The favorite buzz word in Christianity today is “tolerance.” Christian leaders across the spectrum are urging their followers to forget doctrinal differences and to embrace all those who profess to be Christian.
One manifestation of this trend has been an increasing acceptance of Catholics by Protestant, Evangelical leaders, even leaders like Billy Graham. The urge to embrace Catholics has been especially strong among Charismatics. At last year’s national convention of Charismatics held in Indianapolis, half the audience and several of the key speakers were Catholics.
The Challenge
Recently, Paul Crouch, the head of the Trinity Broadcasting Network and a leading Charismatic spokesman, made the following observation regarding the Catholic doctrine of Transubstantiation (the concept that the bread and the wine in the Mass become the literal body and blood of Christ):
“Well, we [Protestants] believe the same thing. So you see, one of the things that has divided us all of these years shouldn’t have divided us all along because we were really meaning the same thing but just saying it a little differently… I am eradicating the word Protestant even out of my vocabulary… I’m not protesting anything any more… it is… time for Catholics and non-Catholics to come together as one in the spirit and one in the Lord.”1
Another well known Charismatic leader, Earl Paulk of Atlanta, has also been calling for Evangelicals to embrace the Catholics without reservation. He has labeled Protestant critics of Catholicism as “doom prophets,” and he scoffs at the idea that anyone should be concerned about Catholics praying to Mary.2
The Response
What should be our attitude toward Catholicism? Was the Reformation simply much ado about nothing? Has modern day Catholicism reformed itself sufficiently to justify our overlooking doctrinal differences in the name of Christian love and unity?
The first point I would like to make is that Catholicism is not nearly as apostate as some forms of mainline Protestant Christianity. The Catholic Church strongly affirms the virgin birth, the deity of Jesus, and the reality of the Resurrection. All three of these cornerstone truths have been rejected by mainstream liberal Protestantism in its obsessive search for what it calls “the historical Jesus.” In short, apostasy is not a Protestant versus Catholic issue. There is apostasy on both sides of the fence.
If Catholicism affirms the deity and resurrection of Jesus, then where does it fall short of Biblical standards? Where is the apostasy?
Catholic Apostasy
It is manifested first and foremost in the Church’s concept of salvation. The bottom line is that the Catholic Church has never accepted the great Biblical truth that was restored to Christendom by the Reformation; namely, that salvation is by grace through faith, and not by works (Eph. 2:8-10).
Catholic leaders will deny this. They will affirm salvation by grace. But the fruit of their teaching and preaching testifies otherwise.3 There are millions of Catholics around the world who believe they are saved because:
they were born a Catholic, or
they received Catholic baptism as infants, or
they attend Mass twice a year, or
they go to confession regularly, or
their name is on the roll of a local parish, or
they live a good, clean moral life.
All these misguided concepts translate into one thing — belief in salvation by works. And the people who express them are spiritually lost because they have never been born again. They have no personal relationship with Jesus as their Savior and Lord.
I am not saying there are no saved Catholics. There certainly are Catholics who have discovered the Lord and have put their faith in Him. But they are the exception, and most have discovered the Lord through their own Bible study and not through the teaching of the Church.
Doctrinal Confusion
This raises the question of whether or not such true believers within Catholicism should remain there or leave. I think that question can best be answered with a series of questions:
Can a person grow spiritually in an atmosphere of idolatry where people are encouraged to bow before images of Mary and Saints and pray to them?
Can people reach their full spiritual potential in a church that denies the priesthood of all believers (I Peter 2:9), requiring its people to approach God through special priests who are not ordained in God’s Word?
Can people grow in the image of Jesus in a church that de-emphasizes the importance of Bible study and exalts the traditions of men over the Word of God?
Can people ever have any confidence of their salvation in a church that requires cleansing punishments for sin in the form of penance in this life and purgatory after death?
Can a person ever come to a true understanding and appreciation of the unique role and work of Christ when His mother is exalted as a co-redeemer and His sacrifice on the Cross is debased by a teaching that He must die repeatedly in the Mass?
I could go on and on, for the apostasies of the Catholic Church are great in number and profound in their implications for the Christian faith.
The Veneration of Mary
Particularly appalling in modern history has been the increasing emphasis given to the worship of Mary. This gross idolatry was accentuated by the selection of a Polish Pope, for the adoration of Mary has long been a central focus of Polish Catholicism.
Again, Catholics will deny that they worship Mary. They argue, instead, that they simply give her the honor that she deserves. But, again, their actions speak louder than their words, and in this case, official words are sufficient to establish the point. Consider, for example, the following statement taken from an official Catholic publication:
“Mary is co-redemptrix of the human race… because with Christ she ransomed mankind from the power of Satan. Jesus redeemed us with the blood of His body, Mary with the agonies of her heart… The church and the saints greet her thus: ‘You, O Mary, together with Jesus Christ, redeemed us…’
God has ordained that no grace will be granted to us except through Mary… No one will be saved or obtain mercy except through you, O Heavenly Lady… No one will enter heaven without passing through Mary as one would pass through a door… O Mary, our salvation is in your hands.”4
This is blasphemy of the worst sort. It is the ancient Babylonian mystery religion parading in new clothes, worshipping Mary as the “Queen of Heaven.”
To Leave or Not to Leave?
So, what should believing Catholics do? I have found that most try to hang in at first, attempting to have some influence on their priest or parish, hoping especially to bring the good news of a personal relationship with Jesus to their fellow Catholics. But it usually does not take long for them to realize that their efforts are not appreciated.
They must then decide whether to remain or leave. If they remain, they compromise what they believe by keeping silent, and they jeopardize their own spiritual growth. If they decide to leave, it is always a painful choice, since to depart means leaving behind dear friends. It also usually results in condemnation by family members.
What then should they do? They should do exactly what any believer should do who is caught up in any apostate religious organization, whether it be a Catholic parish or a Protestant church. They should leave!
The Bible says, “Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership… has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever?” (II Cor. 6:14-15).
Deceptive Tolerance
The current emphasis on tolerance in Christianity is a subtle ploy of Satan to corrupt the Church from within. The deception sounds so appealing: “Why draw lines of fellowship over doctrinal differences? The only thing that’s important is sincerity. Reach out and embrace all those who profess Christ regardless of how doctrinally corrupt they may be. Do it in the name of Christian love. Do it for the sake of Christian unity.”
This type of thinking has led Earl Paulk to call for the Evangelical Christian world to embrace even the Mormons! It has motivated mainline liberal spokesmen to advocate that Christians show tolerance toward Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and other pagan faiths by restraining ourselves from sharing the Gospel with them. Consider, for example, the following words of Episcopal Bishop John Spong of New Jersey:
“In the fall of 1988, I worshipped God in a Buddhist temple. As the smell of incense filled the air, I knelt before three images of Buddha, feeling that the smoke could carry my prayers heavenward. It was for me a holy moment for I was certain that I was kneeling on holy ground…
I will not make any further attempt to convert the Buddhist, the Jew, the Hindu or the Moslem. I am content to learn from them and to walk with them side by side toward the God who lives, I believe, beyond the images that bind and blind us.”5
Again, it all sounds so wonderful, so soothing, so tolerant! Tragically, it makes a liar of the very person they profess as Lord, for Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me” (John 14:6). Those are not tolerant words.
The Coming World Religion
The Christian leaders who are advocating tolerance to the point of embracing apostasy are going to triumph in the near future, at least temporarily. The Bible makes that clear. Just as “one world” thought is dominating the political and economic scenes today, it has captivated the thinking of both Catholic and Protestant leaders regarding religion.
That thinking is paving the way for the establishment of the one world government of the Anti-Christ (Rev. 13:1-10) which will be supported by the one world religious system of the False Prophet (Rev. 13:11-18).
I believe the harlot church of Revelation 17 will most likely be an amalgamation of the world’s pagan religions, including apostate Protestants, under the leadership of the Catholic Church.
In that regard, I think it is significant that in 1989 the Archbishop of the Anglican Church, Robert Runcie, called for all Christians to accept the Pope as “a common leader presiding in love.” Runcie made his appeal at an evening prayer service midway through his first official visit to the Vatican. “For the universal church, I renew the plea,” he said. “Could not all Christians come to reconsider the kind of primacy the bishop of Rome exercised with the early church, ‘a presiding in love’ for the sake of the unity of the churches in the diversity of their mission?”6
We have already been given a chilling preview of what is to come. It occurred in November 1986 in Assisi Italy when Pope John Paul II called a convocation of the leaders of twelve world religions to pray to their gods for peace. One of those who came was the Dalai Lama who is considered to be a god himself! The show was stolen by an American Indian chief who danced and whooped to his god.7
Why did the Pope feel it was necessary to bring together pagan religious leaders to pray to pagan gods? Does the Pope feel his own god is inadequate to the task? The most obvious answer is that the Pope believes all the leaders were praying to the same god.
This is one of the most popular ideas in Christendom today. It is the concept that God has revealed Himself in many different ways to different peoples. The conclusion, therefore, is that there are many roads to God. It is tolerance gone to seed. It also contradicts the Scriptures which say that God has revealed Himself in only one person, His Son, Jesus of Nazareth (Heb. 1:1-2).
The Importance of Doctrine
We live in an age of demonic deception (I Tim. 4:1 and II John 7). We must be on guard at all times. We must test everything by the Word of God (I John 4:1 and II Tim. 2:15).
There are those who argue that the only thing that is important is the Gospel, and we should be willing to embrace anyone who has accepted the Gospel. The Gospel is then defined as the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus (I Cor. 15:1-5).
Such an attitude ignores the fact that doctrine can deny the Gospel. For example, Jehovah’s Witnesses claim they accept the Gospel, but their doctrine of Christ denies the Gospel, for they claim that Jesus was the archangel Michael. Likewise, Mormons claim to accept the Gospel, but their doctrines pervert Jesus into a created god who is the brother of Lucifer.
Doctrine is not irrelevant. That’s why the Scriptures tell us to avoid “strange doctrines” (I Tim. 1:3) and “different doctrines” (I Tim. 6:3). That’s why Paul publicly rebuked two men by name for teaching that the resurrection had already taken place (II Tim. 2:17).
We are told to reject what is contrary to “sound teaching” (I Tim. 1:10) and to “retain the standard of sound words” (II Tim. 1:13). And in Titus 1:9 Paul says that an elder is to be able “to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict it.”
Catholic Doctrine
Catholics claim to accept the Gospel, but their doctrines deny the sufficiency of the sacrifice of Jesus and the salvation of God by grace through faith.
Catholic doctrine depreciates the significance of Jesus. For example, the tremendous importance of His incarnation is diminished by the doctrine of Mary’s immaculate conception (the concept that Mary was also born without a sin nature). The all-sufficiency of the Lord’s sacrifice on the Cross is dispelled by the doctrine of Transubstantiation, which holds that He is re-sacrificed daily in the Mass. His current unique role as our High Priest before the throne of God is diluted by the doctrine that Mary serves as our co-redeemer and interceder.
The Jesus of Catholicism is not the Jesus of the Bible. He is a pagan god who denies us access to God the Father unless we atone for our own sins by paying penance in this life and then suffering in purgatory.
The Mary of Catholicism is also not the Mary of the Bible. The Mary of the Bible was a woman of great faith and sterling character. But she was also a sinner who needed a Savior. The Catholic Mary is just another pagan god.
Catholic Idolatry
Catholicism is steeped in idolatry. In their veneration of Mary and the Saints, Catholics commit the worst of all sins against God.
There is a myth that prevails in Christianity which says that all sins are equal. That is not true. All sins are equal only in the sense that any sin condemns us before God. But all sin is not equal in the eyes of God. There are sins that God hates more than others.8 That is why there are going to be degrees of punishment for the unrighteous.9
The Bible always portrays the worst possible sin as the sin of idolatry.10 That is why the first commandment says, “You shall have no other gods before me” (Ex. 20:3), and the second says “You shall not make for yourself an idol” (Ex. 20:4).
And that is precisely why the Catholic Church, in its presentation of the Ten Commandments, always deletes the second commandment and then makes up the difference by doubling the last commandment against coveting, making of it two commands: you shall not covet your neighbor’s house, and you shall not covet his wife.11 This is blatant scriptural manipulation designed to cover up the sinful idolatry of the Church.
But God cannot be mocked (Gal.6:7). His Word says that idolaters will be excluded from Heaven. They will be thrown into the lake of fire (Rev. 21:8).
The message of the Holy Spirit to those caught up in the spiritual darkness of Catholicism is, “Come out of Babylon!” (Rev. 18:4).
For more detailed information about Roman Catholicism, contact Proclaiming the Gospel Ministry at P.O. Box 940871, Plano, Tx. 75094.
