Before I begin, I must say that what is written below is not a guarantee to salvation. Giving a guarantee would be irresponsible in that I would be assuming the position of God. What is given below are instructions to be put right with God as directed by HIM. Know one can predict his judgement as to who will be saved and who will not. All we can do is live faithfully by the laws of the one Holy Catholic Church. 
 
 

THE MOST COMMON ARGUMENTS AGAINST CATHOLICISM REFUTED.

Some, but not all of this work is taken from the  Catholic shop  web site. Visit it. It's great. 
 
 

Argument 1 

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Catholics believe in the divinity of Jesus, yet there is very little scriptural evidence supporting such beliefs. Infact on many occasions Jesus explicitly stated that he was subordinate to the Father. 
 
 

Response 1 

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Know the scriptures before you start commenting on them. On many occasions in the scriptures, Jesus stated that he was God. In Mark 2:5 he forgave sins on his own authority. For Jewish people, only God had the authority to forgive sins. (For those Catholics which go to confession, always remember that the priest is not forgiving your sins. God is working through him.) Their reply to Jesus' bold statement was " The man commits blasphemy ".  In John 8:56-59, Jesus once again asserts his divinity: " Your father Abraham rejoiced to think that he would see my day ; he saw it and was glad. The Jews asked in a confused manner,  "You are not  fifty yet, and you have seen  Abraham? " Jesus replied : 
 

"In all truth I tell you, before Abraham ever was, I am. "
 

Here more than ever the mastery and greatness of Jesus is highlighted. By saying " I am "  rather than " I was "  (what  readers would expect), Jesus asserts his eternal existence : he is like God always present, EVEN WHILE ON EARTH PHYSICALLY. This " I am " is the same name God used for himself when he sent  Moses to the Israelites to say : " I AM sent me to you " (Exodus 3:14). So Jesus was not only saying he pre-existed before Abraham who lived 2000 years before him ; he was saying that he Jesus was " I am " or God. Immediately the Jews picked up stones to hurl at Jesus. Stoning was the penalty for such a statement. 
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But the evidence doesn't end here. In John 10:30, Jesus states " The father and I are one ". Again upon hearing these words, the Jews reached  for rocks to stone him saying, " with what authority  do you a mere mortal claim any sort of equality with God ? ". In all these cases Jesus did not try to avoid trouble by saying that his words were meant in a different way. He knew what he was saying. 
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Now to answer the second aspect of argument 1. In John 14:28 Jesus did state "The Father is greater than I ", and in Mark 13:32 in regards to the end of the world Jesus states : " No one but the father knows the time or the hour ". Yet there are others. In Gethsemane, praying to the Father, " not my will but yours be done " (Luke 22 : 43). In these quotes Jesus is showing his human nature. If  these were not stated by Jesus than the early church and later doctrinal decision makers may have doubted Jesus' dual nature - his humanity and his divinity. 
 
 

Argument 2 

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Why do Catholics worship Mary ? Aren't Christians meant to worship God alone ?  
 

Response 2
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Yet again the lack of understanding of Protestants is highlighted with this second argument. Roman Catholics do not worship Mary. We venerate her as the Mother of our God Jesus. Catholics DO NOT worship Mary, the Mother of Christ - as though she were a deity. Catholics are just as aware as Protestants that Mary was a human creature, and therefore not entitled to the honours which are reserved to God alone. What many non-Catholics mistake for adoration is a very profound love and veneration, nothing more. Mary is not adored, first because God forbids it, and secondly because the Canon Law of the Catholic Church, which is based on Divine Law, forbids it. Canon Law 1255 of the 1918 Codex strictly forbids adoration of anyone other than the Holy Trinity. However, Catholics do feel that Mary is entitled to a great measure of exaltation because, in choosing her as the Mother of Redemption, God Himself exalted her - exalted her more than any other human person before or since. Catholics heap tribute and honour on Mary because they earnestly desire to be "followers of God, as most dear children." (Ephesians 5:1). Mary herself prophesied: "For behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. Because he that is mighty, hath done great things to me; and holy is his name." (Luke 1:48-49). Catholics know that every bit of the glory they give to Mary reflects to the glory of her divine Son, just as Mary magnified God, not herself, when Elizabeth blessed her. (Luke 1:41-55). They know that the closer they draw to her, the closer they draw to Him who was born of her. In the year 434 St. Vincent of Lerins defended Christian devotion to Mary this way: "Therefore, may God forbid that anyone should attempt to defraud Holy Mary of her privilege of divine grace and her special glory. For by a unique favour of our Lord and God she is confessed to be the most true and most blessed Mother of God." 

