Transcript Slide 1

Roman Catholicism
and Greek Orthodox
The Church gone astray
US Church Demographics
Roman Catholicism:
Progressive Apostasy
• Introduction
– Did Christ found the RCC, or did He found it
upon Peter?
– Why do Evangelicals consider RCC countries a
mission field?
– There are more than 900 million nominal RCC
today. Are they a valid mission field?
– RCC has been a gradual development over
centuries moving away from true Christianity,
thus desperately in need of evangelism
Reality check
• There are born-again believers in the Catholic Church
– The gospel texts are in the Mass, catechism teaching and convert
instructions (at least the elements of the Gospel)
– Doctrinal basis to build on: God is one God in three persons, Jesus is the
Son of God, He died on the cross for the sins of the world, resurrected
and is to return to earth someday
• What is not in the Catholic Church is the personal aspect: we
need to personally receive the grace-gift of salvation
– Taught that a baptized Catholic is enough to be in the family of God
– Taught that Jesus opened the door, but our good works will get us there.
Thus Jesus + good works might result in salvation – a vague hope that
our good will out weighs our bad.
– Taught there is no assurance of immediate salvation, but eventual
salvation after purification in purgatory
• Remember: Nominal Christianity is having a basic knowledge of
the elements of the Gospel, but no personal appropriation nor
exclusive trust in the work of Christ and no trust in our own
merit. Nominal Christians are lost! Matt 7:22
Origins of Roman
Catholicism: Claims
• Jesus made Peter first Pope by giving him the keys of heaven,
calling him the Rock on which the church was to be founded
• This is seen as the power of absolution from sins delegated to
His priests (Mt 16:18-20)
• Confirmation seen in the 3 commands to feed His sheep (Jn
21:15-19), which is passed down by “apostolic succession”
• However, Christ Himself is the Rock and keys are not to
heaven, but keys to the kingdom of heaven!
– Peter used the keys 3 times to open the door of faith to the Jews (Acts
2), Samaritans (Acts 8), & Gentiles (Acts 10) through preaching the
Gospel
• RCC does not allow individuals to interpret Bible—the Pope
alone has the final say on what Church doctrine is to be
• Bible is just a part of the traditions of the RCC, and not
superior to the rest of their traditions
Historical Development
• Immediately after the apostles expired “church fathers
taught false doctrines:” (Olson)
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Loss of a grace-salvation for a merit-salvation
Fetishism
Sacerdotalism (Pastor as priest)
Ritualism
Allegorical interpretation of the Bible
Bishop’s right of absolution
• Edict of Toleration AD 313 and conversion of
Constantine secularization, paganization (images,
saints, Mariolatry) and politicization invaded the Church.
• Leo the Great, bishop of Rome (440-461) Council of
Chalcedon gave Bishop of Rome equal authority with
Bishop of Constantinople
• Gregory the Great (590-604) secured allegiance of
Roman Emperor and submission of British and German
churches to authority of Rome
More Historical Development
• Hildebrand became Pope Gregory VII (AD 107385) freed the church of interference of laymen
(including kings) to force civil rulers to act in favor
of papacy– made Emperor Henry IV humiliate
himself by waiting barefoot in snow at Canossa
• After Protestant Reformation RCC started CounterReformation to recoup what they lost
• Pope convened Council of Trent (AD 1546-47)
– to make tradition equal to Scripture
– To accept the Apocryphal books as part of the canon
• 1854 Pope Pius IX declared the Immaculate
Conception of Mary (not the virgin Birth of Christ)
• 1950 Pope Pius XII declared the bodily assumption
of Mary into Heaven making her the main
intermediary between men and God
Vatican II Council (1962-65)
• Liberal voices were heard by Pope John
XXIII to bring change to the church
• Church is torn in 3 directions: traditional,
liberal and charismatic factions
• The single most significant phrase that came
out of the pages of this declaration was the
way that Protestants were to henceforth be
addressed: “separated brethren.”
• Many RC’s no longer submit unquestioningly
to the authority of the Pope
Doctrines common to RCC and Evangelicals
• Canonical Scriptures are channel of Christ-centered divine
revelation
• Triune God as sovereign in Creation, providence and grace.
• Faith in Jesus Christ as God incarnate, mediator between God
and man
• See Christians as a family of forgiven sinners … empowered for
godliness by the Holy Spirit
• See the Church as a single supernatural society
• Sacraments of baptism and Communion as necessities of
obedience, gestures of worship and means of communion with
God in Christ
• Practice of prayer, obedience, love and service
• Deal appropriately with personal reality of evil
• Expecting death and final judgment to lead to endless joy of
heaven with Christ.
