Storage.googleapis.com



Catholic Perspective on ProtestantismAny Catholics here tonight? Any Protestants?My intent tonight is to educate – to enlighten those of us who are Catholic on what Protestants believe and enlighten those of us who are Protestant on what Catholics believeWhat does it mean to be a Protestant?A branch of Christianity that was formed out of the Protestant ReformationOk so we need to start with some historical background on the Protestant Reformation So what was the Protestant Reformation?A breakaway movement from the Catholic church that was started by a Catholic priest by the name of Martin LutherWho was Martin Luther?Born on November 10, 1483 in Eisleben, Germany Against his Father’s wished that he become a Lawyer Martin Luther entered an Augustinian monastery at age 22 and 2 years later was ordained a Catholic priestHe became a renowned theologian and biblical scholar within the order, as well as a powerful and popular preacher and lecturer at the University of Wittenberg in GermanyDuring this time of growth in popularity, he became critical of the Catholic churchThere was a lot to be critical of – certainly not the churches best yearsMany priest and nuns engaged in sexual relations despite taking vows of chastityPopes even fathered and raised childrenNumerous bishops and abbots used their positions to lead lives of luxury and leisureEven the Cardinals of Rome lived in magnificent palaces and sported jewel encrusted gold robesIn order to fund these lavish lifestyles, several practices were developed to raise money from the faithful, which included the selling of indulgencesAnyone know what an indulgence is? An indulgence is the remission of all or part of the temporal punishment due to sins which have already been forgiven (give example) - to obtain an indulgence, one must go to Confession and receive Communion plus perform some other act or good work, such as making a pilgrimage or doing a work of mercyInstead of prescribing an act of prayer or a work of mercy, clerics began authorizing a “donation” to the Church as a good workMany, including Luther, grew critical of the sale of indulgences, as they watched money gleaned from people go to fund the extravagant lives of some of the clergyThis led to Luther’s famous 95 theses or “arguments” against the selling of Indulgences which, according to legend, he nailed to the door of the Wittenburg Castle churchHis 95 theses were arguments against this practice and a criticism of the whole idea of the Pope and priests being able to grant indulgences Luther nailed not only his theses but the feelings of many faithful at the time who were also frustrated with the corruption and abuse they saw in the ChurchThanks to the invention of the printing press, the mass publishing of books was sweeping across Europe at the time and Luther took advantage of this revolution – he began publishing his theses and other theological writings What he was writing was able to engage lots of people. Many of them were short pamphlets that could be printed up quickly and they became popular... he was on the cutting edge of technology and he fit what the technology needed - short, energetic things people wanted to readAs his writings and popularity took off throughout Germany and Intellectual Europe, his theological ideas began to evolveDuring his time in the monastery, Luther came to feel oppressed by the unshakeable conviction that he could never merit the Love of GodAs he lectured through St. Paul’s epistles to the Romans and Galatians, he came to an epiphany that resolved his troubled conscienceHe came to believe that St. Paul preached a gospel that was completely different to the one taught by the Catholic ChurchWhereas the Catholic Church taught that Christ came to redeem man by infusing grace into the soul of man so that he might become holy through faith, hope, charity and good works. Luther came to believe and teach that man was justified by faith aloneHis epiphany was based on Rom 3:28 “For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.”In this he concluded that all that is needed to be justified is faith – works were not required – all we needed was faith in Christ’s redemption. Luther had adopted a negative view of human nature, a view that was prevalent at the time – humans were all bad – there was no good in them – they could not possibly contribute to their own salvation through any of their actions and he interpreted scripture and salvation through this lens His new theology was attractive to his readership as there had developed an attitude among the faithful that they needed to work their way into heaven – i.e. if I do this, God will do thisThe Catholic church reacted strongly to Luther’s theses declaring them to be heretical and ordering his writings to be burnedProminent church theologians began countering his arguments publicly, which pushed him to denounce church authority altogether – he denounced the authority of the Pope and the bishops, he began to espouse a theology of Scripture alone being the only true authorityHe also preached a theology that there was only one true priesthood – the priesthood of all believers and that the ordained ministers were only different from everyone else in their office and work.The more he was challenged by the church, the more radical from the church’s teachings his views and teachings becameDespite his increasingly radical claims against the church his popularity spread Finally, in the year 1520 a Papal Bull was issued officially condemning Luther’s theses – he was given 60 days to recant his positions or be excommunicated - Luther reacted by claiming the Pope was the anti-Christ and the rest is historyThe protestant reformation had begun, and it spread quickly, fueled by other “reformer” thinkers like Huldrych Zwingli and John Calvin who followed Luther and shared similar views critical and contrary to the teachings of the Catholic churchToday churches that we would call mainstream Protestant churches include Lutherans, Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists, Anglicans or Episcopalians, the United church, Pentecostals, etc. How many different Protestant denominations exist in the world today? 