Similarities: Jews and the Roman Catholic Church?
Will the Roman Catholic Church be kept free from error? This is what she claims. The same is claimed by the Eastern Orthodox Church. The Apostolic deposit of Church planting does consist of Churches in the East and West. And today, those churches teach differently on sin, grace, the eucharist, purgatory, the immaculate conception, and on the merits of the saints. The Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Roman Catholic Church both claim they will be kept free from error according to Matthew 16:18. However, both teach contrary doctrines, so at least one, if not both, are wrong.
The Jews in the Old Covenant felt the same way as the Roman Catholics. Roman Catholics believe that they are members of the historic church and that the gates of hell will not prevail against it. The children of Abraham felt the same way.
But unfortunately through the history of the Jewish faith, it looks much the same as that of Christianity. For most of it, it was plagued by sin and false doctrine. Israel began strong on the feet of King David. But most of the Kings afterwards including King Solomon were corrupted by idolatry. In 930 BC Jeroboam I set up two golden calves, and led the nation into sin. This idolatrous worship persisted throughout Israel’s northern history until 722 BC when the northern kingdom came to an end. How could God who promised to be with the Jews let idolatry reign for 192 years in the northern Kingdom! The Southern Kingdom was a little brighter. Although it began on the wrong foot with Rehoboam in 930 BC, and remained that way until Nebuchadnezzar carried it off to captivity in 586 BC, there were lights in the darkness like King Asa (910 BC), Hezekiah (715 BC), and finally Josiah (640 BC). What was it that led the Reform of Josiah who repaired the temple, destroyed idol shrines, reinstated the priests of God, and the Passover? It was the Holy Scriptures which were read by Shaphan the secretary to King Josiah. 2 Kings 22:11-13 says:
“Now it happened, when the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, that he tore his clothes. Then the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam the son of Shaphan, Achbor the son of Michaiah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah a servant of the king, saying, “Go, inquire of the LORD for me, for the people and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found; for great is the wrath of the LORD that is aroused against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.”
As one can see from this quote, the Jews had a responsibility to remain faithful to God’s will as preserved in the OT Scriptures, just as it is up to the Church to remain faithful to what has been preserved by the OT and NT Scriptures. We must continually commit ourselves to be faithful to God’s covenant and defend our doctrine against false teachings. It says concerning King Josiah that:
“He read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant which had been found in the house of the LORD. Then the king stood by a pillar and made a covenant before the LORD, to follow the LORD and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes, with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people took a stand for the covenant” (2 Kings 23:2-3).
Of course the Lord stayed true to His promises during this period of corruption by sending prophets and wise men to restore Israel to the convenant. In 2 Chronicles however, Ezra wrote that the Jews would not listen to the prophets and even stoned a priest named Zechariah. Ezra records:
“Yet He sent prophets to them, to bring them back to the LORD; and they testified against them, but they would not listen. Then the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, who stood above the people, and said to them, “Thus says God: ‘Why do you transgress the commandments of the LORD, so that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken the LORD, He also has forsaken you.’” So they conspired against him, and at the command of the king they stoned him with stones in the court of the house of the LORD” (2 Chronicles 24:19-21).
Concerning this hardness of heart and this unwillingness to repent Jesus declared to the Jews:
“Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation. “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing” (Matt. 23:34-37).
Are there any similarities between the Jewish people and the Roman Catholic Church? Both were given covenants and both have not remained faithful. The Roman Catholic Church has allowed Mary to be worshiped, and has also granted that the merits of departed saints count for the justification of others. Concerning Mary, they teach that she was born without sin, call her co-redemptrix, and encourage people to pray to her by setting kneeling rails before her statues. The worship of Mary began in the 4th century. To this monstrous doctrine God raised up Epiphanius (315-403 AD) who wrote:
“Some think and speak contemptuously about Mary; others however, inclining toward the other side, glorify her beyond what is fitting. ... Under the pretext that it is right, the devil secretly enters the mind of men and deifies mortal nature; he models statues which bear the human image, in order that they may adore the dead and introduce images for adoration, committing adultery with the mind against the one and only God. Yes, certainly, the body of Mary was holy, but she was not God. Yes, indeed, the Virgin was a virgin, and honorable, but she was not given to us to worship. She worshiped him to whom she gave birth from her flesh; the one who is from heaven and from the Father’s bosom. And for this reason the Gospel reassures us of this, the Lord himself declaring that: “O woman, what have you to do with me? My hour has not yet come” [Jn 2:4]. And so that no one would think from the words, “O woman, what have you to do with me,” that the holy Virgin is superior, he calls her ‘woman’(Panarion 3.2:4).
But unfortunately, like King Asa under the Old Covenant, Epiphanius’ teachings were not committed to by the church. Instead, at the Seventh Ecumenical Council in 787 AD, the Church sanctioned the worship of images.