Notes
ငါ့ပညတ္တို့ကိုရ၍ေစာင့္ေရွာက္ေသာသူသည္ငါ့ကိုခ်စ္ ေသာသူျဖစ္၏ငါကိုခ်စ္ေသာသူသည္ခမည္ေတာ္သည္ ခ်စ္ေတာ္မူမည္။ငါသည္လည္း ထိုသူကိုခ်စ္ခ်စ္၍သူ့ အားထင္ရွားမည္သူမိန့္ေတာ္မူ၏။ ရွင္ေယာဟန္ခရစ္ဝင္က်မ္း ၁၄း၂၁ ပညတ္ေတာ္တို့ကိုေစာင့္ၾကလွ်င္၊ဘုရားသခင္၏ သားတို့ကိုခ်စ္ ၾကသည္ငါတို့သိရ၏ ၁၊ရွင္ေယာဟန္၊၅း၂ း၃
Tuesday, July 26, 2016
Roman Catholicism
Is it the “Whore of Babylon”?
By Dr. David R. Reagan
The favorite buzz word in Christianity today is “tolerance.” Christian leaders across the spectrum are urging their followers to forget doctrinal differences and to embrace all those who profess to be Christian.
One manifestation of this trend has been an increasing acceptance of Catholics by Protestant, Evangelical leaders, even leaders like Billy Graham. The urge to embrace Catholics has been especially strong among Charismatics. At last year’s national convention of Charismatics held in Indianapolis, half the audience and several of the key speakers were Catholics.
The Challenge
Recently, Paul Crouch, the head of the Trinity Broadcasting Network and a leading Charismatic spokesman, made the following observation regarding the Catholic doctrine of Transubstantiation (the concept that the bread and the wine in the Mass become the literal body and blood of Christ):
“Well, we [Protestants] believe the same thing. So you see, one of the things that has divided us all of these years shouldn’t have divided us all along because we were really meaning the same thing but just saying it a little differently… I am eradicating the word Protestant even out of my vocabulary… I’m not protesting anything any more… it is… time for Catholics and non-Catholics to come together as one in the spirit and one in the Lord.”1
Another well known Charismatic leader, Earl Paulk of Atlanta, has also been calling for Evangelicals to embrace the Catholics without reservation. He has labeled Protestant critics of Catholicism as “doom prophets,” and he scoffs at the idea that anyone should be concerned about Catholics praying to Mary.2
The Response
What should be our attitude toward Catholicism? Was the Reformation simply much ado about nothing? Has modern day Catholicism reformed itself sufficiently to justify our overlooking doctrinal differences in the name of Christian love and unity?
The first point I would like to make is that Catholicism is not nearly as apostate as some forms of mainline Protestant Christianity. The Catholic Church strongly affirms the virgin birth, the deity of Jesus, and the reality of the Resurrection. All three of these cornerstone truths have been rejected by mainstream liberal Protestantism in its obsessive search for what it calls “the historical Jesus.” In short, apostasy is not a Protestant versus Catholic issue. There is apostasy on both sides of the fence.
If Catholicism affirms the deity and resurrection of Jesus, then where does it fall short of Biblical standards? Where is the apostasy?
Catholic Apostasy
It is manifested first and foremost in the Church’s concept of salvation. The bottom line is that the Catholic Church has never accepted the great Biblical truth that was restored to Christendom by the Reformation; namely, that salvation is by grace through faith, and not by works (Eph. 2:8-10).
Catholic leaders will deny this. They will affirm salvation by grace. But the fruit of their teaching and preaching testifies otherwise.3 There are millions of Catholics around the world who believe they are saved because:
they were born a Catholic, or
they received Catholic baptism as infants, or
they attend Mass twice a year, or
they go to confession regularly, or
their name is on the roll of a local parish, or
they live a good, clean moral life.
All these misguided concepts translate into one thing — belief in salvation by works. And the people who express them are spiritually lost because they have never been born again. They have no personal relationship with Jesus as their Savior and Lord.
I am not saying there are no saved Catholics. There certainly are Catholics who have discovered the Lord and have put their faith in Him. But they are the exception, and most have discovered the Lord through their own Bible study and not through the teaching of the Church.
Doctrinal Confusion
This raises the question of whether or not such true believers within Catholicism should remain there or leave. I think that question can best be answered with a series of questions:
Can a person grow spiritually in an atmosphere of idolatry where people are encouraged to bow before images of Mary and Saints and pray to them?
Can people reach their full spiritual potential in a church that denies the priesthood of all believers (I Peter 2:9), requiring its people to approach God through special priests who are not ordained in God’s Word?
Can people grow in the image of Jesus in a church that de-emphasizes the importance of Bible study and exalts the traditions of men over the Word of God?
Can people ever have any confidence of their salvation in a church that requires cleansing punishments for sin in the form of penance in this life and purgatory after death?
Can a person ever come to a true understanding and appreciation of the unique role and work of Christ when His mother is exalted as a co-redeemer and His sacrifice on the Cross is debased by a teaching that He must die repeatedly in the Mass?
I could go on and on, for the apostasies of the Catholic Church are great in number and profound in their implications for the Christian faith.
The Veneration of Mary
Particularly appalling in modern history has been the increasing emphasis given to the worship of Mary. This gross idolatry was accentuated by the selection of a Polish Pope, for the adoration of Mary has long been a central focus of Polish Catholicism.
Again, Catholics will deny that they worship Mary. They argue, instead, that they simply give her the honor that she deserves. But, again, their actions speak louder than their words, and in this case, official words are sufficient to establish the point. Consider, for example, the following statement taken from an official Catholic publication:
“Mary is co-redemptrix of the human race… because with Christ she ransomed mankind from the power of Satan. Jesus redeemed us with the blood of His body, Mary with the agonies of her heart… The church and the saints greet her thus: ‘You, O Mary, together with Jesus Christ, redeemed us…’
God has ordained that no grace will be granted to us except through Mary… No one will be saved or obtain mercy except through you, O Heavenly Lady… No one will enter heaven without passing through Mary as one would pass through a door… O Mary, our salvation is in your hands.”4
This is blasphemy of the worst sort. It is the ancient Babylonian mystery religion parading in new clothes, worshipping Mary as the “Queen of Heaven.”
To Leave or Not to Leave?
So, what should believing Catholics do? I have found that most try to hang in at first, attempting to have some influence on their priest or parish, hoping especially to bring the good news of a personal relationship with Jesus to their fellow Catholics. But it usually does not take long for them to realize that their efforts are not appreciated.
They must then decide whether to remain or leave. If they remain, they compromise what they believe by keeping silent, and they jeopardize their own spiritual growth. If they decide to leave, it is always a painful choice, since to depart means leaving behind dear friends. It also usually results in condemnation by family members.
What then should they do? They should do exactly what any believer should do who is caught up in any apostate religious organization, whether it be a Catholic parish or a Protestant church. They should leave!
The Bible says, “Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership… has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever?” (II Cor. 6:14-15).
Deceptive Tolerance
The current emphasis on tolerance in Christianity is a subtle ploy of Satan to corrupt the Church from within. The deception sounds so appealing: “Why draw lines of fellowship over doctrinal differences? The only thing that’s important is sincerity. Reach out and embrace all those who profess Christ regardless of how doctrinally corrupt they may be. Do it in the name of Christian love. Do it for the sake of Christian unity.”
This type of thinking has led Earl Paulk to call for the Evangelical Christian world to embrace even the Mormons! It has motivated mainline liberal spokesmen to advocate that Christians show tolerance toward Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and other pagan faiths by restraining ourselves from sharing the Gospel with them. Consider, for example, the following words of Episcopal Bishop John Spong of New Jersey:
“In the fall of 1988, I worshipped God in a Buddhist temple. As the smell of incense filled the air, I knelt before three images of Buddha, feeling that the smoke could carry my prayers heavenward. It was for me a holy moment for I was certain that I was kneeling on holy ground…
I will not make any further attempt to convert the Buddhist, the Jew, the Hindu or the Moslem. I am content to learn from them and to walk with them side by side toward the God who lives, I believe, beyond the images that bind and blind us.”5
Again, it all sounds so wonderful, so soothing, so tolerant! Tragically, it makes a liar of the very person they profess as Lord, for Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me” (John 14:6). Those are not tolerant words.
The Coming World Religion
The Christian leaders who are advocating tolerance to the point of embracing apostasy are going to triumph in the near future, at least temporarily. The Bible makes that clear. Just as “one world” thought is dominating the political and economic scenes today, it has captivated the thinking of both Catholic and Protestant leaders regarding religion.
That thinking is paving the way for the establishment of the one world government of the Anti-Christ (Rev. 13:1-10) which will be supported by the one world religious system of the False Prophet (Rev. 13:11-18).
I believe the harlot church of Revelation 17 will most likely be an amalgamation of the world’s pagan religions, including apostate Protestants, under the leadership of the Catholic Church.
In that regard, I think it is significant that in 1989 the Archbishop of the Anglican Church, Robert Runcie, called for all Christians to accept the Pope as “a common leader presiding in love.” Runcie made his appeal at an evening prayer service midway through his first official visit to the Vatican. “For the universal church, I renew the plea,” he said. “Could not all Christians come to reconsider the kind of primacy the bishop of Rome exercised with the early church, ‘a presiding in love’ for the sake of the unity of the churches in the diversity of their mission?”6
We have already been given a chilling preview of what is to come. It occurred in November 1986 in Assisi Italy when Pope John Paul II called a convocation of the leaders of twelve world religions to pray to their gods for peace. One of those who came was the Dalai Lama who is considered to be a god himself! The show was stolen by an American Indian chief who danced and whooped to his god.7
Why did the Pope feel it was necessary to bring together pagan religious leaders to pray to pagan gods? Does the Pope feel his own god is inadequate to the task? The most obvious answer is that the Pope believes all the leaders were praying to the same god.
This is one of the most popular ideas in Christendom today. It is the concept that God has revealed Himself in many different ways to different peoples. The conclusion, therefore, is that there are many roads to God. It is tolerance gone to seed. It also contradicts the Scriptures which say that God has revealed Himself in only one person, His Son, Jesus of Nazareth (Heb. 1:1-2).
The Importance of Doctrine
We live in an age of demonic deception (I Tim. 4:1 and II John 7). We must be on guard at all times. We must test everything by the Word of God (I John 4:1 and II Tim. 2:15).
There are those who argue that the only thing that is important is the Gospel, and we should be willing to embrace anyone who has accepted the Gospel. The Gospel is then defined as the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus (I Cor. 15:1-5).
Such an attitude ignores the fact that doctrine can deny the Gospel. For example, Jehovah’s Witnesses claim they accept the Gospel, but their doctrine of Christ denies the Gospel, for they claim that Jesus was the archangel Michael. Likewise, Mormons claim to accept the Gospel, but their doctrines pervert Jesus into a created god who is the brother of Lucifer.
Doctrine is not irrelevant. That’s why the Scriptures tell us to avoid “strange doctrines” (I Tim. 1:3) and “different doctrines” (I Tim. 6:3). That’s why Paul publicly rebuked two men by name for teaching that the resurrection had already taken place (II Tim. 2:17).
We are told to reject what is contrary to “sound teaching” (I Tim. 1:10) and to “retain the standard of sound words” (II Tim. 1:13). And in Titus 1:9 Paul says that an elder is to be able “to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict it.”
Catholic Doctrine
Catholics claim to accept the Gospel, but their doctrines deny the sufficiency of the sacrifice of Jesus and the salvation of God by grace through faith.
Catholic doctrine depreciates the significance of Jesus. For example, the tremendous importance of His incarnation is diminished by the doctrine of Mary’s immaculate conception (the concept that Mary was also born without a sin nature). The all-sufficiency of the Lord’s sacrifice on the Cross is dispelled by the doctrine of Transubstantiation, which holds that He is re-sacrificed daily in the Mass. His current unique role as our High Priest before the throne of God is diluted by the doctrine that Mary serves as our co-redeemer and interceder.
The Jesus of Catholicism is not the Jesus of the Bible. He is a pagan god who denies us access to God the Father unless we atone for our own sins by paying penance in this life and then suffering in purgatory.
The Mary of Catholicism is also not the Mary of the Bible. The Mary of the Bible was a woman of great faith and sterling character. But she was also a sinner who needed a Savior. The Catholic Mary is just another pagan god.
Catholic Idolatry
Catholicism is steeped in idolatry. In their veneration of Mary and the Saints, Catholics commit the worst of all sins against God.
There is a myth that prevails in Christianity which says that all sins are equal. That is not true. All sins are equal only in the sense that any sin condemns us before God. But all sin is not equal in the eyes of God. There are sins that God hates more than others.8 That is why there are going to be degrees of punishment for the unrighteous.9
The Bible always portrays the worst possible sin as the sin of idolatry.10 That is why the first commandment says, “You shall have no other gods before me” (Ex. 20:3), and the second says “You shall not make for yourself an idol” (Ex. 20:4).
