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St. Peter's Basilica, Image Credit I
am sure there will be those who are adherents of Roman
Catholicism who
will take exception to what I write here in this
article. Perhaps there
will be those who accuse me of being uncharitable. I
do not wish to be
so, and if that is your reaction, please accept in
advance my apology.
If one is afflicted, unbeknown to him, with cancer, he
wishes to have a
doctor who will be honest enough to say so. Some
doctors have a better
bedside manner than others. I imagine the same can be
said for writers
of religious and theological articles. I tend to see
things in rather
black and white terms. I think my own adult children
would tell you
that. So let me tell you what drives me in this
particular article.
I take with great seriousness the opening verse or two of Jude, the slave of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, both half brothers of Jesus. Jude wrote, "Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints" (Jude 1:3). As I said, I take Jude's exhortation very seriously. That is why I am writing this article. When did Jude write? Probably some time between A.D. 67 and 80. So by that time, there was a body of truth "once for all handed down to the saints." It distresses me that, operating under the exceedingly flawed assumption that Church Tradition is just as authoritative as Scripture (Paragraphs 78, 80, 81, and 82), the Roman Catholic Church has built up two millennia worth of accretions in its dogma and practice that often times contradict and contravene the Word of God. In so doing, the Church has, in my opinion, spurned the exhortation of Jude. But I have not, although I will be the first to admit my own imperfection and a heart sometimes dominated by sin and an attitude not always exhibiting the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23). For that I ask forgiveness in advance. Let us proceed. Roman Catholics delight in identifying themselves as "The One True Church." The more sophisticated among them piously assert that the Church headquartered in the Vatican in Rome is "the Church Christ founded." Their reasoning behind this is somewhat convoluted, but let me present it as fairly as I can. They believe that Jesus predicted He would build His church upon Peter (Matt. 16:18). They believe that Christ gave to Peter total authority in the Church (Matt. 16:19). They believe, furthermore, that Peter founded the church in Rome; that Peter was the leading bishop of Rome; that Peter, as an Apostle, had the authority to pass on his apostolic authority to succeeding bishops of the church of Rome. And they believe over a period of time the Church of Rome became the leading church, and that the Bishop of Rome was rightfully acknowledged as the head of the Church Universal. He was the Pope. And from this centralized authority, organized in dioceses, was spread the one true church, the Body of Christ. According to Roman Catholics, the visibly organized Roman Church, to which all legitimate churches in the world must be subservient, is coterminous with the Body of Christ. That is why it calls itself the Catholic Church. In its view it is the Universal Church, the One True Church. Documentation
In the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Paragraph 870, we read the following synopsis: The
sole
Church of Christ which in the Creed we profess to
be one, holy,
catholic, and apostolic, . . . subsists in the
Catholic Church, which
is governed by the successor of Peter
and by the bishops
in communion with him.
This quotation appears in the section of the Catechism designated as Article 9: "I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH. This quotation actually quotes from Section 8, Paragraph 2 of Lumen Gentium, "The Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Solemnly Promulgated by His Holiness Pope Paul VI on November 21, 1964." This Constitution was published in conjunction with the Ecumenical Council known as Vatican II. The following fuller quotation is from Lumen Gentium, Section 8, Paragraph 1: 8.
Christ,
the one Mediator, established and continually
sustains here on
earth His holy Church, the community of faith,
hope and charity, as an
entity with visible delineation (9*) through which
He communicated
truth and grace to all. But, the society
structured with hierarchical
organs and the Mystical Body
of Christ, are not
to be considered as two realities, nor are the
visible assembly and the
spiritual community, nor the earthly Church and
the Church enriched
with heavenly things; rather they form one complex
reality which
coalesces from a divine and a human element.(10*)
A
portion of Paragraph 2 of Section 8 reads as
follows:
This
is
the one Church of Christ which in the Creed is
professed as one,
holy, catholic and apostolic, (12*) which our
Saviour, after His
Resurrection, commissioned Peter
to shepherd,(74) and
him and the other apostles to extend and direct
with authority,(75)
which He erected for all ages as "the pillar and
mainstay of the
truth".(76) This Church constituted and organized
in the world as a
society, subsists in the Catholic Church, which is
governed by the
successor of Peter
and by the Bishops
in communion with him,(13*) ....
