Christianity needs the Catholic Church

Christianity needs the Catholic Church to be the "Anchor" that connects Christianity to the original teachings passed down by Jesus Christ.

I am a Catholic, which means that I am a Christian, contrary to what other Christians may believe. I believe that I am a member of the Church that Jesus Christ instituted 2000 years ago. Since then, Christianity has been splintered into thousands of churches/denominations that all claim to teach what Jesus taught. I think of these groups as "incomplete Christians." This is not meant to be a derogatory statement. It just means that these other Christian groups do not have the fullness of the faith. They don't take advantage of everything that Jesus offered to his believers (like all seven Sacraments, 2000 years of Tradition, and a Magisterium that faithfully and infallibly interprets Scripture). Any faith formation that I had prior to becoming Catholic was Protestant.

That being said, the Holy Spirit is not confined only to Catholics, or even Christians in general. "[God] makes his sun rise on the good and the bad, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust (Mt 5:45)."  Bishop Robert Barron recently commented, "One of the chief marks of the Holy Spirit is the prompting to bold speech. From the Apostles through the great evangelists and theologians, up to Billy Graham and John Paul II, the Spirit prompts people to confess the lordship of Jesus." I was surprised that Bishop Barron mentioned Billy Graham and John Paul II in the same sentence. In the Acts of the Apostles it states, "While Peter was still speaking these things, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who were listening to the word. The circumcised believers who had accompanied Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit should have been poured out on the Gentiles also, for they could hear them speaking in tongues and glorifying God. Then Peter responded, 'Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit even as we have?' He ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ (Acts 10:44-48)." I watch Bishop Barron's Sunday morning homily before going to Mass. He, along with Fr. Mike Schmitz, Dr. David Anders, Fr Mitch Pacwa, and Dr. Scott Hahn are my go-to guys for Catholic catechesis.

Recently, I finished reading New Scientific Evidence for the Existence of God by Jose Carlos Gonzalez-Hurtado (a Catholic). The book is filled with stories about scientists that were theists, atheist scientists who became theists, and atheists. It provides scientific evidence of an ordered universe (evidence that may not prove the existence of God but certainly justifies belief in a Creator). I followed Dr. Hugh Ross, the founder of Reasons to Believe, for several years. He is an astrophysicist and a Christian who, like J.C. Gonzalez-Hurtado, writes and speaks about the scientific evidence for God. He did a podcast with Glenn Beck recently (imagine that; a Christian astrophysicist and a Mormon having a conversation about God and Creation) that was very informative. Dr. Ross and J.C. Gonzalez-Hurtado are both reaching out to people who have difficulty reconciling Faith and Science. J.C. Gonzalez-Hurtado and Dr. Hugh Ross are doing a good job of convincing people to believe in the existence in God. But this is just the beginning. Once a person believes that God exits that person then needs to decide what that means to him/her. There is smorgasbord of beliefs and organizations to choose from as to how one relates to God, even within Christianity. It would make sense that one would want to follow the Church that Jesus Christ himself began and left us.

Simon Peter said in reply, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Mt 16:16-18 

This is the passage from the Bible where Jesus instituted the Universal or Catholic Church. The Church that he began. But, as I stated above, the Holy Spirit is not confined to only Catholics.

The last two Sundays, after Bishop Barron's homily I watched a program on the Real America's Voice channel called Table Talk hosted by Joni Lamb, a Pentacostal Christian. I see the faith and the good works of the people on her program and think, "That is evidence of the Holy Spirit operating in their lives."

So, what is the value in being a Catholic Christian as opposed to being a Protestant Christian? Here are three Protestant doctrines that limit them from having the fullness of faith: sola fidei, sola scriptura, and penal substitution. Not all Protestant Christians have the same doctrines (that is one reason why there are so many divisions), but most Protestant Christians believe they are saved by faith alone, that the ultimate authority is the Bible, and that Jesus was punished for our sins by God. For example, when I look at the Reason to Believe (RTB) Webpage, they list their beliefs as follows:

Scripture is our supreme and final authority on all matters; [the Bible] includes all 66 books of the Old and New Testaments; He [God] sent his Son to bear the full penalty for humanity’s sin ... Jesus Christ suffered and died in the place of sinners, thus satisfying the Father’s just wrath against human sin; We believe justification is a judicial act of God’s grace wherein he acquits a person of all sin and accepts that person as righteous in his sight because of the imputed righteousness of Christ. Justification is strictly a work of God’s grace, apprehended through faith alone and solely on the account of Christ.

I admit that I have not included parts of these statements where atonement is mentioned. But Jesus was not punished for our sins. He gave himself freely as an atonement for our sins like a sacrificial lamb. There is a big difference. RTB does mention atonement, but only after stating that Jesus was punished. I use RTB as an example of most Protestant thought. We are saved by faith through by God's grace., but not by faith alone. How do we receive God's grace? Jesus gave us Baptism, Confirmation, the Eucharist, Confession, Anointing of the Sick, Matrimony, and Holy Orders.

Just like the Holy Spirit, anyone can receive God's grace, but the Sacraments are efficacious signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us through the work of the Holy Spirit. They bear fruit in those who receive them with the required dispositions (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1134). For example, I can ask Jesus Christ to forgive me, and he might, if I have contrition. But if I go to Confession with the appropriate disposition/contrition and the priest absolves me of my sins, then I know that I have been forgiven.

[Jesus] said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” Jn20:21-23

By the way, my Catholic Bible contains 73 books. Martin Luther conveniently left out the books with which he disagreed. Also, who was responsible for creating the original Canon of the Bible? The Catholic Church in the 4th Century after Christ.

Worship is at the heart of religion, and sacrifice is at the heart of worship. When Catholics attend Mass and receive Communion, they are participating in the sacrifice of Christ and receiving Christ's body and blood. The closest thing Protestants have to this is an altar call.

Does the Holy Spirit operate outside the Catholic Church? Of course! Does God offer his grace to Protestants as well as Catholics? Of course! However, Catholics have access to the fullness of Faith, and the original Church that was instituted by Jesus Christ. We have a Priesthood, a Vicar of Christ (the Pope), a 2000-year-old Tradition, a Magisterium, and Scripture! We get the whole enchilada! 

Christianity needs the Catholic Church to be the "Anchor" that connects Christianity to the original teachings passed down by Jesus Christ. Should a person not you want to have access to all that Christ has to offer and know that you are part of the Church that Christ himself instituted? Even if you are not Catholic, you can still tap into what the Catholic Church has taught for centuries and anchor yourself to the original Christian Church. It's all still there.