Dear Jim:

The Catholic Church never subtracted or added a single dotted "i" to the Bible.

The Bible that Jesus read was the Septuagint version of the Old Testament. This is the same version used in the Catholic Bible. If it was good enough for Jesus, I suspect it is good enough for us.

The Church for 1500 years used the Septuagint version of the Old Testament.

Then in the 16th Century a arrogant, prideful man decided he knew better than 1500 years of Christianity and decided on his own authority to rip seven books out of the Old Testament. That man was Martin Luther.

Martin Luther was not finished by ripping seven books out of the Old Testament, he also wanted to remove the Book of James, Hebrews, and Revelations.  He also added words to the Bible in his German translation.

He called the book of James an "epistle of straw". Of course St. James refuted Martin Luther's claim of justification by "faith alone". The only place in the Bible where those words come together is in the book of James where St. James says that "justification is not by faith alone" (James 2:24).

Martin Luther, in his abject arrogance, added the word "alone" to the passage in Romans 3:28 in his German translation.

Luther, in fact, was confronted at the time on why he had added the word "alone" to Romans 3:28. His response is VERY revealing. To the criticism of adding the word "alone" to Romans 3:28 Martin Luther replied:

"You tell me what a great fuss the Papists are making because the word 'alone' is not in the text of Paul. If your Papist makes such an unnecessary row about the word 'alone,' say right out to him: 'Dr. Martin Luther will have it so,' and say: 'Papist and asses are one and the same thing.' I will have it so, and I order it to be so, and my will is reason enough. I know very well that the word 'alone' is not in the Latin or the Greek text, and it was not necessary for the Papists to teach me that. It is true those letters are not in it, which letters the jackasses look at, as a cow stares at a new gate...It shall remain in my New Testament, and if all the Popish donkeys were to get mad and beside themselves, they will not get it out."

Thus sayeth the "humble" Martin Luther.

Martin Luther also hated it when anyone interpreted the Bible differently than he did. He expected everyone to accept his interpretation alone and only his interpretation. For a man who hated the papacy, it sounds to me like he has delusions of popehood.  :)

The dogma of the Catholic Church has remained the same for 2000 years. It is the only Church that can claim that.

The Catholic Church has the true and unabridged Bible. You, sir, have the Reader's Digest version. Shame on you.

Oh, by the way, to reassert this point in correcting your predictably silly history, the Septuagint was the basis of the Catholic Bible since the beginning. Those books were NOT added in response to the Protestant Revolt. That assertion is utterly stupid. The Council of Trent merely RE-AFFIRMED what had already been the case for 1500 years since the rebels were choosing to thumb their nose at God and rip portions out of the Bible. Shame on them.

Shame on you for refusing to join the only True Church in the Fullness of the Faith -- the Roman Catholic Church, the Church that JESUS personally founded.  How can you stay in a man-made so-called church?

But that is okay... assuming you go to heaven, you will be Catholic then :) since salvation is only through the Catholic Church (even if one is saved outside of the institution of the Catholic Church). Thus, only Catholics are in heaven.

Even now, if you are validly baptized, you ARE Catholic (imperfectly) whether you know it or not, and whether you like it or not. I am comforted by that thought. 

God bless, my Catholic friend,
Bro. Ignatius Mary