And that is precisely why the Catholic Church, in its presentation of the Ten Commandments, always deletes the second commandment and then makes up the difference by doubling the last commandment against coveting, making of it two commands: you shall not covet your neighbor’s house, and you shall not covet his wife.11 This is blatant scriptural manipulation designed to cover up the sinful idolatry of the Church.
But God cannot be mocked (Gal.6:7). His Word says that idolaters will be excluded from Heaven. They will be thrown into the lake of fire (Rev. 21:8).
The message of the Holy Spirit to those caught up in the spiritual darkness of Catholicism is, “Come out of Babylon!” (Rev. 18:4).
For more detailed information about Roman Catholicism, contact Proclaiming the Gospel Ministry at P.O. Box 940871, Plano, Tx. 75094.
Notes
The favorite buzz word in Christianity today is “tolerance.” Christian leaders across the spectrum are urging their followers to forget doctrinal differences and to embrace all those who profess to be Christian.
One manifestation of this trend has been an increasing acceptance of Catholics by Protestant, Evangelical leaders, even leaders like Billy Graham. The urge to embrace Catholics has been especially strong among Charismatics. At last year’s national convention of Charismatics held in Indianapolis, half the audience and several of the key speakers were Catholics.
The Challenge
Recently, Paul Crouch, the head of the Trinity Broadcasting Network and a leading Charismatic spokesman, made the following observation regarding the Catholic doctrine of Transubstantiation (the concept that the bread and the wine in the Mass become the literal body and blood of Christ):
“Well, we [Protestants] believe the same thing. So you see, one of the things that has divided us all of these years shouldn’t have divided us all along because we were really meaning the same thing but just saying it a little differently… I am eradicating the word Protestant even out of my vocabulary… I’m not protesting anything any more… it is… time for Catholics and non-Catholics to come together as one in the spirit and one in the Lord.”1
Another well known Charismatic leader, Earl Paulk of Atlanta, has also been calling for Evangelicals to embrace the Catholics without reservation. He has labeled Protestant critics of Catholicism as “doom prophets,” and he scoffs at the idea that anyone should be concerned about Catholics praying to Mary.2
The Response
What should be our attitude toward Catholicism? Was the Reformation simply much ado about nothing? Has modern day Catholicism reformed itself sufficiently to justify our overlooking doctrinal differences in the name of Christian love and unity?
The first point I would like to make is that Catholicism is not nearly as apostate as some forms of mainline Protestant Christianity. The Catholic Church strongly affirms the virgin birth, the deity of Jesus, and the reality of the Resurrection. All three of these cornerstone truths have been rejected by mainstream liberal Protestantism in its obsessive search for what it calls “the historical Jesus.” In short, apostasy is not a Protestant versus Catholic issue. There is apostasy on both sides of the fence.
If Catholicism affirms the deity and resurrection of Jesus, then where does it fall short of Biblical standards? Where is the apostasy?
Catholic Apostasy
It is manifested first and foremost in the Church’s concept of salvation. The bottom line is that the Catholic Church has never accepted the great Biblical truth that was restored to Christendom by the Reformation; namely, that salvation is by grace through faith, and not by works (Eph. 2:8-10).
Catholic leaders will deny this. They will affirm salvation by grace. But the fruit of their teaching and preaching testifies otherwise.3 There are millions of Catholics around the world who believe they are saved because:
they were born a Catholic, or
they received Catholic baptism as infants, or
they attend Mass twice a year, or
they go to confession regularly, or
their name is on the roll of a local parish, or
they live a good, clean moral life.
All these misguided concepts translate into one thing — belief in salvation by works. And the people who express them are spiritually lost because they have never been born again. They have no personal relationship with Jesus as their Savior and Lord.
I am not saying there are no saved Catholics. There certainly are Catholics who have discovered the Lord and have put their faith in Him. But they are the exception, and most have discovered the Lord through their own Bible study and not through the teaching of the Church.
Doctrinal Confusion
This raises the question of whether or not such true believers within Catholicism should remain there or leave. I think that question can best be answered with a series of questions:
Can a person grow spiritually in an atmosphere of idolatry where people are encouraged to bow before images of Mary and Saints and pray to them?
Can people reach their full spiritual potential in a church that denies the priesthood of all believers (I Peter 2:9), requiring its people to approach God through special priests who are not ordained in God’s Word?
Can people grow in the image of Jesus in a church that de-emphasizes the importance of Bible study and exalts the traditions of men over the Word of God?
Can people ever have any confidence of their salvation in a church that requires cleansing punishments for sin in the form of penance in this life and purgatory after death?
Can a person ever come to a true understanding and appreciation of the unique role and work of Christ when His mother is exalted as a co-redeemer and His sacrifice on the Cross is debased by a teaching that He must die repeatedly in the Mass?
I could go on and on, for the apostasies of the Catholic Church are great in number and profound in their implications for the Christian faith.
The Veneration of Mary
Particularly appalling in modern history has been the increasing emphasis given to the worship of Mary. This gross idolatry was accentuated by the selection of a Polish Pope, for the adoration of Mary has long been a central focus of Polish Catholicism.
Again, Catholics will deny that they worship Mary. They argue, instead, that they simply give her the honor that she deserves. But, again, their actions speak louder than their words, and in this case, official words are sufficient to establish the point. Consider, for example, the following statement taken from an official Catholic publication:
“Mary is co-redemptrix of the human race… because with Christ she ransomed mankind from the power of Satan. Jesus redeemed us with the blood of His body, Mary with the agonies of her heart… The church and the saints greet her thus: ‘You, O Mary, together with Jesus Christ, redeemed us…’
God has ordained that no grace will be granted to us except through Mary… No one will be saved or obtain mercy except through you, O Heavenly Lady… No one will enter heaven without passing through Mary as one would pass through a door… O Mary, our salvation is in your hands.”4
This is blasphemy of the worst sort. It is the ancient Babylonian mystery religion parading in new clothes, worshipping Mary as the “Queen of Heaven.”
To Leave or Not to Leave?
So, what should believing Catholics do? I have found that most try to hang in at first, attempting to have some influence on their priest or parish, hoping especially to bring the good news of a personal relationship with Jesus to their fellow Catholics. But it usually does not take long for them to realize that their efforts are not appreciated.
They must then decide whether to remain or leave. If they remain, they compromise what they believe by keeping silent, and they jeopardize their own spiritual growth. If they decide to leave, it is always a painful choice, since to depart means leaving behind dear friends. It also usually results in condemnation by family members.
What then should they do? They should do exactly what any believer should do who is caught up in any apostate religious organization, whether it be a Catholic parish or a Protestant church. They should leave!
The Bible says, “Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership… has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever?” (II Cor. 6:14-15).
Deceptive Tolerance
The current emphasis on tolerance in Christianity is a subtle ploy of Satan to corrupt the Church from within. The deception sounds so appealing: “Why draw lines of fellowship over doctrinal differences? The only thing that’s important is sincerity. Reach out and embrace all those who profess Christ regardless of how doctrinally corrupt they may be. Do it in the name of Christian love. Do it for the sake of Christian unity.”
This type of thinking has led Earl Paulk to call for the Evangelical Christian world to embrace even the Mormons! It has motivated mainline liberal spokesmen to advocate that Christians show tolerance toward Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and other pagan faiths by restraining ourselves from sharing the Gospel with them. Consider, for example, the following words of Episcopal Bishop John Spong of New Jersey:
“In the fall of 1988, I worshipped God in a Buddhist temple. As the smell of incense filled the air, I knelt before three images of Buddha, feeling that the smoke could carry my prayers heavenward. It was for me a holy moment for I was certain that I was kneeling on holy ground…
I will not make any further attempt to convert the Buddhist, the Jew, the Hindu or the Moslem. I am content to learn from them and to walk with them side by side toward the God who lives, I believe, beyond the images that bind and blind us.”5
Again, it all sounds so wonderful, so soothing, so tolerant! Tragically, it makes a liar of the very person they profess as Lord, for Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me” (John 14:6). Those are not tolerant words.
The Coming World Religion
The Christian leaders who are advocating tolerance to the point of embracing apostasy are going to triumph in the near future, at least temporarily. The Bible makes that clear. Just as “one world” thought is dominating the political and economic scenes today, it has captivated the thinking of both Catholic and Protestant leaders regarding religion.
That thinking is paving the way for the establishment of the one world government of the Anti-Christ (Rev. 13:1-10) which will be supported by the one world religious system of the False Prophet (Rev. 13:11-18).
I believe the harlot church of Revelation 17 will most likely be an amalgamation of the world’s pagan religions, including apostate Protestants, under the leadership of the Catholic Church.
In that regard, I think it is significant that in 1989 the Archbishop of the Anglican Church, Robert Runcie, called for all Christians to accept the Pope as “a common leader presiding in love.” Runcie made his appeal at an evening prayer service midway through his first official visit to the Vatican. “For the universal church, I renew the plea,” he said. “Could not all Christians come to reconsider the kind of primacy the bishop of Rome exercised with the early church, ‘a presiding in love’ for the sake of the unity of the churches in the diversity of their mission?”6
We have already been given a chilling preview of what is to come. It occurred in November 1986 in Assisi Italy when Pope John Paul II called a convocation of the leaders of twelve world religions to pray to their gods for peace. One of those who came was the Dalai Lama who is considered to be a god himself! The show was stolen by an American Indian chief who danced and whooped to his god.7
Why did the Pope feel it was necessary to bring together pagan religious leaders to pray to pagan gods? Does the Pope feel his own god is inadequate to the task? The most obvious answer is that the Pope believes all the leaders were praying to the same god.
This is one of the most popular ideas in Christendom today. It is the concept that God has revealed Himself in many different ways to different peoples. The conclusion, therefore, is that there are many roads to God. It is tolerance gone to seed. It also contradicts the Scriptures which say that God has revealed Himself in only one person, His Son, Jesus of Nazareth (Heb. 1:1-2).
The Importance of Doctrine
We live in an age of demonic deception (I Tim. 4:1 and II John 7). We must be on guard at all times. We must test everything by the Word of God (I John 4:1 and II Tim. 2:15).
There are those who argue that the only thing that is important is the Gospel, and we should be willing to embrace anyone who has accepted the Gospel. The Gospel is then defined as the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus (I Cor. 15:1-5).
Such an attitude ignores the fact that doctrine can deny the Gospel. For example, Jehovah’s Witnesses claim they accept the Gospel, but their doctrine of Christ denies the Gospel, for they claim that Jesus was the archangel Michael. Likewise, Mormons claim to accept the Gospel, but their doctrines pervert Jesus into a created god who is the brother of Lucifer.
Doctrine is not irrelevant. That’s why the Scriptures tell us to avoid “strange doctrines” (I Tim. 1:3) and “different doctrines” (I Tim. 6:3). That’s why Paul publicly rebuked two men by name for teaching that the resurrection had already taken place (II Tim. 2:17).
We are told to reject what is contrary to “sound teaching” (I Tim. 1:10) and to “retain the standard of sound words” (II Tim. 1:13). And in Titus 1:9 Paul says that an elder is to be able “to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict it.”
Catholic Doctrine
Catholics claim to accept the Gospel, but their doctrines deny the sufficiency of the sacrifice of Jesus and the salvation of God by grace through faith.
Catholic doctrine depreciates the significance of Jesus. For example, the tremendous importance of His incarnation is diminished by the doctrine of Mary’s immaculate conception (the concept that Mary was also born without a sin nature). The all-sufficiency of the Lord’s sacrifice on the Cross is dispelled by the doctrine of Transubstantiation, which holds that He is re-sacrificed daily in the Mass. His current unique role as our High Priest before the throne of God is diluted by the doctrine that Mary serves as our co-redeemer and interceder.
The Jesus of Catholicism is not the Jesus of the Bible. He is a pagan god who denies us access to God the Father unless we atone for our own sins by paying penance in this life and then suffering in purgatory.
The Mary of Catholicism is also not the Mary of the Bible. The Mary of the Bible was a woman of great faith and sterling character. But she was also a sinner who needed a Savior. The Catholic Mary is just another pagan god.
Catholic Idolatry
Catholicism is steeped in idolatry. In their veneration of Mary and the Saints, Catholics commit the worst of all sins against God.
There is a myth that prevails in Christianity which says that all sins are equal. That is not true. All sins are equal only in the sense that any sin condemns us before God. But all sin is not equal in the eyes of God. There are sins that God hates more than others.8 That is why there are going to be degrees of punishment for the unrighteous.9
The Bible always portrays the worst possible sin as the sin of idolatry.10 That is why the first commandment says, “You shall have no other gods before me” (Ex. 20:3), and the second says “You shall not make for yourself an idol” (Ex. 20:4).
