Why the Catholic Church? Having been born into the Catholic faith and being raised in it I never had to consider this question until I left it. When I started "studying" Christianity I never expected to find myself back where I had started. In fact, I had often said that I would never go back to the Roman Catholic Church. It was not easy to accept at first because I was very sure that the Church was wrong but the more I learned the more obvious it became that the Catholic church is just what it claims to be... the "true" Church. The two things that influenced me the most in this realization were, first of all, the fact that the pillar of Protestantism is no where to be found in the Bible. Protestantism is based on the doctrine of Sola Scriptura or in other words that the Bible is the only source of truth in Christianity. Nowhere in scripture are we told this. This is even futher complicated by the fact that for over 300 years there was no Bible as we know it. So... how did the Church function during those years? It functioned the way that it still functions today through sacred writings and sacred Traditions passed down from the Apostles and their successors. If we look at the Jewish faith we see that the idea of written and oral traditions is and has always been accepted. The Apostles, being Jews, would have continued to pass along their faith, in Jesus, in the ways that they had been accostumed to as Jews. This surely would have included both written and oral teahings. In reading the writings of the early Church Fathers such as the Didache, the writings of Polycarp, Irenaeus, Justin Martyr, Tertullian, Oringen... etc it became very obvious that the Church was "Catholic" in its structure, teachings and traditions.
The second major flaw I discovered with Protestantism was the fact that if they base their belief on the bible alone and it was the Catholic church that set the canon of inspired scripture in the late 300's. How do they justify denying the Church's authority in other matters? They trust the Church's judgement in this matter and their entire faith is based on the books the Church proclaimed as inspired, yet, they believe that the Church is in "error" with it's other teachings. How can this be? We are told by Jesus in Matthew's Gospel that Peter is the rock and that Jesus will build his Church on him. He gave him the keys of the kingdom, the power to bind and loose and then proclaimed that the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. We are also told in the Gospels that Jesus promised never to leave them as orphans and he breathed out the Spirit onto the Apostles to guide them FOREVER. To be a Protestant you have to believe that Jesus broke his promise to his followers and that somehow after the first 400 years the Church was lead astray and taught in error until Luther came along 1200 years later!!! How does one believe that the Bible is the sole source of truth and inerrant and then explain Jesus' 1200 year abandonment of his Church???
Finally, another glaringly obvious problem is the fragmentation Protestantism has undergone in the 500 years of its existence. Since Luther, Protestantism has shattered into thousands of little pieces, each believeing that they alone have the correct interpretation of God's word and the true path to salvation. How does one decide which one to follow? It seems to me that most decide based on what "rings" true to them. Talk about following the "traditions of man"!
If you would like to read more about Catholicism click on the button below for a large selection of Catholic books.
Sola Scriptura, Reformation, Luther
Luther's Revolt
The Reformation: A Break with Christian Consensus
Practical Problems of Sola Scriptura
Logic and the Foundations of Protestantism
Sola Scriptura: A Blueprint for Anarchy
The Bible and the Church
The Four Marks of the Church
Inspiration, Tradition and Scripture
Catholics and Fundamentalists
Biblical Evidence for Catholicism
The Two Canons: Scripture and Tradition
The Church of the Apostles
The Catholic Church has the Answer
Scripture References for Catholic Apologists
Scripture Alone
Protestant Pastors on the road to Rome
Protestant and Catholic Bibles
Oral Tradition in the New Testament
Proving Inspiration
What is your Authority for That
Can Dogma Develop
The Old Testament Canon
Scripture, Tradition and the Magisterium (radio)
Sola Scriptura
The Papacy, Primacy of St. Peter, Papal Infallibility
The Visible Church
Pope Fiction
Did Jesus Really Make Peter the Pope?
Peter's Primacy
Primacy of Peter in the Church
Apostolic Succession
Who is the Rock?
Peter and the Papacy
Peter the Rock
Peter in Rome
Primacy of Peter (radio)
Papal Infallibilty (radio)
Papal Infallibility
...And Protects His Church from Error
Explaining Infallibility
Faith Alone: Scott Hahn (radio)
Why Do We Call Priests
Bible Says Faith and Works Together
The Priesthood Debate
Salvation Past, Present, and Future
Salvation, Justification, Purgatory, etc....
How are we Saved?
Justification in James 2
By Faith Alone
Justification in Catholic Teaching
Justification by Faith
Fruit of Good works... Result from Faith
Works of the Law
The Second Coming of the Lord and the Last Judgment
The Justifications of Abraham
Righteousness and Merit
What is the Basis for Belief in Purgatory?
Purgatory
Purgatory: Holy Fire
Father's Know Best... Against Heresies
Explaining Purgatory
How Old is Your Church?
An Interactive Detective Story
Indulgences
Grace Alone
The Salvation of Non-Catholics
Doing Penance
Defending the Deuterocanoniacals
Catholics and Fundamentalists
Why Go to Confession?
