The Catholic And The Church - 1130 Words

A great number of Catholic members continue to leave the Catholic Church, statistics show. According to an article in the National Catholic Reporter, â€Å"One out of every 10 Americans is an ex-Catholic†¦ Almost half of those leaving the church become unaffiliated and almost half become Protestant† (Reese). Although the reasons for leaving differ amongst ex-Catholics, an important one is the teachings of the Bible, they claim. It may not make sense that the very same book that is claimed to be one of the final authorities in the Catholic Church, it’s the reason its members are turning away from it. It is the contradictory nature of some of the Church’s teachings –which undermine the word of God --the Bible-- that causes the members to leave the†¦show more content†¦This brings us to one of the main issues, Reese states: â€Å"The church needs to acknowledge that understanding the Bible is more important than memorizing the catechism.† Only, it seems that understanding the Bible is the very thing turning Catholics to Protestantism, as those who study the Bible using critical thinking, are bound to find incongruences between what the Bible teaches and what the Catholic Church teaches and practices. To start off, one of the most basic teachings of the Bible is the second commandment, which states: â€Å" Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image†¦ Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God†(King James Version, Exod. 20.4). This commandment is missing from the Catholic Ten Commandments (Catechism), but the Catholic Church claims it is absorbed into the first commandment: â€Å"Thou shalt have no other gods before me† (Exod. 20.3). Perhaps the â€Å"implied† commandment is obvious to the leaders of the Catholic Church, but to an average Church member who has no clear knowledge of the Sacred Scriptures this might not be the case. The second commandment clearly states â€Å"any graven image,† which is not equal to â€Å"other gods.† The Catholic Church has acknowledged that the commandment does exist, but it continues to ignore it, and perpetuate its transgression. For the Catholic Chu rch members and leaders, it is very common to bow down to statues and images of Mary, saints,