And that is precisely why the Catholic Church, in its presentation of the Ten Commandments, always deletes the second commandment and then makes up the difference by doubling the last commandment against coveting, making of it two commands: you shall not covet your neighbor’s house, and you shall not covet his wife.11 This is blatant scriptural manipulation designed to cover up the sinful idolatry of the Church.
But God cannot be mocked (Gal.6:7). His Word says that idolaters will be excluded from Heaven. They will be thrown into the lake of fire (Rev. 21:8).
The message of the Holy Spirit to those caught up in the spiritual darkness of Catholicism is, “Come out of Babylon!” (Rev. 18:4).
For more detailed information about Roman Catholicism, contact Proclaiming the Gospel Ministry at P.O. Box 940871, Plano, Tx. 75094.
Notes
Observations on the Woman of Revelation 17
Is the Harlot the Catholic Church?
By Dr. David R. Reagan
[read in Lamplighter (pdf)]
I believe the evil woman pictured in Revelation 17 symbolizes the city of Rome and its corrupt spiritual system. And I believe that system will initially be an amalgamation of the world’s pagan religions, including apostate Protestants, under the leadership of the Roman Catholic Church.
In that regard, I think it is significant that in 1989 the Archbishop of the Anglican Church, Robert Runcie, called for all Christians to accept the Pope as “a common leader presiding in love.” Runcie made his appeal at an evening prayer service midway through his first official visit to the Vatican. “For the universal church, I renew the plea,” he said. “Could not all Christians come to reconsider the kind of primacy the bishop of Rome exercised with the early church, ‘a presiding in love’ for the sake of the unity of the churches in the diversity of their mission?”1
We have already been given a chilling preview of what is to come. It occurred in November 1986 in Assisi Italy when Pope John Paul II called a convocation of the leaders of twelve world religions to pray to their gods for peace. One of those who came was the Dalai Lama who is considered to be a god himself! The show was stolen by an American Indian chief who danced and whooped to his god.2
Why did the Pope feel it was necessary to bring together pagan religious leaders to pray to pagan gods? Does the Pope feel his own god is inadequate to the task? The most obvious answer is that the Pope believes all the leaders were praying to the same god.
This is one of the most popular ideas in Christendom today. It is the concept that God has revealed Himself in many different ways to different peoples. The conclusion, therefore, is that there are many roads to God. It is tolerance gone to seed. It also contradicts the Scriptures which say that God has revealed Himself in only one person, His Son, Jesus of Nazareth (Hebrews 1:1-2).
In December 2000, Pope John Paul muddied the waters further when he addressed 30,000 pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square. He told the multitude “that all who live a just life will be saved even if they do not believe in Jesus Christ and the Roman Catholic Church.”3 The Pope added, “The gospel teaches us that those who live in accordance with the Beatitudes… will enter God’s kingdom.” He concluded by observing that all that is needed for salvation is “a sincere heart.”
In short, the Pope made a liar of Jesus Christ who proclaimed, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me” (John 14:6). Jesus is also recorded in John 17:3 as having said, “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”
The Church’s Destruction
Notice that the harlot is portrayed as riding on the back of the Antichrist (Revelation 17:3). I believe this symbolism indicates that the church has become a nuisance. The Antichrist has used her to help consolidate his world kingdom, but now she has become enamored with power and is trying to dominate the Antichrist and his kingdom. So, the Antichrist turns on the church and destroys her (Revelation 17:16).
At this point I believe the Antichrist will replace the Catholic Church with his new one-world religion that is headed up by the False Prophet. And, I believe this one-world religion will be Humanism carried to its ultimate conclusion — the worship of a man.
Humanism is the belief in Man. It is the foundation of all pagan religions, including pagan Christianity. The False Prophet will call on all humanity to put its trust in the Antichrist as its Lord and Savior. And since the Antichrist will be possessed by Satan (Revelation 13:2), the whole world will in reality be worshiping Satan himself.
Our Response
Considering the fact that the Catholic Church is most likely to be the cornerstone of the Apostate Church of the first half of the Tribulation, what should be our attitude toward Catholicism? Was the Reformation simply much ado about nothing? Has modern day Catholicism reformed itself sufficiently to justify our overlooking doctrinal differences in the name of Christian love and unity?
The first point I would like to make is that Catholicism is not nearly as apostate as some forms of mainline Protestant Christianity. The Catholic Church strongly affirms the virgin birth, the deity of Jesus, and the reality of the Resurrection. All three of these cornerstone truths have been rejected by mainstream liberal Protestantism in its obsessive search for what it calls “the historical Jesus.” In short, apostasy is not a Protestant versus Catholic issue. There is apostasy on both sides of the fence.
If Catholicism affirms the deity and resurrection of Jesus, then where does it fall short of Biblical standards? Where is the apostasy?
Catholic Apostasy
The apostasy of the Catholic Church is manifested first and foremost in the Church’s concept of salvation. The bottom line is that the Catholic Church has never accepted the great Biblical truth that was restored to Christendom by the Reformation — namely, that salvation is by grace through faith, and not by works (Ephesians 2:8-10).
Catholic leaders will deny this. They will affirm salvation by grace. But the fruit of their teaching and preaching testifies otherwise.4 There are millions of Catholics around the world who believe they are saved because:
they were born a Catholic, or
they received Catholic baptism as infants, or
they attend Mass twice a year, or
they go to confession regularly, or
their name is on the roll of a local parish, or
they live a good, clean moral life.
All these misguided concepts translate into one thing — belief in salvation by works. And the people who express them are spiritually lost because they have never been born again. They have no personal relationship with Jesus as their Savior and Lord.
I am not saying there are no saved Catholics. There certainly are Catholics who have discovered the Lord and have put their faith in Him. But they are the exception, and most have discovered the Lord through their own Bible study and not through the teaching of the Church.
Doctrinal Confusion
This raises the question of whether or not such true believers within Catholicism should remain there or leave. I think that question can best be answered with a series of questions:
1) Can a person grow spiritually in an atmosphere of idolatry where people are encouraged to bow before images of Mary and Saints and pray to them?
2) Can people reach their full spiritual potential in a church that denies the priesthood of all believers (I Peter 2:9), requiring its people to approach God through special priests who are not ordained in God’s Word?
3) Can people grow in the image of Jesus in a church that de-emphasizes the importance of Bible study and exalts the traditions of men over the Word of God?
4) Can people ever have any confidence of their salvation in a church that requires cleansing punishments for sin in the form of penance in this life and purgatory after death?
5) Can a person ever come to a true understanding and appreciation of the unique role and work of Christ when His mother is exalted as a co-redeemer and His sacrifice on the Cross is debased by a teaching that He must die repeatedly in the Mass?
I could go on and on, for the heresies of the Catholic Church are great in number and profound in their implications for the Christian faith.
The Veneration of Mary
Particularly appalling in modern history has been the increasing emphasis given to the worship of Mary. This gross idolatry was accentuated in 1978 by the selection of a Polish Pope, John Paul II. That’s because the adoration of Mary has long been a central focus of Polish Catholicism.
Pope Worshipping Mary
Again, Catholics will deny that they worship Mary. They argue, instead, that they simply give her the honor that she deserves. But, again, their actions speak louder than their words, and in this case, official words are sufficient to establish the point. Consider, for example, the following statement taken from an official Catholic publication:
Mary is co-redemptrix of the human race… because with Christ she ransomed mankind from the power of Satan. Jesus redeemed us with the blood of His body, Mary with the agonies of her heart… The church and the saints greet her thus: “You, O Mary, together with Jesus Christ, redeemed us… God has ordained that no grace will be granted to us except through Mary… No one will be saved or obtain mercy except through you, O Heavenly Lady… No one will enter heaven without passing through Mary as one would pass through a door… O Mary, our salvation is in your hands.”5
This is blasphemy of the worst sort. It is the ancient Babylonian mystery religion parading in new clothes, worshiping Mary as the “Queen of Heaven.”
To Leave or Not to Leave?
So, what should believing Catholics do? I have found that most try to hang in at first, attempting to have some influence on their priest or parish, hoping especially to bring the good news of a personal relationship with Jesus to their fellow Catholics. But it usually does not take long for them to realize that their efforts are not appreciated.
They must then decide whether to remain or leave. If they remain, they compromise what they believe by keeping silent, and they jeopardize their own spiritual growth. If they decide to leave, it is always a painful choice, since to depart means leaving behind dear friends. It also usually results in condemnation by family members.
What then should they do? They should do exactly what any believer should do who is caught up in any apostate religious organization, whether it be a Catholic parish or a Protestant church. They should leave!
The Bible says, “Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership… has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever?” (2 Corinthians 6:14-15).
Catholic Doctrine
Catholics claim to accept the Gospel, but their doctrines deny the sufficiency of the sacrifice of Jesus and the salvation of God by grace through faith.
Catholic doctrine depreciates the significance of Jesus. For example, the tremendous importance of His incarnation is diminished by the doctrine of Mary’s immaculate conception (the concept that Mary was also born without a sin nature). The all-sufficiency of the Lord’s sacrifice on the Cross is dispelled by the doctrine of Transubstantiation, which holds that He is resacrificed daily in the Mass. His current unique role as our High Priest before the throne of God is diluted by the doctrine that Mary serves as our co-redeemer and interceder.
The Jesus of Catholicism is not the Jesus of the Bible. He is a pagan god who denies us access to God the Father unless we atone for our own sins by paying penance in this life and then suffering in purgatory.
The Mary of Catholicism is also not the Mary of the Bible. The Mary of the Bible was a woman of great faith and sterling character. But she was also a sinner who needed a Savior. She acknowledged this herself when, after the birth of Jesus, she sang, “My soul exalts the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.” Yes Mary was a righteous young woman, but she needed a Savior. The Catholic Mary is just another pagan god.
Catholic Idolatry
Catholicism is steeped in idolatry. In their veneration of Mary and the Saints, Catholics commit the worst of all sins against God.
There is a myth that prevails in Christianity which says that all sins are equal. That is not true. All sins are equal only in the sense that any sin condemns us before God. But all sin is not equal in the eyes of God. There are sins that God hates more than others (Proverbs 6:16-19). That is why there are going to be degrees of punishment for the unrighteous (Isaiah 59:16-19, Luke 20:45-47 and Revelation 20:11-15).
The Bible always portrays the worst possible sin as the sin of idolatry (Isaiah 40:18-26, Isaiah 44:9-20 and Ezekiel 6:1-7). That is why the first commandment says, “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3), and the second says “You shall not make for yourself an idol” (Exodus 20:4).
And that is precisely why the Catholic Church, in its presentation of the Ten Commandments, always deletes the second commandment and then makes up the difference by doubling the last commandment against coveting, making of it two commands: you shall not covet your neighbor’s house, and you shall not covet his wife.6 This is blatant scriptural manipulation designed to cover up the sinful idolatry of the Church.
But God cannot be mocked (Galatians 6:7). His Word says that idolaters will be excluded from Heaven. They will be thrown into the lake of fire (Revelation 21:8).
The message of the Holy Spirit to those caught up in the spiritual darkness of Catholicism is, “Come out of Babylon!” (Revelation 18:4).
Notes
1) Sunday Advocate, Baton Rouge, LA, October 1, 1989, page 3A.
2) Time, November 10, 1986, pages 78-79.
3) Vatican City (RNS), “Pope Says Unbelievers Will Be Saved If They Live A Just Life,” December 6, 2000.
4) An excellent resource on the issue of works salvation is a booklet by Albert James Dager entitled, Six Roman Catholic Doctrines That Nullify Salvation by Grace (Media Spotlight, 1988). For a copy write to Media Spotlight at P.O. Box 290, Redmond, WA 98073.
5) CIB Bulletin, February 1991, page 1.
6) The Catholic Encyclopedia (Thomas Nelson, 1987), page 124.
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[read in Lamplighter (pdf)]
I believe the evil woman pictured in Revelation 17 symbolizes the city of Rome and its corrupt spiritual system. And I believe that system will initially be an amalgamation of the world’s pagan religions, including apostate Protestants, under the leadership of the Roman Catholic Church.