Examine the relationship between a son and his mother. The love that they share is remarkable and one would do almost anything for the other. How much greater then is the love that our God Jesus has for his mother ? How strong is the bond between Jesus and his mother ? Greater than we could imagine. Mary's  importance can be highlighted by the fact that God chose her to be the means by which his son was incarnated as Christ Jesus. WHAT AN HONOUR!  An honour not worthy of just any person. She was truly  special. This was the women who was mother (and held in her womb) our God Jesus. How much greater is she than even the greatest angel ? In almost every one of the Blessed Virgins apparitions, her son has been the focus of her direction to humanity. Catholics know that God has given her a message to give to  humanity. She is obedient to God just as we are. Has she not a right to come to earth to bring people closer to her son ? Wouldn't any mother do the same for their own son ? How can anyone underestimate the bond between Jesus and his mother ? She is both the mother of God and his bride. The bible does not say this : it does not need to. We deduce it from the fact that Jesus was God. (The Trinitarian Doctrine) 
 

SO WE DO NOT WORSHIP MARY : WE VENERATE (HAVE A HIGH RESPECT OR REVERENCE) FOR HER. SHE DESERVES THIS BECAUSE SHE IS THE MOTHER OF THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, AND MOSES (I.E. JESUS).  HOW WOULD GOD FEEL WHEN HE HEARS HIS MOTHER SLANDERED TO AN "UNIMPORTANT WOMEN NOT MENTIONED MUCH IN THE BIBLE". 
 

MARY IS A WAY TO BECOME CLOSER TO JESUS. SHE IS THE MOTHER OF GOD AND JESUS LOVES HIS HEAVENLY MOTHER MORE THAN YOU COULD IMAGINE. DOWNGRADE HER AT YOUR OWN RISK AND SUFFER THE WRATH OF AN ANGRY SON AND ANGRY  SPOUSE. 
 

Mary is both the mother and bride of GOD. Imagine how an earthly spouse and son protect the integrity of their wife and mother. How much greater then would be the zeal with which God protects the integrity of Mary ? 

Praying to Mary is not a sin : the words of the Hail Mary contain nothing of  worshipping Mary. They are just asking Mary who is our mother (if she was Jesus' mother then she is ours also) to love us and help us as any mother would her son. The doctrine of the immaculate conception is not in the bible, however it is a  necessary doctrine. Why ? Because if Jesus is to be God then his mother must be without sin : how can perfection come from sin ? It would be an incompatibility. 

Does the fact that Mary was born without sin mean she is equal to God? Well perfection was never meant to mean equality with God. The angels Michael and Gabriel are perfect but are they equal to God ? Of course not. They WERE CREATED BY GOD AS PERFECT BEINGS. GOD CAN DO THIS BECAUSE GOD CAN DO ANYTHING. SO TO GOD CREATED MARY AS A WOMAN FREE OF THE ORIGINAL SIN. ONLY SOMEONE FREE OF SIN WOULD BE WORTHY TO CARRY OUR GOD JESUS. HENCE PERFECTION ROSE FROM PERFECTION. PROTESTANTS MUST REALISE THAT PERFECTION DOES NOT MEAN EQUALITY WITH GOD.
 
 

Argument 3

Why do Catholics worship images (idols) of Mary, the Saints and Jesus ? Does this not go against the Ten Commandments ? 
 
 

Response 3

Many protestants also criticize the fact we make images of Mary and bow to her. Is this bowing to her idolatry ? Well, it is if the Catholic does this and has it in his heart to worship her. However if the head is bowed as a reverence to her position, i.e. in veneration rather than adoration, (after all, she is second greatest after the trinity)  AND THE PERSON DOES NOT INTEND TO WORSHIP HER, THEN GOD WILL KNOW WHAT IS IN THEIR HEART AND WILL JUDGE THEM ACCORDINGLY. 

Also, one must understand what a graven image is in the context of the Old Testament. To make a graven image is to create an image out of some medium, such as clay or wood, and worship it as a God. The statues or pictures of Mary are not worshipped as a God. If a Catholic worships a statue of Mary as a God, they are guilty of idolatry.

Mary is the mother of God and the saints are the friends of God. If keeping their pictures or statues helps to inspire us to a more holy life, then it is a good thing. Don't you have pictures of your family in your home? Is this idolatry? Or when someone dies, should you destroy all images or pictures of them, lest you be guilty of worshipping them? 

In terms of making images of Jesus, can we do this and then worship them ?  Is this not idolatry ? Well making images of Jesus and worshipping them is not idolatry as Jesus is God and we MUST worship him. As long as in our hearts we believe those images to be that of Jesus, then it is not idolatry. 
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Does Catholic iconostasis defy biblical instruction on the making of images? No it does not. I believe God meant that we must not make images of the earth (by this he meant things that are not God - remember Jesus is God) nor things in heaven (which we cannot imagine) for worshipping. The passage was from the old testament prior to Jesus. When Jesus came he was living visual representation of God. We could now picture a comprehensible face of our God : that was Jesus. Hence of course we can make images of Jesus and worship them. In exodus God told us not to make images of things in heaven because we could not imagine them. Jesus became our imagery : a comprehensible form of God and thus our way to God. Thus it is not against the will of God to make images of his son. The quote from exodus is taken out of context. 

The Lord did not forbid the making of images. In fact, God commanded Moses to shape a brazen serpent. This serpent was able to cure the people of the serpent bite, if they looked upon it (Numbers 21:8). Later, when the people turned to idolatry of the serpent, Hezekiah had it destroyed (II Kings 18:4). Here you see the balance. Images are good, if they are helpful, but not if they encourage idolatry.

Moreover, the Lord commanded that the image of two Cherubim be constructed on the top of the Ark of the Covenant on either side of the Mercy seat. Was this the sin of idolatry? I think not.
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Argument 1

Argument 2

Argument 3

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