Originally Posted by AC.
I appreciate your thoughts....I am an ex-Catholic. But to be fair, in my neck of the woods there are not many knowledgable Catholics.
That equation is changing rapidly. One of Blessed John Paul's life works was to make the catechism more available and encourage every lay Catholic to read the Bible and the CCC. More than ever, we are in a world wide exchange of ideas where the best ideas prevail on their own merits. In this world, every Catholic is on the front lines of this new battle.

Originally Posted by AC.
I love asking Catholics around here what is meant by 'Immaculate Conception', 9 out of 10 believe the term refers to Jesus' conception
If I asked Protestants what "imputed righteousness" means, I might get a blank stare from 9 out of 10. The ability to articulate one's faith is a rare skill indeed in every corner of Christianity.

Originally Posted by AC.
So back to myself, I was never a sincere Catholic. I know much more about Catholocism since I became a Reformed Protestant.....as a Roman Catholic, are there any beliefs, practices or doctrines that you feel are too far removed or in conflict with scriptures?


The whole question is set upon a false premise. For us, the Bible is a part of the revealed word of God, not the final arbiter of all Christian truth. The Church's authority is greater than that of the Bible evidenced clearly by the Church forming the canon by counsil to begin with. A servant does not become greater than its master. For this reason, St. Augustine said that he should not believe in the gospels themselves if it were not for the authority of the Catholic Church.

With that said, scriptural evidence of nearly every Catholic belief and practice can be easily demonstrated. An unfortunate trend is the knee-jerk question, "Where is that in the Bible?" which is applied almost thoughtlessly. "Where in the Bible does it say Mary was assumed into heaven?" How many times have I heard this question and how many times did I have to remind "bible-savy" protestants that Scripture does not record the demise of Mary at all. The Bible is not downplayed in Catholic teaching, in fact, as the revealed word of God, it receives a special reverence, but it's put into its proper role and context and we don't cause the Scriptures to shoulder a burden it was never meant to bear.

Liberalism -- Ideas so good, they have to be mandated.