In that regard, I think it is significant that in 1989 the Archbishop of the Anglican Church, Robert Runcie, called for all Christians to accept the Pope as “a common leader presiding in love.” Runcie made his appeal at an evening prayer service midway through his first official visit to the Vatican. “For the universal church, I renew the plea,” he said. “Could not all Christians come to reconsider the kind of primacy the bishop of Rome exercised with the early church, ‘a presiding in love’ for the sake of the unity of the churches in the diversity of their mission?”1
We have already been given a chilling preview of what is to come. It occurred in November 1986 in Assisi Italy when Pope John Paul II called a convocation of the leaders of twelve world religions to pray to their gods for peace. One of those who came was the Dalai Lama who is considered to be a god himself! The show was stolen by an American Indian chief who danced and whooped to his god.2
Why did the Pope feel it was necessary to bring together pagan religious leaders to pray to pagan gods? Does the Pope feel his own god is inadequate to the task? The most obvious answer is that the Pope believes all the leaders were praying to the same god.
This is one of the most popular ideas in Christendom today. It is the concept that God has revealed Himself in many different ways to different peoples. The conclusion, therefore, is that there are many roads to God. It is tolerance gone to seed. It also contradicts the Scriptures which say that God has revealed Himself in only one person, His Son, Jesus of Nazareth (Hebrews 1:1-2).
In December 2000, Pope John Paul muddied the waters further when he addressed 30,000 pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square. He told the multitude “that all who live a just life will be saved even if they do not believe in Jesus Christ and the Roman Catholic Church.”3 The Pope added, “The gospel teaches us that those who live in accordance with the Beatitudes… will enter God’s kingdom.” He concluded by observing that all that is needed for salvation is “a sincere heart.”
In short, the Pope made a liar of Jesus Christ who proclaimed, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me” (John 14:6). Jesus is also recorded in John 17:3 as having said, “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”
The Church’s Destruction
Notice that the harlot is portrayed as riding on the back of the Antichrist (Revelation 17:3). I believe this symbolism indicates that the church has become a nuisance. The Antichrist has used her to help consolidate his world kingdom, but now she has become enamored with power and is trying to dominate the Antichrist and his kingdom. So, the Antichrist turns on the church and destroys her (Revelation 17:16).
At this point I believe the Antichrist will replace the Catholic Church with his new one-world religion that is headed up by the False Prophet. And, I believe this one-world religion will be Humanism carried to its ultimate conclusion — the worship of a man.
Humanism is the belief in Man. It is the foundation of all pagan religions, including pagan Christianity. The False Prophet will call on all humanity to put its trust in the Antichrist as its Lord and Savior. And since the Antichrist will be possessed by Satan (Revelation 13:2), the whole world will in reality be worshiping Satan himself.
Our Response
Considering the fact that the Catholic Church is most likely to be the cornerstone of the Apostate Church of the first half of the Tribulation, what should be our attitude toward Catholicism? Was the Reformation simply much ado about nothing? Has modern day Catholicism reformed itself sufficiently to justify our overlooking doctrinal differences in the name of Christian love and unity?
The first point I would like to make is that Catholicism is not nearly as apostate as some forms of mainline Protestant Christianity. The Catholic Church strongly affirms the virgin birth, the deity of Jesus, and the reality of the Resurrection. All three of these cornerstone truths have been rejected by mainstream liberal Protestantism in its obsessive search for what it calls “the historical Jesus.” In short, apostasy is not a Protestant versus Catholic issue. There is apostasy on both sides of the fence.
If Catholicism affirms the deity and resurrection of Jesus, then where does it fall short of Biblical standards? Where is the apostasy?
Catholic Apostasy
The apostasy of the Catholic Church is manifested first and foremost in the Church’s concept of salvation. The bottom line is that the Catholic Church has never accepted the great Biblical truth that was restored to Christendom by the Reformation — namely, that salvation is by grace through faith, and not by works (Ephesians 2:8-10).
Catholic leaders will deny this. They will affirm salvation by grace. But the fruit of their teaching and preaching testifies otherwise.4 There are millions of Catholics around the world who believe they are saved because:
they were born a Catholic, or
they received Catholic baptism as infants, or
they attend Mass twice a year, or
they go to confession regularly, or
their name is on the roll of a local parish, or
they live a good, clean moral life.
All these misguided concepts translate into one thing — belief in salvation by works. And the people who express them are spiritually lost because they have never been born again. They have no personal relationship with Jesus as their Savior and Lord.
I am not saying there are no saved Catholics. There certainly are Catholics who have discovered the Lord and have put their faith in Him. But they are the exception, and most have discovered the Lord through their own Bible study and not through the teaching of the Church.
Doctrinal Confusion
This raises the question of whether or not such true believers within Catholicism should remain there or leave. I think that question can best be answered with a series of questions:
1) Can a person grow spiritually in an atmosphere of idolatry where people are encouraged to bow before images of Mary and Saints and pray to them?
2) Can people reach their full spiritual potential in a church that denies the priesthood of all believers (I Peter 2:9), requiring its people to approach God through special priests who are not ordained in God’s Word?
3) Can people grow in the image of Jesus in a church that de-emphasizes the importance of Bible study and exalts the traditions of men over the Word of God?
4) Can people ever have any confidence of their salvation in a church that requires cleansing punishments for sin in the form of penance in this life and purgatory after death?
5) Can a person ever come to a true understanding and appreciation of the unique role and work of Christ when His mother is exalted as a co-redeemer and His sacrifice on the Cross is debased by a teaching that He must die repeatedly in the Mass?
I could go on and on, for the heresies of the Catholic Church are great in number and profound in their implications for the Christian faith.
The Veneration of Mary
Particularly appalling in modern history has been the increasing emphasis given to the worship of Mary. This gross idolatry was accentuated in 1978 by the selection of a Polish Pope, John Paul II. That’s because the adoration of Mary has long been a central focus of Polish Catholicism.
Pope Worshipping Mary
Again, Catholics will deny that they worship Mary. They argue, instead, that they simply give her the honor that she deserves. But, again, their actions speak louder than their words, and in this case, official words are sufficient to establish the point. Consider, for example, the following statement taken from an official Catholic publication:
Mary is co-redemptrix of the human race… because with Christ she ransomed mankind from the power of Satan. Jesus redeemed us with the blood of His body, Mary with the agonies of her heart… The church and the saints greet her thus: “You, O Mary, together with Jesus Christ, redeemed us… God has ordained that no grace will be granted to us except through Mary… No one will be saved or obtain mercy except through you, O Heavenly Lady… No one will enter heaven without passing through Mary as one would pass through a door… O Mary, our salvation is in your hands.”5
This is blasphemy of the worst sort. It is the ancient Babylonian mystery religion parading in new clothes, worshiping Mary as the “Queen of Heaven.”
To Leave or Not to Leave?
So, what should believing Catholics do? I have found that most try to hang in at first, attempting to have some influence on their priest or parish, hoping especially to bring the good news of a personal relationship with Jesus to their fellow Catholics. But it usually does not take long for them to realize that their efforts are not appreciated.
They must then decide whether to remain or leave. If they remain, they compromise what they believe by keeping silent, and they jeopardize their own spiritual growth. If they decide to leave, it is always a painful choice, since to depart means leaving behind dear friends. It also usually results in condemnation by family members.
What then should they do? They should do exactly what any believer should do who is caught up in any apostate religious organization, whether it be a Catholic parish or a Protestant church. They should leave!
The Bible says, “Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership… has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever?” (2 Corinthians 6:14-15).
Catholic Doctrine
Catholics claim to accept the Gospel, but their doctrines deny the sufficiency of the sacrifice of Jesus and the salvation of God by grace through faith.
Catholic doctrine depreciates the significance of Jesus. For example, the tremendous importance of His incarnation is diminished by the doctrine of Mary’s immaculate conception (the concept that Mary was also born without a sin nature). The all-sufficiency of the Lord’s sacrifice on the Cross is dispelled by the doctrine of Transubstantiation, which holds that He is resacrificed daily in the Mass. His current unique role as our High Priest before the throne of God is diluted by the doctrine that Mary serves as our co-redeemer and interceder.
The Jesus of Catholicism is not the Jesus of the Bible. He is a pagan god who denies us access to God the Father unless we atone for our own sins by paying penance in this life and then suffering in purgatory.
The Mary of Catholicism is also not the Mary of the Bible. The Mary of the Bible was a woman of great faith and sterling character. But she was also a sinner who needed a Savior. She acknowledged this herself when, after the birth of Jesus, she sang, “My soul exalts the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.” Yes Mary was a righteous young woman, but she needed a Savior. The Catholic Mary is just another pagan god.
Catholic Idolatry
Catholicism is steeped in idolatry. In their veneration of Mary and the Saints, Catholics commit the worst of all sins against God.
There is a myth that prevails in Christianity which says that all sins are equal. That is not true. All sins are equal only in the sense that any sin condemns us before God. But all sin is not equal in the eyes of God. There are sins that God hates more than others (Proverbs 6:16-19). That is why there are going to be degrees of punishment for the unrighteous (Isaiah 59:16-19, Luke 20:45-47 and Revelation 20:11-15).
The Bible always portrays the worst possible sin as the sin of idolatry (Isaiah 40:18-26, Isaiah 44:9-20 and Ezekiel 6:1-7). That is why the first commandment says, “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3), and the second says “You shall not make for yourself an idol” (Exodus 20:4).
And that is precisely why the Catholic Church, in its presentation of the Ten Commandments, always deletes the second commandment and then makes up the difference by doubling the last commandment against coveting, making of it two commands: you shall not covet your neighbor’s house, and you shall not covet his wife.6 This is blatant scriptural manipulation designed to cover up the sinful idolatry of the Church.
But God cannot be mocked (Galatians 6:7). His Word says that idolaters will be excluded from Heaven. They will be thrown into the lake of fire (Revelation 21:8).
The message of the Holy Spirit to those caught up in the spiritual darkness of Catholicism is, “Come out of Babylon!” (Revelation 18:4).
Notes
1) Sunday Advocate, Baton Rouge, LA, October 1, 1989, page 3A.
2) Time, November 10, 1986, pages 78-79.
3) Vatican City (RNS), “Pope Says Unbelievers Will Be Saved If They Live A Just Life,” December 6, 2000.
4) An excellent resource on the issue of works salvation is a booklet by Albert James Dager entitled, Six Roman Catholic Doctrines That Nullify Salvation by Grace (Media Spotlight, 1988). For a copy write to Media Spotlight at P.O. Box 290, Redmond, WA 98073.
5) CIB Bulletin, February 1991, page 1.
6) The Catholic Encyclopedia (Thomas Nelson, 1987), page 124.
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Catholics and Protestants
How big are the differences?
By Dennis Pollock
Catholics and Protestants
“The Roman Catholic Church is a counterfeit… of the worst and most diabolical kind… to be rejected and denounced.” — Dr. Martin Lloyd Jones
“I’m eradicating the word Protestant even out of my vocabulary .. I’m not protesting anything… It’s time for Catholics and non-Catholics to come together as one in the Spirit and one in the Lord.” — Paul Crouch on TBN
When twenty Evangelical and twenty Catholic leaders signed the document, Evangelicals and Catholics Together: The Christian Mission in the Third Millennium, (or ECT for short), in the spring of 1994, it set off a firestorm of controversy which shows no indications of letting up. Signed by such Christian leaders as Bill Bright, Charles Colson and Pat Robertson, this document suggests that the time has come for Evangelicals and Catholics to walk together and recognize that they must unite in battle against the common foes of humanism and relativism, and agree to stop proselytizing one another.
Reactions to ECT
Several major figures in evangelical Christianity have strongly disagreed. Men such as John MacArthur, R. C. Sproul, John Ankerberg, James Kennedy, and Dave Hunt have contended that ECT is a minimizing of the truth of justification by faith, gives the false impression that any doctrinal differences between Catholics and Protestants are small and of little importance, and mocks the Reformation as irrelevant and unnecessary.
The editors of Charisma magazine recently devoted their July issue to this controversy. In two major articles, “What Protestants Should Know About Catholics,” and “What Catholics Should Know About Protestants,” they attempted, by their own admission, to “help us find common ground.”
The first article was by Keith Fournier, an evangelical Catholic lawyer who serves as an apologist for the Catholics to the evangelical community. He attempts to convince Charisma’s mostly evangelical readers that the Catholic church really is legitimate and is not that far from the Evangelicals. His first main point is that “the Catholic Church is Christian.” He goes on to try to defuse some of the hot buttons to which most Protestants object, admitting that not all Catholics are converted, and insisting that Catholics believe the Bible, do not worship Mary, and believe in salvation by grace.
Charismatic Catholics
In the 1960’s and 70’s a phenomenon began happening in the Catholic Church that would have never been believed by some of the fiery reformers and revivalists of previous generations. Priests, nuns, and thousands of ordinary Catholics began to come into a new experience with Jesus and with the Holy Spirit.