Concerning the gospel which teaches that a man is declared righteous by faith in Christ alone and not by works, which Paul laid down so clearly, the church allowed to be corrupted as well. Augustine was raised up as the champion of orthodoxy against Pelagius much like King Josiah in the Old Covenant and restored it again after it was obscured for 200 years. Both Augustine and King Josiah were both influenced tremendously by the Holy Scriptures. Through the writings of St. Paul, St. Augustine restored the doctrine of grace and at the Council of Orange in 529 AD after Augustine’s death, all works righteousness was condemned.
Unfortunately, through the Middle Ages (the Medieval Period) arose Scholasticism. During this period, the doctrines of purgatory and the Sacrifice of the Mass were confirmed as dogmas of the Western Church. Further in the late Middle Ages arose the influence of the corrupter of the Catholic Faith: Aristotle. His writings were used extensively by St. Thomas, which validated the foolishness of the Scholastic period. The doctrines of sin, grace, justification, and sanctification were all perverted instead of restored to an Augustinian understanding of them as well as the Sacrifice of the Mass, and purgatory. A light in the darkness was the monk who opposed Scholasticism, St. Bernard of Clairvaux. The Catholic, Franz Possett shows that he taught that justification was a declaration by faith alone. For example, St. Bernard wrote:
“Shall not all our righteousness turn out to be mere unrighteousness and deficiency? What, then, shall it be concerning our sins, when not even our righteousness can answer for itself? Wherefore...let us flee, with all humility to Mercy which alone can save our souls...whoever hungers and thirsts after righteousness, let him believe in thee, who "justified the ungodly"; and thus, being justified by faith alone, he shall have peace with God.”
Unfortunately, this Apostolic Catholic doctrine of justification was buried and perverted by the Scholastic period which affirmed the doctrine of St. Thomas but rejected that of St. Bernard. God still raised up other Catholic Reformers like John Wycliffe, John Huss, and Martin Luther. But the Catholic Church burned Huss, burned the bones of Wycliffe, and excommunicated Martin Luther.
The Book of Revelation illustrates the judgment that would come upon those who killed God’s saints. It declares concerning the judged:
“For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink” (Rev. 16:6).
Concerning Babylon which is a code name for Rome, Revelation states:
“I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus” (Rev. 17:6).
Following Martin Luther’s 95 Theses, Rome continued to murder Protestants. Yes, it is true – the gates of hell will not prevail against God’s Church - God raised up Martin Luther to be a witness to the truth, but the Roman Catholic Church excommunicated him. Therefore, God granted His grace and His Reformation to Martin Luther and the conservative Evangelicals who put the gospel first. They now have God’s blessings, His Gospel, and the gates of hell will not prevail against them as long as they are faithful to God’s Word.
The Jews in the Old Covenant felt the same way as the Roman Catholics. Roman Catholics believe that they are members of the historic church and that the gates of hell will not prevail against it. The children of Abraham felt the same way.
But unfortunately through the history of the Jewish faith, it looks much the same as that of Christianity. For most of it, it was plagued by sin and false doctrine. Israel began strong on the feet of King David. But most of the Kings afterwards including King Solomon were corrupted by idolatry. In 930 BC Jeroboam I set up two golden calves, and led the nation into sin. This idolatrous worship persisted throughout Israel’s northern history until 722 BC when the northern kingdom came to an end. How could God who promised to be with the Jews let idolatry reign for 192 years in the northern Kingdom! The Southern Kingdom was a little brighter. Although it began on the wrong foot with Rehoboam in 930 BC, and remained that way until Nebuchadnezzar carried it off to captivity in 586 BC, there were lights in the darkness like King Asa (910 BC), Hezekiah (715 BC), and finally Josiah (640 BC). What was it that led the Reform of Josiah who repaired the temple, destroyed idol shrines, reinstated the priests of God, and the Passover? It was the Holy Scriptures which were read by Shaphan the secretary to King Josiah. 2 Kings 22:11-13 says:
“Now it happened, when the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, that he tore his clothes. Then the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam the son of Shaphan, Achbor the son of Michaiah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah a servant of the king, saying, “Go, inquire of the LORD for me, for the people and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found; for great is the wrath of the LORD that is aroused against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.”
As one can see from this quote, the Jews had a responsibility to remain faithful to God’s will as preserved in the OT Scriptures, just as it is up to the Church to remain faithful to what has been preserved by the OT and NT Scriptures. We must continually commit ourselves to be faithful to God’s covenant and defend our doctrine against false teachings. It says concerning King Josiah that:
“He read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant which had been found in the house of the LORD. Then the king stood by a pillar and made a covenant before the LORD, to follow the LORD and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes, with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people took a stand for the covenant” (2 Kings 23:2-3).
