that was cool you mentioned Stephen Ray too. a former Baptist mininster, Ray is a good speaker and author. very solid.

as for 'martha1spur's comment - the Catholic Church teaches as She has always taught that "grace alone" saves. faith and even the good works we do are gifts from God - His grace.

"So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead....You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone....so faith apart from works is dead." ~James 2:17, 24, 26

No wonder Martin Luther wanted the Book of James taken out as well.

Mt 25 (31-46) clearly shows Our Blessed Lord speaking of those being on his right b/c of their good works and those on the left b/c they refused to do so.

our good works are proof that His grace is alive in us.

grace alone saves. everything is a gift.

i am a Catholic....Sarah - great job on the article. i am proud of you and thank you for explaining that.

to any Protestant that might read this, plz also understand that Catholics do not "worship Mary" or "worship the Saints" either. plz check your sources before believing anything in the telephone game. (Catechism is a great source to check official Church teaching)

good job Sarah. ty

and special thx to Crosswalk for an awesome way to look up things in the Bible. always a help. much appreciated.

peace and God love you

As for another "prong" of the Protestant Reformation -- scripture alone -- the Roman Catholic Church does not teach that scripture is the sole authority for doctrine. The Roman church teaches that the Magesterium -- scripture and interpretation by church doctors and fathers -- and TRADITION have equal weight in determining doctrine. Protestants believer (or should) that scripture alone is the foundation of the Christian faith.

The naivete of the writer and the respondents is amazing. Perhaps a cradle Catholic should explain why I left the Church. The Prostestant Reformation centered around the doctrine of justification. Catholics DO NOT believe in justification by faith alone. Justification -- being declared "Not Guilty" before God comes through the covering of the blood of Jesus Christ alone. Sanctification is the lifelong process of holiness that Christian must endeavor to achieve through the WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. Catholics believe justification and sanctification are the same process. . .meaning works must come into play in justification according to the Roman CAtholic Church. As my father -- a devout Catholic said to me, "You have to do certain things to get to heaven." Get the difference? Martin Luther did. . .so did Wycliffe, Huys, Cranmer and others who lost their lives because of their beliefs in faith alone. This is just the beginning. Do some research in Protestant theology.

Very well done! I applaud the author on using the Church's own understanding of Herself to explain this doctrine. Articles like this from a non-Catholic are truly, TRULY rare and I am very thankful for it.

I make no apology for so called "sharp comments".
How can there be UNITY when we do not belive in the same thing. That is why some are called Catholics and others are referred to as Protestants. If you are not sure of this just look back through history.

Dear Sarah,
I like that you explained why Catholics have a Pope.
All churches have a leader. I think you should continue on and explain why Catholics pray to Mary mother of Jesus, and all the other "Saints" established by the Catholic church.

I think it would be interesting to find out how many Saints there were before the first century.

To write a post on a Christian website and place Catholics in opposition of "Bible-believing-Christians" is not only irresponsible and separatist, but completely wrong! We are all called together in UNITY through our common belief in Christ as the Son of God, despite any differences we may have. Please take more care before making sharp comments.

Believe what you will as well but straw man arguments will never prove your point. They only weaken it....

May God bless you and may your heart be truly open to the promptings of the Holy Spirit as you seek the truth as a person of good intention and good will.

Believe what you will. It is true the Pope is not God - he only thinks he is.
Sacramentalism and the Eucharist will not get you to heaven.
Belief and trust in Jesus Christ, the Son of God will.

An excerpt from a previous commenter says "The Pope does not teach what Jesus taught-the Bible alone teaches what Jesus taught. Which one will you follow?"

I find that to be quite absurd and unsubstantiated. Take "the pope" out of that statement and insert any preachers name, perhaps, "Billy Graham". I don't think you would say that about him. The pope is a pastor, the supreme pastor of the Christian Church. He's not God, he's not a dictator, he is a servant. All churches have pastors who guide and lead their flock. If what you say is true, then I suppose we should all stay at home on Sundays and just read our bibles; no one can tell me what the bible means except the Holy Spirit; not even a trained biblical scholar. For that matter, I better not read any articles on this site unless they are specifically authored by Jesus Christ himself.

If you are Catholic you would believe in what Sarah Jennings says about the Pope. However, if you are a Bible believing Christian then you must do what the Bible says.
The Pope does not teach what Jesus taught-the Bible alone teaches what Jesus taught. Which one will you follow?
Jesus says "enter ye in by the strait gate..."
Jesus will be the one waiting for me when I cross over Jordan
not the Pope of Rome.