What Every Catholic Should Know

Question: Could you tell me please why the Bible is the word of God? Does it say in the Bible that, "This book is from God"? And even if it does, how do we know?

Answer: The Bible is the Word of God. Nearly 4,000 times in the Old Testament alone, we read phrases like 'the Lord spoke', 'the Lord commanded' and 'the Lord said'. The apostle Peter says that the prophetic scriptures 'never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit' (2 Peter 1:21).

Someone has reasoned this way. Who could have written the Bible? One or more of the angels? Impossible, for good angels don't lie, and the Bible repeatedly says, "Thus says the Lord..." Perhaps evil spirits? No, for demons and Satan do not like to be exposed for what they are and they don't command men to "Worship the Lord thy God and him ONLY shalt thou serve." Evil spirits don't want men to repent, as the Bible commands. Was it then evil men? But evil men certainly would not write such scathing denunciations of sin as we regularly find in the Scriptures, or condemn themselves to Hell. Was it then good men? No, for good men, by themselves, cannot write about such sublime things, which eye hath not seen nor ear heard. Besides, good men don't lie; they won't write such things as this, "All scripture is God-breathed..." if it were not the truth.

The only other alternative is that God gave the Bible as it is claimed by Bible itself.

Further evidence comes from fulfilled prophecies. In no other literature can we find scores of clear and detailed prophecies, which were later fulfilled to the letter. The odds against this happening by chance are too vast to be taken seriously.

Then there is the Bible's impact on people's lives. Millions of people over the centuries testify that the teaching of the Bible transformed their lives from darkness to light, from despair to hope, from sin to righteousness and love.

Yet many people remain skeptical. They cannot appreciate the beauty of God's Word because they do not know God. Many heard Jesus speak and teach but most did not recognize that His were the very words of God. Only God can open our sin-blinded eyes to see the beauty of His Word.

I recognize my Father's voice in Scripture because I am His adopted son. Jesus said: 'He who is of God hears God’s words; therefore you [who do not believe] do not hear, because you are not of God' (John 8:47).

The Scripture alone (Sola Scriptura)

Question: Where does the Bible say that our beliefs should be based on the teaching of the Bible? 'Bible only' is plainly unbiblical.

Answer: Every disciple of Christ is obedient to the Lord and is committed to believe and obey His Word. The Christian will not permit any man or creature to usurp the throne of his Lord. Moreover, every Christian believes that the Bible is the Word of God. He is therefore committed to its teachings, commands and instructions.

You may respond, 'Yes, the Christian should be obedient to the Bible. But why insist on the Bible alone as his ultimate authority?'

To answer, let me ask some questions myself. What would you add to the Bible? 'Sola Scriptura' is not whether the Bible is the infallible Word of God or not (we all agree that it is). The question is whether the Bible is the only infallible rule of faith or not; whether we should add something else of equal authority along with the Bible.

Well then, would you add human reason and philosophy, as the liberals do? No, because the word of man could never be equal to the word of God. 'Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him. Do not add to His words, Lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar' (Proverbs 30:5). What then, would you add to the written Word of God? Let us consider three possibilities:

1. New revelations

Can we add new revelations? No, because God's revelation is complete. There was a time when God was giving new revelations as He was unfolding the plan of salvation. Indeed there was a time when there was no written Scriptures and God spoke audibly to people like Adam, Noah and Abraham. There was a time when God's Word came in the form of prophetic and apostolic speech as well as the written form. God's revelation reached its climax in Christ, who is the image of the invisible God. During the apostolic era, the Christian faith was delivered in full to the church, as Jude tells us. Christians should 'should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints' (Jude 3). It is therefore wrong to seek new revelations seeing that the Bible declares that the Christian faith is already delivered to us.

2. Tradition

What about tradition? Did God give a body of truth, different and apart from teaching of the Bible, which was transmitted intact through the centuries in an oral, unwritten form? Definitely not! We can compare the church with the Old Testament people of God, Israel. From the prophet Malachi to John the baptist, God did not give them new revelations. The Jews were responsible to obey the Word of God preserved in the Holy Scriptures, and nothing else. During His earthly ministry, the Lord Jesus did not expect the Jews to believe some extra-scriptural doctrine which was supposedly transmitted from the prophets of old by word of mouth. Jesus often appealed to the Scriptures - 'It is written' - but He never appealed to tradition as if it carried equal authority (see below). On the contrary, He rebuked the Jews for adding traditions which in effect undermined the plain teaching of the Scriptures: 'Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition' (please read Mark 7). Sadly, history repeats itself. Christians today should obey the Word of God preserved in the completed Scriptures, but they often go beyond what is written. Because of tradition, the Catholic church now has graven images, obligatory fasting, relics, indulgences, celibate ministry, the sacrifice of the mass, the confessional, purgatory and so on, all of which are absent from the Bible and indeed contradict the plain teachings of Scripture.

2. Bishops

Finally, can we place the teaching authority of the church on the same plane with the Bible? Certainly we should listen to and respect Christian teachers. Pastors (also know as bishops and elders) are God's gift to His church. They are appointed by God to teach and lead the churches, and Christians are commanded to submit to them. The leaders' responsibility is to study and teach God's Word as it is, without additions or change. They should study the Word carefully for they are liable to make mistakes (2 Timothy 2:15). And since they are not infallible, the apostle Paul advises us to 'test all things; hold fast what is good' (1 Thessalonians 5:21), while James warns us: 'My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment. For we all stumble in many things' (James 3:1).

