Reasons Why I Left Protestantism (Part 2)
The Catholic Church put the Canon of Scripture together, that’s just an historical fact. With this discovery, it was very difficult to continue in my Protestantism. Why? Because there existed an exterior source outside of Scripture that possessed the authority to put together the very same book I was using to “disprove” it. How can this be? I was always taught in my Protestant upbringing that it was the Bible alone that was the sole authority for Christian life and practice. Yet, it was the Catholic Church, (which I was taught was founded by Constantine, not Jesus Christ,) that put it together. If the Catholic Church truly has the authority to decide which books were inspired and put them together, what else does it have the authority to do? Can it settle theological disputes? How about deciding the correct and orthodox way to interpret passages of scripture? Ultimately, these questions bring me to the fundamental point as to why I (and many others) left Protestantism for Catholicism, and that’s authority.
In Protestantism, there is no infallible way to settle theological disputes. Protestants rely heavily on their interpretations of the Bible that cannot be substantiated authoritatively. This can be demonstrated by their claim that the source of their authority is the Bible, and yet, there are so many disagreements on a plethora of issues. Topics such as abortion, gay “marriage”, baptismal regeneration, predestination, justification; these are just a few matters in which the Bible is used to either affirm or refute a particular interpretation. If there’s a disagreement within Protestant circles, one can simply move to a different denomination that will accommodate their position, or if there isn’t one, start their own! This is a problem. Christ did not come into this world to sow division and confusion about what the Bible says. Jesus Himself prays, “Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are.” (John 17:11) Catholicism does not have this issue. In the Catholic Church, an infallible teaching authority exists and was instituted by Jesus Christ Himself.
This teaching authority, known as the Magisterium, is found in the Pope and the Bishops in union with him. The Magisterium guides the faithful into the fulness of truth and can authoritatively define what is orthodox and what is heterodox. However, what makes the Catholic Magisterium authoritative? In scripture, Peter, the first Pope, receives from Christ, the Keys of the Kingdom
“Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 16:17-19)
This passage, along with Matthew 18:18 and John 20:19-23, is generally understood as Christ instituting a hierarchical authority to teach in His name. Peter of course is the visible head of this hierarchy, as he was the only one of the apostles to receive the Keys of the Kingdom. Before the apostles died, they passed their authority to their successors (see Acts 1:15-26) who have continued to teach authoritatively with the voice of Christ. (Luke 10:16)
Historically, this hierarchy exercised its authority in settling numerous issues regarding misunderstandings and even heretical positions within Christianity. For example, Arianism is an early church heresy that denied the true Divinity of Jesus Christ. It maintained that Christ was a created creature made in time and not consubstantial with the Father. The Catholic Church rejected this idea, at the Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D. Another exercise of the Magisterium’s authority is with the Nestorian controversy. Nestorianism “rejected the traditional doctrine of the Incarnation by implicitly denying the hypostatic union of human and divine natures in the one divine person of Jesus. This denial was characterized notably by the rejection of the title “Theotokos” (“God bearer” or “Mother of God”) for the mother of Jesus. [Nestorianism] claimed that Mary was the mother of Christ’s human nature but not the mother of God and concluded that only Jesus the man suffered and died on the cross.”[1] These are simply 2 examples given in which matters of doctrine and interpretations are clarified and settled in the Catholic Church.
Now, I understand that some reading this will no doubt point to one of my previous articles in which I mention that nearly 70% of Catholics don’t believe in the Catholic Church’s teaching on the Real Presence of the Eucharist. That teaching is a settled teaching in the Catholic Church. Thus, some may think that the Catholic Church is just as divided on issues of doctrine and morality as the Protestants. Not to mention that there are still Nestorians and Arians that exist today. This is a straw man. Settled doctrines in the Catholic Church cannot change. For example, the Catholic Church’s Christological teaching in which Christ is a Divine Person, fully God and fully man, is settled. You must accept it to claim membership as a practicing Catholic and in no way can depart from it. Protestants, however, can depart from settled matters within their denomination and still claim membership as a practicing Protestant. In other words, as a Catholic, one cannot cherry pick the doctrines one wants to believe in Catholicism. This is clearly taught in the Profession of Faith, promulgated by St. John Paul II in 1998, in which Catholics must “firmly accept and hold each and everything definitively proposed by the Church regarding teaching on faith and morals.” [2] In the end, the Catholic Church’s authority, and overall claims, are overwhelmingly substantiated in the Bible and history. The evidence to that fact is what ultimately led me to leave Protestantism and embrace the fulness of the Christian faith, which is found in the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.
[1] Wheeler, Mark. “Nestorianism.” Catholic Answers, September 9, 2019. https://www.catholic.com/magazine/print-edition/nestorianism.
[2] Profession of faith. Accessed September 10, 2023. https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_1998_professio-fidei_en.html.