Defending Catholicism

A Concise Defense of Catholicism from the Bible against Classic Protestant Objections

James S. Anderson

• Publisher: Wipf and Stock
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9781532689055
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Denominations

Hosts of helpful Catholic apologetic books currently exist; however, a concise treatment that specifically targets all the major Protestant objections in an easily accessible manner is hard to find. Anderson's fourth volume offers such. It provides readers with salient counterpoints for each objection, and most often from the very source Protestants use to deny important aspects of the faith: the Bible. Thus, without even realizing it, Protestants implicitly accept the Catholic faith as they accept the very texts the faith provided them. Important issues such as these are pointed out throughout the book. It is a must-read for Catholics seeking to address Protestant questions, and for Protestants desiring to understand why Catholicism claims to be biblical through and through. This work cogently articulates how Catholicism is biblical, and just how often Protestant positions are untenable.

Chapter I

Scripture, Tradition & Apostolic Succession

The Reformation rallying cry sola Scriptura, simply put, is not a biblical doctrine. Nowhere does such a teaching appear in the Bible!1 Scripture plus tradition,2 the Catholic position, actually is, according to the Bible. Second Thessalonians 2:15 reads, “So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by our letter.”3 “By mouth” affirms traditions passed on orally, not emanating always from a written document, much less a sacred collection of texts. The canon4 of Scripture would take hundreds of years before it was agreed upon, centuries after this text in 2 Thessalonians was written. Thus, the early church passed the traditions on orally as well as via documents, though early churches usually had only a few of the documents that would later be contained in the New Testament, and well as some that would not make it into the canon of Scripture. It must be understood that the early church for centuries did not have a Bible; rather, each different small church community in a differing region, mostly comprised within the Roman Empire, likely only had a gospel and maybe a letter or two of Paul. The Catholic Church much later gives us a canon (measuring rod, norm, collection of rules) of Scripture or the Bible. Since the early Church did not have the canon of Scripture we have today for hundreds of years, tradition was thus important, as it still is today. The early churches thus did not have Scripture but one or two texts for hundreds of years in different communities. Therefore, it was about the tradition passed on not a written text. Our written texts are tradition.

Additionally, simply put—those who accept Scripture accept the tradition of the Catholic Church, as the church gave us Scripture. How ironic for many Protestants. It is tradition that gave us Scripture and decided what constitutes Scripture. By accepting the Bible a Protestant implicitly accepts the Catholic Church, as the Catholic Church gave us the Bible.5 Most likely have not even taken the time to realize this fact and that the notion of Scripture alone and not church tradition, so common among the vast majority of Protestants today, is not tenable or historical, for tradition and the Catholic church gave us the Bible.

The Catholic Apologist Trent Horn writes, “The canon of Scripture was first declared in Rome in AD 382 and was later defined at two Catholic councils in North Africa (Hippo in AD 393 and Carthage in AD 397),” and later at the Council of Trent (1545–1563) as part of the Counterreformation in reaction to the Protestant Reformation.6 Protestants today are actually still missing several books of Scripture, thus several teachings, such as a rather explicit reference in 2 Maccabees to purgatory addressed below. Interestingly and brazenly, Martin Luther, the founder of the Protestant movement in the sixteenth century actually wanted the book of James thrown out of the Bible7 because it did not fit with his subjective, private interpretations of sacred Scripture and theology. That private interpretations of texts are a problem will be addressed below and that God’s providence did not allow for James to be expunged from the Bible must be thought of as a blessing, for it is a treasure of information in a rather short letter. Karl Barth, a twentieth-century Protestant theologian of the Reformed tradition, who Pope Pius XII said was the “greatest theologian since Thomas Aquinas,” said the Bible does its job if it points to Christ. As Christians, we do not want to make the Bible into an idol, which is much less of a danger in the Catholic Church, especially when tradition exists to help temper this possibility, a tradition that passes on how the canon actually came together.

The history of the canonization of the Bible and really the Church for that matter is not all that well-known to most Protestants. The convert and Cardinal John Henry Newman said, “To be deep in history is to cease to be a Protestant.”8 Protestants tend to skip roughly 1400 years of history, though they do like St. Augustine. In a Presbyterian seminary, the present author received a robust theological education to include both biblical languages and much more, but only one class in Church history. However, the old yet impressive, classic textbook in which the first addition was originally published one hundred years ago entitled: A History of the Christian Church9 was used. Thus, Protestants are often want, especially the laity, in their knowledge of tradition and the teaching of the early church, even immediately following the disciples, which confirms all the topics and doctrines addressed here, such as the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist or the place of Mary in the Church.

