CIM Briefing Papers
CIM Outline #49
Roman Catholic Beliefs
I. Introduction
The Roman Catholic Church claims 800 million members world-
wide making it the largest christian organization of any
kind. As an organization it has been one of the most
influential forces in the history of western civilization.
It cannot be taken lightly. In the lieu of recent and
significant changes in the RCC, and due to increased interest
in the RCC among Evangelicals and Protestants, serious
questions need to be asked. (See also CIM Outline #47
"Evangelicals and Catholics.")
Are the lines of demarcation between Catholic and Protestant
melting away? To what extent should evangelicals cooperate,
fellowship, or worship with Catholic Christians? Are they
biblically orthodox? Should evangelization of Catholics
cease? Is the RCC the church founded by Jesus? To answer
these questions one needs to understand RCC distinctives,
i.e., its unique beliefs.
II. The Roman Catholic Church as an Organization
A. It is called "Roman" for two reasons: the Roman
Bishop became the most powerful of the bishops, and
because it has its headquarters there. About the 7th
Century the bishop of Rome became known as the "Pope."
B. The ecclesiastical structure of the RCC is monolithic
in that all power resides at the top. It is a vertical
bureaucracy.
C. The RCC is divided into two distinct groups, laity and
clergy. One cannot adequately understand the workings
of the RCC unless this distinction is understood.
D. It claims to be the exclusive church of Jesus Christ.
The word "catholic" means "universal."
E. In addition to being a religious and spiritual
organization it is also a political entity. The
vatican is sovereign territory recognized by other
sovereign nations. The vatican exchanges ambassadors
with most of the countries of the world. This is a
holdover from the days of the Holy Roman Empire when
the Popes wielded tremendous political power.
III. Where Catholics are in Agreement with Evangelicals
A. The Apostle's Creed: "I believe in God the Father
Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth, and in Jesus
Christ, His Only Son, our Lord, Who was conceived by
the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered
under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was
Buried. He descended into Hell ("hades" meaning "the
grave"). On the third day, He rose again from the
Dead. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the
right Hand of God, the Father Almighty from whence He
shall come to Judge the Quick (the living) and the
Dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic
church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of
sins, the resurrection of the body, life everlasting.
(It arose about 390 A.D. and was probably used at
baptismals).
B. This Apostle's Creed, though brief, affirms most of
the cardinal doctrines of the Christian faith. It
attests to a trinitarian view of the godhead, the
deity of Christ, His virgin birth, the resurrection,
the ascension, our Lord's second coming, the
possibility of redemption, and life after death. Both
Catholic and conservative Protestants affirm this
creed with maybe one minor exception: when
protestants say liturgically, "the holy catholic
church," they do not mean the RCC, but rather that the
church, or the Body of Christ is universal (some refer
to it as the invisible church).
C. On the whole, Catholics and Evangelicals share the
same Christian worldview, i.e. they both hold to a
morality which is biblically based. Both agree
substantially on social issues, e.g. sanctity of life
and marriage. However, there is yet a great gulf
between the RCC and Evangelicals on important
doctrinal matters. Martin Lloyd-Jones, the great
English expositor, made the comment with regard to RCC
theology: "It is not so much a matter of the denial
of the truth, but rather such an addition to the truth
that eventually it becomes a departure from it."
IV. Where Catholics disagree with sound Biblical Teaching
A. The Doctrine of Revelation
The subject of this important doctrine is how God
reveals Himself and His will to men. The RCC affirms
that God reveals Himself through the Bible and that it
is fully inspired by God. This is good as far as it
goes, but it is at this juncture that major
disagreements emerge. The Reformers reaffirmed that
you can have only one final authority, and that this
was the 66 books of the Bible (sola scriptura). The
RCC has added to the authority of Scripture in a number
of ways:
1. The Apocrypha. It consists of 15 additional books
which the RCCs add to the Bible. They are bound
between the Old and the New Testaments and are
considered part of the OT. Together they are about
80% the size of the NT. They were not considered
part of the canon until the Council of Trent in
1546. Prior to this, several "infallible" popes
declared them non-canonical (Gregory and Leo X).
