Expert: Rev. Robert Woods - 1/12/2005

Question
Hi Rev. Woods,

If we accept that Pope Damasus, a Spanish pope, authenticated the New Testament in
397 AD, when would you say the Catholic church became corrupt?  Regarding private interpretation, are you aware that Luther appeared to have regrets when he said the following?:  "This one will not hear of Baptism, and that one denies the sacrament, another puts a world between this and the last day: some teach that Christ is not God, some say this, some say that: there are as many sects and creeds as there are heads. No yokel is so rude but when he has dreams and fancies, he thinks himself inspired by the Holy Ghost and must be a prophet."
De Wette III, 61. quoted in O'Hare, THE FACTS ABOUT LUTHER, 208.

"Noblemen, townsmen, peasants, all classes understand the Evangelium better than I or St. Paul; they are now wise and think themselves more learned than all the ministers."
Walch XIV, 1360. quoted in O'Hare, Ibid, 209.

"We concede -- as we must -- that so much of what they (the Catholic Church) say is true: that the papacy has God's word and the office of the apostles, and that we have received Holy Scriptures, Baptism, the Sacrament, and the pulpit from them. What would we know of these if it were not for them?"
Sermon on the gospel of St. John, chaps. 14 - 16 (1537), in vol. 24 of LUTHER'S WORKS,
St. Louis, Mo.: Concordia, 1961, 304.

According to Baptists, which church did Jesus found in Matthew 16:18?  Regarding the claim that John the Baptist founded the Baptist church, do many Baptists believe that?  If they do, where does the Bible hint (never mind say) that he founded a church?  How do you feel about Independent Fundamental Baptists who refuse to co-operate with denominations other than their own?  This doesn't seem to be in the spirit of Christ, does it?  Finally, since you believe in eternal security, do you not think this belief kills the drive towards holiness?  If I'm saved, do I really need to bother to go to church, clothe the naked, feed the hungry, help the poor, pray to God, read the Bible?  Aren't these merely good works that aren't important?

Thank you.


Answer
Blessings and thank you for your questions.

I am sorry this is late.  For some reason I did not get your question the first time.  

Let me break your questions up.  First of all the question of corruption of the Catholic Church.  I think corruption began with the selling of indulgences, the bowing down to man made idols, and the belief in works over grace.

Let's look at the real differences between Baptists and Catholics.
1.  Before the Reformation, Protestants and Catholics were one church.  Martin Luther tried to reform the Catholic Church.  It had strayed from what it was founded on, Jesus Christ.  

2.  Baptists believe that all matters of Faith come from our understanding of God through the Holy Spirit helping us interpret the Bible.  Nothing can out weigh what the Bible says is truth.  Because of this, we only look to the Bible not to man to understand who God is and how we fit in His Plan.   The Catholic Church believes that the Pope is God's direct representative on earth, in a line of succession directly from the disciples themselves.  Anything the Pope says about God is higher than what the Bible says.  For example, the Bible says that Mary, Jesus' mother, had other children.  A Pope once said that no, Mary remained a virgin until her death.  You can begin to see the problem.  Anything in the Bible that disagrees with a Pope's teaching is taken out of their Bible.  

3.  Because of their view of the Bible, the Catholic Church has developed a unique theology of who Jesus is and who Mary is.  They believe in the virgin birth, Jesus' baptism, his ministry on earth, his death and resurrection, and ascension into heaven.  However, they believe that you must obtain works or penitence in order to receive grace.  The Bible says that grace is a gift that cannot be earned.  They believe when you die, you go to purgatory, a place of punishment, until you have served enough time to have your sins forgiven since your last confession.  The word purgatory is not found in the Old or New Testaments.  They believe if people pray for the dead they can be elevated into heaven.  This means if a non-believer goes to hell, he can be prayed out of hell and into heaven.  They can also be bought out of hell.  This is called an indulgence.  This was Martin Luther's biggest complaint, that if someone gave enough money they could have their sins forgiven.  This flies in the face of everything Jesus taught in the Bible.

4.  Mary Worship - the Catholic Church also teaches that you must go through a priest, a dead saint, or Mary to pray to God.  Jesus told us to pray directly to the Father in His name, not go through someone who cannot hear you.  There are now elements within the Catholic church that even believe that Mary is the co-redempter with Jesus Himself.  In other words, they believe you can be saved through Mary just like you are saved through Jesus.

5.  Baptists believe that you must be saved to go to heaven.  Jesus told Nicodemus this is, in John chapter 3.  You must be born again.  Catholics teach that if you are baptized you go to purgatory then to heaven.  

6.  Salvation.  The Catholic Church teaches that Salvation comes through the church, upon Baptism then Conformation.  The Bible says that Salvation only comes through Jesus Christ.  

7.  Original Sin.  The Catholic Church teaches that all sex is sin.  That sin is directly transferred to a child by the sin of sex of their parents.  This sin condemns you to hell unless you are baptized into the church. Baptists believe that Original sin is the term for being born a sinner.  Remember, man was created in the image and likeness of God.  Man was a free moral agent, freely able to choose God or turn away from him.  By eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he did the one thing he was asked not to do.  Breaking God's one commandment to him was sin.  At that point Adam and Eve were driven from the Garden of Eden and cut off from the tree of life.  From that moment on, the spirit of man was damaged.  It is as if man is now born with a moral handicap.  He is lame in the most important part of his being- his spirit. The act of sex between a husband and wife is not a sin. In fact, the Apostle Paul said that to withhold sex from your mate is a sin.  Original sin does not come to a child because of the sex of their parents but is a sinful nature in man himself that is in everyone since the fall.  There is a rebellious nature in most children.  They just like to do whatever you tell them not to do.  This natural rebellion stems from man's original sin.  Instead of being morally free, man has a decided tendency toward sin - urged on toward evil by what is called "the world, the flesh, and the devil."  Original sin is a tendency to do evil, not an act of evil itself.  God does not punish people for tendencies to do evil, only for what evil they do in light of what they know.  In other words, babies and children do bad things but do not truly understand the difference between good and evil.  They may even know that what they are doing is wrong, but they do not understand that it is evil.  Therefore, little babies and young children do not go to hell because of original sin, because babies have never committed any sinful acts.  So babies do not even need to be baptized until they are old enough to choose Christ and baptism themselves.

There are many Catholics who are born again believers.  In fact, there is a revival movement going on in the Catholic Church.  I would not be surprised to see another split in the next 20 years.

In Matthew 16:18, Jesus founded one church, which both saved Catholics and Baptists are a part of.  

I do not follow the lead of Independent Fundamental Baptists.

I do not feel that eternal security kills the drive toward holiness.  Instead, As Paul said grace drives us toward God not toward sin. (see romans 6)