It’s wrong to pray to Saints because we should only worship God. Good works are irrelevant for salvation because we aren’t saved by works of the Law. New Testament presbyters aren’t priests, because “presbyter” just means “elder.” And in any case, we don’t need an order of priests, because Scripture says we’re all priests. And… Continue reading Reason #9 to Reject the Reformation: Logical Fallacies
Author: Joe Heschmeyer
Reason #8 to Reject the Reformation: Heterodoxy
While not all of the causes of the Protestant Reformation were theological, some of them undoubtedly were. So St. Edmund Campion, in the eighth of his Ten Reasons against the Reformation, addressed some of these. Specifically, he considers certain “impossible positions” that the Reformers held “on God, on Christ, on Man, on Sin, on Justice, on Sacraments, [and] on… Continue reading Reason #8 to Reject the Reformation: Heterodoxy
Reason #7 to Reject the Reformation: History
Hendrick van Someren, Saint Jerome (17th c.) After St. Augustine, St. Jerome seems to be the favorite Church Father of many Protestants (most likely, because he argued for the Old Testament canon that they now use). We Catholics love him, too: he translated the Latin Vulgate, wrote beautifully on the Virgin Mary, and is one… Continue reading Reason #7 to Reject the Reformation: History
Reason #6 to Reject the Reformation: Patristic Scriptural Exegesis
Caspar Schwenckfeld Catholic beliefs are often rejected by “Bible-only” Protestants on the grounds that they are “extra-Scriptural Traditions.” This accusation typically misses the mark: on teachings like the priesthood, or the Eucharist, or regenerative baptism, it’s not that the Church is deriving these views from a source other than Scripture. It’s that she sees support… Continue reading Reason #6 to Reject the Reformation: Patristic Scriptural Exegesis
If God Didn’t Exist, What Would You Do?
Antonello da Messina, Mary of the Annunciation (detail) (1475) If you could “get away with” any sin or sins that you wanted, what would you do? That is, imagine that God could somehow be distracted, that you didn’t have to worry about sin offending Him or being punished. Or alternatively, imagine that God didn’t exist:… Continue reading If God Didn’t Exist, What Would You Do?
Reason #5 to Reject the Reformation: The Church Fathers
Church Fathers, a miniature from Svyatoslav’s Miscellany (1076) The relationship between Protestantism and the Church Fathers is complicated, and necessarily so. On the one hand, the Early Church Fathers are an invaluable source for any Christian, whether they know it or not. They’re the ones who passed on the faith, even at the cost of… Continue reading Reason #5 to Reject the Reformation: The Church Fathers
Reason #4 to Reject the Reformation: Ecumenical Councils
Councils are part of the history of the Church from the very beginning, as the Council of Jerusalem in Acts 15 shows. And they’re a source of potential unity between Catholics and Protestants, because so long as both sides recognize the authority of the early Ecumenical Councils, we have some common ground upon which to… Continue reading Reason #4 to Reject the Reformation: Ecumenical Councils
Reason #3 to Reject the Reformation: the Visible Church
Catedral de Santa María de Burgos, Burgos, Spain One of the biggest issues separating Catholics and Protestants is on the nature of the Church: did Christ establish a visible Church, containing both the saved and some number of the damned? Or did He establish an invisible Church that’s just the collection of all the saved? That’s… Continue reading Reason #3 to Reject the Reformation: the Visible Church
Reason #2 to Reject the Reformation: Scriptural Interpretation
Yesterday, I began a multi-part series looking at St. Edmund Campion’s Ten Reasons against the Reformation. The first reason, addressed yesterday, was the canon of Scripture: the Reformers took books out of the Bible (and not even the same books as one another), and end up leaving no coherent authority upon which to have a… Continue reading Reason #2 to Reject the Reformation: Scriptural Interpretation
Reason #1 to Reject the Reformation: The Canon of Scripture
St. Edmund Campion, S.J. Today is the feast day of one of my favorite Saints, St. Edmund Campion (1540-1581). As an Anglican, he was one of Oxford University’s brightest students, personally welcoming Queen Elizabeth during her visit to the University. He went on to become an Anglican deacon, but his seminary formation exposed him to… Continue reading Reason #1 to Reject the Reformation: The Canon of Scripture