In the Two true religions article, I answered the question, “if God established Judaism, why should we be Catholic?” The gist of the article is that Catholicism is superior to all other religions, including Judaism, because of the Mass and the Sacraments, wherein, we receive God’s sanctifying grace.
Tagged: Catholic
Of syllogisms
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De Maria says:
Hello,
But there’s a Protestant objection to this. It says, in a nutshell, “You Catholics believe in the Catholic Church for one of two reasons: either (1) because the Catholic Church says so, or (2) because you’ve become independently convinced on the basis of Scripture, history, etc. If it’s (1), that’s a circular argument. But if it’s (2), then you’re in the exact same position as a Protestant. You accept Catholic teachings because of your private judgment, we reject Catholic teachings because of our private judgment.”
That’s not true. Even our private judgment is totally different than theirs. Our private judgement, even if it is based solely on those two reasons, is directed at placing our faith on something outside ourselves. Whereas, they place their faith squarely upon their own intellect.
In my opinion, it is a logical non sequitur which they commit simply because they put the cart before the horse. Their emphasis is on certainty. Whereas, our emphasis is on trust.
It is similar to the argument about absolute assurance of salvation. They want to know that they are saved right now. Whereas, we place our hope in God and are willing to wait to find out what He decides (1 Corinthians 4:4-5).
The problem, as they see it, is this. Correct me if I’m wrong.
1. A Catholic says, we have an infallible interpreter of the Scriptures. The Church.
2. Their objection is then, “who interprets the Church?”
If you interpret the Church and you are fallible, then you are in the same boat as we. You, the Catholic, are a fallible interpreter of an infallible source.
Therefore, if we, the Protestants can’t be certain about what we believe. You can’t either.
It is a difficult conundrum to overcome.
The problem being that both the Protestant premise and their syllogism are wrong. But most of us follow their premise and syllogism when we argue the point. And that leads to their conclusions.
1st. Our emphasis is not absolute certainty. Our emphasis is on belief (aka faith). As St. Augustine put it, “God doesn’t ask us to understand. God asks us to believe.”
2nd. We are not fallible interpreters of an infallible source. We are fallible believers of the infallible Teacher of the inerrant word of God which is contained in both Tradition and Scripture.
3rd. They are the fallible interpreters of the inerrant Word contained in Scripture. Effectually negating the grace which God gave the human race when He provided for us the infallible Teacher which produced the inerrant written record of His plan for our salvation.
So, I’ll try to put that into a Catholic Syllogism.
1. The Catholic says, we have an infallible Teacher of the inerrant Word of God.
2. We believe that infallible Teacher produces doctrines which contain no error.
3. We have more certainty of that infallible Teachers doctrines than anything we could produce ourselves.
The question might be asked. How can you be certain that you understand it correctly? We can’t. We have faith it is taught correctly and we believe the Teacher is given the grace of God to do so. We are certain of the Teacher even if we are not certain of ourselves.
That of course, leads to the cynical objection, “then you have checked your brain at the door.”
My response is, “what’s wrong with that?”
Proverbs 3:5
Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
Hebrews 13:7
King James Version (KJV)
7 Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation.
Matthew 18:17
King James Version (KJV)
17 And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.
We are Co-mediators with Christ
The Bible says that there is one Mediator. Christ. But did you know that God wants us to be mediators with Him? Yes. Let’s go to the relevant passages.
1 Corinthians 3:9 For we are co-workers in God’s service;….
What do you think we labour to do, when we work together with God? We bring other’s to Christ. Let me show you another passage:
1 Timothy 4:16 Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.
If you persevere in well doing, if you continue in the Teachings of Christ, you will save those who listen to you. YOU WILL SAVE.
Yes, Christ is our One Mediator. But we are members of His Body. Therefore, we are mediators with Christ.
Romans 12:5so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.
Jesus Christ commanded us even to pray for those who mistreat us:
Luke 6:28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.
And St. Paul commanded us to intercede for all men:
1 Timothy 2:1 I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people—
Is there anyone who denies the plain teaching of Scripture on this matter? Please comment. I’d like to see your argument.
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