Accusations of idolatry

I have always been perplexed by Protestants accusing Catholics of idolatry. When Catholics such as myself try to explain to them that this is not true, that no Catholic worships Mary, the saints, or statues, the explanation is often not accepted. Why is this? Is there no room for correction in some Protestants, when they are truly ignorant of Catholic teaching?

The unicorn of a "Catholic" worshiping Mary, the saints or statues I have never found, in my over 50+ years of being a Catholic. And even if I were to find such a deluded person, he would either be crazy or not a true Catholic at all, because the Catholic Church clearly teaches that worship is due to God alone.

We know from the book of Exodus that God commanded the creation of two golden cherubim in the design of the Ark of the Covenant:

"And thou shalt put in the ark the testimony which I will give thee. Thou shalt make also a propitiatory of the purest gold: the length thereof shall be two cubits and a half, and the breadth a cubit and a half. Thou shalt make also two cherubims of beaten gold, on the two sides of the oracle. Let one cherub be on the one side, and the other on the other. Let them cover both sides of the propitiatory, spreading their wings, and covering the oracle: and let them look one towards the other, their faces being turned towards the propitiatory wherewith the ark is to be covered." (Exodus 25: 16-20)  

Clearly, God does not forbid the creation of religious images. As Our Lady of the Roses has explained,

“Do not discard the monuments, your statues. Do not fall into the fallacy promoted by many that you must cast them aside as being worshippers of idols. O My children, you do salute your flag; you do build in bronze and stone the figures of those who had prominence in your world, so why cannot you build in bronze and stone the images of the personages of Heaven?” (Our Lady, December 7, 1976)

So how does such a false accusation of idol worship (regarding religious images and statues) persist throughout the Protestant denominations? It would be so easily debunked, if Protestants merely took the time to research the issue and query Catholics themselves. But I am afraid that this may be the heart of the issue: Many Protestants do not want to investigate because if they were to discover that their accusations were false, they would be bound to stop perpetuating such lies. Furthermore, if Protestantism is built upon a foundation of false accusations against the Catholic Church (to rationalize the existence of these Protestant denominations), then once a Protestant became properly educated, he would see that the Catholic Church is historically, doctrinally and factually the only Church founded by Jesus Christ.

At that point, he would be bound to renounce the errors of Protestantism, and embrace the Catholic Church.

Without humility, how can we truly love the truth? "And in all seduction of iniquity to them that perish; because they receive not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. Therefore God shall send them the operation of error, to believe lying" (2 Thess. 2: 10)

If we remain obstinate in our own false opinions and do not seek counsel, we cannot enter through the narrow gate which is Christ and His holy Catholic Church.

"Amen, amen I say to you: He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up another way, the same is a thief and a robber." (John 10:11)

In the book of Exodus, God tested the Israelites "that I may prove them whether they will walk in My law, or not." (Exodus 16: 4) In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were tested, with a test of obedience.

As Jesus said, "If you love Me, keep My commandments." (John 14:15)

A lack of faith in the very promise of Jesus

Essentially, Protestantism rests on the sand that Jesus' promise the gates of hell would not prevail against His Church is false, that Jesus could not keep His promise, or lied (Matthew 16:18). In either case, such a position would be implicitly blasphemous.

Under the false belief or pretense that the Catholic Church "failed," proud men made a new foundation in order to "save" the Church (15 centuries after Jesus established the Catholic Church), which they believed had failed. But these new man-made foundations amputated doctrines taught by Christ and His apostles.

"For other foundation no man can lay, but that which is laid; which is Christ Jesus." (1 Corinthians 3:11)

The devil always seeks to counterfeit the works of God, and substitute what is false in the place of what is true and holy.

The great need for the Church's teaching authority

In light of our ignorance and sinful nature, God has provided us with a teaching authority to convey to us Christ's infallible doctrinal and moral teachings.

The sheer number of Protestant denominations indicate that there is not a teaching authority among them, as these denominations multiply and contradict each other (read more).

In the end, each person ends up being their own teaching authority, picking and choosing their own interpretations in the Bible.

If all were truly following Christ alone, there would be only one Church.

"Preach the word: be instant in season, out of season: reprove, entreat, rebuke in all patience and doctrine. For there shall be a time, when they will not endure sound doctrine; but, according to their own desires, they will heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears: And will indeed turn away their hearing from the truth, but will be turned unto fables." (2 Tim. 4: 2-4)

The unwillingness to "endure sound doctrine" is not only a failing of the Protestants, but of liberal Catholics themselves who live out of their heads and become "cafeteria Catholics", picking and choosing only what teachings they like.

In essence, that is what Protestantism is, a "cafeteria" style belief system where each individual picks and chooses what they want to believe. It is a man-made belief system that gives free reign to sinful pride and personal ignorance.

That is why Matthew 16:18 (Jesus founds His Church on St. Peter), John chapter 6 (the doctrine of the Eucharist), James 2: 18 (faith and works - Martin Luther called the book of James an "epistle of straw") and many other Bible verses are twisted or ignored because Protestantism is not truly based on the Bible, but on the cafeteria-style picking and choosing of the Bible, a man-based religion where everyone is his own guide. Jesus' own words are contradicted by the Protestants. Is this not a form of self idolatry, elevating our own fallible opinions above the instructions of God Himself? In this belief system, each individual makes himself the ultimate criterion of truth. It is a house built on sand.

