As affirmed in the doctrinal declaration Dominus Iesus (2000), Rome claimed to be the only ‘correct’ church. In a more recent decree (2007), we are told that ‘Christian Communities born out of the Reformation of the sixteenth century’ cannot be ‘called Churches in the proper sense’. However, Rome’s claim could not be more invalid. The proof is as follows:
(1)
The doctrines of the Roman Church are utterly inconsistent with the plain teaching of the New Testament. The finality of Christ’s unique sacrifice and His priestly intercession (see Hebrews 9: 28; 10: 11-12) rule out the sacrifice of the mass and a human priesthood. Not ignoring Luther’s own view of consubstantiation, the Roman theory of transubstantiation is an absurd philosophical fiction and utterly detrimental to the simple symbolism of the Lord’s Supper—a memorial of our Saviour’s once-for-all sacrifice. Thus His blood shedding is remembered not repeated, on a table not an altar (hence ministers are pastors not priests); His real presence is spiritual, not physical, in the hearts of His people and not in the bread and wine.
(2)
Justification by faith in Christ’s merit alone (see Romans 5: 1-9) and direct access to Him as sole Mediator (see Matthew 11: 28; 1 Timothy 2: 5) rule out the false and pretentious teaching that Mary is mediatrix, auxiliatrix, advocatrix, etc. The idea that the merits of the faithful are a necessary contribution to their salvation undermines the all-sufficiency of Christ’s merit. Rome’s traditional mistake in making sanctification a part of justification arises from her reliance on the Latin justificare instead of the Greek dikaioo. While the former verb means ‘to make righteous’, the latter means ‘to declare righteous’ by the remission of sins through faith in the blood of Christ (see Romans 4: 5-8; 5: 1, 9). While good works are a necessary and certain fruit of saving faith (see Galatians 5: 6; Ephesians 2: 8-10), their imperfection rules them out from justifying us. Our persons and our performances alike always require pardon. That said, Christian sainthood is the present status of true though imperfect believers (see Ephesians 1: 1-2) not that of dead believers canonised by the Church of Rome.
(3)
Thus purgatory and prayers for the dead (including requiem masses) have no apostolic warrant. Those who die in Christ have no need of our prayers. Those who die otherwise cannot be helped by them. Besides corrupting baptism and the holy communion, Rome arrogantly added five more supposed sacraments to those commanded by Christ. Her realignment of the Ten Commandments—combining the first two and dividing the tenth—obscure in summary form God’s prohibition of the idolatry of such popular graven images as crucifixes and statues of Mary. Other distortions of divine truth are no less serious. The Pope's title ‘Holy Father’ is a blasphemous insult to God the Father (see John 17: 11). His claim to be the ‘vicar of Christ’ is a further insult to the Holy Spirit, Christ’s true representative on earth (see John 14: 16-17).
Indeed, for all its profession of the Holy Trinity, Rome’s doctrine of salvation tramples on Trinitarian truth. The political claims of a highly fallible Papacy conflict with Christ's words that His kingdom ‘is not of
this world’ (John 18: 36). Rome’s growing ambition to dominate Europe as in the days of the Holy Roman Empire is a re-emerging tyranny to be resisted by individual Christians and national governments alike. Her arrogance is at odds with Christ’s liberating truth (see John 8: 32, 36; Galatians 5: 1).
These things being so, we must ever stand inline with Luther in rejecting the repeated claim of the present Pope Benedict XVI that his church is the true Church. On the contrary, as the late Dr D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones asserted: ‘The Roman Catholic Church is the devil’s greatest masterpiece’ (Roman Catholicism).
Dr Alan C. Clifford
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