Several
observations
are in order here:
If what Catholics believe is true, we ought to be able to support it from Scripture. Let us examine the Scripture to see what it says. In the first place, I emphatically dispute that Jesus predicted He would build His church upon Peter (Matt. 16:18). What Jesus actually said was, "I also say to you that you are Petros (4074), and upon this pétra (4073) I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it." So Jesus did not say He would build His Church on Peter, but upon this rock pétra (4073). By pétra, Jesus meant either Peter's confession of faith (Matt. 16:15-16), or else He pointed to Himself. Petros does not equal petra. To insist that Jesus stated He would build His Church upon Peter is a classic case of Vatican eisegesis, arbitrarily reading into the text something that is not there for dogmatic purposes. In fact, there is strong evidence that Jesus was speaking of Himself (see below in the discussion of 1 Cor. 10:1-10). In
the
second place, I emphatically dispute that the first
Century Apostles
were authorized
by Christ to pass on their Apostolic
Authority to
any successors. They could pass on their teaching,
and they did. But
nowhere do we find in the New Testament that either
Peter or the other
Apostles were commissioned by Christ to pass on
their Apostolic
authority. All
Twelve of the Apostles
were
hand-picked by Christ. When we turn our attention to
the future home of
believers in Christ, the New Jerusalem, there are
not hundreds of
thousands of Apostles.
There are only
Twelve (Rev. 21:14). So, on the basis of Scripture,
I repudiate the
myth of Apostolic
Succession. That is a belief and practice
invented by mere men, not
by Christ Himself.
In
the
third place, I raise my eyebrows when I hear
Catholics assert that the church
headquartered
in the Vatican is "the church Christ founded."
This is spelled out
in some degree of thoroughness in Lumen
Gentium,
Chapter I, "The Mystery of the Church;" Chapter II,
"On the People of
God;" and in Chapter III, "On the Hierarchical
Structure of the Church
and in Particular on the Episcopate." It is more or
less summarized in Paragraph
870
of the Catechism. To me this falls little short of
disingenuousness.
Let me give my reasons.
(1)
The
Catholic
Church
confuses the Biblical distinction between the Universal
Church
and the Local
Church. In the
New Testament, which trumps Roman
Catholic
Church Tradition, there was nothing special
about the local Church
of Rome, other than that it happened to be located
in the capital city
of the Roman Empire. The Universal Church had
already been established
by Christ for decades as the First Century closed.
Nothing in the New
Testament, even at that time, ever indicated that
the local church of
Rome was coterminous with the Universal Church, the
Body of Christ.
That, frankly, is a self-serving myth created by the
Roman
Catholic
Church.
(2)
If
one is going to make the Church that Jesus founded
equivalent to any
church at all, it would have to be the Jerusalem
Church. As Jesus,
through the descent of the Holy Spirit, founded His
Church on the Day
of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-47), for at least a brief
moment or day or two,
the Universal Church, the Church that Jesus founded,
was coterminous
with the Jerusalem Church. That would not last long
as a number of the
founding members of the fledgling Church returned
home to their
respective locations.
(3)
The
simplicity of offices that existed in the New
Testament Church
completely contravenes, over time, the exaggerated
complexity of the hierarchical
Church
headquartered in Rome. In the NT, as long as they
were alive, there
were Apostles.
Shepherding
the flocks in the churches of various cities were
elders (presbuteros, 4245),
who were also
depicted as overseers (episkopos, 1985).
Unfortunately the
latter were later termed "bishops," a most
unfortunate departure from
the nomenclature of the Greek text with profoundly
unbiblical
consequences. These two descriptive nouns refer to
the same individual
(Acts 20:17, 28; Titus 1:5, 7). Assisting them were,
literally,
"servants," untranslated as "deacons" (diakonos,
1249)
(Acts 6:1-7;
Philippians 1:1). As church history developed,
overseers were, in a
most unbiblical way, assigned ever greater power.
