Introduction

• I want to talk to you this evening about defending our faith.
• I Peter 3:15
• When we talk with other people about God, we encounter people with all sorts of beliefs. Maybe they believe there is no God. Maybe they have faith in some other religion. Whatever the case may be, it’s good to have ideas in your head about how to approach people of all sorts of different beliefs.
• This was certainly Paul’s tactic when he taught. In Acts 17, we see that he talked with people with all sorts of beliefs when he was at Athens.
  • Acts 17:17-18
  • So, we see that Paul was talking to people with all sorts of beliefs – atheist philosophers and religious people of all types.
• Owen mentioned a while back that he has been talking with a friend of his at school that is Catholic. With Catholicism being one of the dominant world religions (about 1.2 billion in the world, 70 million in the US alone), the odds are about 1 in 5 that whoever you are talking to would consider themselves Catholic.
• With that in mind, I want to give some background information on Catholicism and some ideas of how to approach religious discussions with Catholics.
• I certainly can’t cover all of Catholicism in a single lesson, but I hope to at least give us all a few points of reference we can use when talking with people.
• A few caveats:
  • I’m certainly not trying to beat up on Catholics in this lesson. We should always treat others with love and concern for their souls, regardless of their beliefs. We’ll talk about this a bit more later on.
  • The idea here is to get a general understanding of common Catholic beliefs so we know what common ground we might start on and what doctrinal differences might be sticking points.
  • Also, not all people who consider themselves Catholics will have beliefs that match everything on the traditional list of Catholic beliefs. When we talk to people about God, we must treat everyone as a person, not as part of a group. Get to know the person, don’t assume you know what they believe just because they claim to be part of one group or another. You might be surprised and have even more common ground than you realized!
  • I’m not an expert! If I’m wrong on any of this, please correct me!

History of Catholicism

• Because of the Catholic view of tradition, it is important to have a basic understanding of Catholic history.
• The Catholic church considers itself to be the continuation of the church started by Jesus in the New Testament.
• Bishops are considered successors to the apostles.
  • NOTE: We have no mention in the New Testament of the idea of a “line of succession.” Bishops are simply appointed by a local church and serve an unspecified amount of time. I Timothy 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9
• The pope is considered to be the leader of the church and successor to the apostle Peter.
  • In the view of the Catholic Church, the current pope is the latest in an unbroken line of succession all the way back to the apostle Peter.
    • NOTE: Again, no line of succession is mentioned in the New Testament. Also, we read of no physical leader of the church on earth.
  • Catholics hold that Peter was Rome’s first bishop and the consecrator of Linus as its next bishop, which started the line of popes.
    • NOTE: We read nothing in the New Testament of one man consecrating another. Bishops or elders are appointed by the local church they serve.
    • Also, there has been MUCH discord through history on exactly which line of popes is the one true line.
• So, how did this get started? According to some historians, early Christians were very loosely organized, resulting in diverse interpretations of scriptures.
  • By the end of the second century, a more structured hierarchy developed with a central bishop having authority over the clergy in a city.
    • NOTE: We have no authority for this level of hierarchy in the New Testament. Local churches in the New Testament had a very flat organization. Local churches were composed of saints, some of whom were appointed as elders or deacons. We never read of any further structure than that.
  • The hierarchy started to mimic the structure of the empire.
    • NOTE: This would seem to indicate that people were drawn more by imitating political structures than following God’s order for things. We see the same erroneous pattern in the Israelites when they demanded a king in I Samuel 8:5: “No appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.”
• The churches in some regions began to have more influence than others and by the 2nd and 3rd centuries, bishops were meeting in regional synods to resolve doctrinal issues.
  • The bishop of Rome began to act as a court of appeals for problems that other bishops could not resolve.
    • NOTE: Again, no authority in the New Testament for bishops meeting in regional synods to set policy for multiple churches. Certainly, there is nothing wrong with bishops talking between themselves to discuss doctrine, and we see that in the New Testament in Acts 15. The difference here is that these were apostles who were distributing revelation to other churches. That is not the same as one man leading multiple churches.
• Over time, various theological leaders such as Ignatius of Antioch, Irenaeus, Justin Martyr, and Augustine of Hippo defined Catholic teaching.
• When Constantine became Emperor of Rome, he worried that disunity among Christians would displease God, so he took steps to eliminate some sects of Christianity. He also called ecumenical councils to determine binding interpretations of church doctrine.
• After one such council (the Council of Nicea, AD 325), questions about the divinity of Christ caused a schism.
  • A new religion called Arianism began to flourish outside the Roman Empire (they believe Jesus is a created being that is subservient to God but is also God).
  • Partially to distinguish themselves from Arians, Catholics’ devotion to Mary became more prominent.
  • NOTE: These councils were supposed to unify Christians, but instead caused a schism! Again, we see God’s wisdom in the autonomy of local churches.
• In 380, Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire, which caused Christians outside the Empire to be persecuted. Other countries feared that Christians would revolt in favor of the Emperor.
  • The church now had legal authority for capital punishment, resulting in the first use of capital punishment on a heretic in 385
• From here, the history of Catholicism is so intermingled with history in general that it almost becomes difficult to separate the two. Suffice it to say that the Catholic church was well established and gradually hardened into place in Europe, but also spread around the world.