Of course the Lord stayed true to His promises during this period of corruption by sending prophets and wise men to restore Israel to the convenant. In 2 Chronicles however, Ezra wrote that the Jews would not listen to the prophets and even stoned a priest named Zechariah. Ezra records:
“Yet He sent prophets to them, to bring them back to the LORD; and they testified against them, but they would not listen. Then the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, who stood above the people, and said to them, “Thus says God: ‘Why do you transgress the commandments of the LORD, so that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken the LORD, He also has forsaken you.’” So they conspired against him, and at the command of the king they stoned him with stones in the court of the house of the LORD” (2 Chronicles 24:19-21).
Concerning this hardness of heart and this unwillingness to repent Jesus declared to the Jews:
“Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation. “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing” (Matt. 23:34-37).
Are there any similarities between the Jewish people and the Roman Catholic Church? Both were given covenants and both have not remained faithful. The Roman Catholic Church has allowed Mary to be worshiped, and has also granted that the merits of departed saints count for the justification of others. Concerning Mary, they teach that she was born without sin, call her co-redemptrix, and encourage people to pray to her by setting kneeling rails before her statues. The worship of Mary began in the 4th century. To this monstrous doctrine God raised up Epiphanius (315-403 AD) who wrote:
“Some think and speak contemptuously about Mary; others however, inclining toward the other side, glorify her beyond what is fitting. ... Under the pretext that it is right, the devil secretly enters the mind of men and deifies mortal nature; he models statues which bear the human image, in order that they may adore the dead and introduce images for adoration, committing adultery with the mind against the one and only God. Yes, certainly, the body of Mary was holy, but she was not God. Yes, indeed, the Virgin was a virgin, and honorable, but she was not given to us to worship. She worshiped him to whom she gave birth from her flesh; the one who is from heaven and from the Father’s bosom. And for this reason the Gospel reassures us of this, the Lord himself declaring that: “O woman, what have you to do with me? My hour has not yet come” [Jn 2:4]. And so that no one would think from the words, “O woman, what have you to do with me,” that the holy Virgin is superior, he calls her ‘woman’(Panarion 3.2:4).
But unfortunately, like King Asa under the Old Covenant, Epiphanius’ teachings were not committed to by the church. Instead, at the Seventh Ecumenical Council in 787 AD, the Church sanctioned the worship of images.
Concerning the gospel which teaches that a man is declared righteous by faith in Christ alone and not by works, which Paul laid down so clearly, the church allowed to be corrupted as well. Augustine was raised up as the champion of orthodoxy against Pelagius much like King Josiah in the Old Covenant and restored it again after it was obscured for 200 years. Both Augustine and King Josiah were both influenced tremendously by the Holy Scriptures. Through the writings of St. Paul, St. Augustine restored the doctrine of grace and at the Council of Orange in 529 AD after Augustine’s death, all works righteousness was condemned.
Unfortunately, through the Middle Ages (the Medieval Period) arose Scholasticism. During this period, the doctrines of purgatory and the Sacrifice of the Mass were confirmed as dogmas of the Western Church. Further in the late Middle Ages arose the influence of the corrupter of the Catholic Faith: Aristotle. His writings were used extensively by St. Thomas, which validated the foolishness of the Scholastic period. The doctrines of sin, grace, justification, and sanctification were all perverted instead of restored to an Augustinian understanding of them as well as the Sacrifice of the Mass, and purgatory. A light in the darkness was the monk who opposed Scholasticism, St. Bernard of Clairvaux. The Catholic, Franz Possett shows that he taught that justification was a declaration by faith alone. For example, St. Bernard wrote:
“Shall not all our righteousness turn out to be mere unrighteousness and deficiency? What, then, shall it be concerning our sins, when not even our righteousness can answer for itself? Wherefore...let us flee, with all humility to Mercy which alone can save our souls...whoever hungers and thirsts after righteousness, let him believe in thee, who "justified the ungodly"; and thus, being justified by faith alone, he shall have peace with God.”
Unfortunately, this Apostolic Catholic doctrine of justification was buried and perverted by the Scholastic period which affirmed the doctrine of St. Thomas but rejected that of St. Bernard. God still raised up other Catholic Reformers like John Wycliffe, John Huss, and Martin Luther. But the Catholic Church burned Huss, burned the bones of Wycliffe, and excommunicated Martin Luther.
The Book of Revelation illustrates the judgment that would come upon those who killed God’s saints. It declares concerning the judged:
“For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink” (Rev. 16:6).
Concerning Babylon which is a code name for Rome, Revelation states:
“I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus” (Rev. 17:6).
Following Martin Luther’s 95 Theses, Rome continued to murder Protestants. Yes, it is true – the gates of hell will not prevail against God’s Church - God raised up Martin Luther to be a witness to the truth, but the Roman Catholic Church excommunicated him. Therefore, God granted His grace and His Reformation to Martin Luther and the conservative Evangelicals who put the gospel first. They now have God’s blessings, His Gospel, and the gates of hell will not prevail against them as long as they are faithful to God’s Word.
posted by Augustine at 7:00 PM
8 Comments:
Hey Aaron!
