Luther nailed his 95 Thesis to the door of the Wittenburg church, thus launching the great Reformation of Protestantism. Much of what the Reformers fought and died for is being tossed out the window by voices in New Evangelicalism calling for ecumenism with Rome. In honor of Luther I've updated his complaints to reflect the de-evolution of the Church of Rome today. She (the Mother Church) no longer has the power to torture and kill her opponents, so I can safely lay it all out here. Would welcome comments of those who think it needs to be tweaked - better examples of lies can replace any of these.
95 Specious Lies of Rome
1. The Roman Catholic Church was founded by Jesus.
2. Mary is the mother of God.
3. There is a place sinners go after death called Purgatory.
4. The RCC has the Melchizedek priesthood.
5. Catholic priests are Christ as they offer mass.
6. The pope’s authority is from apostolic succession.
7. Bones, hair and fingernails of dead saints are worthy of veneration.
8. The pope is the Vicar of Christ and the head of Christ’s church.
9. The pope is infallible in matters of faith and morals.
10 Priests turn bread and wine into the body, blood, soul & divinity of Christ.
11 The communion elements are to be worshipped as God.
12 The RCC has the authority to determine what dead people are saints.
13 Saints are to be prayed to & sought after for miracles.
14 Access to Jesus is thru Mary.
15 Sins must be confessed to a priest for absolution.
16 Penance, not repentance, is required for forgiveness.
17 Indulgences to get dead ones a reduced sentence in Purgatory is still taught.
18 No person can know for sure they are saved; that’s the sin of presumption.
19 The higher the clerical position, the closer to God.
20 Making the sign of the cross has spiritual benefits.
21 Clerical vestments are holy.
22 Kissing the pope’s feet shows honor to Christ.
23 Priests should be addressed as Father.
24 The pope is the Holy Father.
25 The Commandment not to make any graven image is not in the RCC’s list.
26 Holy water is beneficial in sanctifying people and objects.
27 Statues of saints can be bowed to.
28 Self-flagellation is accepted by God for penance.
30 The host is to be adored as it passes in a bejeweled monstrance.
31 Priests must take a vow of celibacy and not to marry.
32 Some sins send you to hell, some to Purgatory - mortal & venial.
33 Catholics must refrain from eating meats during Fridays in Lent.
34 Mass cards can be bought to help spring loved ones from Purgatory.
35 Some hosts have miraculously turned into actual human flesh.
36 Some chalices of wine have miraculously turned into human blood.
37 Chanting the Rosary is a form of legitimate prayer.
38 Reciting the Hail Mary gives one grace with Mary.
39 Mary can hear all prayers just as God can.
40 Meditation by making a mind blank brings one closer to God.
41 Keeping the RCC sacraments is necessary to get to heaven.
42 All other Christian denominations are inferior and the separated brethren.
43 Ex-Catholics are lost until they come back to Rome
44 The scapular gives spiritual protection to the one who wears it.
45 The miraculous medal of Mary will spring the dead person out of purgatory.
46 Mary never died, but was transported to heaven alive in the Assumption.
47 Mary’s apparition has appeared and is appearing with miraculous signs.
48 Seminarians must obey those above them even if they ask them to sin.
49 Mary stayed perpetually a virgin and had no other children.
50 Joseph never consummated his marriage to Mary.
51 Mary was born without original sin and never sinned.
52 Dead saints, like pagan gods, rule over a particular life’s need or position.
53 The Roman Catholic Church is Christian.
54 The Reformers are heretics, worthy of the executions the RCC put on them.
55 The unity of all religions under Rome is a Catholic goal, i.e. Assisi.
56 The RCC has replaced Israel.
57 Rome has replaced Jerusalem as God’s holy city.
58 The RCC is the Mother Church.
59 God recognizes all annulled marriages as if they were never joined.
60 The RCC can change truth with the authority to bind on earth as it is in heaven.
61 The RCC has the right to cover up the sins of their pedophile priests.
62 Baptizing babies makes them part of Christ’s Church.
63 Drinking blood during the mass is A-OK.
64 The faithful received Christ into their stomachs, not their hearts.
65 Rats can eat God.
66 Unbaptized babies do not enter into heaven.
67 Church tradition is equal to the Bible in faith and practice.
68 Peter, a married man, was the first pope.
69 Levitation is a miracle that many saints have engaged in.
70 Grace is not unearned favor, but a special blessing one can earn thru works.
71 The archangel Michael is a saint.
72 To be a saint, miracles have to be attributed to the person after death.
73 Dead loved ones can be present among their families.
74 Exorcisms are performed with the use of the crucifix and holy water.
75 Eucharist adoration keeps Jesus company while he’s stranded in the tabernacle.
76 Jews have no biblical right to the Holy Land.
77 Communion cup forbidden to laity.
78 Jesus’ sacrifice needs to be reoffered daily in a bloodless manner.
79 Vows of silence earns grace with God.
80 The Magisterium holds the mysteries of Christ.
81 The Catholic Church gave us the Bible.
82 Mary is a co-mediatrix between God and man.
83 Jesus died so we can all become gods.
84 Incense and candles create a holy atmosphere.
85 Icons and religious art can be venerated.
86 Mary statues that cry or bleed are holy signs.
87 The stigmata wounds cause saints to suffer like Christ for the sins of others.
88 The infant Jesus is an entity that can be addressed in prayer.
89 Stoicism and deprivation of the needs of the body are acts of holiness.
90 Jesus cannot turn down requests from his mother.
91 OK to pray to body parts such as the sacred heart or immaculate heart.
92 The RCC is the guardian of salvation - they hold the keys to the kingdom.
93 Doctrine and truth evolve.
94 Christ’s payment for sin is insufficient; we must suffer for our own sins.
95 The Roman Catholic Church is the one true Church.