Catholics began doing things that seemed decidedly un-Catholic as they met together in homes for prayer meetings, danced “in the Spirit,” spoke in tongues, laid hands on the sick, and openly witnessed to others about their faith in Jesus. Many Evangelicals (myself included) began to believe for the first time that it just might be possible for one to be a Catholic and be saved. They sang the same songs that we did, actually read their Bibles, and sometimes seemed to even outshine us in their zeal for Jesus.
Practically from the moment that this began happening, questions began to arise not too dissimilar to those that the believing Jews were debating in the early church as they wondered what to do with the Gentiles who had put their faith in the Messiah. This time we were wondering what to do with the Catholics. Should we encourage them to “flee Babylon” or should we preserve unity by urging them to stay in their churches and be a witness for Jesus to the others? While many offered opinions, the question never really did get resolved. Some left, some stayed, and gradually things began to get back to normal.
Today the question, although in a different form, has resurfaced. It is not one which can be lightly answered. I have been around long enough to know that there are most definitely Catholics who love the Lord Jesus. Certainly I have known Catholics that I could fellowship with at a far deeper level than any liberal Protestants, and even many Fundamentalists. But this is not really the issue. Nearly all Protestants will (or should) admit that there are Catholics who have been born again and who are legitimate brothers and sisters in Christ.
Some of the questions raised by the ECT document are as follows:
Is the Catholic Church as a whole a Christian Church?
Would an individual who strictly followed the official Catholic position on salvation be truly saved?
Are the differences between Protestants and Catholics merely minor and insignificant?
Would the Catholic Church be a healthy place to be for a new convert who knew almost nothing about Christian truth?
Differences of a Minor Kind
In attempting to answer these kinds of questions, it is important to “major on the majors and minor on the minors.” Before we can do this, however, we must first establish what the majors and minors are.
Certainly, even in the ranks of evangelical Christians, there are many differences in styles and practices of worship. Some churches offer communion once a month and others insist it must be offered every Sunday. Some churches sing ancient songs from hymnals and others project peppy praise choruses on a screen with an overhead projector. Certain churches emphasize teachings about God’s desire to bless His people in this present world, while others focus more upon heavenly blessings in the age to come.
While we may look critically at the way other churches do things, we still think of their members as brothers and sisters in the Lord, even though we may consider them to be misguided.
As we consider the Catholic Church, most Protestants don’t have to look long to find things that they are uncomfortable with. Confessing sins to a priest, using rosary beads, giving allegiance to the Pope, praying to the saints, and believing in the notion of purgatory are all alien to a Protestant’s Christian perspective.
But one of life’s really demanding challenges is knowing what’s worth making an issue about. For example, I think the idea of regularly confessing one’s sins to a priest is unbiblical and unnecessary. Yet, if Catholics want to do that, I am not going to go on an “anti-confessional” crusade. I feel no need to borrow my son’s baseball bat and rush into Catholic churches, Carrie Nation style, to smash up confessional booths.
There are a number of other practices that would fall into this category. The robes worn by the priests seem pretentious. Praying with beads smacks of superstition. Having their churches filled with statues of the saints makes me uncomfortable. Demanding that all adherents attend church once a week upon threat of mortal sin seems legalistic. Yet these things, while foreign to non-Catholics and having little or no biblical basis, should not, in themselves, be enough to keep Evangelicals and Catholics from working together as brothers and sisters in Christ or from recognizing the legitimacy of one another’s faith.
If God only accepted as His children those Christians who walk in perfect understanding and whose churches are the perfect expression of His mind and will, heaven would be a sparsely populated place indeed. When we look at the vast differences between the Methodists and the Pentecostals, the Baptists and the Churches of Christ, it becomes obvious that we must either allow for some pretty big differences of worship and practice, or else cling to that cultish arrogance which says that our little group is the only one God is interested in.
Bigger Problems
If the differences between Catholics and Protestants were simply a manner of form and style, there would be no reason for concern over the ECT document. Sadly, there are bigger issues involved, much bigger issues.
Consider the Catholics’ preoccupation with Mary. The Catholic apologists, such as Keith Fournier, would have us to believe that they do not worship, or even pray to Mary. Fournier writes: “Catholics venerate Mary… (they) only worship and pray to the Creator, not to creatures… poorly catechized Catholics have at times gone to extremes and appeared to elevate Mary over Jesus. But their mistaken piety does not reflect the teaching of the Catholic church.” Thus it is all a big misunderstanding. Catholics and Protestants alike respect Mary as a wonderful woman of God, so what’s the problem?
The problem is that “it just ain’t so!” The last Pope, John Paul II, had the Latin words “totus tuus sum Maria” (Mary, I’m yours) embroidered on the inside of his robes, and he had attributed his escape from death at the hands of an assassin to Mary, acknowledging, “For everything that happened to me on that day, I felt that extraordinary Motherly protection and care, which turned out to be stronger than bullets.”
In his petition to Mary at the close of the Sunday Mass in Denver in August, 1993, the Pope prayed: “Mary of the New Advent, we implore your protection on the preparations that will now begin for the next meeting. Mary, full of grace, we entrust the next World Youth Day to you. Mary, assumed into heaven, we entrust the young people of the world… the whole world to you.” Is this the prayer of a poorly catechized, extremist Catholic? If the Pope prays to Mary and commits all the world’s youth to her, what should we expect from the rest of the church?
Bishop Fulton J. Sheen declared: “When I was ordained, I took a resolution to offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Eucharist every Saturday to the Blessed Mother… All this makes me very certain that when I go before the Judgment Seat of Christ, He will say to me in His Mercy: ‘I heard My Mother speak of you.'”
Major Catholic leaders have consistently worshipped Mary and seen in her the key to their salvation. St. Bonaventure said, “the gates of heaven will open to all who confide in the protection of Mary.” St. Ephrem called devotion to the divine Mother “the unlocking of the gates of the heavenly Jerusalem.” Blosius said, “We ought constantly to pray to her… ‘Open to us, O Mary, the gates of paradise, since thou hast its keys.'”
Friends, we are no longer talking about differences in styles of worship. These things get right to the heart of what is Christianity, and what it is that makes one a Christian. This unhealthy, idolatrous preoccupation with Mary is utterly without any basis in Scripture and is, no doubt, responsible for sending countless millions into hell, vainly trusting in the “Queen of Heaven” rather than the Prince of Peace.
Another Gospel
The apostle Paul took the gospel seriously, so seriously that he even referred to it as “my gospel” (Romans 2:16). He declared that any who would try to pervert the gospel or come up with some false version of it should be totally disregarded, even if they came with the appearance of an angel from heaven (Galatians 1:8).
The ultimate factor in deciding the legitimacy of the Catholic Church is its presentation of the gospel, its answer to the age-old question of “What must I do to be saved?” The Catholic apologists argue strongly that the Catholics, like the Protestants, believe in salvation by grace through faith. Keith Fournier declares, “As the Catholic Church teaches, we are converted to Christ by our faith, not because of our good works; and we do good works only because we have the divine grace to do so.” This sounds very evangelical; Billy Graham could not have said it better.
The trouble is that in order for us to find out the position of the Catholic Church we must look beyond the apologists. These are often born again believers themselves, who have indeed found Christ through personal faith, and are eager to have the world believe that Catholics and Evangelicals are but two flavors of the same church.
To anyone who bothers to do much reading on the Catholic position on salvation, the truth becomes readily apparent — the official position of the church is that salvation comes through grace, but the grace is distributed a little at a time through the official sacraments of the Roman Catholic Church. The Council of Trent proclaimed: “If anyone says that the sacraments… are not necessary for salvation but… that without them… men obtain from God through faith alone the grace of justification… let him be anathema.”
The Vatican II Apostolic Constitution declares: “Following in Christ’s steps, those who believe in Him have always… carried their crosses to make expiation for their own sins and the sins of others…” Anyone who is familiar with the writings of Paul will immediately realize what incredible blasphemies these quotes are! They mock the cross of Christ and show utter disregard for the very heart of New Testament theology.
This is no small issue. No matter how much help our Catholic friends may be in working with us in the great moral reforms of our day, we would be less than loving to disregard their blatant misconceptions and try to pretend that we are one in the Lord, and that, as Pat Robertson has suggested, “While there may be differences between the two faith communities, it is time that we focus on the similarities.” We are not talking about the differences between blue or red choir robes, we are talking about two diametrically opposed belief systems which cannot possibly both be true. Even Catholic apologist Peter Kreeft admits: “Over the past 25 years I have asked hundreds of Catholic college students the question: If you should die tonight and God asks you why He should let you into heaven, what would you answer? The vast majority of them simply do not know the right answer to this, the most important of all questions, the very essence of Christianity. They usually do not even mention Jesus!”
If someone I cared about had just been born again, and was now studying theology in the Catholic Church, I would be deeply concerned. If he were to believe the official Catholic teachings, he soon would no longer trust in Christ alone for his salvation, but would be putting his faith in Mary, communion, baptism, and a number of other sacraments and works, and according to Galatians, would be fallen from grace and alienated from Christ (Galatians 5:4). I would do anything I could to get him out of that church and into one which teaches that grand old biblical doctrine of justification by faith in Christ alone.
Yes, there are certainly wonderful born again Catholic brothers and sisters in Christ, and I praise God for them. May their numbers increase by millions more! But we must not approve nor should we endorse any system which makes our Savior’s death only a partial payment for the sins of mankind. When Jesus said, “It is done,” it was done!
Other Information Sources About Catholicism
Dave Hunt’s book, A Woman Rides the Beast. This book, which was published by Harvest House this year, is available from Dave Hunt’s ministry for a cost of $10 (plus $2 for postage and handling). Write to The Berean Call, P.O. Box 7019, Bend, Or. 97708 (503/382-6210). This is a well documented study of Catholic history and theology.
Dave Reagan’s article, “Roman Catholicism: Is it the ‘Whore of Babylon?'”
Mike Gendron’s ministry called Proclaiming the Gospel to Catholics. Mike is a former Catholic and has many resource materials available. His address is 2706 Lancaster St., Garland, Texas 75044 (214/495-0485).
Richard M. Bennett’s ministry called Berean Beacon. Richard is a former Catholic Priest. His address is P.O. Box 55353, Portland, Or. 97238 (503/257-5995). A new book that he has just published is called Far from Rome, Near to God. It contains the testimonies of 50 former Catholic priests. It sells for $10 (plus $2 for postage and handling) and can be ordered directly from Richard’s ministry.
“Six Roman Catholic Doctrines that Nullify Salvation by Grace,” by Albert James Dager of Media Spotlight Ministries, P.O. Box 290, Redmond, Wa. 98073. This very fine booklet (47 pages) is available for a donation of any amount.
More From This Category
By Dennis Pollock
Catholics and Protestants
“The Roman Catholic Church is a counterfeit… of the worst and most diabolical kind… to be rejected and denounced.” — Dr. Martin Lloyd Jones
“I’m eradicating the word Protestant even out of my vocabulary .. I’m not protesting anything… It’s time for Catholics and non-Catholics to come together as one in the Spirit and one in the Lord.” — Paul Crouch on TBN
When twenty Evangelical and twenty Catholic leaders signed the document, Evangelicals and Catholics Together: The Christian Mission in the Third Millennium, (or ECT for short), in the spring of 1994, it set off a firestorm of controversy which shows no indications of letting up. Signed by such Christian leaders as Bill Bright, Charles Colson and Pat Robertson, this document suggests that the time has come for Evangelicals and Catholics to walk together and recognize that they must unite in battle against the common foes of humanism and relativism, and agree to stop proselytizing one another.
Reactions to ECT
Several major figures in evangelical Christianity have strongly disagreed. Men such as John MacArthur, R. C. Sproul, John Ankerberg, James Kennedy, and Dave Hunt have contended that ECT is a minimizing of the truth of justification by faith, gives the false impression that any doctrinal differences between Catholics and Protestants are small and of little importance, and mocks the Reformation as irrelevant and unnecessary.
The editors of Charisma magazine recently devoted their July issue to this controversy. In two major articles, “What Protestants Should Know About Catholics,” and “What Catholics Should Know About Protestants,” they attempted, by their own admission, to “help us find common ground.”
The first article was by Keith Fournier, an evangelical Catholic lawyer who serves as an apologist for the Catholics to the evangelical community. He attempts to convince Charisma’s mostly evangelical readers that the Catholic church really is legitimate and is not that far from the Evangelicals. His first main point is that “the Catholic Church is Christian.” He goes on to try to defuse some of the hot buttons to which most Protestants object, admitting that not all Catholics are converted, and insisting that Catholics believe the Bible, do not worship Mary, and believe in salvation by grace.
Charismatic Catholics
In the 1960’s and 70’s a phenomenon began happening in the Catholic Church that would have never been believed by some of the fiery reformers and revivalists of previous generations. Priests, nuns, and thousands of ordinary Catholics began to come into a new experience with Jesus and with the Holy Spirit.
