I was a Roman Catholic for the first twenty-one years of my life, and during those years, I was truly ignorant about God. That is my answer when people ask what it was like to be a Catholic. My spiritual training came from a catechism book, not the Bible.

As a Catholic I was ignorant of the Bible. Catholicism has taken public steps to counter the claim that its members never read the Bible. Ads in Catholic magazines ostensibly urge Bible reading, and of course, the Catholic Church boldly claims to have given the world the Bible. However, what was true in my day is still true: Catholics are taught that only the Church and its bishops and priests can interpret the Bible.

After twenty-one years in the Catholic church, I couldn’t name the apostles. I couldn’t name the books of the Bible, either. I had no idea what an epistle was. CCD classes (Confraternity of Catholic Doctrine) used age-appropriate catechism books, and we students were discouraged from reading the Bible for ourselves. I once asked about the Bible, and my teacher said, “Someday, when you are an adult, the priest will teach your class about it. Only the priest can understand the Bible.” (That’s a quote).

The Bible teaches that faith depends on hearing the word of God (Romans 10:17), by oral instruction and from reading (Ephesians 3:3-4; 5:17). I was shocked to see so many people reading their Bibles when I attended my first worship service at Mound & Starr church of Christ in Nacogdoches, TX. I was told that this was what first century Christians did. They tested what they were taught, in order to determine its truthfulness (Acts 17:11; 1 Thessalonians 5:21). I also learned that I was responsible for teaching the Bible to others (Hebrews 5:11-6:1). I had no idea such a thing was possible!

I was ignorant of righteousness. Paul once reasoned with Felix about “righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come.” Governor Felix was terrified of this news (Acts 24:25). On some level, Felix understood that he was guilty of sin on all three counts, and he trembled at the clear truth preached by Paul. As a young Catholic, I had no idea what true righteous was, as taught in the Bible. Like all people, I felt it was wrong to kill, because I didn’t want anyone killing me, but that was just about the extent of my understanding of right and wrong.

The Catholic Church taught a confusing message about righteousness. Priests and nuns warned us often about sin, but sin was an ill-defined concept. The only thing that seemed to matter was that we avoid the “seven deadly sins” (Yes, that really is a thing in Catholicism). While lying was defined as a sin, a “mental reservation” was not. A mental reservation is nothing more than a “useful lie.” A Catholic is not held responsible if he lies to defend the Catholic Church against protestant questions, for example.

One of the most indelible memories from my childhood was Wednesday Night Bingo at the Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church in New Braunfels, Texas. My grandpa had one main duty in the Church - and that was to prepare the Bingo Hall every Wednesday evening for the crowds of Catholic gamblers who would attend that night’s party. I went with him most Wednesday nights during the summer. Grandpa’s first job was to head downstairs of the Bingo Hall to stock the two large drink coolers with beer. I remember thinking that something about that seemed strange. I just didn’t know what it was.

The Bible teaches that righteousness must be genuine, unlike the false righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees (Matthew 5:20). The Jewish leaders were “ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own, have not submitted to the righteousness of God” (Romans 10:3). This perfectly described my moral education in Roman Catholicism that I received.

I was a slave of man-made rules and restrictions. Paul warned about the danger of such restrictions. The Colossians had died with Christ, and yet they could not shake the desire to subject themselves to man’s regulations: “Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle, which all concern things which perish with the using, according to the commandments and doctrines of men” (Colossians 2:20-22). These things only had an “appearance of wisdom” but were “false humility” (vs. 23). Moreover, such religion, said Paul, was a cheat, and it involved the worship of angels. Surely, Paul was talking about the Gnostics and their ascetic practices, but each of these lines describe what was imposed on me as a young man. There were holy days of obligation, required fasting (Lent, etc), canned prayers to memorize and recite, hours spent twiddling beads through my fingers while mumbling memorized chants (called prayers) in the rosary. The mass itself is an excruciating hour-long exercise of kneeling, standing, and mindless recitations. All of these things were imposed by Catholicism on members and were required for faithfulness.

I was a slave of a mere man on a throne in Rome. In Catholicism the pope is called the “vicar of Christ.” What this means is that he represents Christ, but the meaning is deeper than that. The pope is the “visible head” of the Church while Christ is the “invisible head.” The word “vicar” clearly comes from “vicarious” which refers to a thing which stands as a substitute for something else. We experience the “real thing” through the substitute. In the sense of Catholicism, the pope is revered as if he were Christ, because he represents Him on earth. This is not merely a symbolic representation. Catholics view the pope with all of the reverence due to Christ Himself. The excitement the pope garners among Catholics proves this is true.

The scriptures teach that it is a sin to revere a mere man as if he were our Father in heaven (Matthew 23:9). Jesus alone is the head of the church of Christ (Ephesians 1:22-23; Colossians 1:18). None of the apostles ever presumed to be greater than their Master (John 13:16). Peter himself, the supposed “first pope” of Catholicism chastised Cornelius for bowing to him, telling the centurion, “I myself am a man” (Acts 10:26). No pope in history would ever humbly confess such a thing.

Conclusion: The Roman Catholic Church is believed by most people to be the apostolic church. Even many protestants believe that of Catholicism. Catholicism is not apostolic. It is the result of an apostasy not divine origin (see: Acts 20:29-30). I was once one of the millions of people trapped in the ignorance and darkness of this man-made religion. I thank God for those who taught me the truth.