Thanks for posting! You make some very good observations. To add to what you wrote concerning the "rock" on which Christ built the Church, "Petros" is masculine and "petra" is feminine. Petros is referring to Peter's name, and petra is referring to the rock on which Christ would build the church. Petros and petra are not referring to one another, since they do not agree in gender.
The first person to interpret Matt. 16:18 as referring to Peter was Callistus I (217-222 AD). And Callistus I was far from infallible. He sided with many heretical groups in the early church and held to a Sabellian position. Calllistus I's claims come almost 200 years after the resurrection of Christ and with many notable opposers! Tertullian did not allow for this application of the text, and Cyprian of Carthage in his debate against Stephen I (254-257) argued against the supremacy of any individual Bishop. Addtionally, notable Church Fathers such as Origen, Hilary, John Chrysostom, and Ambrosiaster, were opposed to this application of the text. Gregory the Great at the end of the 6th century! called the title of ecumenical bishop "an imitation of the devil." For a great essay found in the concordia journal by Wesslechmidt, see "The Beginnings of the Papacy" on my links section to the right.
A kind of frightening prophecy made by the Apostle Paul concerning the Anti-Christ (The Man of Lawlesness) is found in 2 Thessalonians 2:4 which says that the Anti-Christ "opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God." That means he will be in the church!
Nice Job!
Hi Pr. DTP! Great to see you here!
Hey Clyde! Long time no talk. Great to see you here as well!
Hey Aaron,
Your Greek insight is great. How did you become a scholar so fast!? Weren't you in my Greek class last Fall?
The way you have interpreted Matt. 16 is exactly the way those particular Church Fathers I mentioned as well. Your Greek insight adds to the validity of their interpretation. Further, Melanchton's Treatise says:
"In all these passages Peter is the representative of the entire assembly of apostles [and does not speak for himself alone, but for all the apostles], as appears from the text itself. For Christ asks not Peter alone, but says: Whom do ye say that I am? And what is here said [to Peter alone] in the singular number: I will give unto thee the keys; and whatsoever thou shalt bind, etc., is elsewhere expressed [to their entire number], in the plural Matt. 18, 18: Whatsoever ye shall bind, etc. And in John 20, 23: Whosesoever sins ye remit, etc. These words testify that the keys are given alike to all the apostles and that all the apostles are alike sent forth [to preach]."
"However, as to the declaration: Upon this rock I will build My Church, certainly the Church has not been built upon the authority of man, but upon the ministry of the confession which Peter made, in which he proclaims that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. He accordingly addresses him as a minister: Upon this rock, i.e., upon this ministry."
"And in this way, not as referring to the person of Peter, most of the holy Fathers, as Origen, Cyprian, Augustine, 28] Hilary, and Bede, interpret this passage: Upon this rock. Chrysostom says thus: "Upon this rock," not upon Peter. For He built His Church not upon man, but upon the faith of Peter. But what was his faith? "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." And Hilary says: To Peter the Father revealed that he should say, "Thou art the Son of the living God." 29] Therefore the building of the Church is upon this rock of confession; this faith is the foundation of the Church."
[The above quotes are from the Concordia Triglotta Edition of the Book of Concord.]
When Jesus said this to Peter he spoke Aramaic, not Greek. In Aramaic the word for rock is masculine and would be used for both rock and Peter. In Greek the word for rock is feminine therefore would not be used for Peter's name and 'petros' was used in place of 'petra'. So did Jesus really mean pebble when he meant Peter, or was the meaning lost in translation? Two thoughts: Seek and you shall find. (Ask Jesus and really listen to the answer, it will be clear if your heart is open and free of bitterness.) Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.
It is important to differentiate the Catholic Church from persons within the church. The Church is divine and without error because it belongs to Christ, it is people within the church that are sinful and bear false witness. So, it is this church, the catholic (universal) church that is protected from the fires of hell. There is only one universal church, whose teaching resides in all nations, and that is the Roman Catholic church. Every Roman Catholic church in the world has the same liturgy, the same interpretation of the Bible and the same doctrine, and the only reason for that is the Holy Spirit working through the papacy and the magisterium(teaching authority). Without the central teaching authortiy we end up with tens of thousands of different interpretations of the Bible and beyond that different interpretations of the interpretations of the Bible and so on. I don't want to argue but when I saw this, I had to "defend" my beloved. Don't sell yourself short. There is a fullness in Catholicism that no other religion has. Believe me, I've looked. Martin Luther understood that. Unfortunately, his ideals seem to have dissipated in an attempt to become less Catholic. I think that you would find that today's Catholicism is the reformed church that Luther intended.
Great article!
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