There developed what
came to be known as "monarchical
bishops." Over a period of time, five bishops
were, tragically,
accorded unique power. They were known in some
instances as
"Patriarchs." And so there were five competing
Bishops or Patriarchs,
those of Jerusalem,
Alexandria, Antioch, Constantinople, and, of course,
Rome. Rome always
insisted that she was first among equals. After the
rupture of the East-West
Schism of 1054,
Rome reigned supreme. With tragic consequences for
the Church
Universal, the Roman Catholic Church assigned almost
Christological
powers to the "Bishop of Rome." A culmination of
this unbiblical action
was when Pope
Boniface VIII
declared, in 1302, in his Bull, Unam
Sanctam,
"Furthermore, we declare, we proclaim, we define
that it is absolutely
necessary for salvation that every human creature be
subject to the
Roman Pontiff." That is absolute heresy. We are
saved by grace through
faith in Jesus Christ apart from any works (John
3:16-18, 36;11:25-27;
Acts 4:12; Eph. 2:8-10).
(4)
Even
if one grants the legitimacy of the notion that the
Church Christ
founded is coterminous with the Church headquartered
in the Vatican
(and I do not grant that postulate), there exists an
extreme
anachronism. As the preceding paragraph outlines,
the power of the
church of Rome morphed into what it is today over
many decades and even
centuries. For example, it was not until the early
part of the Second
Century that there existed such a thing as "a bishop
governing a
particular church and of at least one bishop, that
of the church in
Antioch, acting as though it were his acknowledged
right to address
himself with authority to other churches" (Latourette).
Furthermore,
it was not until the Eighth Century that the Irish perigrini
introduced the practice of private confession to a
priest (Latourette).
Before
that, confession had been public.
Let
us
now turn our attention to the Apostle Paul's
first letter to
the Corinthians. When he began his letter, Paul wrote
"to
the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have
been
sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with
all who in
every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
their Lord and
ours" (1 Cor. 1:1, 2, emphasis mine). That would
include me, for I
call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. So what Paul
wrote
applies to me, even though I have determined not to join
the Church
headquartered
in the Vatican.
Later, he wrote that the foundation which he, as a wise master builder, had laid in the church at Corinth was Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 3:10-11). No foundation could be laid other than Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 3:11). Pertinent to the present discussion, Paul was saying that he, Paul the Apostle, was not the foundation, but only Jesus Christ could be the foundation of any church. That would include the Church at Rome. In 1 Cor. 10:1-10, Paul used the OT Israelis as an example to the Corinthian believers (1 Cor. 10:11). He said that the Israeli ancestors (he calls them "fathers") experienced some profound spiritual benefits. "They were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea (1 Cor. 10:1). They were all baptized (baptidzo, 907) into Moses in the cloud and in the sea" (1 Cor. 10:2). Furthermore they "all ate the same spiritual food (1 Cor. 10:3); and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock (pétra, 4073) which followed them; and the rock (pétra, 4073) was Christ" (1 Cor. 10:4). Paul's reference to the rock (pétra, 4073) being Christ (in 1 Cor. 10:4) ought to provide considerable assistance in identifying the rock (pétra, 4073) in Matthew 16:18. That is where Jesus told Peter, "I also say to you that you are Peter (Pétros, 4074), and upon this rock (pétra, 4073) I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it." So it is infinitely more likely that Jesus said He would build His church upon Himself than it is that He would build His church on Peter. In 1 Corinthians 12:1-31, Paul discussed with the Corinthians the spiritual gifts that the Holy Spirit gives to the members of the Universal Church. Here are some of the points Paul made in his letter: (1) The Holy Spirit seems to be the one in charge of different spiritual gifts (1 Cor. 12:4). (2) The Lord Jesus seems to be in charge of the ministries of church members (1 Cor. 12:5). (3) God the Father seems to be in charge of the results of ministry by the different members of the Church (1 Cor. 12:6). (4) The Holy Spirit gives each Christian a spiritual gift for the common good of the Church (1 Cor. 12:7). (5) Paul lists the various gifts (1 Cor. 12:8-10). (6) Paul repeated that the Holy Spirit distributes to each Christian individually as He wills (1 Cor. 12:11). (7) Paul made a correlation between the human body and the Spiritual Body of Christ. There is only one body, yet there are many members (1 Cor. 12:12). (8) It is by one Spirit that all Christians are baptized (i.e., immersed, baptidzo, 907) into one body, i.e., the Body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:13). (9) Every member of the Body of Christ is important (1 Cor. 12:14-17). (10) It is God who has placed different members into the Body of Christ just as He desired (1 Cor. 12:18). (11) There should be no division in Christ's Body – we all need one another (1 Cor. 12:19-26). (12) Corporately, we believers in Jesus Christ constitute His mystical Body, and individually, each of us believers is a member of it (1 Cor. 9:27). (13) There is a relative importance and distribution of certain gifts which God has appointed (1 Cor. 12:28-31). It
is
imperative that we acknowledge that the Spiritual Body of Christ is
coterminous with
the Church Universal.
