Sometimes, not even Jesus can get His prayers answered. Just before His death, He prayed:
“Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.
“I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”
The recent declaration of the Catholic church’s Pope Benedict XVI has guaranteed that prayer won’t be answered soon. Quoting largely from a 2000 document called “Dominus Jesus,” the Pontif declared:
1. Protestant churches aren’t churches
“Christ established here on earth only one church,”
“It is . . . difficult to see how the title of ’Church’ could possibly be attributed to [Protestant communities], given that they do not accept the theological notion of the Church in the Catholic sense and that they lack elements considered essential to the Catholic Church.”
“These separated churches and communities, though we believe they suffer from defects, are deprived neither of significance nor importance in the mystery of salvation. In fact the Spirit of Christ has not refrained from using them as instruments of salvation, whose value derives from that fullness of grace and of truth which has been entrusted to the Catholic Church.”
2. Salvation is only available through the Catholic church
Only the Catholic church “has the fullness of the means of salvation.”
The document also reaffirmed the “primacy of the Pope.”
Rev. Dr. Setri Nyomi of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) questioned the Vatican’s statement at a time where society as well as the Christian body is struggling with division and placing great emphasis on unity.
“We are puzzled by the release of a statement of this kind at this time in the history of the church. An exclusive claim that identifies the Roman Catholic Church as the one church of Jesus Christ . . . goes against the spirit of our Christian calling toward oneness in Christ.
“For now, we are thankful to God that our calling to be part of the church of Jesus Christ is not dependent on the interpretation of the Vatican. It is a gift of God. Receiving this gift, we appreciate the Roman Catholic Church as a part of this family.”
To reference Jesus’ prayer, here’s what I find most troubling about the Pope’s pronouncement:
1. Jesus, not the Pope, is the head of the church
“For you granted him [Jesus] authority over all people . . . “ (John 17:2).
2. Salvation comes from Christ alone
“ . . . that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent” (John 17:2-3).
3. The Bible, not man-made doctrine, should define who is a part of the Church of Christ.
“I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you” (John 17:20b-21).
I do pray that one day Jesus’ prayer will be answered.
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July 12, 2007 at 07:54
I used to get myself stressed out of this kind of thing. But I came to realize that Jesus can get through to people even when they are being fed crap. Both Protestants and Catholic churches have done a fair job at directing people away from Christ and toward something else. That being works, Jesus plus “fill in the blank”, etc. People are people and empty people will continue to feel empty if they don’t know Christ. No amount of Protestant or Catholic doctine or ritual will fix what is broken.
July 12, 2007 at 10:11
The good thing is that this kind of religiousness has been around for some time… but it’s Christ IN ME that’s the hope of glory…
and He keeps moving where He’s loosed to be!
July 12, 2007 at 12:02
I’m sorry, but as someone involved in outreach and someone who talks to non-christians as often as I can, this is EXACTLY the type of noise and nonsense that disgusts and turns away people from “the Church” and sadly often from christianity. As someone already a christian, I am turned off, and have to look past the pope-centric noise and focus on Christ. This is harmful and hurtful to the cause of speading Christ’s message that He is the way and the light, that Christ offers salvation. I really get disgusted by this diviseness and political bull; it kept my heart cold for decades until I opened up finally to the Holy Spirit.
July 12, 2007 at 15:11
Bill,
I could not agree with you more. This political religion kept me away from Christ too. But His Spirit help me see Christ through the darkness of religion. Thanks.
July 12, 2007 at 17:03
When Cardinal Ratzinger became Benedict XVI, I was working as a “token Protestant” volunteer at a Catholic Worker hospitality house in WV. I had only one thing to say, “Thank God for the Reformation.” Part of the good news is, many adherents of Roman Catholic worship are deeply disappointed by this parody of leadership too. Jesus established an ecclesia not a Curia. Since the word is Greek, and Jesus more likely spoke Aramaic, his precise intent is even more lost in the mists of time. A fellowship of those who accept his message is about as far as we can really define.
Wycliffe was reviled (prior to Luther) not only for translating the Bible, but for proclaiming that man has no earthly spiritual overlord but Jesus. IF this foreign prince known as the Pope ever reacquires the material, secular, power to enforce his will on the unwilling, then I will seriously consider the traditional Lutheran characterization of Rome as Anti-Christ. For now though, as this man has no authority over me unless I grant it to him, he can describe himself and his church in whatever way he likes. I know better, through Christ who lives in me.
July 12, 2007 at 17:17
James, could you provide a link to the particular papal statement you are quoting?
You seem to be referring in part to this statement by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, but I can’t tell for sure.
In any case, I think you are badly misinterpreting the position of the Vatican. (I am not endorsing it, mind you.)
First, the lines you have quoted do not say that “Protestant churches aren’t churches.” They say they are not part of “the Church.”
The statement I have linked says that they are not churches in “the proper sense.” But it also says this:
Second, your quotation does not say that “salvation is only available through the Catholic church.” It says that only the “fullness” of salvation is.