In short, the Bible is the Word of God and there is nothing of equal authority. Hence the Christian's commitment is to the Bible alone as the ultimate and absolute authority. Christ rejected tradition as an additional channel of revelation. Christ showed that the religious teachers were fallible - and how! Christ had absolute confidence in the Scriptures as the Word of God. I am His disciple and I share His convictions. That is why I believe in sola Scriptura.

The Bible reveals an infinite God who is perfect in holiness, love, wisdom and in all His attributes. The Bible teaches us how He created the world and how He rules all things by His wise providence. His Law reveals our sinfulness, and warns us about Hell and the wrath to come. Thank God, the Bible also has a good message of hope. God sent His Son who gave Himself as a ransom for many. He overcame death and He is now alive forevermore. The Bible calls us to repentance and faith in Christ for our salvation, and guides us by its precepts along the way of our pilgrimage. The Bible gives us precious promises, especially of His protection and His coming again to take us home. God's children are satisfied with the message of the God-breathed Scriptures because we are satisfied with the Saviour revealed therein.

"It is written!" - Jesus' absolute confidence in the divine authority of the Scriptures:

1. Matthew 4:4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

2. Matthew 4:7 Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

3. Matthew 4:10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

4. Matthew 21:13 And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.

5. Matthew 26:24 The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born.

6. Matthew 26:31 Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad.

7. Mark 7:6 He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.

8. Mark 9:12 And he answered and told them, Elias verily cometh first, and restoreth all things; and how it is written of the Son of man, that he must suffer many things, and be set at nought.

9. Mark 9:13 But I say unto you, That Elias is indeed come, and they have done unto him whatsoever they listed, as it is written of him.

10. Mark 11:17 And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? But ye have made it a den of thieves.

11. Mark 14:21 The Son of man indeed goeth, as it is written of him: but woe to that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! good were it for that man if he had never been born.

12. Mark 14:27 And Jesus saith unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered.

13. Luke 3:4 As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.

14. Luke 4:4 And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.

15. Luke 4:8 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

16. Luke 4:10 For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee:

17. Luke 7:27 This is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.

18. Luke 19:46 Saying unto them, It is written, My house is the house of prayer: but ye have made it a den of thieves.

19. Luke 24:46 And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day:

20. John 6:45 It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.

21. John 8:17 It is also written in your law, that the testimony of two men is true.

22. John 10:34 Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?

One true catholic church

Question: I am an ex-Protestant and I hope to be received into full communion with the Catholic Church. I am not so much eager to become a Catholic, as I am eager to be united with the True Church that Christ founded (and I do believe there can be only one, not many), and to follow the apostles' teaching.

Answer: Tragically you mistake the Roman Catholic Church for the one true church of Jesus Christ. You want to become catholic - and yet by joining the Church of Rome, you will become "Catholic" in name only and not in truth. In Christian theology the word "catholic" describes the entire church of Jesus Christ. The word "catholic" simple means "universal". All God's people from every nation and in every era, all who are redeemed by the blood of Jesus, together form the catholic church.

The Lord Jesus has one universal - or catholic - church. He is the head, and all the redeemed are members of His body.

"...the church is subject to Christ...Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish...For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones." (See Ephesians 5:24-30).

Aren't Evangelical Christians subject to Christ since they follow the teaching of His Word? Doesn't Christ love them too? Didn't He give Himself on the cross for them also? Yes surely, and therefore Evangelicals are members of His body, the catholic church! But when Rome boasts that it is the one and only true church of Christ, what shall we conclude? Shall we say that Christ loved and died for Roman Catholics only?

In the New Testament, every local congregation is called a church, and in this sense, there are many churches. The distinguishing feature of a true church of Christ is not the submission to the church of Rome, but faithfulness to the teaching of Christ and love for the brethren (John 8:31; John 13:35). The various churches we read about in the New Testament, though undoubtedly different in character and emphasis, recognized each other as members of the same one true church of Jesus Christ. They were genuinely catholic and universal in their outlook.

But you, recognizing only the Roman church as the one true church of Christ, would immediately exclude the millions of faithful Christian churches in the Orthodox, Waldensian, Protestant, Baptist and other traditions. That is certainly against the spirit of catholicism we read in the Bible. John Gerstner argues:

Strictly speaking "Roman Catholic" is a contradiction of terms. Catholic means universal; Roman denotes a particular place. It is the Protestant and not the Romanist who believes in the catholic church. Protestants believe the church is universal or catholic; Rome cannot discover it beyond her own communion (Gerstner J., The Gospel According to Rome).

As a Baptist you did not regard your denomination as the exclusive church of Jesus Christ, did you? You regarded other churches as valid manifestations of His Church, despite the differences in some doctrines and practices. You embraced all Christians as dear brothers and sisters in Christ despite the different denominational labels. What happened since then that compels you to look at the church from such a narrow and sectarian perspective? No denomination or local assembly is perfect in doctrine or practice. The reality is that the church, God's family, is found in all the local assemblies of Christians that believe in Him, obey His Word and love the brethren (imperfectly and yet truly).