We are told that
God put all things in subjection under Christ's feet,
"and gave Him as
head over all things to the church, which is
His body, the
fullness who fills all in all" (Eph. 1:22-23; Col.
1:18). So I agree
completely with the Roman Catholic Church
that the Church Universal is
identical with
the Body of Christ.
That is inarguable.
What is supremely arguable is that the Church
headquartered in the Vatican
in Rome is
coterminous with the Body of Christ, the
Church Universal.
That sounds more
than just a little bit arrogant to me. And it doesn't
fit the facts of
Scripture.
It
is
indisputable to me that humans on earth cannot possibly
organize the
Spiritual Body of Christ.
Again and again we
are told in 1 Cor. 12:1-31 that it is the members
of the Godhead
who organize the Body of Christ,
placing members and
gifting members according to the Divine design. How
can humans
accomplish that? It is impossible. Humans can
organize individual
churches or denominations or sects, but they cannot
possibly organize
the Universal Church,
the Body of Christ, any
more than they
can organize the wind or the weather. A good portion of
the Church Universal
now resides up in
heaven, having departed this life. How can the Church
headquartered in
the Vatican
in Rome
possibly organize them? Are the saints in heaven called
upon to submit
to the Pope? That is laughable. How can the Roman Catholic Church
enforce that?
Threaten to excommunicate them?
Furthermore,
as
I read the New Testament, I find no indication that any
of the
churches existing in the First Century were informed
that they must
submit either to the Church at Rome or to any elder or
overseer
("bishop") of the Church of Rome. I have studied in
detail the New
Testament letters or portions of letters written to the
churches of
Rome, Corinth, Galatia, Ephesus, Philippi, Colosse,
Thessalonica,
Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and
Laodicea. Not a
single one of them spoke of any necessity of submitting
to the Church
of Rome or the overseer (episkopos, 1985) of Rome.
I have studied
in detail the letters written to individuals, such as
Titus, Timothy,
and Philemon. Nowhere is there any indication that
churches should
submit to the Church of Rome or its leadership. I have
studied the
books of Hebrews, James, the two letters of Peter, the
three letters of
John, the letter of Jude, and the book of Revelation. I
have studied in
detail the four Gospels and the Book of Acts. In not a
single one of
them is there any indication whatever that Christians
must submit to
the Church of Rome or the "Bishop" of Rome or his
successor. Since I
find nothing of the sort in Scripture, I repudiate the
claim that the
Church headquartered in the Vatican
in Rome is
coterminous with the Universal Church,
and I repudiate
any suggestion that I am obligated to submit to the
Roman Pontiff.
