Catholic Church And God's Word

Nora writes: One of the great wonders of the world to me is how anyone could claim to be a Catholic and still believe the Bible is God's Word. Even the Catholic Douay version of the Bible condemns the Catholic faith repeatedly. The honest truth is that Catholics have been brainwashed to accept the traditional teachings of the Vatican as superior to whatever the Word of God actually says. Jesus plainly condemned placing the traditions of religion over the Word of God (Mark 7:6-13). Psalm 118:8 admonishes, "It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man." The end!

My response: Well, I don't "claim" to be Catholic Nora, I am Catholic and very happy to be Catholic. I certainly haven't got all the answers but I will attempt to do my best and reply to you. I very much believe the Bible to be God's Word. I know of no bible that "condemns the Catholic faith" repeatedly or even once. I also don't know any brainwashed Catholics- do you or do you just think all Catholics are brainwashed because you don't understand our faith? I don't understand many faiths and religions of the world, but I don't believe everyone who has a faith different from my own is a brainwashed person, but I guess that is just me.
Your statement: "the traditional teachings of the Vatican as superior to whatever the Word of God actually says" is absurd to put it nicely. Where did you ever hear or see a statement from the Vatican saying they were "superior" to the Word of God? Please email me or comment on my blog with a reference for that statement. What I think you are confusing is the Catholic view that Sacred Tradition (oral teaching) and Sacred Scripture (written teaching) are equal, neither above the other. They go together. Protestants (to my knowledge) deny this.

The "tradition" (little "t") spoken of in Mark 7 is NOT Sacred Tradition, but a Jewish custom of washing hands. This is not at all the same thing as Sacred Tradition in the Catholic Church. There is a distinct difference when you use a capital "T" and when a lower case "t" is used. They are not the same and I think that is where many people (Catholics included) can and do get confused when hearing the word "tradition" used. The Vatican does not place "the traditions of religion over the word of God" as you stated above. The Catholic Church teaches what Christ entrusted her to teach. You didn't give an example, so I can't comment further on that.

Hope this cleared things up for you Nora.