Catholics

Catholicism vs Protestantism
Sunday 30th July, 2023
Extreme Term 3 Week 2

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 Historical Background
After Jesus' death + resurrection, the Church grew rapidly.
Christianity slowly became more accepted into the Roman Empire
Centre of Christianity moved to Rome - sound familiar?
The Bishop of Rome, otherwise now known as the Pope is the head
of the Catholic Church.

After Jesus’ death and resurrection, the early Church began to grow in numbers.
Christianity became more accepted into the Roman Empire (remember Pontius Pilate, the
governor in the Roman Empire that sent Jesus to be crucified?!). The centre of Christianity
began to shift from the Eastern Mediterranean to the Empire’s capital city - Rome. The
Bishop of Rome which is now known as the Pope increased in power over Christian
churches throughout the Empire. The Pope till now is still known as the head of the
Catholic Church today.

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 Historical Background
By 1500, the church has grown to be corrupt and taught the believers
inaccurate and wrong teachings that were misinterpreted from the
Bible. What is this known as? ( we learnt this last week!)

______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______

Over time, the members of society and Catholic Church started to
question the teachings and challenged the power of the Church.

By 1500, the church had grown to be corrupt and taught the believers inaccurate and
wrong teachings that were misinterpreted from the Bible - otherwise known as heresy.
Over time, members of society and the Catholic church started to question the teachings
and challenged the power of the Church.

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 Martin Luther
Martin Luther (not to be confused with Martin Luther King who
made the famous speech "I have a dream") was a significant figure
during this time.
He was a Christian monk who tried to revert the Church back to the
right teachings which were from the Bible.
He did not intend on the Church being split into Catholics vs
Protestants.

Get child to read

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 Martin Luther
Name some of the beliefs and things that the Catholic Church did that Martin
did not agree with + why (some overlap with last week's content!)

Let’s spend some time looking into his life and how he contributed to what we now know
today as the Protestant Church.

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 1. Paying money to purchase letters of indulgence in order to skip purgatory and
go straight to heaven. This focused on money rather than God - for the rich
would also have an unfair advantage in this rather over the poor.
2. Luther translated the Bible to German so that the people could read the Bible
and interpret it themselves without having to rely on priests which would
increase the chances of being falsely taught. The Bible should be accessible to
all!
3. Not as clear from video but: they promoted a works-based faith where it was
dependent on the believers to do “good works” in order to be saved.

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 What would the implications of our salvation being reliant on good works be?

However, what does Romans 5:1-10, Ephesians 2:8-9 tell us about salvation? How,
why and through what means are we saved?

Christ died for us, the ungodly (v.6) and God sends His son to do so out of his abundant
love (v.8), not through our own works. It is by faith that we have been saved, not by our
own efforts (Ephesians 2:8-9).

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 It is by faith that we have been saved,
through faith - and this is not from
yourselves but a gift from God...

Can you start to see that there are some differences in beliefs and heresies going on with
the Catholic Church?

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 The Bible
The Holy Bible is a common book used by all believers in Christianity and is
foundational in their belief in God. However, there are some stark
differences in the Catholic Church:
The Roman Catholic Bible has 7 extra books, otherwise known as
apocryphal books.
The books were written in the times between the Old Testament and the
New Testament.They decided to add these books because it filled up the
400 year gap between the book of Malachi and Matthew.

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 Luke 24:44 -
He said to them, “This is what I told
you while I was still with you:
Everything must be fulfilled that is
written about me in the Law of
Moses, the Prophets and the
Psalms.”

Can you start to see that there are some differences in beliefs and heresies going on with
the Catholic Church?

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 The Bible
The 7 extra books are seen as just historical books by us, not part of scripture.
They were not a part of the original Hebrew Bible.
Jesus in Luke 24:44 says that the Hebrew Bible which is our Old Testament
points to Him, so those extra 7 books are not essential and therefore not part
of our Bible today.

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 Roman Catholic Church leadership
The Roman Catholic Church continues to be led by the Pope. They
believe that the Pope has special authority as Jesus gave Paul
authority to oversee all churches. All the Popes after Peter continue
to hold the same authority.
We don’t believe in the Pope having special authority. Yes, Peter had
a special role in starting the Church but that role died when Peter
died. Any follower of Jesus can appoint godly leaders to assist them
interpret the Bible.

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 2 Timothy 4:16
All Scripture is God-breathed and is
useful for teaching, rebuking,
correcting and training in
righteousness

Can you start to see that there are some differences in beliefs and heresies going on with
the Catholic Church?

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 Q. What does this verse have to say
about the sufficiency and purpose of
the Bible? Do we need to rely fully
on our church leaders/Pope to build
our faith?

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 Roman Catholic Church leadership
The Bible should be the first source we look into to understand the
Christian faith - not to rely fully on the priests to build our beliefs
because sometimes they may be promoting something other than
the truth stated in the Bible.
Example:
The Catholic church promotes paying money to skip
purgatory, in which Martin Luther was arguing against!
Purgatory does not exist and we don’t need it as Jesus has
died for ALL our sins.

