Jessa Duggar's boyfriend of nearly one year is facing heavy criticism after slamming Catholicism on his Facebook page last week.
In the since deleted post, Ben Seewald said Catholicism departs from the Bible.
"I have nothing against individuals who are Catholic ... I know a lot of Catholics who are great people," he wrote.
"What I DO have a problem with is the teaching that man can merit God's favor through his own works or the works of other fallen men. ... I DO have a problem with the teaching that man can come to God through Mary or any other person besides Jesus...
"I DO have a problem with the deification of Mary as a sinless being. Mary herself admitted her need for a Savior. If she had no sin, she would need no Savior...
"My conscience is captive to the word of God. Where my Catholic friends adhere to God's Word, I adhere. Where they depart from Scripture, I will in no way support, but will call them out because I love them and desire that they be turned from their deadly errors."
Many commenters on Seewald's page slammed the young missionary's statements.
"Ben bashing Catholicism is not good Christian behavior, is this what his church teaches? If so that's not good and I would not want to belong to it. Born and raised Catholic!!!" Donnamarie Silva responded.
"Each of us has the right to express those beliefs and defend them when necessary," Mary Francis Feord wrote. "But Ben has gone far beyond simply expressing his beliefs and stating that he does not agree with Catholic theology. BEN PUBLISHED STATEMENTS WHICH HE SPECIFICALLY ATTRIBUTED TO CATHOLIC THEOLOGY, BUT WHICH ARE IN FACT NOT CATHOLIC THEOLOGY."
Other Facebook users came to 19-year-old's defense.
"I understand that people were hurt by his comment which I believe was only speaking of some Catholics in Honduras," Amber Elizabeth Holbin said. "I can't claim to know what Ben actually meant but so many times something we say may come out the wrong way or be misunderstood."
"Maybe Ben just doesn't fully understand the Catholic faith; it's hard to have an opinion of ones [sic] faith, when you don't actually study and when you've been taught to think negative and hatred towards a faith that has been here for 2000 years," Familia Dovalina wrote. "I will pray for the young man, because he's learning."
Neither Seewald nor the Duggar family have released a statement regarding the controversial post.