36,000There are 5 key tenants of the Protestant faith – the 5 solaeSola Scriptura – scripture aloneSola Fide – by faith aloneSola Gratia – by grace aloneSola Christo – Christ aloneSoli Dio Gloria – glory to God aloneTo understand the differences between these tenants and Catholic theology we need to explore a key fundamental difference between Protestant and Catholic thoughtThis difference is in the Catholic understanding of Paul’s doctrine of participation in Christ All Catholic doctrine is derived from Paul’s understanding of ‘life in Christ’It is said that all of St. Paul’s’ theology is an expansion on the words that Christ said to him when he appeared to him on the road to Damascus found it Acts 26:14Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?Christ revealed in this statement that to persecute any of His disciples was to persecute him.When Saul approved of the murder of Stephen, he approved of the murder of ChristWhen Saul imprisoned Christians, he had imprisoned ChristIt’s from this revelation that St. Paul extrapolated the entirety of his theologyThe revelation of the deep intimate union between Christ and his disciples led St. Paul to present salvation in terms of participationThe center of Paul’s message can be found in Rom 12:5: “So we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another”The words “in Christ” and “in Him” are found consistently through all of Paul’s writings, more so than any other topicFor St. Paul, we as Christian believers participate in the life of ChristThe contrast to this viewpoint and the reason behind almost all misunderstandings of the Catholic Faith is what can be called “zero-sum theology” Zero-sum means if I give to one I must take away from anotherThis is the predominant protestant mentality – Christ must receive 100% from us (and rightly so – no dispute here) but if I give some to Mary, the Saints, the Pope, the sacraments, etc. then I am taking away from Christ which means I’m not giving 100% to Him as I should – this is the meaning behind the tenant Sola Christo – Christ aloneWe can view this as an “either-or” mentality – the Protestant fears that devotion to Mary takes away from Jesus – they fear Mary will rival or detract from Jesus – so it’s one or the other and can’t be bothThe Catholic mentality is both-and. The only either-or for the Catholic is good or evil, sanctity or sin, heaven or hell, my will be done or thy will be done. All the rest is both-andCatholicism embraces St. Paul’s paradigm of participation. Christ is “All in all” but this means that all other aspects of redemption participate in and through Christ – not apart from ChristFor Catholics, the sacraments, Mary, the saints and priests participate in and through Christ and therefore lead the Christian to embrace Christ more deeplyLet’s look at an example of this to help clarify what I mean – a question that has been debated down through the centuries is “are people saved by Grace alone to the exclusion of all human effort and activity? Let’s look at some of the conclusions that have been arrived at:100% God and 0% man – this would be the view of Protestant reformers like Calvin99% God and 1% man – another viewpoint called Arminianism50% God & 50% man – this is called Semi-Pelagianism0% God and 100% man – known as PelagianismWhich one of these do you think the Catholic Church embraces? None! – Catholics believe that it is 100% God & 100% manThe Catholic church views human salvation in terms of operation and cooperation because human salvation is accomplished in union with ChristWe become united to ChristChrist has a Divine will and a human will working together in perfect synergyJust as Christ’s human will cooperated with the Devine will, we also unite our human wills to the divine will – the will of GodPhil 2:13 “continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.”God’s working in us imparts the grace of willingness to act – enables our cooperation with His willSt. Thomas Aquinas taught that Grace (the supernatural power of God at work within us be the Holy Spirit) is divided into operating and cooperating GraceFor Catholics, God does not accomplish the work of Salvation without us. St. Paul taught Christ crucified but we are also crucified in Him.St. Augustine once remarked, God created us without us but He did not will to save us without usWe participate in His work – for Catholics it is not God and me, it’s God in me as St. Paul wrote in Gal 2:20“And I live, now not I: but Christ lives in me. And that I now live in the flesh: I live in the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and delivered himself for me.”There is a complete union of Christ and Paul so that the work of Christ echoes through the actions of Paul – Christ is fully active and Paul is fully active through a cooperative synergy There is no either-or – it is not Jesus vs Paul, it’s Jesus through PaulChrist’s life echoes in the lives closet to Him – that’s why the Catholic church calls itself the mystical body of ChristAn Evangelical might argue Baptism doesn’t save you, Jesus saves you. But why can’t baptism participate instrumentally in the redemptive work of Christ and save me? Why does it have to be either-or.The same Evangelical may argue “Christ saves you not the Saints.” Yet Paul writes in 1 Cor 9:22 “I have become all things to all men, that I might save some.” Paul