They were declared canonical largely because of the
dispute about purgatory. The Catholic bishops
thought they found support for this teaching in one
of the Apocryphal books (II Maccabees 12:40-45).
The NT quotes the OT approximately 260 times and
alludes to it about 370 times and although the NT
writers and Jesus undoubtedly knew of these books
they are never quoted or alluded to in the NT. The
Apocrypha is full of historical inaccuracies,
fantasies, and teachings contrary to Scripture.
2. Tradition. The RCC classifies the tradition of the
Church as "the Word of God." Vatican II affirmed
that Scripture and tradition "form one sacred
deposit of the word of God." When tradition is
elevated to infallibility several problems arise:
(1) The sheer volume of data becomes a major
difficulty; just papal bulls alone comprise about
40 volumes. (2) Contradictions among the many
traditions and the interpretation of traditions are
too numerous to mention. Note: we are not saying
that tradition is not helpful or useful in
interpreting Scripture.
3. The Pope. The RCC believes in apostolic
succession, i.e. the Pope inherits the same
authority as the apostles. They believe that when
the Pope speaks "ex cathedra" (from his chair of
authority) that he speaks without error. This
doctrine of papal infallibility arose rather
recently in 1870 at the First Vatican Council.
According to Scripture only those who had witnessed
the resurrection had apostolic authority (See Acts
1:22; I Cor. 9:1)
4. The Bishops, i.e. the Church. When they are in
council they are seen as infallible interpreters of
Scripture. Here truth is apparently the result of
a majority vote. The edicts of the Council of
Trent were not unanimous. Can we really look at
church history and conclude that the church has
always infallibly interpreted Scripture? (Ask
Galileo!).
B. The Doctrine of Redemption. It is our opinion that the
most serious breach of orthodoxy in the RCC is its
doctrine of redemption. In Galatians Paul argued that
if anyone adds to the gospel of grace alone he should
be condemned (Gal. 1:8). Strong words? Yes. It was
the teaching of this Epistle that convinced Luther to
go against the RCC. Salvation according to RCC
teaching is an intricate system of works involving the
sacramental system. "Grace" is seen as a commodity or
substance that can be gained by various means. It is
never known when one accumulates enough grace to
actually meet God's demands, therefore, a Catholic can
never have full assurance of salvation. The process of
accumulating "grace" even continues in purgatory. Mary
is said to be "full of Grace." Catholics, therefore,
pray to Mary to receive Grace from her. Grace is not
the disposition of a holy God toward sinners as a
result of the work of Christ, but rather an asset that
can be dispensed or infused in the sinner.
C. The Veneration of Mary. Many protestants view the
teachings of the RCC about Mary as being nothing short
of cultic. Most of these false beliefs were only
canonized by the RCC in 1943 as a result of the
encyclical of Pius XII. The major protestant
objections are:
1. Her perpetual virginity. They readily affirm the
virgin birth of Jesus, however, they maintain that
Mary remained a virgin throughout her life in
apparent contradiction to the Scriptures. In three
passages siblings are mentioned, indeed in Mark
6:3, four of Jesus's half-brothers are mentioned by
name. Jude and James later wrote the Epistles
named for them.
2. Sinlessness. The RCC teaches that Mary is "full of
grace" therefore free of original and actual sin.
(Was she too born of a virgin?). In Luke 1:47 she
jubilantly calls the coming Messiah her savior.
3. Co-mediatrix and Co-redemptrix. This is perhaps
the most blatant heretical departure since it
ascribes deity to Mary despite RCC objections. The
two words mean co-mediator, and co-redeemer. This
is blasphemy to ascribe these divine works to a
mortal. Catholics are encouraged to pray to Mary.
In order for Mary to hear the prayers of saints
around the world would require attributes of deity.
4. The Assumption of Mary. The RCC believes Mary
escaped death (because she had no sin) and was
assumed into heaven where she now reigns with
Christ. This is nowhere taught in Scripture.
