1st point: I believe that Christ is not in the Eucharist.
Luke 22:19: And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them saying "this is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me."
Communion is meant to be a remembrance of Christ and his sacrifice for us, we are not meant to injest Him.
If you studied the Greek behind that verse you would see that the word translated as remembrance is anamesis (Strongs 364) it is used only 4 times in the New Testament (Luke 22:19, 1 Cor 11:24-25, and Heb 10:3) and only 2 times in the Septuigant (Lev 1:9 and Lev 24:7). The first two refer to the Eucharist all the others refer to reminding God of a sacrificial offering. This is not a mere memorial of Christ but a calling to mind of His bodily sacrifice. Elsewhere in the New Testament there are nine other terms used for memorial or remembering. If the Holy Spirit had wanted us to just remember He would have used one of those.
Besides this if we assume the Eucharist was just a symbol then Paul is teaching idolatry when he says we can suffer damnation by eating and drinking unworthily by not recognizing the Lord's body.
1 Cor 11:29 For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.
How can one suffer damnation by disrespecting a symbol? I thought you could only do that by directly denying God or His teachings?
From the book "World Religions Made Easy" by Mark Water:
"Roman Catholics believe that God, through the priest, miraculously transforms the bread and wine of the Lord's Supper into Christ's real body. This means that at every mass Jesus is sacrificed all over again."
If Christ is sacrificed over and over again, then His death on the cross is meaningless, if He has to be sacrificed over and over. He died once, for all of us.
Of course this is another misrepresentation of the position of the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church makes it very clear that they do not claim that Christ is re-sacrificed at each Mass. The Eucharist is a re-presentation of the one sacrifice. It is lies like this re-sacrifice attack that have led to the prejudice and hatred toward the Catholic Church buy those who are not well enough informed and believe these sources without checking out what is really taught by the Church.
The Catholic Church does not teach she is under the influence of evil spirits anymore than anyone who has not accepted the grace of God, just as Protestant and other Christian denominations teach.
The thing is: she IS under the influence of evil spirits. We all are. Satan is EVIL, and he tries to influence us every single second of our lives beginning at birth and ending at death.
If you notice that is exactly what I said when I stated "anymore than anyone who has not accepted the grace of God, just as Protestant and other Christian denominations teach."
Repentance is a required part of confessing of sins as we are directed to do in John 20:23
John 20:23 Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.
Anything can be taken out of context and misconstrued to fit what you are trying to prove, but if you read that passage in its context, He is speaking to His diciples, not to us, and not to priests. God ALONE forgives sins. Confession to Christ is what is necessary. Confession to a priest does nothing. Man does not have the power to forgive.
Acts 13:38: "Therefore, my brothers, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. "
The context is clear that the authority was given to the Apostles, it is also clear if you study any of the history of the early Church that the bishops serve as the successors of the Apostles and this and the other authorities of the Apostles were passed on to them through the laying on of hands.
It is true that only God forgives sins, but it is also true that in this verse we see Christ passing the authority (not the power) to forgive sins on to His Apostles.
The Catholic Church does not claim the power to forgive sins for their priest, only the authority.
My advice to you is not to buy into their hatred and prejudice and at least find a reputable source before you start criticizing anothers beliefs without really understanding them.
My advice to YOU is to read the Holy Bible, you know, the one God dictated.
I have read the Bible and know that there is nothing in it that is contrary to anything in the doctrine of the Catholic Church, which I know much better than you or Chick or Mark Water.
If you have any other questions of misconceptions about the teachings of the Church feel free to ask me.
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