I'm not sure if the (very evangelical) bride and groom planned on sitting the evangelical seminary student next to the young, outspoken and articulate Roman Catholic at their wedding, but I do know it was God's plan. My Roman Catholic friend was determined to dispel common misconceptions between evangelicals and Roman Catholics, insisting that we cease infighting and disunity, and come together in spite of our differences around our common union in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Sounds good, right?
Unlike many nominal Roman Catholics, he had an assurance of his salvation rooted in Jesus Christ alone, believed that Scripture is the supreme authority, and denied that the sacrifice of the mass was a re-sacrificing of Jesus Christ. "Jesus Christ was sacrificed once for all," he said. I know... he almost sounds evangelical, but don't give him too much credit. After our conversation about the mass, I said, "So you believe the mass is symbolic?" He just sort of smiled, and said, "no, it's not symbolic, but it isn't a re-sacrifice, either." Puzzled, I asked, "Than what is it?" (Had he been paying attention during that part of his Roman Catholic apologetics class, he would have told me it was one sacrifice that is perpetually repeated through the mass) He didn’t have an answer, but didn’t believe he needed one because it is essentially not a salvation issue, just as long as we can agree it is not a re-sacrifice. He then went on to tell me about the many misconceptions (such as a sacrifice of Jesus during the mass) that evangelicals have about Roman Catholics, and how, if we would just seek to understand each other, we would see that there are very few differences, except a couple of traditions.
I couldn’t help myself, but in my defense, it was a genuine question. I asked, “So the Roman Catholic Church has renounced the Council of Trent?” He smiled warmly, and stared for a few seconds. “What do you mean?” he asked. I told him that the Council of Trent says anyone who does not believe the sacrifice of the mass is a real and true sacrifice (had I been more prepared, I would have brought up propitiation) of Christ is to be anathema. It was at that point the wheels started to come off. He tried to assert that the council the Roman Catholic Church holds is not the Council of Trent, but the last ecumenical council. I asked him if that council renounced anything taught at the Council of Trent. It was about that time he went from being a thoroughly outspoken and articulate defender of Roman Catholicism to somewhat sheepish.
I say in hindsight, I was encouraged by his humility. He told me he wasn’t aware of the council of Trent, and that he believed salvation was by grace alone through faith alone. I told him the council of Trent specifically denies that. He said he would need to study some more, and I made sure he understood that if he disagreed with the council of Trent, he was not a Roman Catholic.
When he began to open up, I went right to where every conversation concerning God's redemptive plan should begin and end: not experience, not tradition, not religion, but the Word of God. He told me Catholics have more than just the Bible, they have the sacraments. I asked him, “where do those sacraments come from?” He seemed to understand my point, and said, “The Bible.” I don’t know if his heart was receptive, or if he was trying to think of things to say, but I used it as an opportunity to explain to him my concern.
I told him that when I started seminary, I was very committed to a theological system known as Calvinism, but as I continued to study the Bible, I recognized inconsistencies, and was forced with the choice to either believe the Bible, or the system I had committed myself to. I told him that Jesus faced the very same problem. What he taught was so different than what the Scribes and Pharisees had come to believe through their manmade traditions that it almost seemed like an entirely new religion. I told him about Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus, and how he was amazed that Nicodemus, being the teacher of Israel did not understand what He was saying. I said he has to make a choice: he needs to decide for himself what his authority will be.
The truth is, Roman Catholicism and every other religion have answers for every refutation we give them. They want to tip their hat to biblical authority to make people feel safe, but when push comes to shove, whom they determine as their authority will determine their allegiance. There was a time when the Catholic Church ran parallel with the Word of God, but eventually, subtly and over time, misunderstandings and misapplications were overlooked or accepted until the top began to totter. What makes the top totter and fall is not doctrinal error, it is an allegiance to a man, system, or religion other than the Word of God. Our job is to know and understand our Bibles so well that if you run into a religious person that claims the Bible as their authority, you will be able to challenge them to think critically about what they believe, and who they honestly give their allegiance to. I would add, also, that we need to pray earnestly during the conversation that the Spirit of God would open up their hearts and their minds to understand His Word.
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