Lesson 18: Understanding Roman Catholicism

During her childhood, Anna prayed that God would lead her to a church where she would feel accepted. As a young adult she visited a Catholic church for mass. Many of the Roman Catholic customs seemed strange to her. She liked the fact that they practiced the same worship customs all over the world. She began to feel that it is a wonderful miracle that the mass becomes the body and blood of Jesus every time, so that people can be in contact with Jesus.

Read Titus 2 aloud. Write a paragraph that summarizes this scripture passage. What does the passage say about Christian living? Write a list of statements. 

Origin of Roman Catholicism

The world-wide leader of Roman Catholicism is called the pope. Their headquarters is in Rome.

The term Catholic means “universal” or “complete.” The Roman Catholic Church claims to be the complete church of God and that all other churches are false.

Catholicism claims to be the original church established by Christ. They claim that the first pope was Peter, and that there has always been a successor of Peter as pope of the Catholic church. They believe that their group of leaders called “Cardinals” are the successors of the apostles and have the same authority as the original apostles. In contrast, most evangelical churches believe that the apostles were only in the first generation of the church and that their authority now comes from their writings in Scripture.[1]

Roman Catholicism is similar to Eastern Orthodoxy in beliefs and religious ceremonies.

Influence

The Roman Catholic Church is one world-wide organization. There are more than one billion Catholic members. The populations of many nations are mostly Catholic. In those countries, the Catholic religion is part of their culture. There are millions of people who profess to be Catholic but only occasionally participate in religious activities.

The Catholic church is very wealthy and politically powerful. In earlier centuries, the church many times used armies to force nations to submit to the church. In countries controlled by Catholicism, many people were tortured and killed because they did not agree with Catholic doctrines.

► This question introduces the following section. What have you seen of the religious practices of Roman Catholicism?

Beliefs of Roman Catholicism

The worship style of Catholicism is very formal. They have many large cathedrals around the world that are known for their great architecture. Cathedrals are decorated with pictures and statues of saints from history. Priests often have special robes. The worship activities are done mostly by the priests, with little participation from the congregation.

The people of many cultures became Catholic while keeping the religious practices of their previous religion. Idols were given the names of Catholic saints. The ceremonies of Catholicism were mixed with the ceremonies of an idolatrous or animistic religion.

The Catholic church believes basic Christian doctrines such as the Trinity and the deity of Christ.

The Catholic church claims that the church has the authority to explain what the Bible means, even if their interpretation seems to be different from what the Bible says. They also include writings in their Bible as Scripture that are not included in the Bible by other churches.

► What is the right view of the authority of the church in relation to the Bible?

Catholics believe that the pope is the representative of Christ on earth. They believe that when he makes official decisions about religion, he cannot make a mistake. This authority comes from their tradition and not from the Bible. Many popes in the past have been wicked men, guilty even of murder.

Both Eastern Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism select historical people to recognize as saints. Many of the saints have status in the church similar to gods. People pray to them for help. Certain saints are supposed to be interested in certain aspects of life or in certain occupations, so sailors, farmers, and teachers have special saints, called patron saints, to whom they pray. In some places, the saints took the place of a pagan pantheon of deities. People consider God and even Jesus too distant and unconcerned about them, so they pray to saints instead.[2] Pictures and statues of saints are provided in the churches for people to pray to them.[3]

Objects, called “relics,” that were used by saints are kept in the churches for honor. Sometimes bodily remains such as teeth or bones are kept in the church. People come to kneel and pray to the saints represented by the bones.

Roman Catholic priests are not allowed to marry.

Mary (the mother of Jesus) is especially honored. The doctrine of the “immaculate conception” teaches that Mary was born without a sinful nature and never committed sin. Many Catholics pray to Mary more than to God. They feel that Jesus will listen to Mary and be influenced by her. Mary has become a mediator between the worshipper and Christ.[4]

► What is the correct Christian view of Mary?

Catholics believe that there is no salvation outside of the Catholic church. They believe that a person cannot have the assurance that he is saved, but must faithfully follow the directions of the priest and hope for salvation.[5]

Both Catholicism and Eastern Ortho­doxy teach the doctrine of transubstantiation. This is the belief that during communion, the bread and wine are transformed into the literal body and blood of Jesus, so the worshipper can receive them for salvation. Therefore, they believe that the bread and wine are to be worshipped.

Catholics do not believe that a person can receive justification by faith without the sacraments of the church.

Catholics do not preach a gospel message that a sinner can repent of his sins, put his faith in Christ, and receive immediate assurance of salvation.[6]

Of the millions of Catholic members, most continue to live in open sin.[7] They expect that they will remain Catholics until they die, then spend time in purgatory, then go to heaven.

