FAQ: Is the Catholic Church Pagan? (Believe it or not, this issue actually came up on Facebook)

CATHOLIC CHURCH BUILT ON PAGANISM

Answer: The Catholics ARE CHRISTIAN. The Roman Catholic Church embraces the Apostles’ Creed, and uses it as a statement of faith. The Apostles’ Creed is also used in the Anglican, Episcopalian, Lutheran, Methodist, the Church of Christ, plus several other Protestant churches.

[The Latter-day Saints/Mormons do not use the Apostles' Creed. They reject the doctrines of the Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit).]

Catholics often recite the Apostles’ Creed which says:

I believe in God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth;
And in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried.
He descended into hell. The third day he rose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father almighty.
From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Ghost, the holy catholic* Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.

How do I know this? I often state I was "loosely raised Episcopalian" because that was the denomination I remember attending the most as a kid, but I know my parents also attended the Church of Christ for a few years. Later, I attended the church of my future in-laws, which was Methodist, on a semi-regular basis. Then, I've also attended weddings and funerals at a couple of Baptist churches, and possibly at one Lutheran church. I have been to the churches of many Christian denominations.

Now, here's the really interesting bit: When I was in public grade school 2nd grade through 5th, I was very petite and shy. I was frequently knocked down, hit, and harassed by bullies. My mother--who was an ex-Catholic--pulled me out of public school, and my parents enrolled me in a Catholic parochial school. The reason being is my mother was sure "The Nuns can put a stop to kids being bullied!" (I attended Catholic school until the 12th grade, and I was not unmercifully victimized during those years.)

During my stint in Catholic school--even though the Catholic school knew I was Protestant--I still had Catholic religion classes, and my homeroom class attended mass once or twice a month--every month. Trust me, when I assure you the Catholics ARE CHRISTIAN.

They are baptized, pray to the Christian "God the Father", recite the Lord's prayer, pray to Jesus Christ ... yaddah, yaddah, yaddah.

What Catholics do different is they will offer prayers to the "BVM" (Jesus' Mother, Mary) asking her to pray to Jesus and to God the Father on their behalf. Catholics also petition the saints through prayer, so that the saints will pray to Jesus, God the Father, and the Holy Spirit, on their behalf.

By the way, it is assumed that the saints in heaven as well as the Angels, and Jesus' Mother are already constantly praising and praying to God the Father--due to the heavenly bliss of the Christian Afterlife--therefore all a Catholic is doing is asking for Mary, the saints, or the angels to put in a kind word for them to God the Father. THAT is reason WHY some Protestants insist the Catholics are "pagan". The claim is that the Catholics are REALLY practicing polytheism and are actually praying to pagan deities pretending to be saints.

TRUST ME ON THIS NEXT STATEMENT: As a woman in my 60's and who has been an "active practicing Pagan for at least 37 years": THE PAGAN GODDESSES AND GODS ARE A LOT MORE FUN TO WORSHIP, PETITION, VENERATE, or PRAY TO THAN THE CHRISTIAN SAINTS!!!!!

The article that resulted in a Neo-Pagan posting the question above is ludicrous. Dagon may have been drawn at some point as wearing a "fish hat", BUT I am pretty sure his ancient worshippers did not portray him wearing that silly fish hat. Indeed, I suspect this was an early Protestant Christian guess of what Dagon might have looked like. It clearly came from a book or manuscript, possibly the 17th century or a little earlier. (We have no idea, because the author of that terrible article did not cite the source.)

The Catholic Pope is not wearing a fish head hat. (Somehow, I doubt Catholics sang the song "Fish Heads" either.)

The author of that article referenced Exodus 20:4-5. Yes, Catholics have statues of saints. They do not actually pray to those statues. They pray in more places than just the church.

The radiant light or sun images associated with Catholicism and Protestant Episcopalianism relates to the Biblical title of Jesus as the Light of the World. The Love of Jesus radiates out as a warm, bright light to all His children, and to any who will invite Him into their hearts as their Savior.

That article is anti-Catholic propaganda. It encourages hate between different sects of Christianity, attempting to fracture the brotherhood of Christ.

Don't buy into this sh--t. I still don't buy into it, and I'm Pagan.

July 29, 2021

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