Protestantism is filled with contradictions. It professes a love for the Bible but then proceeds to remove seven books from the Bible and oppose 15 centuries of Catholic Christianity that preceded it. So the claim of loving the Bible rings hollow. If they truly loved the Bible, they would not have removed books from it.

The Catholic Church is a divine institution; the soul of the Church is God Himself and it cannot be destroyed. As Reformed theologian R. C. Sproul honestly admits, the Protestant position can at best claim “a fallible collection of infallible books” (Essential Truths of the Christian Faith [Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House, 1992], 22).

To maintain their existence, Protestant denominations must continue to propagate a laundry list of lies against the Catholic Church, in order to rationalize their existence. That is why the historical fact that the Catholic Church dating back to Christ is ignored or gaslighted. That is why the Fathers of the Church discussing the Eucharist, the Mass, Our Lady and many other Catholic doctrines are overlooked, ignored and/or denied.

Protestantism cannot exist in sunlight; it cannot stand against the truth of history.

A self-serving bias, an anti-Catholic bias

The existence of scandal and evil within the Catholic Church is not contested. The Church is made up of sinners. In the Garden of Olives, one disciple betrayed Him and the 11 others fled. But to reject the Church because of the weaknesses of men and scandals is to reject Christ, because He promised that the gates of hell would not prevail against His Church (Matthew 16: 18).

The presence of scandals indicates what happens when people reject the Commandments and the path of the Gospel. Why is there not a Protestant focus on what is true and good about the Catholic Church, to provide a balanced view? How about discussing the numerous Eucharistic miracles, the numerous miracles at Marian shrines throughout the world, saints who raised people from the dead (read more), miracles worked by saints in our lifetime such as Gemma Di Giorgi's cure of blindness by the intercession of Padre Pio (watch video), the incorrupt bodies of saints that have not decayed over centuries (such as St. Bernadette), and the good works of many Catholic missionaries and lay people throughout the centuries?

To focus only on bad and apostate Catholics who rejected their faith is not an honest argument against the Church.

As Bishop Fulton Sheen has explained, there are millions who hate the Catholic Church, in their ignorance (watch video).

Do your homework

I have a few suggestions for Protestants who would like to learn more about the Catholic Church:

1) Study the Fathers of the Church in the first centuries. Find what they wrote about the Eucharist, the Mass, the Blessed Virgin Mary; and the papacy;

2) Examine the writings of the Catholic saints such as St. Francis of Assisi, St. Augustine, Padre Pio, St. Catherine of Siena, St. Theresa of Lisieux and others. These saints are holy Catholics who obediently and heroically followed Christ. You have heard enough about the bad Catholics who have denied their Catholic faith. Balance your view of the Catholic Church by reading about the faithful ones.

3) Visit some Catholic cathedrals and breathe in the spirit of Catholicism, one of the great visible testaments to the faith of past ages.

4) Spend some time in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, the holy Eucharist: Catholics believe the words of Christ, that He is truly present in the Blessed Sacrament which is reserved in the Catholic tabernacles of the world. Pray to Jesus there and feel His presence and His peace.

5) Objectively study what the Catholic Church teaches, and why its teaching differs from Protestantism (watch video). 10 ferences between Catholics and Protestants (Dr. Taylor Marshall)
 

Charity and humility

It is a mystery of grace, how atheists and pagans can be moved by God's miracles and convert to the Catholic Faith, and yet some who profess the name of Christian can deny these same miracles of God. Jesus' warning to the Pharisees, how the prostitutes and tax collectors were entering Heaven before them, is especially relevant here (Matthew 21: 31).

Never despair or lose hope in the conversion of Protestants, but remember the zeal of past Catholic saints who gave their lives to convert them from error to the fullness of Catholic truth. In the words of St. Edmund Campion who preached the Gospel to the English Protestants, he vowed "either to win you heaven, or to die upon your pikes."

But in all discussions, we must have charity and humility for our separated brethren, many of whom will become much better Catholics than us when they finally convert.

Do we wish to win an argument, or share the greatest gift in the world, our Catholic Faith? We should all eagerly hope and pray that they return to their Catholic home.

CATHOLIC CHURCH ONLY TRUE RELIGION
"O My children, I will not go into a long discourse now with you about charity and love for your neighbor, but you must understand: you cannot judge your neighbor. You must pray for them. However, you cannot become weak and permissive. You must stand forth as bearers of the light, carriers of the truth. You have been given by your baptism entrance into the only true religion upon earth, the Roman Catholic Church under My Son, Jesus. Though man in his arrogance and pride has forgotten His role and His rule, you must carry it forward. Retain the Faith and the truth in the hearts of mankind." - Our Lady, September 7, 1978 

Articles:

A Biblical Defense of Religious Images
https://catholicstand.com/a-biblical-defense-of-religious-images/

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Revised: March 14, 2023