It’s only when we prioritize them over God himself or when they take us farther away from God instead of drawing us near. While the Catholic Church does have many traditions that aren’t explicitly found in the Bible, so does every church (and so do you, in your home). Myth #2: The Catholic Church Abandoned the Bible for Man-Made Traditions Whether Catholics have held fast to the right teachings throughout the ages or whether they veered off and the Protestant denominations got us back on track–that’s something I’m still trying to discover. The Protestant denominations are simply off-shoots of Catholicism (or of other denominations) that branched off over various disagreements to what the Catholic Church was teaching. There are some really great posts in the rest of this series, and they explain these issues in the way a simple paragraph or two cannot adequately cover.ġ0 Common Catholic Myths and MisconceptionsĪctually, Catholics consider themselves to be the original Christians, who are doing their best to hold to the same beliefs and traditions that the church held to in the first century.Īccording to Catholics, Catholics and Protestants are all Christians and both Catholics and Protestants can go to Heaven.
Please see the links below each point to read about each issue more in depth. That’d be waaay too long for a single blog post! It’s simply an overview of 10 of the most common Catholic myths and misconceptions. This post is not meant to be an exhaustive guide to everything the Catholic Church teaches. This post is just an introduction to Catholic myths and misconceptions. (There will always be individual people messing things up in every religion)Ģ. This post is only meant to talk about what Catholicism actually officially teaches – not what people actually do in the privacy of their own homes or in their local churches. What a religion officially teaches and how the people put it into practice are two entirely different things.
Please see my full disclosure statement for additional information.Ī Few Things to Keep in Mind Before We Begin…ġ. This post is about official Catholic belief – not what Catholics do in the privacy of their own homes. What I do know is that much of what people believe about Catholics and the Catholic church simply isn’t true.Īnd today, I’d like to set the record straight.Īre you guilty of believing any of these Catholic myths?
Now, two years later, I’m still not fully convinced that Catholic Christianity has it all right.
(You can read the whole series here, if you’re interested) It was the start of something big, and it was the start of the series you’re reading now. It was a pretty tumultuous time, reevaluating everything I’d believed my whole life. Things I was so sure of before–basic tenants of my faith–were suddenly glaringly wrong. While it (and all of the research I did afterward) wasn’t enough to fully convert me to Catholicism, it did poke some pretty big holes in everything I was taught growing up as a Protestant.
Two years ago, I read a book that would change my perspective on Christianity forever: Surprised by Truth* by Patrick Madrid. Are you guilty of believing one of these 10 very common Catholic myths? There are lots of misconceptions about the Catholic Church out there.