World Religions in a Nutshell (11 page)

You:
Think of that courtroom story. The criminal couldn’t pay the fine. He was in big trouble, when someone he didn’t even know stepped in and paid the fine for him. Now that judge can let him go because the fine has been paid—justice has been served. We broke God’s Law (the Ten Commandments) but because Jesus paid our fine on the cross 2,000 years ago in His life’s blood, God can now forgive us. He can dismiss your case. He can commute your death sentence. The Bible says, “God demonstrates His own love toward
us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” God proved His great love for you through the cross. Then Jesus rose from the dead, and defeated the power of the grave. If you repent and trust the Savior, God will forgive your sins and grant you everlasting life. Does that make
sense to you?

Ehud:
Yes, it does. I have never heard that before.

You:
Ehud, if you died today, where would you go—where would you spend eternity? Think carefully before you answer. This is so important.

Ehud:
I would go to Hell.

You:
Really? So what are you going to do about it?

Ehud:
I think I need to pray.

You:
Yes, and repent and trust the Savior. When are you going to do that?

Ehud:
I will do that today. Right now. Thank you for talking to me.

Roman Catholicism

The Roman Catholic church has always been identified with Christianity, mainly because it upholds the fundamentals of the Christian faith. It teaches the deity of Jesus Christ, the Trinity, the virgin birth, and the bodily resurrection and return of Christ to the earth.

However, most Roman Catholics when asked if they are Christians
will
make a difference between New Testament Christianity and Roman Catholicism. If you ask, “Are you a Christian?” they will normally reply, “I’m a Catholic.” They are right to do so, because there are clear and fundamental differences.

With about 1 billion Catholics in the world, it’s important that we understand these essential differences.

Background

The Roman Catholic church is said to be the largest organized body of any world religion. According to the
Statistical Yearbook of the Church
, its worldwide membership is around
1.1 million, or approximately one in six of the world’s population.

There are two main divisions of traditional Christianity: Roman Catholics and Protestants. The Protestant church
is called
protestant
because it “protested” against Catholicism back in the early 1500s. Through study of the Scriptures, a German Catholic monk named Martin Luther found
that salvation didn’t come through anything he did (his good works), but simply through trusting in the finished work of the cross of Jesus Christ. So he listed the contradictions between what the Scriptures said and what his church taught, and nailed his “95 Theses” to the church door in Wittenberg, Germany. Martin Luther became the first to “protest” what he saw as the errors of the Roman church, and thus he became the father of the Protestant church.

The Catholic church traces its history back to the church
of the first century, and maintains that the true Church is built on Peter, whom they believe was the first “pope.” However, Peter himself denied this fact, maintaining that Jesus Christ is the Rock and Chief Cornerstone of the Church:

“
Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, ‘Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.’ Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, ‘The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone
’
...
”
(1 Peter 2:6–8)

The Protestant church asserts that Catholicism actually had a later beginning, in the fourth century, when Constantine unified the Roman Empire by merging paganism with Christianity. Declaring himself Vicar of Christ, he elevated “converts” to positions of influence and authority. These professing Christians brought their pagan rites and their gods and goddesses into the church. In time, church councils began to exalt their traditions above Scripture and condemn their opponents, and many devout men were labeled heretics and persecuted for defending the Bible’s authority.

By the 12th century the Roman Catholic church had become the world’s most powerful institution, using its power to set up and depose kings and queens. It also became the richest institution on earth by taxing people and confiscating property. Through the Crusades and later the Inquisition, the Catholic church put to death Muslims, heretics, and those who rejected papal supremacy.

Scriptures

Roman Catholics use a version of the Bible that includes what’s called the Apocrypha, a group of books found in their Old Testament. The Catholic Bible is based on a translation known as the Greek Septuagint, which included these books. Non-Catholics, however, do not accept them as inspired, primarily because the Apocrypha is not part of the official canon of Judaism. The excluded material is a group of fifteen late Jewish books, which were not found in Hebrew versions of the Jewish Scripture.

It is important to realize that the doctrinal differences between Catholics and non-Catholics are not fundamentally caused by the differences in their Scriptures. The problem comes rather with the Roman Catholic church’s teachings. For example, it is a puzzle why Roman Catholics bow down to and give homage to statues of “the saints,” angels, images of Mary and Jesus, etc. Why do they do such a thing when bowing down to anything is a direct violation of the Ten Commandments—which they officially accept as God’s Law?

If you look closely at the Catholic Catechism (the official teachings of the church), you will find that the Second of the Ten Commandments has been completely removed. The Third Commandment then became the Second, the Fourth became the Third, and so on. The Roman Catholic church then took the Tenth Commandment (found in
one
verse and dealing with the
one
subject of covetousness—see Exodus 20:17), broke it in half, and made it into the Ninth and Tenth Commandments. Here are the Ten Commandments as listen on the official Vatican website:

1. I am the Lord
your God: you shall not have strange Gods before me.

2. You shall not take the name of the Lord
your God in vain.

3. Remember to keep holy the Lord
’
s Day.

4. Honor your father and your mother.

5. You shall not kill.

6. You shall not commit adultery.

7. You shall not steal.

8. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

9. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife.

10. You shall not covet your neighbor’s goods.
¹⁵

You won’t find a word of the Second Commandment in the Catholic Catechism. This is despite the fact that the Second Commandment is still listed in full in the Roman Catholic Bible.
¹⁶
In fact, the Second Commandment against
idolatry is cited seven times in the Old Testament and three times in the New Testament (Exodus 20:4; 20:23; 34:17; Leviticus 19:4; 26:1; Deuteronomy 4:23; 5:8; 1 Corinthians 10:7; 10:14; and 1 John 5:21).

While Roman Catholics acknowledge holy Scripture as a source of authority and doctrine, they give equal weight to tradition:

“
...the Church, to whom the transmission and interpretation of Revelation is entrusted, does not derive her certainty about all revealed truths from the holy Scriptures alone. Both Scripture and Tradition must be accepted and honored with equal sentiments of devotion and reverence.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, par. 82)