Evangelizing Catholics: Why It Matters
According to the current ecumenical spirit of the times, it might not be "politically correct" to say that many Roman Catholics are
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In this document we read: "Evangelicals and Catholics are brothers and sisters in Christ." "We thank God for the discovery of one another as brothers and sisters in Christ.""The love of Christ compels us and we are therefore...resolved...to explore patterns of working and witnessing together in order to advance the one mission of Christ."
Certainly I concede that Catholics and evangelicals can work together for the betterment of society, actively countering secularism, moral relativism, societal decay, and the like. But I also believe there must be a line drawn when it comes to biblical doctrine. At God's command, we cannot compromise here: "I...write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints" (Jude 3).
Because eternal souls are at stake, there can be no other policy than to share the gospel of grace with all those whom we believe have likely not heard it or have not understood it correctly. Because the teachings set forth in Rome's catechisms, creeds, encyclicals, and conciliar documents are in a number of ways a far distance from what the Bible teaches on key issues, especially pertaining to salvation, I believe the typical Roman Catholic needs to hear the true gospel.
Please do not misunderstand me. I know there are some Roman Catholics attending Roman Catholic churches who are saved and, hence, do not need evangelizing. I realize that some Roman Catholics attending Roman Catholic churches hold to the correct view that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone.
But I believe these people come to salvation in spite of what Rome teaches on salvation, grace, and faith - not because of what Rome teaches. For, as I will demonstrate in this book, in many ways the salvation Rome offers (as documented in the official teachings of the Church) is one that is permeated from beginning to end with the necessity of meritorious works.
This is not to say that evangelicals and Roman Catholics disagree on everything, for clearly they do not.
Indeed, Roman Catholics defend numerous Christian doctrines, including the doctrine of the Trinity and the full theistic attributes of God, God as Creator and Sustainer of the universe, the deity of Christ, the virgin birth, the incarnation, the resurrection, Christ's ascension into heaven, His future return in glory, the doctrine of the Holy Spirit (including the Holy Spirit's personality, deity, and involvement in the work of redemption), and other key tenets.
But there are other doctrines that Roman Catholicism gets wrong in the worst sort of way-the most important of which is the nature of the gospel. Reformed theologian Roger Nicole was right when he said that "Protestants believe that much in Catholic theology tends to undermine and compromise that orthodox Christian confession-especially as it relates to the crucial issue of the gospel message."& Protestant theologian Harold O. J. Brown, a professor at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, warned that while Catholicism holds to key fundamental articles of the faith, the Church "so overlays them with extraneous and sometimes false doctrines that the foundations are no longer accessible to the majority of Catholic believers."
The focus of this book does not involve mere peripheral issues over which Christians can feel free to disagree in good conscience. Rather it delves into the critical doctrines that are at the very heart of Christian-ity. If the "gospel" of Rome is a different gospel than that of Scripture, if Mary is not the exalted personage Roman Catholics make her out to be, if the pope is not the visible representative of Christ on earth who makes "infallible" statements on matters of faith and practice, if the doctrine of the Mass has no biblical support whatsoever, then those who place faith in such doctrines have a false hope for the future. They may believe they have been made right with God when they are not right at all.
Because I have Roman Catholic friends and family members, it is not without great consideration that I address these issues. But I am compelled to tackle the erroneous tenets of Catholicism because it is my heartfelt conclusion that these doctrinal problems are so serious as to warrant the sixteenth-century Reformation and the continued separation on the part of present-day Protestantism. An honest look at the facts reveals that, since the time of the Reformation, the doctrinal chasm has only widened - especially since Rome's decree of papal infallibility in 1870. It has been since that time that a number of aberrant doctrines
-including many pertaining to the exaltation of Mary-have been defined by Rome.
It is my love and concern for Roman Catholics that motivates the writing of this book. It is my love and concern for the gospel of Jesus Christ-a gospel of grace-that motivates this close scrutiny of Roman Catholicism. May this book equip you to share the message of God's grace with Roman Catholics in your own circle of influence.
(Source: Reasoning from the Scriptures with Catholics (Ron Rhodes)
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