Here’s my document again:
And here is “Dominus Iesus”:
July 12, 2007 at 21:42
I find the pope’s comments actually to be a good thing. What has he done except affirm traditional Catholic beliefs that have been promulgated since the papacy became powerful? If the previous pope tried to make it look like Catholics and those who were not Catholic were on the same page, then what can I say except he gave the same spiel about Catholicism and Islam being compatible, too; how quickly we have forgotten!
Clarifying statements such as these by this new pope will not hinder any true Christian, regardless of denomination. And it is just as well that believers know on what issues any denomination (Catholic, Protestant, Mormon, Baptist, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Mennonite, Episcopalian, etc.) deviates from the Holy Bible. This is where exchange of ideas, fair debate, careful Biblical scholarship, and applied apologetics can make a difference and point men and women in the right way.
A doctrine that says “those who are baptized in these communities are, by Baptism, incorporated in Christ,” is unbiblical. By grace Christians are saved through faith. Yes, true Christians are baptized by the Holy Spirit into one body, but I think we’ll all agree the baptism Wilson quotes in his post is the physical, water kind, not the Spiritual kind, else why would this baptism come before a “profession of faith” and why would non-Catholics be considered yet “imperfect” if the Holy Spirit (i.e., God Himself) were doing the baptizing? The litany of pious works that follow this baptism (almost always performed on mere infants) – “integral profession of faith, [taking] the Eucharist, and full communion in the [Catholic] Church” – will never save men’s souls. As Romans 5:5 so wonderfully puts it: “To him that works not, but believes in Him Who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness.”
I would like to say it again: baptism, confirmation, taking communion, membership in the Catholic (or any!) denomination: will NOT SAVE.
I am grateful for the new pope’s honesty about this not being what the Catholic church believes.
July 13, 2007 at 21:13
There’s a spirit that has pervated the Catholic church for centuries. In times past this spirit has sought to rule the world via force.
I am quite comforted when I know for a fact that there are many loving Catholic Christians who do not stand behind the pope on this one.
However, one wonders sometimes whether the Roman Church as a church has ever really recanted for years of religious intolerance.
July 13, 2007 at 23:33
I am ever fascinated by the conflicting statements of the Catholic church. Even in this article we showed two statements that conflict (and further conflict with other statements.)
In 1 of this Article: “These separated churches and communities, though we believe they suffer from defects, are deprived neither of significance nor importance in the mystery of salvation. In fact the Spirit of Christ has not refrained from using them as instruments of salvation, whose value derives from that fullness of grace and of truth which has been entrusted to the Catholic Church.”
[So, we understand Salvation and are tools of it?]
Then in 2: “Only the Catholic church “has the fullness of the means of salvation.””
{Wait, but you said we were means of salvation!]
In early 2007 this state was posted (here: http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/chrstuni/eccl-comm-docs/rc_pc_chrstuni_doc_20070110_pentecostals_en.html) making this statement: “In The second event of historic importance took place in Seoul on Sunday, 23 July 2006: the ratification by the World Methodist Council of a document whereby Methodists are affiliated with the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, which was signed by the Catholic Church and the Lutheran World Federation at Augsburg, Germany, on 31 October 1999 (cf. L’Osservatore Romano English edition (LOR), 24 November 1999, Special Insert, p. 1).”
This refers to this document http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/chrstuni/documents/rc_pc_chrstuni_doc_31101999_cath-luth-joint-declaration_en.html which was once signed only by the Lutherans. In December 2005 Pope Benedict XVI wrote a letter to the World Methodist Council, making point to them that they could sign this Declaration of Justification and they did, several months later the Methodists signed it. This document repeatedly makes reference to the common beliefs held between these churches and the Catholics and even that the non-Catholic Christian Churches ARE of Christ.
Repeatedly the Catholic Church has even stated that Islam and Catholicism have the same God:
Lumen Gentium, Section 16: “But the plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator. In the first place amongst these there are the Mohamedans, who, professing to hold the faith of Abraham, along with us adore the one and merciful God…”
Nostra Aetate, Section 3: “The Church regards with esteem also the Moslems. They adore the one God, living and subsisting in Himself, merciful and all-powerful, the Creator of heaven and earth.”
A good amount of the Qu’ran is spent attacking Christianity, but here’s one example on what Muslims have to say about the Catholic’s saying they’ve the same God:
“In blasphemy indeed are those that say that Allah is Christ the son of Mary” (Sura 5:17)
So, how is it that Pope Benedict XVI can state that the Methodist denomination is their sister and that Muslims worship the same God yet reject the other Bible believing Churches?
Well, Catholics, I again state that I find supreme error in your ritualistic and conflicting-statement filled religion. I will gladly take response form anyone who wants to tell me how my reasoning was incorrect. =) I just don’t get it!
July 15, 2007 at 00:54
There seems to be contraversy as the Mormon church also believes they are the one true church. The Pope states that they are because they are so closely connected to the apostles/disciples in the early church. Perhaps he needs to reread those scriptures that relate to the above that Jesus is the way and other Biblical teachings.
