Facts on Roman Catholicism

John Ankerberg, John Weldon, Burroughs Dillon

Description

Well-known authors and researchers John Ankerberg, John Weldon, and Dillon Burroughs have updated and revised The Facts on Roman Catholicism, an important title from the popular Facts On Series (more than 1.9 million copies of books from this series sold).Presented in a convenient question-and-answer format, readers are given a general overview and detailed information based on a biblical evaluation of the Roman Catholic Church. They discover similarities and differences between the basic theologies of Catholicism and Protestantism. Topics include:Have the basic doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church changed?What are the sacraments, and how do they function in the life of a Catholic believer?What does the Catholic Church teach concerning salvation?What unique role does Mary have in Roman Catholicism, and is it biblical?Can the differences between Catholics and Evangelicals be set aside?

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie
• Catholic Church

Informations

• Publié par: Harvest House Publishers, Inc.
• Date de parution: 01 mars 2009
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780736939089
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

®

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, ® ® NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION . NIV . Copyright©1973, 1978, 1984 by the International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

® Verses marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible , © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org) All emphasis (italics) in Scripture quotations has been added by the authors. Cover by Dugan Design Group, Bloomington, Minnesota Cover photos © iStockphoto; backcover photo of Dillon Burroughs © Goldberg Photography

THE FACTS ON ROMAN CATHOLICISM Copyright © 1993/2009 by The John Ankerberg Theological Research Institute Published by Harvest House Publishers Eugene, Oregon 97402 www.harvesthousepublishers.com Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data  Ankerberg, John, 1945  The facts on Roman Catholicism / John Ankerberg, John Weldon, Dillon Burroughs.—[Updated & rev. ed.].  p. cm.—(The facts on series)  Includes bibliographical references.  ISBN 9780736924030 (pbk.)  1. Catholic Church—Controversial literature—Miscellanea. 2. Catholic Church—Doctrines—Miscellanea. I. Weldon, John. II. Burroughs, Dillon. III. Title.  BX1765.3.A54 2009  282—dc22  2008020711 All rights reserved.No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, digital, photocopy, recording, or any other—except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher. Printed in the United States of America 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 / VPSK / 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Contents

 A Biblical Evaluation of the  Roman Catholic Church. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Section One The Foundational Issue: Divine Revelation and Its Authority

1. Why should the issue of what constitutes divine  revelation be a vital concern to all Christians? . . . . . . 11 2. Why do Protestants believe the Bible alone is  authoritative and inerrant (free from error)? . . . . . . . . 14

Section Two Introduction to Roman Catholicism

3. What are the different categories of modern  Roman Catholicism?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 4. Have the basic doctrines of the Roman Catholic  Church changed today?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 5. What are the sacraments, and how do they  function in the life of a Catholic believer?. . . . . . . . . . 26

Section Three Salvation and Justification

 6. What does the Bible teach concerning salvation? . . . . 33  7. What does the Roman Catholic Church teach  concerning salvation? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39  8. What does the Bible teach about the doctrine  of justification? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51  9. What does the Roman Catholic Church teach  about the doctrine of justification?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54  10. Do Protestants and Catholics now agree on  the doctrine of justification, or are the teachings  of the Council of Trent still authoritative?. . . . . . . . . . 58

Section Four The Roles of the Bible, the Pope, and Mary

 11. How is the Roman Catholic view of biblical  authority and inerrancy compromised?. . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

 12. Is the Pope infallible? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71  13. What is the unique role of Mary in Roman  Catholicism, and is it biblical? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Section Five Conclusion

 14. Can the differences between Catholics and  Evangelicals be set aside? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81  A Personal Word to Catholics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84  Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

A Biblical Evaluation of the Roman Catholic Church

The Catholic Church is the one true Church established by Jesus Christ for the salvation of all mankind. —R EV . J OHN A. O’B RIEN ,T HE F AITHOF M ILLIONS

You must teach what is in accord with sound doctrine. —T HEAPOSTLE P AUL ’ SINSTRUCTIONS TO T ITUS , T ITUS 2:1

The purpose of this book is twofold:

1. To help nonCatholic Christians better under stand what Roman Catholicism believes and practices, and

2. To help Roman Catholics evaluate their own church on the basis of biblical teaching. This is necessary since, as Catholic apologist Karl Keating points out, “Catholics are required to hold and believe all the declared doctrines of the 1 Church.”

No one can deny that substantial changes have occurred in the Roman Catholic Church since Vat ican II, the major Roman Catholic council that met 5

6

THE FACTS ONROMAN CATHOLICISM

from 1962 to 1965 and was intended to usher in “the 2 beginning of a new era in Roman Catholic history.” Since Vatican II, the Catholic Church has increasingly encouraged its members to read the Bible and apply it to their lives. Also, it is no longer a serious sin to attend nonCatholic churches. Perhaps the most important change in Catholicism is its allowance of a new freedom for the biblical gospel itself. Modern Roman Catholicism is commendable in other ways as well. Socially the Church has consis tently maintained a high view of the sanctity of life and of marriage. Biblically it has continued to defend the inerrancy of Scripture, at least as an official doctrine. Theologically it accepts the orthodox views of the Trinity, Christ’s deity, and his atonement. Spiritually it has a good understanding of the seriousness of sin and its consequences in eternal judgment.

The difficulty with traditions We agree with the characterization of Dr. Martyn LloydJones (1899 –1981), the influential English preacher and Bible teacher. In many ways, the problem with traditions, he says, “is not so much a matter of ‘denial’ of the truth, but rather such an addition 3 to the truth that eventually it becomes a departure from it.”

However, all this does not mean that the Church is without problems. Perhaps the most serious issue in Roman Catholicism from the perspective of Protes tant Christianity is its unwillingness to accept biblical authority alone as the final determiner of Christian doc trine and practice. For example, by accepting Catholic Tradition as a means of divine revelation, even bibli cally correct teachings in the Church become hedged

A Biblical Evaluation of the Roman Catholic Church

7

about with unbiblical trimmings, which in turn tend to either revise, neutralize, or nullify the truth found in the Bible. This truly unfortunate situation illustrates a principle Jesus taught—that even heartfelt religious traditions can become a means of leading people away from God’s best for their lives. On one occasion Jesus told the leading religious figures of his day, “You have let go of the com mands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men” (Mark 7:8). Regardless, no one can argue with the statement that “the Roman Church has been one of the most pow 4 erful influences in the history of all civilization.” Thus, because Roman Catholicism is the world’s largest reli gious body, having more than a billion adherents, and because of its major influence in the world, a biblical evaluation of the teachings of the Church is vital.