Sunday, August 26, 2007

Catholic Authority: Follow the Leader


I enjoy reading older Catholic materials as they are less likely to water-down Catholic beliefs in the name of ecumenism. And since it is claimed that the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church never change, looking to older material cannot be considered inaccurate today.

A Full Catechism of the Catholic Religion from 1889 states the following:

"Why are Protestants so much prejudiced against the Catholic Church, and why is it so difficult to convert them? It is because from infancy the minds of their children have been impressed with a false view of the History of their Religion—a Religion that dates only from the beginning of the sixteenth century. Why should not Catholics with equal, and even greater, effect confirm our children in their attachment to the Church, by showing them how to trace her to the times of the Apostles, and even to the Creation of the world? Is it not, then, of the greatest importance to teach them, together with their catechism, the History of their Religion? History is a safeguard against internal doubts, and a bulwark against all external attacks. He who has, by this means, been fully strengthened in his conviction that the Catholic Church is from God, and that she is the Only True Church, cannot but love her and submit his intellect to her doctrine and his heart to her precepts, and thus remain all his lifetime faithful to her.

After this proof from History that the Catholic Religion is Divine, the Catechism proper commences, and teaches us that we must submit to its doctrine; namely, that we must, 1. Believe what the Church teaches; 2. That we must also practise, that is, do the will of God; and 3. That we can neither believe nor do the will of God without His grace, which we receive by means of the Sacraments and of Prayer."


First, I find it interesting that the proof of the Divinity of the Roman Catholic Church should be determined from history books rather than God's book.

Second, once one has submitted to history, he must submit his intellect to the Church, believe everything the Church tells him, and receive the sacraments through the Church to do the will of God.

No one comes to the Father except through the Roman Catholic Church?

6 comments:

kmerian said...

History is proof of the Catholic Church. Not the sole proof but evidence. Especially since the Church predates the Bible (well, the New Testament). Protestants tend to forget that the Bible is a product of God working through his church. Not the Church a product of the Bible.

Carrie said...

And the Old Testament is a product of God working through...the Jews? So the Jews predate the OT?

So then by that logic, the Jews should have authority over the Catholics since the Jews predate ALL of scripture.

jswranch said...

So then by that logic, the Jews should have authority over the Catholics since the Jews predate ALL of scripture.

Close, but not quite. The Jews had the oracle of God, but they lost it. However, the infant Church was all Jews. The authority given to the Hebrew rulers was tranferred to the Catholics under the temperal leadership of Peter (a Jew).

Do a quick bible study on the Urim and Thummin in a search. (please no LDS jokes). In some ways, Moses and the Urim/Thummin was a prefigurment for the papacy and infallibility.

jswranch said...

-First, I find it interesting that the proof of the Divinity of the Roman Catholic Church should be determined from history books rather than God's book.

A)God controls parts of history, called Salvation history. Human history, through the correct lenses, is God drawing hummanity into a romance and an eternal relationship.

B)History tells us what "God's book" is, and not Pastor Downthestreet or Zondervan Press.

C)The Word of God written (scripture) does testify of Catholicism over Protestantism, properly interpreted. The scripture just isnt directly specified as the proof for Catholicsm in the article you presented. It was through scripture that I rejected Protestantism, aided by my own spiritual experiences, which led me to the High Anglican/Orthodox perspective.

D)Christ came to earth. He chose followers, His people, His church. Those followers (ie His Church) penned the bible. It is through the Church that we have the bible. You seem to pit the Church against the bible, but it is from that church that we are given the bible.

-...Divinity of the Roman Catholic Church...

'Divinity'??? Carrie, you are better than this. No one claims the Catholic Church is divine.


-Second, once one has submitted to history, he must submit his intellect to the Church, believe everything the Church tells him, and receive the sacraments through the Church to do the will of God.

Once one has submitted to Christ, he must submit his intellect to the Word of God, believe everything the Word of God tells him.... but how do we know what the Word of God is and how it is communicated to us? The answer is that God gave us a church to tell us the correct interpretation of the NT, just as He provided a infallible teaching body to guide His people in the OT. Correct me if I am wrong but the traditional Protestant answer is that each individual is lead to the correct answer.

If the world and our intelect tells us something is white, and the Word of God tells us it is black, we must believe and profess it is black, because the Word of God trumps our own intelect and experience. We know what the Word of God is because His Church tells us.

-No one comes to the Father except through the Roman Catholic Church?

Correct, in a manner of speaking. No one comes to the Father except through the Son, who is the good shepherd. To get to Christ, Jesus established Peter on earth to care for His flock (Jn 21:15-17) and lead them to Him. He also told Peter, "And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." (Mt 16:18-19) He also promised the Church, in full union with Peter, "If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained." (Jn 20:23)

If you are not in the flock trusted to Peter, Jesus is not your shepherd, and you cannot come to the Father. Peter's authority continues today through his 265th successor Benedict XVI, This is what Christ established.


Disclaimer: While not everyone who goes to heaven was Catholic, everyone in heaven is Catholic.

Carrie said...

'Divinity'??? Carrie, you are better than this. No one claims the Catholic Church is divine.

From the Catechism quote: "After this proof from History that the Catholic Religion is Divine".

Carrie said...

John,

So many errors, so little time.

You're wrong.