Faith and Practice
• Though all 3 branches of Christendom (Roman,
Orthodoxy and Evangelicalism) agree on Trinity,
person of Christ, but the concepts of salvation
are radically different
• Sacramental salvation
– RCC sees salvation as piecemeal, trust in the
sacraments and merited by human good works
– “Grace” is not unmerited, but is earned from saints
and Mary do enough penance
– Salvation is mediated by the church through
sacraments
– Five of seven sacraments have to do with salvation:
(Marriage and Ordination) –Baptism (new birth and
cleanses original sin), Confirmation (sealing of Spirit),
Penance (absolution from sin), Mass or Eucharist
(transubstantiation), and Extreme Unction (last rites)
Fundamental issue of justification
• Are we saved by faith PLUS works or by faith
alone? Is justification imputed or infused? (Are
we declared righteous or made righteous?)
• Council of Trent, convened by the RCC in late
16th century, anathematized those who believe
“that faith alone in the divine promises is
sufficient for the obtaining of grace” (Trent, sess.
7, canon 8).
• This is the main issue in contemporary
ecumenical dialogue – but likewise it is the main
focus of evangelizing Roman Catholics
Today’s Catholic Diversity
• Charismatic Catholics see their mystical experience
as confirmation of their infant baptism
• Liberal theology has grown since Vatican II – some
borrowed from Protestant liberals, especially the
evolutionary philosophy of Jesuit writer, Pierre
Tielhard de Chardin.
• Liberation Theology, esp. in Latin America by
Gustavo Gutierrez in 1970’s – a revolutionary Marxist
movement to overthrow oppressive government–
spread especially to Philippines
• Catholicism is a mission field because of the false
doctrines corrupting this ancient church
• Like Phariseeism, Romanism put human tradition
above the Word of God (Mat 15:1-9) – one of the
main issues of the Reformation was Tradition that
contradicted the Scriptures
Greek Orthodox Church
The Eastern Church
(Constantinople) was forced to
split from the Western Church
(Rome) over major issues
Eastern Orthodoxy:
Catholicism’s Sister
• Today is the third largest branch of Christendom with
215 M followers
• Splits off the Eastern Orthodox or Greek Orthodox,
became Armenian, Syrian and Coptic churches
• Western church (Rome) used Latin, Eastern church
(Constantinople) used Greek
• Eastern church had to confront Muslim’s hatred of
idolatry, which stirred up Iconoclastic Controversy
between East and West
• The sacking of Constantinople by Crusaders (1204) so
weakened the Eastern Empire that city fell to Muslims
Ottoman Turks in 1453.
• Eastern church remained under Muslims until WWI
• Conflict in Balkans between Muslims, Catholics, and
Orthodox are continuation of conflict
Doctrines of Orthodoxy
• Accept the doctrine of Trinity, deity of
Christ as Nicene Creed (325) resulting
in splits in the Eastern Church
• Differences with RCC:
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Rejection of papacy and papal infallibility
Marriage of lower clergy
Communion in both kinds
Threefold immersion of infants
Use of vernacular languages in worship
Rejection of Immaculate Conception of
Mary
– Rejection of purgatory
Significant divisions in Church
• 5th and 6th century:
– Oriental Orthodox churches split off on theological issues (deity of
Christ): churches in Iran and Iraq called “Nestorian” or “Chaldean”
churches
– Also in this split the Coptic Church in Egypt and Syrian Church of
Antioch separated
• 11th century: Eastern and Western church
– Language difference (Latin and vernacular languages); legal mindset
vs. mystical mindset; cultural difference
– Barbarian invasions and establishing Holy Roman Empire
– Issues:
• First: power of the pope in Rome (previously considered all bishops
equal) –
• Second: theological issue whether the Spirit came from the Father or
from the Father and the Son. West wanted both, East wanted the Father
alone. Resulted in the Bull of excommunication in 1054 separating the
two churches
• Icons instead of statues
• Deification of man or theosis. God becomes part of man in salvation, thus
man is deified and thus man becomes an icon
Doctrines of Orthodoxy
• In 1961 joined the World Council of
Churches
• Orthodoxy teaches a sacramental
salvation through the church, not a
personal relationship with Christ
• Practice of Mariolatry, veneration of
relics and a works salvation leaves this
church as a mission field