Expert: Elder Greg Madden - 11/30/2006

Question
Elder Greg,

No disrespect taken on this end to your comments; I appreciate your time in addressing me thoughtfully.  I would like to address one of the items you stated in your response to me, specifically the importance of sacraments (including baptism) that is found in Catholicism.

I believe the catechism adequately reflects what we find in Scripture (see for example Matthew 28:19 for baptism and John 6:53-57 for the eucharist).  Now, we could debate and argue around the correct interpretation of these passages all day, but what I’m trying to show is that the sacraments, like other Catholic beliefs do not stand in stark contradiction to the Bible, but rather a different way of understanding it.

Other issues that you mentioned such as prayers to the dead and idolatry (although I don’t see how the latter is relevant to Catholicism) can be explained in light of Scripture as well.  

I actually kind of like the way the Westminster Confession presents the sacraments:

“The grace which is exhibited in or by the sacraments is not conferred by any power in them; neither doth the efficacy of a sacrament depend upon the piety or intention of him that doth administer it, but upon the work of the Spirit.” Westminster Confession, XXVII. iii.

Catholics believe that it is not any power inherent in the substances or presenting ministers themselves, but rather in the work of God through the signs themselves, as the Bible verses indicate.

My follow-up question is, can it be shown somehow that the Catholic understanding of the verses in Matthew and John cannot possibly be true?  It just seems odd that after centuries of agreement (indeed, the eucharist was revered and written about in the early second century - see Ignatius of Antioch and Justin Martyr), that all of a sudden the true meaning of it and the other sacraments was uncovered, rendering what has been and is understood by the Catholic Church null and void.  

Thank you for your time and God Bless.

Edward


Answer
Edward,

May the Blessings of Almighty God, the Power of Christ’s Cross, and the knowledge we have of eternal life in Him, be upon you and your family during this Resurrection Season! Remember, Jesus is not dead, He is alive!

In The Cross,

Elder Greg Madden