Catholics began doing things that seemed decidedly un-Catholic as they met together in homes for prayer meetings, danced “in the Spirit,” spoke in tongues, laid hands on the sick, and openly witnessed to others about their faith in Jesus. Many Evangelicals (myself included) began to believe for the first time that it just might be possible for one to be a Catholic and be saved. They sang the same songs that we did, actually read their Bibles, and sometimes seemed to even outshine us in their zeal for Jesus.
Practically from the moment that this began happening, questions began to arise not too dissimilar to those that the believing Jews were debating in the early church as they wondered what to do with the Gentiles who had put their faith in the Messiah. This time we were wondering what to do with the Catholics. Should we encourage them to “flee Babylon” or should we preserve unity by urging them to stay in their churches and be a witness for Jesus to the others? While many offered opinions, the question never really did get resolved. Some left, some stayed, and gradually things began to get back to normal.
Today the question, although in a different form, has resurfaced. It is not one which can be lightly answered. I have been around long enough to know that there are most definitely Catholics who love the Lord Jesus. Certainly I have known Catholics that I could fellowship with at a far deeper level than any liberal Protestants, and even many Fundamentalists. But this is not really the issue. Nearly all Protestants will (or should) admit that there are Catholics who have been born again and who are legitimate brothers and sisters in Christ.
Some of the questions raised by the ECT document are as follows:
Is the Catholic Church as a whole a Christian Church?
Would an individual who strictly followed the official Catholic position on salvation be truly saved?
Are the differences between Protestants and Catholics merely minor and insignificant?
Would the Catholic Church be a healthy place to be for a new convert who knew almost nothing about Christian truth?
Differences of a Minor Kind
In attempting to answer these kinds of questions, it is important to “major on the majors and minor on the minors.” Before we can do this, however, we must first establish what the majors and minors are.
Certainly, even in the ranks of evangelical Christians, there are many differences in styles and practices of worship. Some churches offer communion once a month and others insist it must be offered every Sunday. Some churches sing ancient songs from hymnals and others project peppy praise choruses on a screen with an overhead projector. Certain churches emphasize teachings about God’s desire to bless His people in this present world, while others focus more upon heavenly blessings in the age to come.
While we may look critically at the way other churches do things, we still think of their members as brothers and sisters in the Lord, even though we may consider them to be misguided.
As we consider the Catholic Church, most Protestants don’t have to look long to find things that they are uncomfortable with. Confessing sins to a priest, using rosary beads, giving allegiance to the Pope, praying to the saints, and believing in the notion of purgatory are all alien to a Protestant’s Christian perspective.
But one of life’s really demanding challenges is knowing what’s worth making an issue about. For example, I think the idea of regularly confessing one’s sins to a priest is unbiblical and unnecessary. Yet, if Catholics want to do that, I am not going to go on an “anti-confessional” crusade. I feel no need to borrow my son’s baseball bat and rush into Catholic churches, Carrie Nation style, to smash up confessional booths.
There are a number of other practices that would fall into this category. The robes worn by the priests seem pretentious. Praying with beads smacks of superstition. Having their churches filled with statues of the saints makes me uncomfortable. Demanding that all adherents attend church once a week upon threat of mortal sin seems legalistic. Yet these things, while foreign to non-Catholics and having little or no biblical basis, should not, in themselves, be enough to keep Evangelicals and Catholics from working together as brothers and sisters in Christ or from recognizing the legitimacy of one another’s faith.
If God only accepted as His children those Christians who walk in perfect understanding and whose churches are the perfect expression of His mind and will, heaven would be a sparsely populated place indeed. When we look at the vast differences between the Methodists and the Pentecostals, the Baptists and the Churches of Christ, it becomes obvious that we must either allow for some pretty big differences of worship and practice, or else cling to that cultish arrogance which says that our little group is the only one God is interested in.
Bigger Problems
If the differences between Catholics and Protestants were simply a manner of form and style, there would be no reason for concern over the ECT document. Sadly, there are bigger issues involved, much bigger issues.
Consider the Catholics’ preoccupation with Mary. The Catholic apologists, such as Keith Fournier, would have us to believe that they do not worship, or even pray to Mary. Fournier writes: “Catholics venerate Mary… (they) only worship and pray to the Creator, not to creatures… poorly catechized Catholics have at times gone to extremes and appeared to elevate Mary over Jesus. But their mistaken piety does not reflect the teaching of the Catholic church.” Thus it is all a big misunderstanding. Catholics and Protestants alike respect Mary as a wonderful woman of God, so what’s the problem?
The problem is that “it just ain’t so!” The last Pope, John Paul II, had the Latin words “totus tuus sum Maria” (Mary, I’m yours) embroidered on the inside of his robes, and he had attributed his escape from death at the hands of an assassin to Mary, acknowledging, “For everything that happened to me on that day, I felt that extraordinary Motherly protection and care, which turned out to be stronger than bullets.”
In his petition to Mary at the close of the Sunday Mass in Denver in August, 1993, the Pope prayed: “Mary of the New Advent, we implore your protection on the preparations that will now begin for the next meeting. Mary, full of grace, we entrust the next World Youth Day to you. Mary, assumed into heaven, we entrust the young people of the world… the whole world to you.” Is this the prayer of a poorly catechized, extremist Catholic? If the Pope prays to Mary and commits all the world’s youth to her, what should we expect from the rest of the church?
Bishop Fulton J. Sheen declared: “When I was ordained, I took a resolution to offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Eucharist every Saturday to the Blessed Mother… All this makes me very certain that when I go before the Judgment Seat of Christ, He will say to me in His Mercy: ‘I heard My Mother speak of you.'”
Major Catholic leaders have consistently worshipped Mary and seen in her the key to their salvation. St. Bonaventure said, “the gates of heaven will open to all who confide in the protection of Mary.” St. Ephrem called devotion to the divine Mother “the unlocking of the gates of the heavenly Jerusalem.” Blosius said, “We ought constantly to pray to her… ‘Open to us, O Mary, the gates of paradise, since thou hast its keys.'”
Friends, we are no longer talking about differences in styles of worship. These things get right to the heart of what is Christianity, and what it is that makes one a Christian. This unhealthy, idolatrous preoccupation with Mary is utterly without any basis in Scripture and is, no doubt, responsible for sending countless millions into hell, vainly trusting in the “Queen of Heaven” rather than the Prince of Peace.
Another Gospel
The apostle Paul took the gospel seriously, so seriously that he even referred to it as “my gospel” (Romans 2:16). He declared that any who would try to pervert the gospel or come up with some false version of it should be totally disregarded, even if they came with the appearance of an angel from heaven (Galatians 1:8).
The ultimate factor in deciding the legitimacy of the Catholic Church is its presentation of the gospel, its answer to the age-old question of “What must I do to be saved?” The Catholic apologists argue strongly that the Catholics, like the Protestants, believe in salvation by grace through faith. Keith Fournier declares, “As the Catholic Church teaches, we are converted to Christ by our faith, not because of our good works; and we do good works only because we have the divine grace to do so.” This sounds very evangelical; Billy Graham could not have said it better.
The trouble is that in order for us to find out the position of the Catholic Church we must look beyond the apologists. These are often born again believers themselves, who have indeed found Christ through personal faith, and are eager to have the world believe that Catholics and Evangelicals are but two flavors of the same church.
To anyone who bothers to do much reading on the Catholic position on salvation, the truth becomes readily apparent — the official position of the church is that salvation comes through grace, but the grace is distributed a little at a time through the official sacraments of the Roman Catholic Church. The Council of Trent proclaimed: “If anyone says that the sacraments… are not necessary for salvation but… that without them… men obtain from God through faith alone the grace of justification… let him be anathema.”
The Vatican II Apostolic Constitution declares: “Following in Christ’s steps, those who believe in Him have always… carried their crosses to make expiation for their own sins and the sins of others…” Anyone who is familiar with the writings of Paul will immediately realize what incredible blasphemies these quotes are! They mock the cross of Christ and show utter disregard for the very heart of New Testament theology.
This is no small issue. No matter how much help our Catholic friends may be in working with us in the great moral reforms of our day, we would be less than loving to disregard their blatant misconceptions and try to pretend that we are one in the Lord, and that, as Pat Robertson has suggested, “While there may be differences between the two faith communities, it is time that we focus on the similarities.” We are not talking about the differences between blue or red choir robes, we are talking about two diametrically opposed belief systems which cannot possibly both be true. Even Catholic apologist Peter Kreeft admits: “Over the past 25 years I have asked hundreds of Catholic college students the question: If you should die tonight and God asks you why He should let you into heaven, what would you answer? The vast majority of them simply do not know the right answer to this, the most important of all questions, the very essence of Christianity. They usually do not even mention Jesus!”
If someone I cared about had just been born again, and was now studying theology in the Catholic Church, I would be deeply concerned. If he were to believe the official Catholic teachings, he soon would no longer trust in Christ alone for his salvation, but would be putting his faith in Mary, communion, baptism, and a number of other sacraments and works, and according to Galatians, would be fallen from grace and alienated from Christ (Galatians 5:4). I would do anything I could to get him out of that church and into one which teaches that grand old biblical doctrine of justification by faith in Christ alone.
Yes, there are certainly wonderful born again Catholic brothers and sisters in Christ, and I praise God for them. May their numbers increase by millions more! But we must not approve nor should we endorse any system which makes our Savior’s death only a partial payment for the sins of mankind. When Jesus said, “It is done,” it was done!
Other Information Sources About Catholicism
Dave Hunt’s book, A Woman Rides the Beast. This book, which was published by Harvest House this year, is available from Dave Hunt’s ministry for a cost of $10 (plus $2 for postage and handling). Write to The Berean Call, P.O. Box 7019, Bend, Or. 97708 (503/382-6210). This is a well documented study of Catholic history and theology.
Dave Reagan’s article, “Roman Catholicism: Is it the ‘Whore of Babylon?'”
Mike Gendron’s ministry called Proclaiming the Gospel to Catholics. Mike is a former Catholic and has many resource materials available. His address is 2706 Lancaster St., Garland, Texas 75044 (214/495-0485).
Richard M. Bennett’s ministry called Berean Beacon. Richard is a former Catholic Priest. His address is P.O. Box 55353, Portland, Or. 97238 (503/257-5995). A new book that he has just published is called Far from Rome, Near to God. It contains the testimonies of 50 former Catholic priests. It sells for $10 (plus $2 for postage and handling) and can be ordered directly from Richard’s ministry.
“Six Roman Catholic Doctrines that Nullify Salvation by Grace,” by Albert James Dager of Media Spotlight Ministries, P.O. Box 290, Redmond, Wa. 98073. This very fine booklet (47 pages) is available for a donation of any amount.
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Religious images in Christian theology
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James the Just, whose judgment was adopted in the Apostolic Decree of Acts 15:19-29,
c. 50 AD: "...we should write to them [Gentiles] to abstain only from
things polluted by idols and from fornication and from whatever has been
strangled and from blood..." (NRSV)
Idolatry is consistently prohibited in the Hebrew Bible, including as one of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:3-4) and in the New Testament (for example 1 John 5:21, most significantly in the Apostolic Decree recorded in Acts 15:19-21). There is a great deal of controversy over the question of what constitutes idolatry and this has bearing on the visual arts and the use of icons and symbols in worship, and other matters. As in other Abrahamic religions the meaning of the term has been extended very widely by theologians. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states: "Idolatry not only refers to false pagan worship...Man commits idolatry whenever he honours and reveres a creature in place of God, whether this be gods or demons (for example satanism), power, pleasure, race, ancestors, the state, money etc." [2] Speaking of the effects of idolatry, Benedict XVI says, "Worship of an idol, instead of opening the human heart to Otherness, to a liberating relationship that permits the person to emerge from the narrow space of his own selfishness to enter the dimensions of love and of reciprocal giving, shuts the person into the exclusive and desperate circle of self-seeking"[3]
Contents
Jewish origins
Main article: Idolatry in Judaism
Idolatry is prohibited by many verses in the Old Testament,
but there is no one section that clearly defines idolatry. Rather there
are a number of commandments on this subject spread through the books
of the Hebrew Bible, some of which were written in different historical
eras, in response to different issues. Idolatry in the Hebrew Bible is
defined as the worship of idols (or images); the worship of polytheistic
gods by use of idols (or images) and even the use of idols in the
worship of Yahweh (God).[citation needed]The Israelites used various images in connection with their worship, including carved cherubim on the Ark of the Covenant (Exodus 25:18-22) which God instructed Moses to make, and the embroidered figures of cherubim on the curtain which separated the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle tent (Exodus 26:31). Similarly, the Nehushtan, which God commanded Moses to make and lift high to cure any Israelites who looked at it of snakebites, is God-ordained use of an image. However, as part of a later religious reform Hezekiah destroyed the Serpent, which the Hebrew people had been burning incense to (2 Kings 18:4).