July 17, 2007 at 09:48
The problem lies in ANY church claiming to be “The One True Church.” The distinctions between different faiths are acts of man, not of God. All are flawed. It may, I cannot claim to know, be a sacrifice pleasing to God when anyone consistently practices the rituals and doctrines of their chosen faith in an orthodox manner. But that is between them and God, not between them and me. That includes the lengthy rant above about what does and does not save. Jesus said people who never heard of him, never called upon him, never believed in him, will be saved because “inasmuch as you did it for the least of these my brethren, you did it unto me.”
One of the sad things about the hubris of this Pope, even granting the subtle nuances of his statements about Protestant churches, is that it obscures the many valuable contributions people of the Roman Catholic variant of Christianity have made over the centuries. What the Roman Church is NOT is the original true church. It emerged many centuries after the early Christians, standing as much on the foundation of the Roman Empire as on the Gospel. The original meaning of “bishop” for instance is probably that practiced today by the Mennonite church, not by Catholics, Anglicans, Methodists, or Lutherans.
July 18, 2007 at 21:29
There is no doubt that all denominations are flawed, for the membership in these is filled by sheep, aka ‘just plain folks.’ And you and especially I make mistakes every day. But there is a great difference between being flawed because of our sin nature and being flawed because of doctrine.
I disagree with all my heart that there is even a remote possibility that it can be “a sacrifice pleasing to God when anyone consistently practices the rituals and doctrines of their chosen faith in an orthodox manner,” for people can discover, as Luther and many other Catholics have through the centuries, that works, even great works of righteousness, do not save. They are as leprous, filthy rags in God’s sight, for that is what man is until regenerated: unclean, filthy, dead. Paul called all his great righteousnesses dung, and that’s a good word for works-salvation. Every faith on this earth ungrounded in the Gospel of Jesus Christ is simply one more lane in that massive, all-too-well traveled broad way that leads to eternal separation from the Lord Jesus Christ.
It is mistaken to say that “Jesus said people who never heard of him, never called upon him, never believed in him, will be saved.” To the contrary, the Holy Spirit says over and over again that hearing the Gospel message and placing our faith in Christ alone is that which saves. When Christ speaks of people doing what they do as to Him, He is not speaking of salvation for unbelievers (although hopefully that will be a result of the believer’s Christian service), He is speaking of rewards for the believer. Jesus Christ Himself said that there would be wolves in sheep’s clothing among the flock, and He left no doubt in John 3 that those who do not believe on Him are condemned; Paul wrote “All have sinned” and “The wages of sin is death”; he begins Galatians by emphatically asserting that works-preachers are accursed. The beloved disciple wrote that “Whoever transgresses, and abides not in the doctrine of Christ, has not God”; Peter wrote ”...[T]here shall be false teachers among you”; Jude writes that we should ”...[E]arnestly contend for the faith.” Doctrine is important.
It is also not true that ”[how a person practices their faith and doctrine] is between them and God, not between them and me.” Believers are commanded to rightly divide the Word of Truth and to separate themselves from wicked men who teach salvation by works rather than grace. We are called to go into all the world with the Gospel, something we are most assuredly not doing if we complacently sit tight on the truth while wolves preach works as a valid way to Christ.
As James puts it:
“Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him, let him know, that he which converts the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death and shall hide a multitude of sins.”
July 19, 2007 at 11:43
Christine, all I can say is, you have explicitly rejected the specific words of Jesus, recorded in the Gospel of Matthew, because you find them inconvenient to your own preconceived notions of salvation. The fact that you can indeed produce some Biblical basis for what you pronounce to be true does not cancel out the rest of Scripture. Luther came close to taking the epistle of James out of the Bible because of his emphasis “show me your faith, and I will show you my works.” Works have their place in the Bible as a whole. So does grace. So does faith. Yes, you can help me to see the error of my ways, and I can help you see the error of your ways. But we don’t have to listen to each other—and only God is qualified to judge. See you in heaven, no matter how much we may disagree on earth.
July 19, 2007 at 16:14
Siarlys, not once did I say works have no place in the Bible; I said they do not have any place in saving our souls. They follow salvation; they are evidence to a lost & dying world that we are saved; they glorify our Father in heaven, as the love Jesus commanded us to have for one another proves we are His; but dead people have nothing to offer God towards their salvation. Fortunately, God offers them life eternal. Question: will dead men trust in the Lord Jesus who offers the water of life freely?
Thank you for your response.
July 31, 2007 at 17:36
Let’s try this Christiane: May God accept your devotion to the importance of doctrine, your commitment to rightly divide the truth, and your certainty that Christ was not speaking of salvation for unbelievers in Matthew 25:31 to the end, as a pleasing sacrifice, whether or not you are right. Likewise, may God accept the Pope’s most arrogant statements as a sincere devotion, however misguided. And thank God none of us wield temporal power to coerce each other on these points.
August 3, 2007 at 02:50
Hello Fellow Christians,
I am a Catholic, and I am as confused as you all are regarding the statement of the Pope. I am sorry if you all are hurt, please forgive the Pope for his statement, and perhaps he may issue another statement explaining his sudden voice when all Christians are being subjected to harrasment in Asia and Middle East.