A salient aspect in Catholicism that can only be claimed by the Catholic faith, as well as the Orthodox (some might argue Episcopalians too, but most Catholics would not be at ease with the validity of this claim) is the supremely important teaching/doctrine of apostolic succession. It follows from Christ instituting the church (Matt 16:13–19) and subsequently giving power to his successors/disciples to carry on his work imbibed with keys of the church, power to bind in heaven (Matt 16:13–20), ability to forgive and retain sins (John 20:22–23) and so on. It is only logical that upon the death of the disciples, their roles would be passed on to the leaders of the Church up into today and until the Second Coming. How else would the church survive, a church Christ clearly established and desired, as opposed to those today who think and argue Christ did not want, desire or establish an instituted Church? Scripture contradicts this. The authority passed on to the leaders does so through the office of the bishops of the Church. Bishops then give authority to priests, but apostolic succession authority is through the bishops. That a bishop can and often is fallible in no way negates the validity of his official work and duties, authority or validity of the sacraments he oversees, such as overseeing ordinations, confirmation, marriages or presiding over the Eucharist. This important point was addressed early on in the Donatism heresy.10 It often takes heresy to address issues in the church, as it often takes issues to address and implement secular laws.

Apostolic succession ensures the Church continues the work of God and grants the Church via the bishops a means of safeguarding the tradition and depository of the faith, such as from heresies (e.g., Marcionism, Donatism, and Gnosticism). Around 95 CE the then Bishop of Rome wrote in 1 Clement that the bishops were the successors of the disciples/apostles, displaying this belief very early, even before all the New Testament had been written. Saint Irenaeus, the second-century bishop of Lyon too affirmed this belief. Thus, Christ established a church, as will be seen below when addressing the papacy and the famous text in which he declares Peter the first pope. His church serves as the possessor of the depository of faith given by Christ and this truth and his teachings are passed on through the bishops in an unbroken chain going literally all the way back to the disciples and to Christ himself. This is called apostolic succession.

Protestants cannot confess this due to breaking away from the church in the sixteenth century and refusing to submit to its authority. Arguably, the breakaway in part grew from an earnest desire to correct abuse in the church, which has always existed in the church and every church today as well as every organization, for fallible humans in need of redemption and grace comprise the church and all organizations. Therefore, the doctrine of safeguarding and passing on the tradition is called apostolic succession and can only be claimed rightly by the Catholic Church and Orthodox today. It literally is an unbroken line passing on the tradition that goes all the way back to Christ. Notice the updated Nicene Creed originally penned in 325 CE at the Council of Nicene and later updated at the First Council of Constantinople in 381 CE that reads toward the very end, “We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.”11 The only groups today that can claim they are truly apostolic in the sense they go all the way back to the apostles in an unbroken chain are truly the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Churches of the East.

At the Council of Chalcedon in 451 when adopting the position regarding the two natures in one person of Christ, Pope Leo had written a letter to Flavian, the archbishop of Constantinople. It is known today as his famous Tome of Leo. The letter was read to the bishops at the ecumenical council. After it was read, the bishops at the council replied, “Peter has spoken thus through Leo!” This demonstrates the well-established office of the papacy at this time, although it can be seen already in that others had written that when disputes arise recourse or the jurisdiction that needs to be applied to is the Bishop of Rome, but it also demonstrates apostolic succession through the popes was understood. The current pope at that time, St. Leo, spoke through the authority and seat of Peter, who in the first century was given that authority from Jesus as recorded in Matthew 16:13–19, discussed in the next section. Therefore, in this instance apostolic succession is demonstrated through the Bishop of Rome, which passes on to the next Bishop of Rome until today. It just so happens this bishopric is the Holy See in which the seat of Peter resides.

Tradition along with this foundational premise of the church thus helps safeguard against bizarre, erroneous interpretations of Scripture and all other forms of heresy and falsehood. Otherwise, you will have opinion after opinion and disagreements and splinter churches who reject the authority of the church, which is the case with Protestantism, with its hundreds of denominations. Protestantism, basically, is a refusal to submit to authority and presumption you know best in regards to truth, doctrine, and the proper, true interpretation of biblical texts—not the magisterium of the church, Christ’s established church and guardian of the faith and tradition.12

Second Peter 1:20–21 reads: “First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, because no prophecy ever came by human will, but men and women moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.”13 This makes apparent that the interpretation of Scripture is not a private matter to be decided upon individually or by a small group. Granted there is some leeway allowed in the interpretation of texts in the tradition and an understanding that texts of the Bible can be read on different levels: such as a historical/literal or a spiritual sense, including allegorical, moral/tropological, and anagogical (one should consult the Catechism of the Catholic Church [CCC,115–19]). Thomas Aquinas helpfully articulated these differing ways of reading the Bible; he espoused on these nicely in his Summa Theologiae and there are other, nuanced ways to categor...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Scripture, Tradition & Apostolic Succession
• Chapter 2: The Papacy
• Chapter 3: Purgatory
• Chapter 4: The Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist
• Chapter 5: The Virgin Mary & the Saints
• Chapter 6: The Sacraments, Specifically the Sacrament of Reconciliation
• Chapter 7: Not by Faith Alone
• Conclusion
• Bibliography