New Testament
See also: Council of Jerusalem
Judaism's animosity towards what they perceived as idolatry was inherited by Jewish Christianity. Although Jesus discussed the Mosaic Law in the Sermon on the Mount,
he does not speak of issues regarding the meaning of the commandment
against idolatry. His teachings, however, uphold that worship should be
directed to God alone (Matthew 4:10 which is itself a quote of
Deuteronomy 6:13, see also Shema in Christianity, Great Commandment, and Ministry of Jesus).The Pauline Epistles contain several admonitions to "flee from idolatry" (1 Cor 5:11, 6:9–10, 10:7, 10:14, Gal 5:19–21, Eph 5:5, Col 3:5) A major controversy among Early Christians concerned whether it was permissible to eat meat that had been offered in pagan worship. Paul of Tarsus, who agreed to the Apostolic Decree, also wrote that it was permitted to do so, as long as a blessing was pronounced over it, and provided that scandal was not caused by it. However, he said that the gods worshiped in idolatry were in his belief demons, and that any act of direct participation in their worship remained forbidden (1 Corinthians 10:14-22).[4] See also the Law of Christ.
The New Testament also uses the term "idolatry" to refer to worship like passion for things such as wealth. One can see evidence of this in Colossians 3:5, "Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed which is idolatry." Some Christian theologians see the absolutization of an idea as idolatrous.[5] Therefore, undue focus on particular features of Christianity to the exclusion of others would constitute idolatry.
The New Testament does contain the rudiments of an argument which provides a basis for religious images or icons. Jesus was visible, and orthodox Christian doctrine maintains that Jesus is YHWH incarnate.[citation needed] In the Gospel of John, Jesus stated that because his disciples had seen him, they had seen God the Father (Gospel of John 14:7-9 [6]). Paul of Tarsus referred to Jesus as the "image of the invisible God" (Colossians 1:15).[7] Theologians such as John of Damascus argued that the connection between Jesus' incarnation and the use of images is so strong that to reject or prohibit the use of images is tantamount to denying the Incarnation of Jesus.
Early Christianity grew in a society where religious images, usually in the form of statues, both large ones in temples and small ones such as lares and penates in the home, were a prominent feature of traditional pagan religions, such as traditional Ancient Roman religion, Ancient Greek religion and other forms of Eastern paganism. Many writings by Church fathers contain strong denunciations of these practices, which seem to have included outright idol-worship. Statues on secular buildings, however, could serve as expression of secular power in various periods of Christianity, without implications of idol-worship.[8]
The use of icons and symbols in Christian worship
Main article: Aniconism in Christianity
Early Christian art used symbolic and allegorical images mainly, partly no doubt to avoid drawing attention during the persecution of early Christians in the Roman Empire.[citation needed] In the Catacombs of Rome Jesus was represented indirectly by pictogram symbols such as the Ichthys (fish), peacock, Lamb of God, or an anchor (the Labarum or Chi-Rho was a later development). Later, personified symbols were used, including Jonah, whose three days in the belly of the whale pre-figured the interval between Christ's death and Resurrection, Daniel in the lion's den, or Orpheus charming the animals.The image of "The Good Shepherd", a beardless youth in pastoral scenes collecting sheep, was the most common of these images, and was probably not understood as a portrait of the historical Jesus. The depiction of Jesus already from the 3rd century included images very similar to what became the traditional image of Jesus, with a longish face and long straight hair. As the Church increased in size and popularity, the need to educate illiterate converts led to the use of pictures which portrayed biblical stories, along with images of saints, angels, prophets, and the Cross (though only portrayed in a bejewelled, glorified state).
After the end of persecution, and the adoption of Christianity by Constantine, large churches were built and from the start decorated with elaborate images of Jesus and saints in mosaic. Small carved reliefs were also found on sarcophagi like the Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus. However large monumental sculpture of religious subjects was not produced, and in Byzantine art and Eastern Orthodox art it is avoided to the current day. It only reappeared in Carolingian art, among peoples who had no memory of pagan religious statues.
Paintings of Old Testament scenes are found in Jewish catacombs of the same period, and the heavily painted walls of Dura Europos Synagogue in Syria.[9] Catholic and Orthodox historians affirm, on the basis of these archeological finds in the Catacombs, that the veneration of icons and relics had begun well before Constantine I.
Christian use of relics also dates to the catacombs, when Christians found themselves praying in the presence of the bodies of martyrs, sometimes using their tombs as altars for sharing the Eucharist, which was, and in Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy is, the central act of Christian worship. Many stories of the earliest martyrs end with an account of how Christians would gather up the martyr's remains, to the extent possible, in order to retain the martyr's relics. This is shown in the written record of the martyrdom of Saint Polycarp, a personal disciple of Saint John the Apostle.
Significant periods of iconoclasm (deliberate destruction of icons) have occurred in the history of the Church, the first major outbreak being the Byzantine iconoclasm (730-787), motivated by a strictly literal interpretation of the second commandment and interaction with Muslims who have a very strict teachings against the creation of images. Iconoclasm was officially condemned by the Western and Eastern Churches at the Second Council of Nicaea in 787 AD (the Western Church was not represented, but approved the decrees later).
This decision was based on the arguments including that the biblical commandment forbidding images of God was because no-one had seen God. But, by the Incarnation of Jesus, who is God incarnate in visible matter, humankind has now seen God. It was therefore argued that they were not depicting the invisible God, but God as He appeared in the flesh.
The Libri Carolini are a response prepared in the court of Charlemagne, when under the mistaken impression that the Nicea Council had approved the worship as opposed to the veneration of images.
Different understandings of the use of images
Catholics use images, such as the crucifix, the cross, in religious life and pray using depictions of saints. They also venerate images and liturgical objects by kissing, bowing, and making the sign of the cross. They point to the Old Testament patterns of worship followed by the Hebrew people as examples of how certain places and things used in worship may be treated with reverence or venerated, without worshiping them. The Ark of the Covenant was treated with great reverence and included images of cherubim on top of it (Exodus 25:18-22), and certain miracles were associated with it, yet this was not condemned.Christianity interprets the commandment not to make "any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above" to mean to not "bow down and worship" the image in and of itself nor a false god through the image. Christian theology offers the following explanations of liturgical practice that features images, icons, statues, and the like:
- Catholic theology expressly affirms that the image of Christ receives the same latria or worship that is due to God; see St. Thomas, Summa, III, 25, 3, but "no reverence is shown to Christ's image, as a thing---for instance, carved or painted wood: because reverence is not due save to a rational creature".[10] In the case of an image of a saint, the worship would not be latria but rather dulia, while the Blessed Virgin Mary receives hyperdulia. The worship of whatever type, latria, hyperdulia, or dulia, can be considered to go through the icon, image, or statue: "The honor given to an image reaches to the prototype" (St. John Damascene in Summa ³).
- Orthodoxy teaches that the incarnation of Jesus makes it permissible to venerate icons, and even necessary to do so in order to preserve the truth of the Incarnation. Indeed, following from the Summa reference above, the veneration of icons is mandatory; to not venerate icons would imply that Jesus was not also fully God, or to deny that Jesus had a real physical body. Both of these alternatives are incompatible with the Christology defined at the Council of Chalcedon in 451 and summarized in the Chalcedonian Creed.
- Both the literal worship of an inanimate object and latria, or sacrificial worship to something or someone that is not God, are forbidden; yet such are not the basis for Christian worship. The Catholic knows "that in images there is no divinity or virtue on account of which they are to be worshipped, that no petitions can be addressed to them, and that no trust is to be placed in them. . . that the honour which is given to them is referred to the objects (prototypa) which they represent, so that through the images which we kiss, and before which we uncover our heads and kneel, we adore Christ and venerate the Saints whose likenesses they are" (Council of Trent, Sess. XXV, de invocatione Sanctorum).
- The vast majority of Christian denominations hold that God particularized himself when he took on flesh and was born as Jesus; through this act God is said to have blessed material things and made them good again.[citation needed] By rising physically from the dead, ascending bodily into Heaven and promising Christians a physical resurrection, God thus indicates that it is not wrong to be "attached" to physical things, and that matter is not inherently evil, unlike the ancient teachings of Gnosticism.[citation needed]
7. As Lutherans and Orthodox we affirm that the teachings of the ecumenical councils are authoritative for our churches. The ecumenical councils maintain the integrity of the teaching of the undivided Church concerning the saving, illuminating/justifying and glorifying acts of God and reject heresies which subvert the saving work of God in Christ. Orthodox and Lutherans, however, have different histories. Lutherans have received the Nicaeno?Constantinopolitan Creed with the addition of the filioque. The Seventh Ecumenical Council, the Second Council of Nicaea in 787, which rejected iconoclasm and restored the veneration of icons in the churches, was not part of the tradition received by the Reformation. Lutherans, however, rejected the iconoclasm of the 16th century, and affirmed the distinction between adoration due to the Triune God alone and all other forms of veneration (CA 21). Through historical research this council has become better known. Nevertheless it does not have the same significance for Lutherans as it does for the Orthodox. Yet, Lutherans and Orthodox are in agreement that the Second Council of Nicaea confirms the christological teaching of the earlier councils and in setting forth the role of images (icons) in the lives of the faithful reaffirms the reality of the incarnation of the eternal Word of God, when it states: "The more frequently, Christ, Mary, the mother of God, and the saints are seen, the more are those who see them drawn to remember and long for those who serve as models, and to pay these icons the tribute of salutation and respectful veneration. Certainly this is not the full adoration in accordance with our faith, which is properly paid only to the divine nature, but it resembles that given to the figure of the honored and life?giving cross, and also to the holy books of the gospels and to other sacred objects" (Definition of the Second Council of Nicaea).
Protestant criticism
Manufactory of Romish Graven Images (1853, X, p.1)[12]
The earliest catechisms of the Protestant movement, written in the 16th through 18th centuries, including the Heidelberg (1563), Westminster (1647) and Fisher's (1765), included discussions in a question and answer format detailing how the creation of images of God (including Jesus) was counter to their understanding of the Second Commandment's prohibition against creating images of worship in any manner.
Many Protestants hold that veneration and worship are for all practical purposes identical.
Most typically, modern Protestants are no longer offended by religious art, or pictorial representations of Jesus, as was certainly the case in the 16th century. However, some consider it necessary to avoid religious use of these objects, especially as the focus of communal worship. In order to avoid praying before them, lighting candles to them, and other acts that make it appear as if the image itself is holy or an object of devotion, many Protestants avoid locating any representational art in front of the congregation,[citation needed] although exceptions may be made for the Christian cross and, sometimes, an image of the Face of Christ or the Good Shepherd. In most cases, it is the devotional use, especially, that is avoided.
In some cases, it is not only the veneration of images, but also the making of an image, that is avoided. Any visual representations of Jesus, including drawings, paintings, stained glass windows, sculpture, and other forms of representational art are considered a violation of the commandment of God prohibiting the depiction of God by images.[citation needed] Calvinist theologian J. I. Packer, in Chapter 4 of his book Knowing God, writes that, "Imagining God in our heads can be just as real a breach of the second commandment as imagining Him by the work of our hands."[13] His overall concern is that "The mind that takes up with images is a mind that has not yet learned to love and attend to God's Word."[14] In other words, image making relies on human sources rather than on divine revelation. Another typical Christian argument for this position might be that God was incarnate as a human being, not as an object of wood, stone or canvas, and therefore the only God-directed service of images permitted is the service of other people.
Others[who?] go even farther to eliminate, if it were possible, any kind of religiously symbolic art of any kind, in addition to any representational art. The use of a cross, censer, candles, or vestments in a place of worship is considered idolatrous by some.[who?] By using tools and items of furniture or clothing only in the context of religious ritual, these implements seem set apart as holy, they would be profaned by ordinary use. This too is believed to pose a danger that these objects are being worshiped, or are becoming talismans. During the period of Archbishop William Laud's conflicts with Puritans within the Church of England, the use of ritual implements prescribed by the Book of Common Prayer was a frequent cause of conflict. (See vestments controversy)
Some Protestant groups[who?] have criticized the use of stained-glass windows by other denominations, while Jehovah's Witnesses criticize the use of windows, statuary, as well as the wearing of a cross. The Amish are the only Christian group that forbids the use of images in secular life. In their critiques these groups argue that such practices are in effect little different from idolatry, and that they localize and particularize God, who, they argue, is beyond human depiction.
For most Protestants all religious images and all conceptions of God that can be apprehended by human senses are problematic.[citation needed]
See also
References and notes
- Knowing God, IVP, 1973, Page 43
External links
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