is a Saint and he clearly believed that he saved people. However, Paul only saved people through his participation in the apostolic priesthood of Christ. Again, it is not Jesus vs Paul it is Jesus through Paul.OK so this is the first fundamental that we need to understand and since we’re on the topic of Salvation, let’s continue to explore the differences in theology when it comes to SalvationAccording to St. Thomas Aquinas, the fall of Adam and Eve brought “four wounds” to human nature:Original sin (our souls are stained, which prevents us from being united with God)Concupiscence (we have a tendency to sin because our eleven passions are no longer ordered perfectly to the soul’s intellect)Physical frailty and deathDarkened intellect and ignoranceThe Catholic Faith holds that baptism washes away original sin, and we receive sanctifying grace (the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit who works to make us Holy) and righteousness or right standing with God – through Christ’s sacrifice the stain of original sin on our soul is washed away. However, the other three wounds remain in us. Concupiscence means that our passions or emotions get the better of our intellect. Concupiscence is that inner struggle that you experienced when as a youth your mother says, “Don’t touch the plate, it’s hot,” and you do it anyway, or when you get angry for irrational reasons. It’s what Saint Paul calls our sinful nature in Rom 7:17“For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.”I think we can all sympathize with St. Paul here - even though we love God, we feel inner impulses to act contrary to His will.Luther and Calvin identified concupiscence with original sin. They use them interchangeably and it is a major difference between Catholic and Protestant thought. This is what Calvinists call “total depravity” the view that human nature is totally corrupt – there is no good within us.Catholics believe we are made in God’s image, and therefore, made in the image of He who is Goodness itself. Because we are made in God’s image, we also have the capacity to love. And thus, it should be no surprise to find a couple who are living out of wedlock who are also good parents. Or two co-habiting homosexuals who are very generous. Or a husband addicted to pornography who is an honest worker. Or an atheist who is a selfless servant in an orphanage, etc.We are inherently good but our goodness has been wounded and we struggle with concupiscence.The Catholic Faith holds that the baptized no longer have any original sin. Gone. Washed away. However, concupiscence remains after baptism. Most Protestants hold that original sin remains after baptism, since for them original sin and concupiscence are indistinguishable.It is this belief that leads to the Protestant tenant of Sola Fide, by faith alone. Because man is totally corrupt we are not capable of participating in our own redemption – it must come totally from God. It can’t be from faith and good works as the Catholic church teaches because that implies that we have a role to play, which we are incapable of playing because we are totally depraved.To extrapolate on this idea, if God grants us a pardon through Christ’s sacrifice, then it can’t be revoked. Once we’ve been pardoned, God can’t take it back. This leads to the belief amongst many Protestants that “once saved, always saved” – i.e. God has pardoned us despite knowing we are totally depraved so it doesn’t matter what I do once I have accepted my salvation by faith – I’m going to heaven regardless.Evangelicals will state I’m a born-again Christian – and they are referring to the day that as an adult they gave their life to Christ. It’s not uncommon for them to ask “have you been saved”? A question to the Catholics here – are you born again? When were you born again?Catholics believe that we are born again at baptism – we are given a clean slate through Baptism even as infants – it’s through the “sacrament of Baptism” that the slate is wiped clean – we get a fresh start plus we are infused with sanctifying grace – the Holy Spirit enters in and begins the work of making us holy. However, we still have this little problem called concupiscence – we still have a tendency towards sin.Catholics don’t believe in once saved always saved for this reason – even baptized Christians can fall into mortal sin, which can jeopardize our salvation and keep us from entering heaven – even after accepting Christ as an adult, we can turn away from him and forfeit our redemption, although the church teaches that one who has turned away can always turn back and be savedCatholics believe that we can only enter heaven if we are Holy in God’s sight – we are on an earthly pilgrimage towards heaven where we participate with Christ in his work of sanctification – making us holy. Participation requires action on our part – prayer, study, the sacraments, serviceFor Catholics we aren’t saved by faith alone or works alone. It is faith first and works following – each flowing from the wellspring of Grace springing from the wounded side of the crucified ChristChrist imparts sanctifying grace within us not only at baptism but through the sacraments – through each sacrament we receive a new outpouring of grace – we receive the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit to overcome our sin and be transformed into the very image of Christ himselfAs St. Paul says in 2 Cor 3:18 “And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” It is from this reality that we come to the Catholic belief in purgatory – if our journey towards holiness isn’t completed here on earth such that we can enter directly into heaven, then it is completed after death where we are perfected in purgatory before entering heaven.For a protestant who believes