Friday, December 12, 2008

Are Protestants Still Protesting?

HT: Reformation Theology.

Ten Differences Between the Reformation and Rome

This article by Guy Davies appeared in the September/October issue of Protestant Truth. Guy is Joint-Pastor of Penknap Providence Church and Ebenezer Baptist Church in Wiltshire, England.

1. The Roman Catholic Church believes that its traditions and teaching are as authoritative as Scripture. The Reformed value tradition, but accept the Bible alone as their authority, and sole rule of faith and practice.

2. The Roman Catholic Church believes that the Pope, as successor of Peter and Bishop of Rome, is head of the visible Church. The Reformed believe that Christ alone is head of the Church and that no man may claim universal primacy over the people of God.

3. The Roman Catholic Church believes that the Bible cannot be properly understood apart from the official interpretation of Rome (the Magisterium). The Reformed believe that Christians have a responsibility to judge the truth of all teaching by the extent of its conformity to the teaching of the Bible as it has been commonly accepted with the help of responsible exegesis and the witness of the Spirit.

4. The Roman Catholic Church teaches that we are justified by baptism and that justification must be supplemented and improved by works. The Reformed hold that the Bible teaches that justification is God's declaration that a sinner is righteous in his sight, on the basis of faith in the finished work of Christ, apart from works. We are justified by faith alone. Baptism does not effect justification; it is the sign of it, as well as of the believer’s cleansing from sin and reception of new life in Christ.

5. The Roman Catholic Church teaches that the Lord's Supper is a re-offering of the sacrifice of Christ and that the bread and wine are actually changed into the body and blood of the Saviour. The Reformed hold that that in Scripture the Lord's Supper is a fellowship meal that is to be kept by believers in remembrance of the finished work of Christ. The bread and wine are significant symbols to believers of Christ's body and blood. At the Lord's Supper, they enjoy communion with the risen Christ, who is present at the Table by his Spirit.

6. The Roman Catholic Church regards its ministers as priests. They re-offer the sacrifice of Christ at the Mass and act as mediators between God and the faithful, taking Christ’s role. The Reformed teach that all Christians are priests, who offer a sacrifice of praise and worship to the Lord. Some, called to be teachers and pastors, are ministers of the Word. Their task is to give themselves to prayer, the preaching of the gospel, and to care for the flock.

7. The Roman Catholic Church teaches that after death the souls of departed believers who have not made sufficient satisfaction for their sins in their lifetime go to purgatory in order to do that prior to going to heaven. The living can affect how long the departed have to spend in purgatory by observing Mass, obtaining indulgences, and praying for them. The Reformed hold that purgatory is not taught in Scripture. They believe, in accord with Scripture, that at death the souls of believers will depart from the body to be with Christ in heaven, awaiting the resurrection to life, glory and immortality.

8. The Roman Catholic Church believes that Mary can be invoked as mediatrix with Christ and that the faithful should pray to her and show devotion to her. Rome also teaches that believers should pray for themselves and for the dead to the faithful departed whom the Pope has designated as saints. The Reformed honour Mary as the mother of our Lord and see her as an example of obedience and love to God. They maintain that there is only one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, and that, despite the protestations of Rome, its teaching takes away from the sole mediatorship of Christ. Prayer and worship is to be offered to God through him alone.

9. The Roman Catholic Church teaches that there are seven sacraments and that these sacraments work ex opere operato, effectively conveying grace to those who receive them. For example, baptism regenerates and justifies, and participants in the Mass actually feed on the body and drink the blood of Christ. The Reformed find only two sacraments or ordinances in Scripture, baptism and the Lord's Supper. These are means of grace that are only effective when received by faith.

10. The Roman Catholic Church regards herself as the one true Church through the apostolic succession of her bishops. Non-Roman Catholic Christians are regarded as 'separated brethren' who have schismatically divided the body of Christ. Reformed ministers are not truly ordained to the apostolic ministry. The Reformed define the Church not institutionally, but as a company of believing, godly people where the gospel is truly preached, baptism and the Lord's Supper rightly administered and Church discipline graciously applied. The true apostolic succession consists not in the physical laying on of hands as understood by Rome, but in believing and preaching the gospel proclaimed by the apostles and recorded in Scripture.

7 comments:

John said...

This is a good review. At a Ligonier conference in Dallas last fall Dr. Sproul went through these, too.

Thanks for your great posts. Keep it up, brother.

Greg Breazeale said...

This is a great summary of Roman Catholicism. With your permission I may link to this post. Thanks.

GB

FellowElder said...

Hi Greg,
Feel free, brother. I've simply linked and copied from Reformation Theology, who copied from Guy Davies. Spread the word!
T-

Anonymous said...

I am an Evangelical and will always be a son of Luther and Calvin. However, this "differences" list is distorted and does not accurately describe the Roman Catholic position nor does account for the traditional Reformed Anglican position.

Steve said...

I wish anonymous would elaborate...

Anyway, great post!

When I'm asked, "what's your issue with Catholics?', however, I try to keep it simple, at least at first:

They preach a different gospel.

Not that the other points in the list aren't profoundly valid, but I believe Catholic soteriology is the central point. Their conception of justification is profoundly different from the Reformed (and I would argue biblical) conception, and that is their fatal flaw.

Boaly said...

This is a great list Thabiti, My wife is a coverted roman catholic & many of these issues have risen in (gracious) conversation with her family as they ask about these issues & others.

(We never bring it up, simply wait to they ask about the differences).

One of the discussions recently was on how we interpret Scripture one way & they another, & they asked who's to know which is right.
In answer we showed how clear the Bible is on issues, pointing to Ephesians 2:8&9 and simply asking what other interpretation there is of that passage.

We've found that the best way to answer questions is to go directly to Scripture, rather than saying 'We believe... ...you believe'.

Jonathan Hunt said...

Visit Guy Davies' blog here:

www.exiledpreacher.blogspot.com