D. The Sacraments. One cannot understand Catholic
theology or its complex view of redemption without
understanding the sacraments for they are the heart of
Catholic teaching. There are seven sacraments:
baptism, confirmation, penance, Holy Eucharist,
marriage, anointing the sick, and holy orders. "The
Sacraments are the means appointed by God for
attainment of eternal salvation. Three of them are in
the ordinary way of salvation so necessary that without
their use salvation cannot be attained (i.e. baptism,
penance, holy orders)" Ludwig Ott.
E. Purgatory. The doctrine of purgatory was officially
proclaimed as dogma in 1438, however, it has ancient
origins. The problem is that its teaching is nowhere
to be found in Scripture. It largely comes from the
Apocrypha and from spiritism, i.e. apparitions who
affirm it. It is a place of torment where all saints
go to be finally purged of their sins. The length of
one's stay in purgatory is dependent on several
factors: (1) your good works on earth, and they are
specific, such as saying the rosary, (2) the prayers of
the living, (3) and indulgences paid on behalf of the
suffering.
F. The Priesthood. There is no NT authority for an order
of human priests in the NT church. According to the
teaching of the Epistle of Hebrews we have only one
priest, Jesus Christ, our High Priest. In the RCC
priests are highly respected and authoritarian figures.
According to their own words salvation can come to no
one except through the ministrations of the priest.
This teaching is actually very ancient dating back to
the 3rd Century (Cyprian). The priest in the RCC has
the authority to mediate between God and man (in the
confessional), forgive sins, and by pronouncement
change the elements of communion into the actual Body
and Blood of Christ. Note what the Council of Trent
says about the priest: "The priest remits sins as God,
and that which he calls his body at the altar is adored
as God by himself and by the congregation....It is
clear that their function is such that none greater can
be conceived. Wherefore they are justly called not
only angels, but also God, holding as they do among us
the power and authority of the immortal God." (Note:
some churches: Anglican, Episcopal, and the Eastern
churches call their ministers, priests, but their roles
are more like the protestants.)
G. The Church. Protestants emphasize that there are two
aspects to the Church of Jesus Christ: the universal
and local. The universal church consists of all
believers of all time regardless of denomination or
minor differences of belief; it is the mystical Body of
Christ. The Local aspect is the visible congregation
which meets together at a geographical location. In
the RCC the stress lies mainly in the outward world-
wide structure which it believes is the one true church
and the one founded by Jesus Christ Himself. In short
it sees the church more as an institution rather than a
living organism.
V. Conclusion
1. The RCC consistently denies the sufficiency and
completeness of the atoning work of Christ and many
other orthodox teachings.
2. Its final authority is ultimately church tradition
rather than Scripture alone.
3. There are those who are genuinely saved in the Catholic
church but it is in spite of the church and its
teachings.
4. Those in the Catholic church who are genuinely trusting
in Christ alone for their salvation should be encouraged
to worship where the communion is Biblically
administered and where the Scriptures are correctly
expounded.
5. Believers need to pray for the Catholic church that the
Holy Spirit will visit it with a genuine spirit of
revival and reform.
Further Study:
Catholic perspective:
CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH.
Hardon, John A. THE CATHOLIC CATECHISM.
Keating, Karl. CATHOLICISM AND FUNDAMENTALISM.
Marthaler, Berard L. THE CREED.
McBrien, Richard P. CATHOLICISM.
Ratzinger, Joseph Cardinal, and Schonborn, Christoph.
INTRODUCTION TO THE CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC
CHURCH.
Evangelical Critiques:
Ankerberg, John and Weldon, John PROTESTANTS & CATHOLICS: DO
THEY NOW AGREE?.
Ankerberg, John and Weldon, John. THE FACTS ON ROMAN
CATHOLICISM.
Armstrong, John. ed. ROMAN CATHOLICISM: EVANGELICAL
PROTESTANTS ANALYZE WHAT UNITES
& WHAT DIVIDES US.
MacKenzie, Ralph E. and Geisler, Norman L. CATHOLICS AND
EVANGELICALS: AGREEMENTS AND DIFFERENCES.
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