Why I am Not a Roman Catholic

When Constantine became emperor of Rome, he was virtually the emperor of the world. He elected himself the self-styled "protector of the Christian faith." He issued an edict of tolerance for Christianity and gave the church many favors, including money for building and operations. He even gave many of the pagan temples over to be used by the church.

To please the emperor and show him their thanks, the church leaders began to adopt customs that were parallel to the pagan practices. One compromise led to another, and what seemed to be a great blessing became a great curse. These changes continued to be made, long after the fall of the Roman empire. Many changes were introduced that had no scriptural basis but became doctrine in the Roman Catholic church, including:

300		Prayers for the dead
		Making the sign of the cross while praying
375		Worship of saints and angels
394		Mass was first instituted
431		Worship of Mary began
500		Priests began to dress differently than laymen
526		Exaggerated and superficial language, manners and customs
593		Doctrine of purgatory introduced
600		Worship services conducted in Latin
		Prayers directed to Mary
607		The first pope was installed
709		The practice of kissing the pope's feet began
786		Worship of images and relics
850		Use of "holy water" began
995		Canonization of dead saints
998		Fasting on Fridays and during Lent
1079		Celibacy of the priesthood
1090		Prayer beads introduced
1184		The Inquisition: questioning and imprisoning any that don't agree with their beliefs
1190		Sale of indulgences
1215		Transubstantiation: the belief that the bread and the wine of communion actually become the body and blood of Christ
1229		Laymen are forbidden to read the Bible!
1414		Cup forbidden to laymen
1439		Doctrine of purgatory decreed: a resting place after death until your final destination is determined; people can pray you out of purgatory and into heaven
		The doctrine of the seven sacraments affirmed
1508		The Ave Marie approved - Hail Mary
1534		The Jesuit order founded
1545		Tradition is granded equal authority with the Bible
1546		Apocryphal books put into the Bible
1854		Immculate conception of Mary - Mary was decreed free of the original sin by divine grace; Mary was without sin
1865		Infallibility of Errors proclaimed
1870		Infallibility of Pope declared
1930		Public schools condemned
1950		Assumption of Mary - August 15 is observed as the day Mary was taken up to heaven
1965		Mary proclaimed the mother of the church

Even though the Roman Catholic church claims to be the only true church and the original church, it is very evident that they have deviated from the early church in many ways over the past 1700 years and have become more Roman than Christian.