The Problem of Some Roman Catholic Apologists Bragging About Their Numbers
Here's a meme of Pope Francis that has been used by some Roman Catholics to actually defend their stand that they are the true church founded on St. Peter. One of their favorite logical fallacies is to appeal to popularity. I hear of news Roman Catholics are increasing and these apologists say, "See, we are the one true Church because we are multiplying." But the whole problem of appealing to popularity is that numbers do not make right. They can brag they are biggest religion on Earth but does that mean they are the true Church? Let us see what the Bible says.
Matthew 7:13-14 in the Good News Translation (GNT) says, "Go in through the narrow gate, because the gate to Hell is wide and the road that leads to it is easy, and there are many who travel it. But the gate to life is narrow and the way that leads to it is hard, and there are few people who find it." Did you read the words I just underlined? There are few people that really enter into eternal life, there are many more that enter the wide road to Hell. Many times in the Bible the majority were wrong as portrayed from the Old Testament to the New Testament. Noah's Ark only had eight people surviving and the more you read the history of the Jewish people, the more you realize that the righteous were usually a minority. It is not about numbers but about truth as the old proverb says, "Truth is truth even if nobody believes it." The truth does not change because only a few believe it, it always remains the truth regardless like a majority vote does not change the laws of science because God wrote them.
What is so irritating about witnessing to Roman Catholics is how they often misuse Scriptures even when the meaning is plain on sight that it does not agree with their doctrine. John 2:1-12 already shows even in their Good News translation that Jesus clearly told Mary, "You must not tell Me what to do, My time has not yet come." and Mary said, "Do whatever He tells you.", they still insist the mediated there even when the context clearly shows she did not. They also misinterpret Matthew 16:18 that clearly differentiated Peter from the Rock foundation. It was already clear that Peter was not the Rock where the church is built on and after they mishandle the context, some of them even said that the keys given to Peter were the seven sacraments when the Bible does not even suggest for the slightest instance that it represented the seven sacraments. What is worse they accuse born again Christians of mishandling the Scripture even when they cannot understand it. Do they really think just because many people believe it then it is automatically correct?
Should I even mention that they also brag of the Pope Francis' popularity on the covers saying that the Protestant Christians (and in extension other born again Christian groups) are just "jealous" or that their academies and universities (especially those managed by the Jesuits) are very popular? What they may have ignored or failed to see is that Luke 6:26 warns ad I'll be quoting again from their approved GNT, "How terrible when all people speak well of you; their ancestors said the very same things about the false prophets." This does not mean that if people speak well of you that you are already evil but instead, this is a warning towards people who get the flattery of the world. John 15:18-19 also warns and I'll quote from the GNT saying, "If the world hates you, just remember that it has hated me first. If you belonged to the world, then the world would love you as its own. But I chose you from this world, and you do not belong to it; that is why the world hates you." They can brag all they want that the late Pope John Paul II had masses attending his burial while only a few attended for a godly pastor's funeral. One belongs to the world and the other does not belong to the world. Christians can only expect to be lumped together with people who they are not fellows with like common thieves and robbers by those Pharisees.
If they want to appeal to popularity again, I could really point out more big time hypocrisy. Some of them brag about how Catholic priests are persecuted and no Christian pastor ever gets persecuted for one's faith in Jesus Christ (HUH!?). First, some of them use the fact they are persecuted then later, they appeal to popularity to prove that they are in the right. They might need to reconsider that the true prophets of God are not even popular people. The more I read Jeremiah, the more I expect nothing more than garbage from a world gone mad, I do not expect to received by men and even if I am not a prophet, I still know that if anybody would stand up for Jesus Christ, there is only mockery to expect from the rest of the world. When they tell me, "If you are a pastor, we are sure you will be a failure because you are a bigot." But again, have they read the Scripture that the true pastors of God gladly suffered? They can go ahead and brag how Pope Francis is so well-received then say, "Look your pastor is an outcast." So much for some of them saying that they do not see any born again Christian suffering for Christ.
Matthew 7:13-14 in the Good News Translation (GNT) says, "Go in through the narrow gate, because the gate to Hell is wide and the road that leads to it is easy, and there are many who travel it. But the gate to life is narrow and the way that leads to it is hard, and there are few people who find it." Did you read the words I just underlined? There are few people that really enter into eternal life, there are many more that enter the wide road to Hell. Many times in the Bible the majority were wrong as portrayed from the Old Testament to the New Testament. Noah's Ark only had eight people surviving and the more you read the history of the Jewish people, the more you realize that the righteous were usually a minority. It is not about numbers but about truth as the old proverb says, "Truth is truth even if nobody believes it." The truth does not change because only a few believe it, it always remains the truth regardless like a majority vote does not change the laws of science because God wrote them.
What is so irritating about witnessing to Roman Catholics is how they often misuse Scriptures even when the meaning is plain on sight that it does not agree with their doctrine. John 2:1-12 already shows even in their Good News translation that Jesus clearly told Mary, "You must not tell Me what to do, My time has not yet come." and Mary said, "Do whatever He tells you.", they still insist the mediated there even when the context clearly shows she did not. They also misinterpret Matthew 16:18 that clearly differentiated Peter from the Rock foundation. It was already clear that Peter was not the Rock where the church is built on and after they mishandle the context, some of them even said that the keys given to Peter were the seven sacraments when the Bible does not even suggest for the slightest instance that it represented the seven sacraments. What is worse they accuse born again Christians of mishandling the Scripture even when they cannot understand it. Do they really think just because many people believe it then it is automatically correct?
Should I even mention that they also brag of the Pope Francis' popularity on the covers saying that the Protestant Christians (and in extension other born again Christian groups) are just "jealous" or that their academies and universities (especially those managed by the Jesuits) are very popular? What they may have ignored or failed to see is that Luke 6:26 warns ad I'll be quoting again from their approved GNT, "How terrible when all people speak well of you; their ancestors said the very same things about the false prophets." This does not mean that if people speak well of you that you are already evil but instead, this is a warning towards people who get the flattery of the world. John 15:18-19 also warns and I'll quote from the GNT saying, "If the world hates you, just remember that it has hated me first. If you belonged to the world, then the world would love you as its own. But I chose you from this world, and you do not belong to it; that is why the world hates you." They can brag all they want that the late Pope John Paul II had masses attending his burial while only a few attended for a godly pastor's funeral. One belongs to the world and the other does not belong to the world. Christians can only expect to be lumped together with people who they are not fellows with like common thieves and robbers by those Pharisees.
If they want to appeal to popularity again, I could really point out more big time hypocrisy. Some of them brag about how Catholic priests are persecuted and no Christian pastor ever gets persecuted for one's faith in Jesus Christ (HUH!?). First, some of them use the fact they are persecuted then later, they appeal to popularity to prove that they are in the right. They might need to reconsider that the true prophets of God are not even popular people. The more I read Jeremiah, the more I expect nothing more than garbage from a world gone mad, I do not expect to received by men and even if I am not a prophet, I still know that if anybody would stand up for Jesus Christ, there is only mockery to expect from the rest of the world. When they tell me, "If you are a pastor, we are sure you will be a failure because you are a bigot." But again, have they read the Scripture that the true pastors of God gladly suffered? They can go ahead and brag how Pope Francis is so well-received then say, "Look your pastor is an outcast." So much for some of them saying that they do not see any born again Christian suffering for Christ.