Catholics say they don't worship the pope just like Muslims say they don't worship Mohammed. But it is Mohammed's words that allah even exists. Therefore, their whole faith relies on his credibility alone!
And...?
Christianity's faith rests on the credibility of the Bible, but you don't worship that, I hope.
If catholics do not worship the pope, then why do they feel the need to call the pope "Holy Father"?
In recognition of the very special job God has called him to do.
What is the reason behind it? What purpose does it serve?
See above. When someone or something is set apart for God it's reasonable to give it or them special honour and respect, just as Gabriel honoured Mary. I dare say you treat your Bible with a level of respect beyond that you give to any ordinary book.
The word Holy doesn't imply worship, and isn't reserved for God, it's reserved for that which is of God.
If they call the pope "Hoy Father" then what do they call God?
God, Lord, Holy Father, Father, Heavenly King, etc, etc. Anything we call God is pathetically inadequate and (expect for God itself) are titles "borrowed" from worldly relationships.
I would love to embrace the catholic church but its focus is placed more on the clergy and Mary than on Christ Himself.
How do you know this, when you didn't even know what Catholics call the Pope? There are words to describe people who speak and act from ignorance like that.
The sad fact is that there are some Catholics in certain times and places who have put more focus than they should on the clergy and on Mary, but they don't represent the whole Church or its official teaching.
Again, what is the purpose in it? I don't hear reverence for Christ.
When? How often have you been into Catholic services or a Catholic school? In my experience, the reverence for Christ puts many protestants to shame and far outweighs any reverence for Mary, the clergy or anyone else.
I hear reverence for the clergy. How is that not idol worship?
Because reverence is not worship, however much you want it to be.
For some reason they want people to believe that it is they who forive sins at baptism. Oh, I know they say it's from God but who has the power to tell God what to do?
They aren't telling God what to do, they are acting with the authority that God gives them. You are the one trying to tell God what to do, by demanding that He work in a way that makes instant sense to you.
God gives the Holy Spirit to whomever He pleases whenever He pleases.
No-one is saying otherwise.
There are millions of people who were baptized and are atheists. I was baptized as an infant and didn't have a clue who Christ was until I receieved the Holy Spirit 37 years later. If I had received the Holy Spirit at baptism as the catholics claim, then rejected it, then how could I have received it later in life?
There are a heap of ways of interpreting that. I don't know which is official Catholic teaching.
According to Christ, this is impossible because He said that the only unforgivable sin is the sin against the Holy Spirit.
No, He said the only unforgivable sin is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, without defining what that is.
Their argument that people can become unsaved once they're saved also contradicts Jesus's words that "No one can snatch them out of my hand."
No-one snatched them - they walked away.
The bible warns us about false teachers and tells us to use discernment. If we blindly accept everything anyone who claims he has the knowledge of God says, then we are in danger of being deceived. I just saw a documentary on the Ku Klux Klan who claim that they are followers of Christ. But their fruits show otherwise. So fo the fruits of the catholic church. It's based on dogma, fear, and idol worship.
It's certainly not based on fear anymore - if it ever was. Can't say the same for those churches who still preach "Hell-fire and damnation" sermons though.
All churches (except, maybe the quakers) are based on dogma's. How do you have any church which doesn't have certain doctrines that you have to believe. Or maybe you don't know what dogma means.
As for the idol worship, it simply isn't true.
They also refer to themselves as the catholic religion or the catholic faith instead of the Christian faith. This also shows where their values are.
The name Catholic Church does recognise Christ, since the Chuch is the Body of Christ. It's impossible to be the Church without Christ. There has been a period in a few protestant dominated western countries where Catholics have avoided calling themselves Christians to distance themselves from extream evangelical Christians, but those days are pretty much over and were never true in Catholic dominated countries. The Catholics I work with are proud to call themselves Christian, and the schools documents do refer to it repeatedly as being a Christian school.
It should be remembered that Christian isn't a Christ given name for those who follow Him. The early church didn't call itself Christian, Paul never called himself a Christian. Its a form of abuse that the Church eventually took over for itself.
You seem to be demanding that the RCC work in the way you want, use the names you want, limit God to what you understand and use your definitions all the time.
We are supposed to be one in Christ, not one in the pope.
And we are.
Do they see themselves as some kind of a cult?
Defintely not.
Then why do they isolate themselves?
In what way are they isolating themselves? Welcoming people into their churches and schools isn't very isolating. Making the churches teachings and operation open for all to see isn't very isolating.
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