Main points of doctrine (Nelson’s Illustrated Guide to Religions: Roman Catholicism 101)

• Let’s now talk about some main points of Catholic doctrine. We’ll go through these relatively quickly, but many of them could be complete studies on their own. I will try to give scriptures in some key places that you could use as a starting point for further study.
• My primary source for this list is Nelson’s Illustrated Guide to Religions: Roman Catholicism 101. Hopefully this gives a treatment that Catholics would consider fair.
• There is one God in the Trinity of Father, Son, and Spirit. The Bible is the infallible Word of God.
  • Agreed. Ephesians 4:4-6
• Jesus Christ is the only Savior and one mediator.
  • Agreed. I Timothy 2:5
• Sacred tradition and Scripture should receive equal reverence.
  • Disagree. We see divine authority in the scripture handed down as commands, approved examples, and necessary inferences from other teaching. This is NOT the same as “sacred tradition.” Following tradition is extremely dangerous because it allows a small misunderstanding or false teaching to grow worse and worse over time. We must always go back to God’s word.
  • Jesus repeatedly rebuked the Pharisees and Sadducees for this exact view, for example, Matthew 15:3-6.
  • Paul also warns against this in Colossians 2:8 and Galatians 1:8.
• Sacred Scripture contains the Deuterocanon.
  • Disagree. Books in the Deuterocanon (the Apocrypha) do not attain to the same standard of authenticity as the other books of the Bible. The Roman Catholic Church only began accepting the Apocrypha after the Council of Trent in 1546 in reaction to the Protestant Reformation and Luther’s relegation of the Apocrypha. When Jerome translated the scriptures into Latin to form the Vulgate (which is still authoritative to Roman Catholicism), he specifically used only the Hebrew canon and considered the works of the Deuterocanon to be apocryphal.
  • This is more of a fine point and not something you’d probably start out to discuss with a Catholic, but something to be aware of.
• The pope is infallible when he teaches on faith and morals.
  • Disagree. No authority for the pope or his infallibility in the Bible.
• The pope has “full, supreme and universal power over the whole Church.”
  • Disagree. We read nothing of a pope in the Bible.
• Salvation is not by works.
  • Agreed. Ephesians 2:8-9
• Baptism is necessary for salvation.
  • Agree. Acts 2:38.
• Infant baptism brings one into the body of Christ.
  • Disagree. We have no authority for this in the Bible. All the examples of baptism we have in the New Testament are of people old enough to have their own faith.
• Transubstantiation is the true view of the Eucharist.
  • Disagree. We have no authority for this in the Bible. The Lord’s Supper is a memorial of Christ’s death, which is different than what Catholics think of with the Eucharist. The belief is that the Eucharist is Christ’s sacrifice, and thus to be worshipped in its own regard. See I Corinthians 11:23-26.
• Penance (confession/conversion from sin) is necessary for salvation.
  • Agree that confession is necessary for salvation (James 5:16). We read nothing in the Bible of “penance.”
• The priesthood is for males only. Priests are to be celibate.
  • Disagree. In the New Testament church, all Christians are priests and Jesus Christ serves as our high priest.
  • I Peter 2:9; Hebrews 4:14-16
• It is right to pray for the dead.
  • Disagree. We have no authority for this practice in the New Testament.
• It is right to pray to the saints, especially Mary.
  • Disagree. We have no authority to pray to anyone besides God.
• Mary is the “Mother of God.”
  • Disagree. She was the biological mother of Jesus.
  • Even when Jesus was on earth, he made it clear that spiritual relationships were more important than His physical ones. Elevating Mary as the “Mother of God” goes directly against Jesus’ words here.
  • See Mark 3:31-35.
• Mary was a perpetual virgin and was assumed into heaven.
  • Disagree. Jesus had biological brothers on earth. We read nothing of Mary being assumed into heaven in the Bible.
  • Matthew 13:55; Mark 6:3
• It is the sacred duty of Christians to evangelize the world.
  • Agreed. Jesus commanded this in Matthew 28:18-20.
• The devil is real.
  • Agreed. Jesus was tempted by the devil directly in Matthew 4:1-11.
• Purgatory is a true doctrine.
  • Disagree. We have no authority for this doctrine in the New Testament.
  • Hebrews 9:27; 2 Corinthians 5:10
• Heaven and hell are eternal.
  • Agreed. Revelation 20:10; Revelation 21:1-8

Major points of agreement

• God exists and Jesus is our savior.
• The Bible is God’s word.
• Salvation is not by works.
• Baptism is necessary for salvation.
• Christians should spread the gospel to the world.
• Satan is real.
• Heaven and hell are eternal.

Major points of disagreement

• Bible authority: tradition vs. scripture
  • This is really the key. Once Bible authority has been established, many of the doctrinal disagreements quickly go away because they are based on tradition (or on specific passages in the Deuterocanon), not on a different interpretation of scripture.
• Organization of local churches on earth
  • Autonomous local churches vs centralized church with Pope as head

Recommendations when talking to others about God

• Treat all with love and respect.
• Treat each person as an individual.
  • Many people vary from the general beliefs of whatever religion they claim to be part of or may have an “inherited” faith.
• Start with establishing authority.
  • Without establishing the authority of the Bible first, there is no use discussing anything else.