What's the difference between us and Catholics?
Paul Robinson
In some ways, this talk sits uncomfortably in our series about other religions, because the Catholic and Protestant Church both follow the same leader and find their origins in the person of Jesus Christ. And in this way, there are some very encouraging similarities between our beliefs and Catholic doctrine. Firstly, Catholics believe in the uniqueness and divinity of Jesus. They also believe in the existence of Heaven and Hell, the virgin birth, the bodily resurrection of Christ, his imminent return and the inerrancy of Scripture. In many ways, we can learn from the Catholics, who are often much faster to respond to moral and ethical issues in the media. As within the Protestant Church, there is a broad range of beliefs within the Catholic Church. In many ways, we can have more in common with evangelical Catholics than liberal Protestants. All I can really address here is the official teaching of the Catholic Church rather than differentiating between groups of Catholics.
Yet, some great Christians in the past have been prepared to die because they preached against the official teaching of the Catholic church - and we need to acknowledge these differences in order to understand the importance of the Reformation.
The crucial difference between the Protestant Christianity and Catholicism lies in the question of authority. When Jesus said to Peter that he was the rock on which Jesus would build his church, the Catholic church regards this as the origin of "apostolic succession", in which all subsequent leaders of the church assume apostolic authority for what they say - this has in turn led to the teaching of the Pope being infallible on matters of doctrine and faith. Therefore, the authority of teaching in the Catholic Church is found in the "rule of faith" - Scripture plus apostolic tradition, as to the leaders of the church were entrusted the oral teachings of Jesus and the apostles, along with the authority to interpret Scripture correctly.
Therefore traditions of men and Word of God take equal role and importance. The words of the Pope assume apostolic authority and therefore are treated in the same way as the revelation of the Bible.
This seems to have subsequently led to alternative doctrines whose origins aren't necessarily in scripture. That is why the Reformers were so keen to use the phrase "sola scriptura", which asserted the unique authority of scripture. After all, 2 Timothy 3:16-17 asserts the sufficiency of scripture for matters of salvation and Christian life.
With limited space, it is impossible to deal with any of the differences in teaching in sufficient detail, but I'll mention a couple and explore crucial doctrines.
- Mary - given elevated status above other saints and often
perceived as co-redemptrix with Christ
- Sacraments - The Catholic Church has seven sacraments, which
become the means of grace. These include baptism, confession,
confirmation, marriage, ordination, unction, and,
- Mass - It is the re-presentation of the original sacrifice of
Christ. When Jesus held the last supper, he said "This is my body"
(Mark 14:22). The Catholic Church teaches that when the communion
meal is celebrated subsequently, the bread and wine become the body
and blood of Jesus. Therefore, taking Mass for the Catholic is an
important part of dealing with sin - the sacrifice is presented
once more. This is why Roman Catholic clergy are known as Priests -
harking back to the Old Testament, where the Priests presented a
sacrifice on behalf of the people to deal with their sin.
- Salvation - The Catholic church ultimately teaches that salvation is achieved through a combination of faith, works and the sacraments. To some extent, this removes the assurance of our salvation as it depends on our contribution. All of these combine to sanctify the soul, making it more holy and more appropriate for Heaven. This necessitates purgatory (a concept which never appears in scripture) in which souls are purified and made fit for heaven, as the sanctification process is never complete on earth. Yet Hebrews 10:10 claims that we HAVE been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
The Bible is clear, we cannot make ourselves more acceptable to God - we are all tarnished by sin. The truth is that our works will never help us to be right before God.
"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no-one can boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9). We, as evangelical Christians have the privilege of taking these words of Paul and knowing that we have been saved because of what Jesus has achieved and we can be assured of our destiny with him in Heaven.