Expert: Scott Talbot - 3/6/2008

Question
I was comparing catholic beliefs to Christian (which I am) and was wondering; Does it say in the bible, what the church should be based off of? I was told it should be based off of gospel but also told it should be based off of old tradition and beliefs, but now I am not so sure.

Answer
Hi Katherine,

You ask a good question. What should be the basis of our faith and practice, both as individuals and as a church?

There are two options. One option is to go directly to God and determine His truth, His values, His principles for how we should believe, how we should live our lives, and how we should function as a church. We find this truth in the Bible.

II Timothy 3:16-17 says, "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." God's truth, as revealed in the Bible, should be the basis for all that we believe and do.

The Roman Catholic Church (among others) believes differently. They believe that the Catholic Church, represented by the priests, bishops, the Pope, etc., have the final say. They teach that we "lay people" are not able to understand the Bible on our own, and that we need them to understand and interpret the Bible for us and to tell us what to believe and do.

There are several problems with this belief. One is that it puts the final authority in man rather than letting God speak for Himself and be our final authority. If we listen to what a group of human beings are saying rather than listening directly to the words of God, then man becomes our authority. We have demoted God and His truth to second place. And men are fallible and capable of misunderstanding and incorrectly applying the truth of the Scripture.

Another problem is that the Roman Catholic Church relies heavily on traditions. Roman Catholicism grew out of pagan ideology and still holds to many beliefs that have their origin in pagan religion. The tradition of honoring Mary above Christ Himself comes from Egyptian, Assyrian, Babylonian, Roman, and Greek mythology. Other beliefs such as the worship of saints and icons also stem from pagan beliefs, not the Scriptures. We could review a long list of traditions still held by Catholicism that are not derived from God's Word but rather from pagan religion.

Further, if you study the belief system of the RCC down through the ages, and you examine what the Popes have declared as absolute truth, you will find that they have changed their beliefs many times over the centuries. If something was true 1000 years ago, it should still be true today. Their ever-changing belief system is further proof that they do not stand on absolute truth.

So the choice is this. Do we go to God to learn what we should believe and do, or do we go to man? The RCC position, whether they admit it or not, is that man is the ultimate authority. God wants us to rely on Him for truth, not man.

Scott