More Interesting Facts about Catholicism

Literally the word "catholic" means "universal"

It's important to make a distinction then between "catholic" with a lowercase 'c' and "Catholic" with a capital 'c' for this reason. To believe in the "catholic church" would be akin to what many theologioans refer to as the "invisible church," that is, the true body of believers on earth who live according to Christ's teaching with the faith of salvation to eternal life through his death and resurrection. When capitalized, though, "Catholic" is meant to refer only to the institution known more formally as the Roman Catholic Church. Even in it's name, the Catholic Church states boldly that it is the one true church - the present embodiment of Christ's Church as established by Christ.

To the average American Protestant, the claim that the Roman Catholic Church makes of being the "one true church" seems, well, a bit hard to swallow to say the least. Still, it's based on the premise that Christ intended for his disciples to be united as one body - something even most protestants agree with rather strongly.

It's also based largely on two very fascinating doctrines. First, there is what is known as the Petrine Doctrine, an interpretation of Matthew 16:18 where Jesus says to Simon Peter, "And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it." The Petrine Doctrine states that Peter was commissioned as the head of the Church. Then there is the doctrine of Apostolic Succession. Apostolic Sucession is a bit more complicated, but I would describe it as a "passing of the torch" from old apostles to new ones. In short, the Pope is given authority as the head of the church because he is said to be the apostolic descendant of Peter.

Despite the Catholic Church's claim to be the "one true church" many people may be surprised to hear that it does not teach people to believe that you have to be Catholic to be saved. There's a lot more to it than what I state here, but generally, Catholicism recognizes most protestants as being recipients of God's grace. Also, Catholicism does not necessarily consider non-Christians to be condemned.

By the way, the word "protestant" simply refers to the protest against the Catholic Church. In it's strictest sense, many "Catholics" would be considered protestant because they do not necessarily ascribe to every doctrine of Catholicism. Personally, I think that people who consider themselves to be protestant should try to figure out exactly what they're protesting against. Often times it happens that protestants begin to protest mostly against the teachings of their own church, which is why there are so many different denominations today.

What about you? Do you believe in the idea of a catholic church, that is, a universal church? How does your church as an institution link itself with the church of the first century? What does your church teach about the people who don't belong to it or ascribe to it's teachings? If you are Protestant, what doctrines or traditions of the Catholic Church do you disagree with?

These are all questions that I've had to answer, and I think that anyone else who considers themselves a Christian should try and answer them too.