(This article, the first of several, is from a letter written in 1996. Many Christadelphians were formerly Roman Catholic, but few were heavily committed.)
Introduction
To my family, friends, and fellow parishioners at the St. John’s Parish and Missions.
I write this letter to inform you that I have decided to leave the Roman Catholic Church. It is not a decision that I take lightly. I have put many months of concentrated thought, prayer, and considerable Bible research into this decision. My greatest desire is to serve and obey God, and to one day, through His Son Jesus Christ, be part of His Kingdom here on earth. The only way to do this is to search through the book that He gave us which contains His Word — the Bible.
In the Catholic Church, I know we do some very good works, and that we continue to meet together sincerely in “fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers” as did the early church (Acts 2:42). However, in the course of my Bible study over the last two years, it has come to light that some of the ways we worship at Mass, and some of the ways in which the Roman Catholic Church is organized, are in direct conflict with what Scripture dictates; in fact, we do not “continue steadfastly in the Apostles’ doctrine [teaching]” (Acts 2:42).
I have enjoyed meeting you, my fellow parishioners, and I have enjoyed being of service to you and our children in the Sunday School program that I developed and teach, and in the Christmas pageant that I organized for the past four years, and I have enjoyed serving two terms on the Parish Council. I know that you also love the Lord Jesus, and that you are earnestly seeking him. As I said, this is not a decision I take lightly. In fact, I wish it were not necessary. It would be much more comfortable for me to remain in the Roman Catholic Church with you, and I am reluctant to leave my Sunday school students and my loving church community. Also, I fear that my decision might drive a wedge between myself and some of my beloved family and between myself and Catholic friends. However, Jesus himself told us:
“Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’ He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. And he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me,” (Matt 10: 34-39).
I respect you, so I will not just “disappear” from your midst without a sound explanation. If you will permit me, please let me explain some of what I have found in the Scriptures that has led me to this decision. While this letter is by no means a full account of what I have found in Scripture which has led to my decision to leave the Church, I have included the main points/topics that have disturbed me. These topics include information on: The Catholic Tradition, The Trinity, Worship of Images, Marian Piety, Priesthood, Immortality of the Soul, Baptism, and the Pope.
The Catholic “Tradition”:
The Roman Catholic Church calls the Holy Scriptures, the Bible, God’s Word, a “dead letter”, “unless it is interpreted within the living Tradition of the whole Church”1 It is believed that only priests, bishops, and other Catholic officials can correctly interpret the Bible. In fact, the Catholic Church forbade the reading of Scripture by lay people for many years, and forbade the printing of it in the common language (per Council of Trent, 1546). Indiscriminate reading of the Bible with independent interpretation was forbidden by Pius IV in 1564. For the same reasons, non-Catholic Bible societies, established to spread Bible translations to be interpreted without Church guidance, were reproved by Pius VII, and severe punishments were imposed on those who did not obey (Wm. Cathcart, in The Papal System, 1872).2At the Council of Toulouse in 1229, it was decreed that the Bible in the common tongue was to be listed on the Church’s Index of Forbidden Books. In 1199, a Papal decree was issued which stated “desire to read the Scriptures was praiseworthy, but that the practice was dangerous for the simple and unlearned”.3However, one must note that the Apostles Peter and John were described as “unlearned and ignorant men” (Acts 4:13), and they read, interpreted, and taught the Scriptures with authority. Peter himself tells us to heed the Scriptures; “And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed… knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit,” (2 Pet 1: 19-21). If Catholic officials have the only true interpretation, why is there so much conflict between their interpretation and what the Scriptures actually say (read the body of this letter for many examples)? And why would Jesus say, “It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me,” (John 6:45)? Is the Catholic Church God?
If Catholic Tradition is correct, then why are we (all followers of Christ) urged by the Apostle Paul to read Scripture daily, and search for the truth — even though it is at times difficult to understand? Many times in the Bible, we are encouraged to search out the truth and we are warned against false prophets and deceivers. We are told to search the Scriptures daily to find out whether what we are told is true or not: “Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures… These were more noble (fair-minded) than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so,” (Acts 17:2, 11). Peter reminds us that the prophets searched the Scriptures carefully (1 Pet 1: 10), and even though some of the Scriptures are difficult to understand, we should be steadfast in our search for the truth (2 Pet 3: 15-18). Paul told us to “test all things, hold fast what is good,” (1 Thess 5:21) and to reject old wives’ fables (1 Tim 4:7).
John warned Christians: “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1). Paul writes:
“But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing them from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work,”(2 Tim 3: 14-17).
According to the Bible, “tradition”, independent of Scripture is not inspired teaching.
The word tradition is only used thirteen times in most Bibles. All of those occurrences are located in the New Testament and of the total, eleven refer to ‘tradition’ in a negative sense… Eleven of the thirteen references are speaking of Jewish traditions outside of Scripture. Jesus insisted on a definite contrast between ‘tradition’ and the Word of God. In one chapter alone this sharp distinction is made five times in the course of Jesus’ remarks (Mark 7:3-13). In all of Jesus’ statements about tradition he never once came close to equating ‘tradition’ with Scripture. For years the Jews had mistakenly believed that ‘traditions’ were useful, even authoritative, to interpret Scripture. Jesus’ view was that these destroyed the original meaning of God’s message in order to serve man’s interests or beliefs (Matt 15:6). In the other two references to tradition (2 Thess 2:15; 3:6), Paul speaks of ‘tradition’ as the substance of his and the other Apostle’s preaching.4
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One