Moreover, I repudiate the claim that the Roman Catholic
Church is equal
to "the Church Jesus founded." Those notions are not
Biblical, and they
carry no weight. Rome may anathematize
me all it
wishes, but I have a higher authority. It is the Word of
God, the
Bible, which trumps all tradition whether it
be Roman
Catholic, Greek Orthodox, or Protestant. The common
person in the pew
who diligently studies the Scriptures to see if what he
is being taught
is true or not is more qualified to interpret the
Scriptures than any
pope or bishop who filters Scripture through the often
unbiblical grid
of Roman Catholic tradition (Acts 17:11). There is no
office of pope or
monarchical bishop to be found on a single page of
Scripture. Why
should church leaders whose office does not even appear
in Scripture be
granted the authority to be the sole
interpreters
of Scripture? That seems to me to be an abuse of
power. The Apostle Paul warned us about power-hungry
church leaders
(Acts 20:28-30). Paul left the elders / overseers of
Ephesus only two
resources to combat savage wolves from without and
control-freak,
disciple-dragging elders from within. Those two
resources are God
Himself, and the Word of God (Acts 20:31-32). Roman
Catholic
Church Tradition was not
one of those resources.
Drawing
Some Important Conclusions
Defining
the One True Church, The Church Jesus Christ
Founded To this point we have
concentrated on what
"The One True Church," "The Church That Jesus
Founded" is not.
We have endeavored to demonstrate that the One True
Church is NOT
coterminous with the Roman Catholic Church, or the
"Catholic Church,"
as Catholics prefer to call themselves. But we have
also have at least
mentioned that the "One True Church" is NOT
coterminous with the
Protestant Church, nor is it coterminous with the
Greek Orthodox
Church, nor the Coptic Church, nor any other of the
small isms that
have called themselves Christians down through the
centuries.
Let us use the New
Testament to define
what Jesus' Church is. We will call it the Universal
Church. It is not
confined in any way to a certain geographical
location, such as
Jerusalem, or Rome or Ephesus or Constantinople or
Antioch.
First, the Universal
Church
is an Entity that Relates to God.
* It is an entity that
is separate and
distinct from the nation of Israel, and, as well,
from Gentiles as a
general class (1 Cor. 10:32). I am not saying that
the Church is not
composed of believing Israelis or believing
Gentiles. But rather, that
if there are Israelis who do not believe in Jesus as
their Messiah, or
if there are Gentiles who do not believe in Jesus as
King, the Church
is separate from both. It is "the church of God" (1
Cor. 10:32).
Second, the Universal
Church
is presently being built by Jesus Christ.
* Jesus predicted to His
Apostles that He
would build His Church (Matt. 16:18).
* Once Jesus had founded
His Church on the
Day of Pentecost, He began to add to it daily "such
as should be saved"
(Acts 2:47).
Third, Jesus Christ is
the Head of the Universal
Church.
* God gave Christ to be
the head over all
things for the benefit of the Church (Eph. 1:22).
* Jesus Christ is the
Head of the Church,
and He is the Savior of the Body (Eph. 5:23). We see
the correlation
between the Church having a "Head," who is Christ,
and also being
called a "Body" -- the Body
of Christ.
* Christ is the Head of
the Body, which is
the Church (Col. 1:18).
* It is worth noting
that the New
Testament never states that a human, such as Peter,
is the Head of the
Church. That is impossible.
Fourth, the Universal
Church
is said to be the Body
of Christ.
* Christ is said to be
the Savior of the
Body (Eph. 5:23).
* Christ is the Head of
the Body, which is
the Church (Col. 1:18).
* The Church is
identified as the Body
of Christ
(Col. 1:24).
Fifth, the Universal
Church
is subject to Christ, its Head (Eph. 5:24).
Sixth, the Universal
Church
is the object of Christ's love and sacrifice (Eph.
5:25).
Seventh, the Universal
Church
is being nurtured to glorious perfection by Christ
(Eph. 5:27).
Eighth, the Universal
Church
is the object of Christ's nurture and care (Eph.
5:29).
Ninth, the relationship
between Christ and
the Universal
Church
is a New Testament revelation. A "mystery"
is truth not
fully revealed in the Old Testament, but is fully,
or more fully
revealed in the New (Eph. 5:32).
Tenth, the Universal
Church
is the possession of Christ, the "Firstborn" (Heb.
12:32).
Eleventh, the Universal
Church
is a means of bring glory to God.
