Roman Catholicism
Roman Catholicism
In this lesson we will investigate the origin and claims of perhaps
the largest group of professed followers of Christ in the world -- the
Roman Catholic Church. Catholicism is more than a religion -- it has
political entity. The Vatican is a small political entity. Vatican
City is a papal state within Rome. It was established in 1929 and
includes the papal palace and "St. Peter's Church." It consists of an
area of about one-sixth of a mile square and has a population of a
little over a thousand people.
The West End Church of Christ is very happy to present these
fifteen minute lessons each Sunday morning. We do this for only one
purpose. We want to preach the truth of God's word without the
restrictions of human doctrines and wisdom. We are also very deeply
interested in your soul. We are convinced that there is much error
being taught in the religious world. It is not that we feel we have a
corner on truth -- we hold that the Bible is the only corner on truth --
we are just interested in seeing that you have the opportunity to hear
the truth minus any denominational flavor.
Please visit our meetings. Today we begin our schedule at 9 a.m.
with Bible classes for all ages. At 10 a.m. we meet to worship God and
again at 6 p.m. this evening we worship. On Wednesday night we have
more Bible classes and in these studies we engage in a study of truly
relevant biblical topics that apply to daily living in our generation.
Please come and be our guest -- at least just once. Our meeting house
is located at the corner of Old Morgantown Road and Parkside Drive,
across from A & W Root Beer and Lampkin Park.
One of the claims made by Catholicism is that of being the one true
church. Most people think of her as the "oldest church in the world,"
or even the original church. There is nothing wrong with claiming to be
the "one true church." Proving it is another matter. Just here
Catholicism relies on only one source of authority -- Church Tradition.
Taking the Bible alone makes impossible the task of proving Catholic
claims. In fact, as we shall see, the Bible actually conflicts with
Catholic doctrines and practices.
The first claim we will examine is the one generally called "The
Primacy of Peter." This is such a cardinal doctrine in Catholicism that
those who deny it are cursed. A document called Vatican, Constit.,
Pastor aeternus, cap. i: De apostolici primatus in Beato Petro
instutione: one reads, "If then anyone should say that St. Peter the
Apostle was not appointed by Christ to be the chief of all the Apostles
and the visible head of the Church militant, or that he received from
our Lord Jesus Christ a Primacy of honor only and not, immediately and
directly, a Primacy of real and true jurisdiction: let him be anathema."
(Taken from The Catholic Catechism, Peter Cardinal Gasparri, page 298.)
Anathema means cursed.
This claim is drawn from only one biblical source. That is Matthew
16:18-19. The Lord's words are, "And I say to you that you are Peter
and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades shall
not over power it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven;
and whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and
whatever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."
This statement came near the end of the earthly ministry of the
Lord Jesus Christ. He gathered His disciples together and promised them
that He would very soon build His Church. The entire context of Matthew
16:13-18 reads: "When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi,
he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the son of man
am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some,
Elias; and others, Jeremias or one of the prophets. He saith unto them,
But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, thou art
the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said,
Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona; for flesh and blood hath not revealed
it unto thee, but my Father which is in Heaven. And I say unto thee,
that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church and the
gates of hell shall not prevail against it."
Professor A. Carr, author of the commentary on Matthew in the
Cambridge Greek New Testament series, aptly said, "On these words mainly
rest the enormous pretensions of the Roman pontiff." It is not only
pretentious, it is also very serious and pertinent, for this is the
Catholic claim to exclusiveness.
One Catholic author confirms this by saying, "Down the long vista
of time He sees the radiant picture of His eternal Church. Peter's
confession gives Him the occasion to designate Simon and none other as
the rock of His Church and to found His imperishable Church upon this
imperishable rock. This church will never perish, since it will always
be a Church founded on a rock. There will always be a living Peter,
whose faith will confirm his brethren...So every successive generation
of the disciples will have, like the first generation, its living Peter,
its rock, which will enable it to triumph over all the assimilators of
the gates of hell." (The Spirit of Catholicism, Karl Adam, Macmillan
Co., N.Y. pages 105-106).
It is a question every serious Bible student must face. The
seriousness of it is seen in the following statement from the pen of
James Cardinal Gibbons, taken from his work called, The Faith of our
Fathers, page 82. He wrote, "Jesus, our Lord, founded but one Church,
which He was pleased to build on Peter. Therefore, any church that does
not recognize Peter as its foundation stone is not the Church of Christ,
and therefore cannot stand, for it is not the work of God. This is
plain."
