Many Roman Catholics in America are trying to appear more and more like Christians. Let me clarify. Since the Gospel is so clear in Scripture, many American Roman Catholic churches are trying to "appear" as close to the Biblical/Reformed view of Justification as possible. Many Roman Catholics will make statements like... "I belive that Jesus died for me" or "I believe that Jesus is the only way to God". But, let's face it. Mormons say that too. So do Jehovah's Witnesses. It is important to define our terms and what exactly we are saying makes someone right with God. Let me start this blog series with a few qoutes from the Roman Catholic church's official teachings on the subject. Here are a few to set up what I'll be saying in the next few posts...
Why did Christ establish the Church?
Christ established the Church as the universal sacrament of salvation.
How is the Church the universal sacrament of salvation?
The Church is the universal sacrament of salvation as the divinely instituted means of conferring grace on all the members of the human family.
What does the Catholic Church believe about the forgiveness of sins?
She believes it is God’s will that no one is forgiven except through the merits of Jesus Christ and that these merits are uniquely channeled through the Church He founded. Consequently, even as the Church is the universal sacrament of salvation, she is also the universal sacrament of reconciliation.
How does the Church communicate the merits of Christ’s mercy to sinners?
The Church communicates the merits of Christ’s mercy to sinners through the Mass and the sacraments and all the prayers and good works of the faithful.
Are the sacraments necessary for salvation?
According to the way God has willed that we be saved the sacraments are necessary for salvation
(John Hardon, The Question and Answer Catholic Catechism (Garden City: Image, 1981), Questions # 401, 402, 461, 462, 1119).
If any one saith that the sacraments of the New Law are not necessary unto salvation...and that without them, or without the desire thereof, men obtain from God, through faith alone, the grace of justification...let him be anathema (The Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent. Found in Philip Schaff, The Creeds of Christendom (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1919), Canon IV, p. 119).
If anyone saith that by faith alone the impious is justified in such wise as to mean that nothing else is required to cooperate in order to obtaining the grace of Justification...let him be anathema...After this Catholic doctrine on justification which whosoever does not faithfully and firmly accept cannot be justified...(The Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent. Found in Philip Schaff, The Creeds of Christendom (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1910), Decree on Justification, Chapter XVI, Canon IX).
Believe me, it gets worse. But, suffice it to say that the Roman Catholic church "officially" denies salvation by grace through faith alone (Romans 3:28). The Roman Catholic church's official view on salvation is nearly "identical" to the false gospel known as the Judaizer heresy found in the book of Galatians. Here is a great chart from William Webster and a neat exchange to illustrate this...
Judaizers
1. Belief in Jesus as Messiah and Son of God
2. Circumcision
3. Become a Jew
4. Sacrificial System
5. Priests
6. High Priests
7. Altars
8. Feast Days
9. Laver of Water
10. Dietary Regulations
11. Candles
12. Incense
13. Shew Bread
14. Keep the Ten Commandments
15. Tradition of the Elders
Roman Catholicism
1. Belief in Jesus as Messiah and Son of God
2. Baptism
3. Become a Roman Catholic
4. Sacrificial System
5. Priests
6. High Priests
7. Altars
8. Feast Days
9. Font of Holy Water
10. Dietary Regulations (Until recently)
11. Candles
12. Incense
13. The Eucharist Wafer
14. Keep the Ten Commandments
15. Tradition of the Church Fathers
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
>"Does the Roman Catholic church teach a false Gospel?"
No, the Roman Catholic Church does NOT teach a false gospel. Neither do any of the other 22 Catholic Churches.
>"(John Hardon, The Question and Answer Catholic Catechism (Garden City: Image, 1981), Questions # 401, 402, 461, 462, 1119)."
If you're going to quote from a catechism, you might consider the official Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) and not a private individual's book. Too many folks build strawman arguements by not accurately stating what the Catholic Church really says.
The entire CCC is available online:
http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/
>"But, suffice it to say that the Roman Catholic church "officially" denies salvation by grace through faith alone (Romans 3:28)."
Yes, it does. Because that was NOT the Gospel taught by Chrst and the Apostles, but is a false man-made gospel of Luther and the Reformers. Romans 3:28 does not say "by grace through faith alone". If we take a concordance and look up every occurrence of the word "faith," we come up with an undeniable fact the only time the phrase "faith alone" is used in the entire Bible is when it is condemned (James 2:24). [Luther sought to remove the Epistle of James from the Bible.]
>" The Roman Catholic church's official view on salvation is nearly "identical" to the false gospel known as the Judaizer heresy found in the book of Galatians."
Nope. That would be your opinion based on your own fallible personal interpretation of scripture.
The Catholic Church teaches salvation is by grace alone as it has for nearly two millenia. You find official Catholic teaching on salvation in the Bible and the CCC. Catholics wrote both.
CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH -
GRACE AND JUSTIFICATION
http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p3s1c3a2.htm
You might heed these famous words as you make your case against the Catholic Church:
"I could not understand why these romancers never took the trouble to find out a few elementary facts about the thing they denounced. The facts might easily have helped the denunciation, where the fictions discredited it. There were any number of real Catholic doctrines I should then have thought disgraceful to the Church . . . But the enemies of the Church never found these real rocks of offence. They never looked for them. They never looked for anything . . . Boundless freedom reigned; it was not treated as if it were a question of fact at all . . . It puzzled me very much, even at that early stage, to imagine why people bringing controversial charges against a powerful and prominent institution should thus neglect to test their own case, and should draw in this random way on their own imagination . . . I never dreamed that the Roman religion was true; but I knew that its accusers, for some reason or other, were curiously inaccurate."
(G.K. Chesterton, The Catholic Church and Conversion, NY: Macmillan, 1926, 36-38)
God bless...
Timothy, are you honestly trying to say that you disagree with the qoutations given by me with regard to the sacraments? Just because you answer Timothy, does not mean it is a valid one. I am however very thankful about the fact that you have admitted that your church denies salvation by Grace through faith alone. Many modern Catholics in my area seem to be confused about that. And if you would simply read Romans 3:28 you would see that it does in fact teach what I said. Faith apart from the deeds of the law is ... you got it... faith alone. Faith by itself. You might do well to read James chapter 2 in its entirety before using it as a proof text about your view (which is condemed by the Apostle Paul in Galatians). And yes Paul is discussing a false gospel that is similar to yours. Faith and Jesus plus the one act of obedience to the law (circumcision) is condemed by Paul and declared Anathema. James clearly states that if you keep the whole law and stumble in one point you are guilty of all of it. If you are trying to use James 2 out of context and say that it is teaching faith and works as meritorious for salvation... then... have you not broken the law? If so you have then you are guilty of all of it. And I would imagine that is every day. By the way, your confusion about James 2 could be cleared up by reading the context between Paul and James qoutation. Paul uses a diffent time in Abrahams life about when God justified him vs. when James offered up Isaac in vindication of his faith.
Post a Comment