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 Mary + Saints
Mary was the virgin mother of Jesus and some believe that she is
eternally a virgin and sinless.
She is regarded in Catholicism to be holy and perfect which equates
her as a God.
They pray to her through the rosary as a devotion and as an
intercession to have access to God.

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 Q. Is Mary eternally a virgin? See Matthew
12:46-50.
Q. Is Mary sinless and perfect? See Romans
3:10-12.
Q. Wat should we think of Mary? See Luke
1:46-49.

However, Mary is completely human and still sinful (see Romans 3:10-12). We still
acknowledge that Jesus was born of the virgin Mary but is not eternally a virgin since she
had other children after Him.

“There is no one righteous, not even one…All have turned away…there is no one who does
good, not even one”

Mary like us was also sinful but she does teach us and provide guidance on what we should
think or how to live as a Christian! See Luke 1:46-49.

We don’t pray to her because it can turn into idolatry and we should only be praying to our
God.

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 Mary + Saints
Roman Catholic leadership gives the title of “Saint” to Christians
who have demonstrated outstanding service and godliness. They
encourage Christians to pray to a particular Saint for they have the
authority to carry someone’s prayers to the distant God.
Saints have been referred to as Holy People throughout the Bible by
authors like Paul

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 Q. What is the intended meaning of saints?
See Romans 1:7.
Q. Do we need to pray to saints to have our
prayers be heard? See Romans 8:34.

See Romans 8:34 - Only through the intercession of Jesus by His blood are we able to pray
and communicate to God directly

The Bible uses the term “Saints” or “Holy People” to refer to any one who follows Jesus or
in Romans 1:7 - Paul uses this term to address all the Christians in the city, not just anyone
who were more “godlier” than others.

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 Confession of Sins
Penance - each sin must be confessed to a priest.
Forgiveness of sins can only be done by confessing, praying the
Rosary. Catholics would still be confessing yet still be scared that
even if they miss on confessing one sin - they may not be saved.
This promotes the idea that it is up to them to be saved. They are not
relying on what Jesus has done and finding the confidence and
assurance that they have in His perfect work of salvation for us.
Catholics also believe in purgatory

Penance - each sin must be confessed to a priest.

As a Christian we can sin (we both agree on this), however, they believe that it can be a
barrier in being saved and having an eternal life. They believe that they must confess
every sin in order to receive forgiveness and then be reassured.

Forgiveness of sins can only be done by confessing, praying the Rosary. Catholics would
still be confessing yet still be scared that even if they miss on confessing one sin - they
may not be saved. This promotes the idea that it is up to them to be saved. They are not
relying on what Jesus has done and finding the confidence and assurance that they have
in His perfect work of salvation for us.

Catholics also believe in purgatory - a place where some people have to serve time in, like
a jail for what they have done before going into Heaven or Hell.

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 Q. Why should we be assured of the hope that
we have in Heaven in which Catholics struggle
to have? See 1 Peter 3:18
Q. Why don't we believe in purgatory? See
Hebrews 9:12.What is the implication of
purgatory existing - what does that mean
about what Jesus has done?

1 Peter 3:18 - Jesus died for all our sins once and for all and we do not need a priest to
confess our sins.

If the kids ask, “Why should I confess if Jesus died for all our sins?”
As a Christian, we can still sin and do things that go against God’s law and we still need
forgiveness. If we seek forgiveness, that has already been dealt with on the cross. Christ
gives us assurance!

Even in the 1 Peter 3:18 passage; it emphasises the perfect work of salvation that Jesus
has done by dying for all our sins. If purgatory exists, then it is saying that Jesus was
unable to put all sin to death and so we need to serve time in purgatory before we are able
to go to Heaven. - Read Hebrews 9:12

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 Sacraments
Catholics have 7 sacraments: baptism, confirmation, the Eucharist,
matrimony, penance, holy orders and extreme unction. Catholics
believe that the 5 extra sacraments is a way for believers to receive
“more grace”.
We only practise 2 sacraments: baptism and communion. This is
because it is only these two that have been instituted by Jesus in the
Gospel.

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 Q. Why do we only practice 2 sacraments?
Why don't we need the additional 5 sacraments
to "top up" and receive more grace? See Romans
6:1-4, 9-10 and remember Ephesians 2:8-9?

God’s grace is sufficient and does not need “topping up” ‘as His grace was poured out
through Jesus’ death on the cross.

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 Communion
Both Catholics and Protestants have what we know as the Lord’s
supper during services. It is known as Eucharist in Catholicism and
Communion in Protestantism. However, we do this sacrament very
differently.
Catholics believe that the bread and wine (or cranberry juice)
becomes Jesus’ body and blood.
We believe that since Jesus is present with us, the bread and wine
does not transform but just commemorates and symbolises what
Jesus had done for us on the cross.

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