Ivan R. Stewart
Editor’s Note: This is an article printed in the Washington Post, and paid for by the church at West Hyattsville, Maryland. Brother Stewart says over 400 telephone calls came in as a result of the article, and many, many letters. The Catholic Standard attempted a rather feeble answer, and even began to beg for sympathy in one article, as follows, “Why can’t we join hands and make common cause against the forces of godlessness that threaten now to overwhelm us, Catholic and Protestant alike?”
From the following facts it can be clearly seen that the apostles were not members of the Roman Catholic Church, and that the Catholic Church does not teach the same doctrine taught by Christ and the apostles:
1. The apostles taught an entirely different doctrine from that which is taught by the Roman Catholic Church.
2. All the apostles died long before the Catholic Church came into existence. The last apostle died about 95 A.D. This was at least 500 years before the Roman Catholic Church was established.
3. The apostle Peter was a married man and was never a pope nor is he referred to in the Bible as the head of the church. No apostle ever taught the doctrine of celibacy (1 Tim. 3:2; 4:1-3; 1 Cor. 9:5).
4. No apostle of Christ, nor any other writer of the New Testament, ever mentioned the Catholic mass, auricular confession, praying to or in the name of the virgin Mary, nor any other doctrine peculiar to the Roman Catholic Hierarchy. The apostle Paul said, “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 2:5).
5. Matthew recorded the command of Christ to “Call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father which is in heaven” (Matt. 23:9).
6. The teaching of the apostles came from heaven and is not subject to any change, whereas, the teaching of the Catholic Church is from men and is continually changing. The apostle Paul said, “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed” (Gal. 1:8). He further emphasized this statement in the very next verse wherein he declared, “As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.”
7. The apostles taught and emphasized the fact that the only source of Divine Authority is the Bible. The apostle John set forth the all sufficiency of the written word when he said, “Many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of .God, and that believing ye might have life through his name?” (John 20:30-31).
8. Traditions are specifically condemned by the Lord in Matthew 15:6 and Mark 7:1-13. Moreover, the Bible contains everything that is necessary to know in order to be saved from past sins; to live the Christian life and be saved eternally (2 Tim. 2:16-17; 1 Cor. 4:6; Rev. 22:18-19).
9. The only authentic record of what Christ and the apostles taught is found in the Bible, and nowhere in this Book is any mention made of the Catholic Church, The Roman Catholic Church, The Roman Catholic Hierarchy, or any of the officials of this organization, such as the Pope, Cardinals, and Archbishops.
10. Christ had no successors, neither did the apostles. The only way to hear the voice of God is through the Bible (Matt. 28:18-20; 2 John 9:11).
Amen! Well said…the Roman Catholic doctrine has infected Christianity since its inception. Now, 2000 plus years later it is harder than ever to convince the Catholics otherwise. Father please open their hearts to the true Gospel.