It certainly becomes plain to those who cannot accept the primacy
of Peter as the first in a long line of succession of Popes in
Catholicism. No one denies the right of any group to claim that they
are the one and only Church of Christ, but to base such a claim on the
grounds on which Catholicism has rested its case is truly patently
wrong. It obligates each of us to search the Scriptures diligently to
understand what is meant. If, upon an honest investigation of the
Scriptures, we find that the claim made by Catholicism is false, then
the entire structure of the Catholic religion crumbles.
That Peter could not be the foundation "rock" on which the church
was to be established is demonstrably clear. Paul did not believe in
the primacy of Peter, for he wrote to the church at Corinth and said,
"For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are
God's building. According to the grace of God which is given to me as a
wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth
thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For
other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which Is Jesus
Christ" (I Corinthians 3:9- 11). Not only did Paul limit the foundation
of the church to Christ, he mentioned Peter only in the same level of
importance with himself and Apollos. If Paul is right, and he is, there
is no other foundation upon which anyone who follows Christ will dare to
build.
Those who build on the foundation of Peter, cannot be the church
Jesus promised and which Paul established through preaching Christ, and
Him crucified. Even Peter, himself, objected to being regarded as the
foundation of the church. He wrote, "Wherefore also it is contained in
the scripture, "Behold I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect,
precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. Unto
you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be
disobedient the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made
the head of the corner" (I Peter 2:6-8). To affirm that Peter is the
rock is to deny that Christ is the rock on which the church is built.
Peter, therefore denied that he was himself the foundation, or the rock
that the church rests on.
Paul pictured the church of Christ in Ephesus as resting secure on
"the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ, himself
being the chief corner stone" (Ephesians 2:20). Picture mentally, a
great temple firmly founded on a solid rock with radiance and glory all
about it, and you may begin to comprehend the church built by Christ
through apostolic teaching. The teaching "of the apostles and prophets"
is teaching they did as they built the church being directed by the
Lord. This is the rock Jesus promised as a secure foundation for His
church. It is the deity of the Son of the living God, and not Peter.
Peter confessed this great fact and so must every accountable being who
builds on the rock, the solid rock and foundation of life.(See Luke
6:46-49). The good old song says it so beautifully:
"Rock of Ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in thee. Let the
water and the blood, from thy wounded side which flowed. Be of sin, the
double cure, save from wrath and make me pure."
Further proof denying that Peter was ever "pope" in Rome is found
in Paul's letter to the church established in that ancient city. Paul
wrote the letter to the Romans around 58 A.D. He took pains to mention
twenty seven specific names of brethren -- but not Peter. Surely, had
Peter occupied the "papal throne" as the visible head of the Church on
earth, Paul would have greeted him first.
Paul was imprisoned in Rome and wrote several letters while
incarcerated. He wrote four letters to various local churches in Asia
and not one time did he mention Peter. If Peter had really been head of
the church does it sound logical that Paul would have so studiously
ignored him? Paul wrote several individuals from Rome. In his last
letter to Timothy he mentioned several who had forsaken him and then
specifically said, "Only Luke is with me" (II Timothy 6:11). Where do
you suppose Peter was?
The truth is simple -- Peter was not the first pope -- Jesus did
not intend that Peter be either the Rock on which the church was
established or that he should be the head of it in any sense. The idea
that any one of the apostles should be elevated above the others is
clearly false. Jesus taught them, "But do not be called Rabbi; for One
is your Teacher, and you are all brothers. And do not call anyone on
earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven" (Matthew
23:8-9).
There are numerous false doctrines taught by Catholicism. In
another study possibly we will take them up one by one, but when the
fundamental assumption Catholicism rests on is shown to be fallacious,
the entire structure crumbles. It is like laying the axe to the root of
the tree. The Rock is Christ -- not Peter (I Corinthians 10:4).
If you have any question at all about this topic, or if you would
like extra study materials on it, contact us. You can write us at
West End Church of Christ, 1609 Parkside Dr., Bowling Green, KY. 42101.
Until the next time we have this opportunity to be with you by radio,
may God richly bless you and yours. Good bye.
Radio Sermon No, 41
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