* The Church displays
God's many-colored
wisdom (Eph. 3:10).
* The Church, through
Christ facilitates
God's glory (Eph. 3:21).
* Christ praises God in
the midst of His
Church (Heb. 2:12).
Unity in the One True Church, the Church Jesus Christ Founded Doubtless
Jesus
prayed to the Father for unity among His followers
(John
17:1-26). But He did not stop by praying for unity
only for them. He
also prayed for unity among those who would, in the
future become
followers of Himself through their efforts (John
17:20-21). That would
include you and me, and anyone anywhere who names
the name of Christ as
Lord (1 Cor. 1:2). Jesus' prayer was specific. He asked that God, His Father, would sanctify ("set apart") the Church. How would God do that? Through the truth. How did Jesus define "the truth"? He defined "the truth" as being God's Word. It is instructive that He did not say, "Church Tradition" is the defining sanctifying agent. It is God's Word (John 17:11). Here are some suggestions as to how to achieve unity in the One True Church, the Church Jesus Christ founded: * We must love one another as Christ has loved us (John 13:34). * We must be devoted to one another in brotherly love, giving preference to one another in honor (Rom. 12:10). * We must be of the same mind toward one another. That includes refusing to be haughty, but associating with the lowly, not becoming wise in one's own estimation (Rom. 12:16). * We must not owe anything to one another, except the unpayable debt of loving one another (Rom. 13:8). * Let us not judge one another, but rather determine not to put a stumbling block in another brother's way (Rom. 14:13). * Let us pursue things which make for peace, and for building one another up (Rom. 14:19). * We Christians of all stripes must be of the same mind toward one another (Rom. 15:5). * We must accept one another in the same way that Christ has accepted each of us to the glory of God (Rom. 15:7). * Christians that are filled with goodness and knowledge are able to admonish one another (Rom. 15:14). * There should not be divisions in the Body of Christ, but we members should have the same care for one another (1 Cor. 12:25). * We Christians should not use our freedom in Christ as an opportunity to give in to the strong desires of the flesh, but through love, we should serve one another (Gal. 5:13). * Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, or envying one another (Gal. 5:26). * With all humility and gentleness, along with patience, we should show tolerance toward one another in love (Eph. 4:2). * Laying aside falsehood, we should speak truth, each one of us, with his neighbor, for we are members of one another (Eph. 4:25). * We must be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God, in Christ, has forgiven us (Eph. 4:32). * We should be subject to one another in the fear of Christ (Eph. 5:21). * We should do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind, each of us should regard one another as more important than ourselves (Php. 2:3) * We must not lie to one another (Col. 3:9). * We must bear with one another, forgiving each other, just as Christ has forgiven us (Col. 3:13). * We must increase and abound in love toward one another (1 Thess. 3:12). * We must love one another (1 Thess. 4:9). * We must comfort one another with God's words (1 Thess. 4:18). * We must encourage one another and build one another up (1 Thess. 5:11). * We must live in peace with one another (1 Thess. 5:13). * We must seek what is good for one another (1 Thess. 5:15). * We must encourage one another daily so that none of us will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin (Heb. 3:13). * Let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good works (Heb. 10:24). * Let us not forsake the assembling of ourselves together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us be encouraging one another, and all the more as we see the day of Christ's return drawing near (Heb. 10:25). * Let us not speak against one another, brothers in Christ. He who speaks against a Christian brother or judges his brother speaks against the law and judges it (James 4:11). * Let us not complain against one another, so that we will not be judged. The Judge is standing at the door (James 5:16). * We must confess our sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that we may be healed (James 5:16). *
We must fervently love one another from the heart (1
Pet. 1:22; 4:8). * We must be hospitable to one another without complaining (1 Pet. 4:9). * According as we have been gifted, we should employ that gift in serving one another as good stewards of the many-colored grace of God (1 Pet. 4:10). * We must clothe ourselves with humility toward one another, for God opposes proud people, but gives grace to humble people (1 Pet. 5:5). *
We should love one another (1 John 3:11, 23; 4:7,
11, 12; 2 John 1:5).
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