Last Rites

[Ayodhya Nath Bhat]

Last Rites

The last ritual many Catholics perform - viaticum, is also known as the Last Rites:

"As the sacrament of Christ's Passover the Eucharist should always be the last sacrament of the earthly journey, the 'viaticum' for 'passing over' to eternal life." Pg. 379, #1517  

This ritual includes anointing the dying person:

"If the sacrament of anointing of the sick is given to all who suffer from serious illness and infirmity, even more rightly is it given to those at the point of departing this life... The Anointing of the Sick completes our conformity to the death and Resurrection of Christ, just as Baptism began it." Pg. 381, #1523

The belief that this anointing "completes our conformity to the death and Resurrection of Christ" is another tradition of men the Scriptures say nothing about.

More bondage

Since this ritual can only be performed by a priest or other Catholic leader, it keeps members in bondage to the Catholic religion right up until the moment of their death:

"Only priests (bishops and presbyters) are ministers of the Anointing of the Sick." Pg. 379, #1516

The Catechism also teaches that the Last Rites are the "seed of eternal life":

"In addition to the Anointing of the Sick, the Church offers those who are about to leave this life the Eucharist as viaticum. Communion in the body and blood of Christ, received at this moment of 'passing over' to the Father, has particular significance and importance. It is the seed of eternal life and the power of resurrection..." Pg. 381, #1524

But the Bible disagrees, declaring that this ritual is neither the "seed of eternal life" nor the "power of resurrection." These are man-made doctrines that God neither initiated nor endorsed.

This act is nothing more than one final earthly good work, which the Bible proclaims to be useless:

"...that I may win Christ. And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:" Philippians 3:8-9  

Here are a few more man-made rules associated with this ritual:

"If a sick person who received this anointing recovers his health, he can in the case of another grave illness receive this sacrament again. If during the same illness the person's condition becomes more serious, the sacrament may be repeated. It is fitting to receive the Anointing just prior to a serious operation. The same holds true for the elderly whose frailty becomes more pronounced." Pg. 379, 1515  

Rules on top of more rules. Please remember, God never ordained any of them. Men created them all.

Conclusion

As you make your own decision on this doctrine, here are a few points to consider:

This ritual is never taught in the Bible.
Not one Bible character ever received the Last Rites, including Paul, who said:
"For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:" 2 Timothy 4:6-7  

Not one Bible character ever administered the Last Rites.
This doctrine overflows with commandments of men. Will you place your faith and trust in these man-made rules and regulations, or in Jesus Christ?

Remember, Jesus warned:

"But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." Matthew 15:9

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[Seeker]

Ayodhya,

Your resources need to look at all of Scripture better.  They missed James 5:14-15.

Is anyone among you sick? He should summon the presbyters of the church, and they should pray over him and anoint (him) with oil in the name of the Lord, and the prayer of faith will save the sick person, and the Lord will raise him up. If he has committed any sins, he will be forgiven.

This is what the Church calls Anointing of the Sick or Last Rites.  The Church is simply obeying Scripture.

[Rev. Eric]

This ritual is never taught in the Bible.
Not one Bible character ever received the Last Rites

First of all, Seeker has demonstrated that it is in the bible.  But the sacrament of Anointing the Sick does not have to be in the bible, as I have pointed out with other things in past posts.

Ayodhya, over and over again, throughout your many posts in this forum, you make statements like the one I quoted above.  Here, once again, you are appealing to the doctrine of Sola Scriptura to criticize Catholic beliefs, even if you have never used that exact term.  So once again I state:

1)  Christian beliefs do not have to be found in Scripture to be true.  I have already pointed out in past discussions that the Canon of Scripture and the Doctrine of the Holy Trinity are examples of Catholic Sacred Tradition that are not found in Scripture, but are nevertheless embraced by all main-line Protestant denominations.

2)  Sola Scriptura is not found in Scripture, but rather is taught by certain Protestant Reformers, none of whom ever claimed to have the authority to set down Christian doctrine.  As such, Sola Scriptura is is a man-made doctrine by the very definition of the term.

3)  I have explicitly demonstrated all these points (and more) in your topic "Why Follow the Bible?"  But rather than try to prove me and the other Community Catholics wrong, you neglect continuing that discussion and start new topics saying the same old thing.

This is getting to be like a broken record.  If you want Catholics to accept that Sola Scriptura is the means by which all Christian practices are to be validated then you must prove that Sola Scriptura is, itself, a valid and authentic Christian doctrine.  You have not done this.  The discussion under the topic "Why Follow the Bible" is still open.

I flat out challenge you right here and now to show where Sola Scriptura is taught by the bible.  Show me ONE passage where the bible explicitedly states that we are to go by Scripture alone.  If you cannot do that, then you are guilty of doing exactly what you have accused Catholics of over and over again - namely, you are following a tradition of man.

"But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." Matthew 15:9

Such as Sola Scriptura?

God bless,
-Rev. Eric

[DavidFilmer]

If Ayodhya plans to cut-and-paste the works of others, the least he could do is attribute it. Ayodhya plagerized this content from the book "Understanding Roman Catholicism," copyright 1995 by Rick Jones, which is posted (with permission and attrition) on Jack Chick's website (Jack Chick is a professional anti-Catholic):

http://www.chick.com/reading/books/160/160_37.asp