Purgatory and Indulgences

Roman Catholics believe that after death most people go to purgatory. In purgatory a person suffers punishment for sins, so he can go to heaven afterwards. They believe that sin must have punishment even if it has been forgiven.[8] Therefore, even a faithful Catholic expects to spend some time in purgatory for the sins he has committed. Careless sinners expect that they will spend time in purgatory after death, then be allowed into heaven. They believe that the fire of purgatory causes pain greater than any pain experienced in life.

They believe that Christians should pray for dead people and give offerings to the church for them, so God will forgive their sins sooner and let them out of purgatory.[9]

Catholics believe that the church has a stored up treasure of extra merit from Christ and the saints.[10] The pope can give this merit to people to help them get forgiveness. This merit can be given to living people or dead people who are in purgatory.

► How does the doctrine of purgatory affect the lifestyle of those who believe it?

The distinctive doctrines of Catholicism do not depend on Scripture. Their doctrine is based mostly on the tradition of the church.

Now go back and read the footnotes for the entire section on Roman Catholicism. Look up the referenced Scripture verses and read them.

[1] “The church is apostolic, as being still ruled by the apostolical authority living in the writings of the apostles, that authority being the standard.”
- William Pope, Compendium of Christian Theology, III, 285

[2] God invites us to come boldly to him in prayer (Hebrews 4:16). We do not have merit in ourselves, but Jesus has given us access to God’s presence by the atonement.

[3] The Bible forbids idolatry (Exodus 20:4-5). To make an image for prayer and worship is idolatry. When a sinner repents and comes into relationship with God he rejects idols (1 Thessalonians 1:9). Never does the Bible say that the Christian should pray to anyone but God or use an image for worship.

[4] Jesus is the only mediator between God and man (1 Timothy 2:5). Jesus has all compassion, and we do not need anyone to influence him to care about us (John 11:35).

[5] “Christ suffered in our place to satisfy the radical requirement of the holiness of God, so as to remove the obstacle to the pardon and reconciliation of the guilty. What the holiness of God required, the love of God provided in the cross.”
- Thomas Oden, The Word of Life, 349

[6] “A true Protestant believes in God, has a full confidence in his mercy, fears him with a son’s reverence, and loves him with all his soul. He worships God in spirit and in truth, in everything gives him thanks; calls upon him with his heart as well as his lips, at all times and in all places; honors his holy name and his word, and serves him truly all the days of his life.”  “I disclaim all common swearers, Sabbath-breakers, drunkards; all whoremongers, liars, cheats, extortioners; briefly, all that live in open sin. These are no Protestants; they are not Christians at all.”
- John Wesley, “Letter to a Roman Catholic”

[7] The Bible says that an evidence that a person is a Christian is that he lives a righteous life (1 John 3:7).

[8] Jesus suffered so we would not have to be punished for sin (Isaiah 53:5). Catholics deny that the sacrifice of Christ was sufficient, so we can be forgiven and not be punished for sin.

[9] The Bible nowhere tells us that we should pray for the dead. Instead, it implies that nothing can be done for sinners who have died without salvation (Luke 16:23-26).

[10] The idea that merit from saints is added to merit from Christ to help sinners is a terrible doctrine. Human works do not bring any merit for forgiveness (Ephesians 2:8-9). A believer is forgiven completely on the basis of grace, and not by the works of anyone (Romans 4:5-8).

Roman Catholics believe the foundational Christian truths of the Trinity and the deity of Christ and the Holy Spirit.

There are some Catholics who have put their faith in Christ for salvation, but the message of the Gospel is not clear in Catholicism. Most Catholics have not experienced repentance, forgiveness, and assurance of salvation, and are not living in relationship with God. Therefore, it is important for a Christian to share the gospel. The essentials of the Gospel that are neglected in Catholicism can be proved with the following sections from the Handbook of Doctrine:

(9) Salvation is only by the atonement of Christ.

(10) Only God should be worshipped.

(11) We receive salvation by faith.

(12) We can have personal assurance of salvation.

Because Roman Catholics have added traditions that they consider essential to Christianity, a Christian should show them the scriptures cited in the Handbook of Doctrine in the section

(1) The Bible is sufficient for doctrine.

Bartholomew became a Roman Catholic priest after several years of study. He served as a parish priest in California and later served as a chaplain in the navy. His mother became an evangelical Christian. He saw a wonderful change in her and had many conversations with her about her conversion. She persuaded him to depend on the Bible as the final authority for his beliefs. He began to realize that many important doctrines of Catholicism are contrary to the Bible. He left the Roman Catholic Church. He eventually understood that salvation is through the work of Christ and not by works or by the church sacraments.

Now read Titus 2 again. Write a paragraph explaining the message this passage has for a Roman Catholic.