith "sola scriptura," or "by faith alone." Instead, Catholic Church's long tradition indicates how scripture must be interpreted. [Note: For apologetics related to this topic, please click here]

10. Apocalypse 21:27: "There shall not enter it any thing defiled, or any one that worketh abomination, or a lie, but they who are written in the book of life of the Lamb." This proves the existence of Purgatory, a place where, after death, venial (lesser) sins are burned off, so the person's soul enters Heaven undefiled. Those who die with mortal (great) sins, of course, are condemned to hell forever. While those dying with no sins of either kind on their souls go straight to Heaven - which should be the aim of us all. [Note: For apologetics concerning purgatory, please click here. For apologetics concerning hell, please click here]

Signature: John Seiler

John Seiler wrote editorials for The Orange County Register for 29 years. He now writes freelance. Email: writejohnseiler(at)gmail(dot)com

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