I was raised in the Roman Catholic Church. Much of my family, even today, is Roman Catholic. I do not hate Roman Catholics, at all. I love them from the bottom of my heart.
Very simply, my articles on Roman Catholicism are a response. According to the Roman Catholic Church, I must submit to the Roman Pontiff, and if I do not, I will be damned:
Unam Sanctam (1302 AD)
Urged by faith, we are obliged to believe and to maintain that the Church is one, holy, catholic, and also apostolic. We believe in her firmly and we confess with simplicity that outside of her there is neither salvation nor the remission of sins
Furthermore, we declare, we proclaim, we define that it is absolutely necessary for salvation that every human creature be subject to the Roman Pontiff.
Cantate Domino (1442 AD)
It firmly believes, professes, and proclaims that those not living within the Catholic Church, not only pagans, but also Jews and heretics and schismatics cannot become participants in eternal life, but will depart "into everlasting fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels" (Matt. 25:41), unless before the end of life the same have been added to the flock; and that the unity of the ecclesiastical body is so strong that only to those remaining in it are the sacraments of the Church of benefit for salvation, and do fastings, almsgiving, and other functions of piety and exercises of Christian service produce eternal reward, and that no one, whatever almsgiving he has practiced, even if he has shed blood for the name of Christ, can be saved, unless he has remained in the bosom and unity of the Catholic Church.
So, the Catholic Church has made claims on my life, and my eternal destiny, hundreds of years before I was born. I did not, unprovoked, go out looking to pick a fight with Catholicism. Rather, claims have been made, and they are serious claims, and so I need to respond. That is why this section on faithalone.net exists.
In addition to the articles in this section, I also have made YouTube playlists of videos addressing specific topics within Roman Catholicism. Thankfully, there are many others who have dedicated themselves to this topic, and have produced a lot of good resources already.
So, to reiterate - if you are Catholic, I do not hate you, at all. Your Church has made statements saying that I am damned. I don't believe you are damned. And, it is in my interest to vindicate why me, and others like me, are not damned, in spite of the Catholic Church's claims.
Eastern Orthodoxy likewise demands itself to be addressed, because - contrary to the claims of many Orthodox - they canonically regard all non-Orthodox as non-Christian:
Synod of Jerusalem (1672 AD) - Decree 10
But along with their other impieties, the Calvinists have imagined this also, that the simple Priest and the High Priest [Bishop] are perhaps the same; and that there is no necessity for High Priests. [They assert] that the Church may be governed by some Priests, and that not [only] a High Priest but a [simple] Priest also is able to ordain a Priest, and a number of Priests to ordain a High Priest. They affirm in lofty language that the Eastern Church assents to this wicked notion - for which purpose the Tenth Chapter was written by Cyril - we explicitly declare according to the mind which has obtained from the beginning in the Eastern Church:
That the dignity of the (Orthodox) Bishop is so necessary in the Church, that without him, neither Church nor Christian could either be or be spoken of. For he, as a successor of the Apostles, having received in continued succession by the imposition of hands and the invocation of the All-holy Spirit the grace that is given him of the Lord of binding and loosing, is a living image of God upon the earth, and by a most ample participation of the operation of the Holy Spirit, who is the chief functionary, is a fountain of all the Mysteries [Sacraments] of the Catholic Church, through which we obtain salvation.
According to the above, if there is no Eastern bishop, in Apostolic succession, "neither Church nor Christian could either be or be spoken of". This is one of many, many such exclusivistic statements, accepted by all Orthodox Christians, which could be cited.
In addition to the articles in this section which cover Eastern Orthodoxy, the following resources are also recommended:
Any Imperialist religion claiming Apostolic succession, like Catholicism or Orthodoxy, has almost certainly buried all other Christians in dozens or hundreds of Anathemas, all "infallibly" proclaimed, and therefore irrevocable, because they are the true Church, and "the gates of Hell shall not prevail..." (see Appendix I), etc. Many ecclesiastical institutions make the same sectarian claims. Catholicism and Orthodoxy just happen to be the largest of the sects at present, and so are worth taking time to investigate.
If you belong to one of these religions, I do not hate you, nor am I mad at you. I love you, and am sincere in my desire to give peace to my brethren who are troubled by the exclusivist, sectarian claims made by these churches, when they damn everyone outside of their group.
In Matthew 16:18, in response to Peter's confession that He is the Christ, the Lord says that He will build His Church on this confession, "and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it":
Matthew 16:13-18
13 When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?
14 And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.
15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?
16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Imperialists frequently use this verse to, in essence, say that we must accept what their preferred historical Christian writers believed (from approximately the 4th-7th century onward). Otherwise, they contend, "the gates of Hell prevailed" against the Church.
This saying, however, is not some promise of doctrinal indefectibility of a subset of Christians claiming to be "the true Church", while anathematizing all other followers of Christ. Rather, it is in reference to the First Resurrection in the End Times (Luke 14:14, Revelation 20:6); a promise of bodily victory over the realm of death (hadè„s), which is translated "Hell" in many versions.
Those who believe that Jesus is the Christ are born of God (1 John 5:1), and they constitute His Body, which is the Church (Ephesians 1:22-23, Colossians 1:18, 1:24). And, because they are in Christ, who has conquered death (1 Corinthians 15:54-57), death and Hell have no power over them. That is the primary truth that this verse is teaching. Applying this to councils of bishops called by Roman and Byzantine emperors, or one's preferred synthesis of the doctrines of certain popular early Christian writers, is twisting Scripture.