in salvation as receiving a pardon, the concept of purgatory is completely unnecessaryFrom a Catholic perspective, there is one difficulty with Luther’s Sola Fide – justification by faith alone – the difficulty lies in the fact that the words “justification by faith alone” do not appear in the pages of sacred scriptureThis is a bit of a problem when combined with the tenant of Sola Scriptura – scripture aloneIn fact, the only place in scripture where the word ‘faith’ and ‘alone’ exist together is within the epistle of St. James in James 2:24 “You see that a man is justified by works and not faith alone”. For this reason, Luther had a great dislike for the book of James and called it “an epistle of straw” and was quoted as saying “I almost feel like throwing Jimmy into the stove”.To solve this problem, Luther actually changed the words of St. Paul when he translated the bible into German – he inserted the word alone in Rom 3:28: he changed the original from “For we hold that a man is justified by faith apart from works of law” to “For we hold that a man is justified by faith alone apart from works of law”.When the Catholic church confronted him about his changing of this verse he responded by saying, “If your papist makes such useless fuss about the word “sola” tell him at once, Doctor Luther will have it so.”A similar difficulty exists with the tenant of Sola Scriptura – scripture alone - nowhere in scripture does it say that scripture alone is the only authorityAs Catholics, we certainly hold scripture as sacred but the deposit of faith that we hold to, comes to us not only through scripture but also through sacred tradition.The Catholic church benefits from an apostolic succession from St. Peter to today that has preserved the traditions handed to the first apostles by Christ himselfAs St. Paul says in 1 Cor 11:2 “I praise you for remembering me in everything and for holding to the traditions just as I passed them on to you.”2 Thess 2:15 “So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.”Tradition and sacred scripture cannot contradict each other, but one is supported by the otherWe also have the revelation of the Holy Spirit who unfolds new understandings of the scriptures and our faith through what the church refers to as doctors of the church such as St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas and many others.We have received the fullness of revelation in the sacred scriptures, but they are received as an onion that has layers of revelation that need to be peeled backQuestion – is the bible an easy read? Simple to understand, no possibility of misunderstanding because it is so clear. Here is the problem, it isn’t – let me ask a simple question – why are there 36,000 protestant denominations? Because they all have a slightly different interpretation of scripture that results in a slightly different theology and beliefsThe Catholic church benefits from to a single interpretation of scripture and tradition owned by what is called the Magisterium of the Catholic Church and the church believes that the teachings of the church are guided and protected by the Holy Spirit as a special grace imparted on the Church by ChristThe magisterium defines and protects the dogma of the church – the fundamental beliefs that are at the core of our faithNow having said all of this, let me step back and make one thing very clear just so there is no misconception in what I am attempting to teach youChrist and His Holy Spirit are absolutely at work within both Protestant churches and the Catholic church – I’m reminded of Mark 9:38“Teacher,” said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.”“Do not stop him,” Jesus said. “For no one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, for whoever is not against us is for us.”In the debate between Protestants and Catholics, we cannot lose site of the fact that we are both trying to serve our Lord – and our Lord honors our faith in himThere are many devout Protestants doing incredible work for Christ’s kingdomThere are evangelical churches that put the Catholic church to shame in their devotion to and effectiveness in evangelizationIt is all to easy to fall into falsehoods and misunderstandings that lead to prejudice and church bashing – and both Catholics and Protestants are guilty of thisWe need to ask ourselves, what would our Lord who is all Mercy have us treat our brothers and sisters like who happen to be of a different Christian faith? If we are to truly reflect Christ, we must always act in charity and respect.When, God willing, we end up in heaven don’t be surprised when you see both Catholics and Protestants there – God judges the heartThe Catholic Charismatic Renewal was very ecumenical when it started – this very prayer group had both Catholics and Protestants as regular devoted members – we need to think about this and what that truth tells us of our Lord’s desire today – when this current of Grace known as the Charismatic Renewal brings Catholics and Protestants together as brothers and sisters despite our differences, it is an indication of the Spirit’s desire for Christ’s churchLet us all pray for a renewed spirit of ecumenism through the working and power of the holy spirit, that together we may come to recognize who our true enemy is (it’s not each other) and work to spread Christ’s kingdom throughout this dark and troubled world who is in great need of the saving grace of our LordUseful articles & resourcesMechanics of Sin and Redemption in Catholic Theology: The Catholic Perspective on Paul – Taylor R. MarshallHandbook of Catholic Apologetics – Peter J. Kreeft, Ronald K. TacelliCatholicism & Fundamentalism – Karl Keating Rome Sweet Home – Scott & Kimberly Hahn ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download