The Roman Catholic Church
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The Roman Catholic Church is by far the largest single branch
of Christianity, encompassing more than one billion believers, about
half of all Christians worldwide.
This book cannot adequately examine the doctrines and teachings
of the Roman Catholic Church. As a former Roman Catholic myself, it
certain is not my intent to discredit their beliefs or offend any
Roman Catholic reader. We’ll limit ourselves to mention some of
the main issues that separate Roman Catholicism and other Christian
groups:
- The teaching
authority of the church. Roman Catholicism insists it has
the only accurate and authoritative source of interpretation of
Scripture. Individual believers are not encouraged to read the
Bible and seek its meaning; instead the church will decide that
and teach it to the believer. Over the years this has led to
numerous doctrines not found in the Bible at all, such as the
concepts of purgatory, forgiveness of sins by priests, the role
of Mary and the saints, involuntary celibacy of priests, and so
on. This has bestowed on the church an authority superior to
Scripture; it has also created the concept of papal
infallibility.
- Role of the
Pope. The Roman Catholics believe in the primacy and supreme
authority of the Bishop of Rome also known as the pope. This
person is traditionally regarded as Christ's representative on
earth and successor to the apostle Peter (thought to have been
the first such Bishop of Rome).
When defining matters of faith or morals, what the Pope
says is considered to be infallible and binding for all
Christians.
- Salvation is by
faith plus “works.” Roman Catholics believe the
Christian must rely on faith plus “good works.” God’s
grace is mediated through Seven Sacraments. These Sacraments
(proclaimed by the authority of the church) are:
- Baptism.
For infants or adults to erase original sin.
- Confirmation.
To complete baptism and give the Holy Spirit in a fuller
outpouring, usually children are confirmed at the age of
twelve.
- Holy
Eucharist. Also called Holy Communion, the most important
sacrament. During Mass, through transubstantiation,
Christ is presented again and again as a sacrifice for sins.
- Penance
(or Confession). Through the ministry of intervention by a
priest, a believer can be forgiven by God for sins committed
after baptism. It involves “acts” or “penances” which
a believer must do to be forgiven of his or her sins. The
priest assigns a penance that fits the gravity of the sin.
Doing penance might involve repeating a certain number of
prayers, fasting, or doing “works of love.”
- Anointing
the Sick (or Extreme Unction). The priest anoints the sick
(usually dying) believer with oil and prays for this
individual.
- Holy
Orders. The sacrament through which Roman Catholic
ministers are ordained to the three levels of bishops, priests
and deacons.
- Matrimony.
This sacrament joins a man and woman in a lifelong union.
Divorce and remarriage cut the believer off from Eucharistic
Communion, but not from the church.
For the Roman Catholic, faith in Christ is the beginning of
salvation and lays the foundation for justification. Then the
believer builds on that with good works, because “man
has to merit God’s grace of justification and eternal salvation.”
- Purgatory and
indulgences. Catholics believe, that even if they do all the
works required of them, they are not assured of immediate
entrance into heaven, but first must face punishment for their
sins in an “in-between” place called purgatory.
This is a special place of cleansing where believers are made
fit for heaven; it is not like a temporary hell, but said to be
a state of joy and a place of suffering. Roman Catholics also
believe people still alive can shorten time for those in
purgatory by prayers, offering Mass for them, and doing good
works, which includes acquisition of indulgences. An indulgence
can be a partial, or even full pardon for any sin not paid for
during life. Therefore it can reduce or even eliminate time in
purgatory. The indulgences are administered by the church and
can be given or sold to believers. This last practice was
widespread at the end of the Middle Ages and helped spark Martin
Luther’s initial revolt against the church.
- Role of Mary
and other saints. Roman Catholics practice veneration, which means that they pray to canonized saints, who
in turn intercede for them before God in every need. The Gospel
of Luke calls Mary highly favored and blessed among women (Luke
1:28), but for Roman Catholics, Mary alone is elevated over all
the other saints and given super-veneration.
Over the centuries, she has gained such a uniquely revered
status that the Roman Catholic Church teaches that her virginity
continued after the birth of Jesus and she never gave birth to
additional children. Other doctrines include the Immaculate
Conception (which states that Mary herself was conceived
without sin and lived a sinless life, proclaimed dogma in 1854)
and the doctrine of the Assumption
(that she was taken up directly to heaven, proclaimed dogma in
1950).
Roman Catholics point to Matthew 16:18-19 as evidence for their
claims of the Pope as the leader of the church:
“And I [Jesus] tell
you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my
church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind
on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on
earth will be loosed in heaven.” According to the Catechism
of the Catholic Church, Jesus Himself appointed Peter the
“rock” beneath His church, gave him the keys, and made him
shepherd of the whole flock. They subsequently claim the Bishop of
Rome as Peter’s successor, bearing the supreme authority (primacy)
over the entire church.
However, careful reading of this passage in the Greek
manuscripts shows that the text refers to Peter as “Petros”
(meaning a small rock) and to “this rock” as “
petra
” (meaning a very large rock). Many, if not most, of the Early
Church Leaders believed the rock mentioned by Jesus was the faith
confessed by Peter and not the man himself. Additionally, the book
of Acts shows an important role for Peter in the early years of the
church, but clearly he was not the supreme leader. James, the
brother of Jesus, shared the leadership of the
Jerusalem
Church
with Peter (Acts 12:17 and 15:13) and Paul clearly did not recognize
Peter as “an infallible leader” representing Christ on earth, as
he opposed him in
Galatia
(Galatians 2:11-14). Peter was married (see Matthew 8:14), and popes
are forbidden to marry. If the first pope could marry, why later
deny that privilege to priests and popes? Lastly there is no
verifiable line of succession to link the current pope to Peter the
apostle, there is not even a record of any apostle appointing a
successor after Matthias replaced Judas in Acts 1.
The concept of apostolic succession is found nowhere in the
Bible.
As a concluding invitation to others such as myself who come
from a Roman Catholic background: Please read the Bible yourself.
The Scriptures are the Word of God.
Not only do they not teach the above mentioned Roman Catholic
doctrines, they also teach nothing about special privileges or
additional blessings through priests, bishops, cardinals, or the
Pope.