Having recently published our misconceptions list about Islam, I
promised a commenter that I would also publish a list of misconceptions
about the Catholic Church – of which there are millions. With this list
I am honoring that promise. I have taken ten of the most believed or
written about misconceptions about Catholics or the Church and debunked
them (with evidence wherever possible). I certainly hope that you all
find it interesting and readable.
10
Discourage Bible Reading
Misconception: The Church discourages Bible reading
The very first Christian Bible was produced by the Catholic Church –
compiled by Catholic scholars of the 2nd and 3rd century and approved
for general Christian use by the Catholic Councils of Hippo (393) and
Carthage (397). The very first printed Bible was produced under the
auspices of the Catholic Church – printed by the Catholic inventor of
the printing press, Johannes Gutenberg. And the very first Bible with
chapters and numbered verses was produced by the Catholic Church–the
work of Stephen Langton, Cardinal Archbishop of Canterbury.
At every Mass in the world everyday, the
Bible is read aloud by the priest. In the traditional Mass there is
one reading from the general body of the Bible (excluding the gospels),
and two from the Gospels. In the modern Catholic Mass, there are two
readings from the general body of the Bible and one from the Gospels.
All Catholic homes have a Bible and the Bible is taught in Catholic
schools (as is its perennial tradition).
This myth has come about because Bibles were often locked away in
Churches in the past, but that was not to prevent people having access –
it was to prevent them being stolen. These were hand written Bibles
which were incredibly valuable due to scarcity. Furthermore, people
think the Church forbade people from reading the Bible by putting it on
the Index of Forbidden Books, but the Bibles placed on the Index were
Protestant versions (lacking 7 books) or badly translated versions – the
most famous of which is the King James Version which Catholics are not
supposed to use.
Misconception: Catholics worship Mary and are, therefore, committing idolatry
In Catholic theology there are three types of worship – one of which is condemned in the Bible if offered to anyone but God:
1) Latria – this is adoration which is given to God alone – giving
this type of worship to anyone else is considered to be a mortal sin and
it is the idolatry condemned in the Bible.
2) Hyperdulia – this is a special type of worship given to Mary the
Mother of Jesus – it is only given to her and it is not considered to be
idolatory as it is not adoration, merely reverence.
3) Dulia – this is the special type of worship given only to the
saints and angels – it is also not idolatrous as it, too, is a form of
reverence.
The distinction was made by the 2nd Council of Nicaea in 787 AD. The
council was called to condemn the people who claimed that it was
idolatrous to have statues and images of saints.
The canons of the Council can be read here.
Just to clarify: “Latria is a Latin term (from the Greek ???????)
used in Orthodox and Catholic theology to mean adoration, which is the
highest form of worship or reverence and is directed only to the Holy
Trinity.” – there are lower forms of worship (as is implied here). A
Catholic who may kneel in front of a statue while praying isn’t
worshipping the statue or even praying to it, any more than the
Protestant who kneels with a Bible in his hands when praying is
worshipping the Bible or praying to it. The images of saints (whether
it be in statue form or painting) serves as a reminder of the holiness
of the person depicted.
Misconception: Catholics aren’t Christians
In fact, Catholics are the first Christians. When reading over the
early Christian writings, you can see clearly that their doctrines and
teachings are the same as the Catholic Church today. You hear of
Bishops, virgins living in community (nuns), priests, confession,
baptism of infants, the Bishop of Rome as head of the Christian
religion, and reverence for the saints. Here are some comments by the
early Church fathers who were, in many cases, the apostles of the
Biblical apostles:
Bishops: For it will be no light sin for us, if we thrust out those who have offered the gifts of the bishop’s office unblamably and holily. — Pope St Clement, Letter to the Corinthians 1, A.D. 96.
The Papacy: “[From] Ignatius . . . to
the church also which holds the presidency, in the location of the
country of the Romans, worthy of God, worthy of honor, worthy of
blessing, worthy of praise, worthy of success, worthy of sanctification,
and, because you hold the presidency in love, named after Christ and named after the Father” (St Ignatius, Letter to the Romans 1:1 [A.D. 110]).
Holy Communion: “This food we call the
Eucharist, of which no one is allowed to partake except one who believes
that the things we teach are true, and has received the washing for
forgiveness of sins and for rebirth, and who lives as Christ handed down
to us. For we do not receive these things as common bread or common
drink; but as Jesus Christ our Savior being incarnate by God’s Word took
flesh and blood for our salvation, so also we have been taught that
the food consecrated by the Word of prayer which comes from him, from
which our flesh and blood are nourished by transformation, is the flesh
and blood of that incarnate Jesus.” — St. Justin Martyr, “First Apology”, A.D. 148-155.
Infant Baptism: “Baptize first the children,
and if they can speak for themselves let them do so. Otherwise, let
their parents or other relatives speak for them” (St Hippolytus, The
Apostolic Tradition 21:16 [A.D. 215]).
Confession: “[A filial method of
forgiveness], albeit hard and laborious [is] the remission of sins
through penance, when the sinner . . . does not shrink from declaring his sin to a priest of the Lord
and from seeking medicine, after the manner of him who say, “I said, to
the Lord, I will accuse myself of my iniquity.” ” (Origen, Homilies in
Leviticus 2:4 — A.D. 248)
From these quotes it is obvious that the practices of the modern
Catholic Church are the closest to the practices of the apostles and
early Christians. It should also be said that the majority of
historians accept that the Catholic Church was the first Christian
Church as it is verifiable from ancient texts.
Misconception: The Pope is infallible in all things
Roman Catholics believe that only under certain circumstances is the
pope infallible (that is, he can not make a mistake). The Catholic
Church defines three conditions under which the Pope is infallible:
I. The Pope must be making a decree on matters of faith or morals
II. The declaration must be binding on the whole Church
III. The Pope must be speaking with the full authority of the Papacy, and not in a personal capacity.
This means that when the Pope is speaking on matters of science, he
can make errors (as we have seen in the past with issues such as
Heliocentricity). However, when he is teaching a matter of religion and
the other two conditions above are met, Catholics consider that the
decree is equal to the Word of God. It can not contradict any previous
declarations and it must be believed by all Catholics. Catholics believe
that if a person denies any of these solemn decrees, they are
committing a mortal sin – the type of sin that sends a person to hell.
Here is an example of an infallible decree from the Council of Trent
(under Pope Saint Pius V – 16th Century):
If anyone denies that in the sacrament of the most Holy
Eucharist are contained truly, really and substantially the body and
blood together with the soul and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, and
consequently the whole Christ, but says that He is in it only as in a
sign, or figure or force, let him be anathema.
The last section of the final sentence “let him be anathema” is a
standard phrase that normally appears at the end of an infallible
statement. It means “let him be cursed”. The most recent pronouncement
that can be seen as falling under Papal Infallibility was when Pope John
Paul II declared that women could not become priests.
Misconception: The Catholic Church is opposed to science and rejects evolution
In fact, may great scientific advances have come about through
Catholic scholarship and education. The most recent and interesting
case is that of Monsignor Georges Lemaître (pictured above, center) a
Belgian priest who proposed the Big Bang theory. When he proposed his
theory, Einstein rejected it, causing Monsignor Lemaître to write to
him: “Your math is correct, but your physics is abominable.” Eventually
Einstein came to accept the theory.
Also, unlike many of the American Protestant or evangelical
religions, the Catholic Church does not reject the theory of evolution.
Right from the early days of the theory, the Church remained mostly
silent on the issue. The first public statements specifically regarding
evolution came from Pope Pius XII who said: “The Church does not forbid
that…research and discussions, on the part of men experienced in both
fields, take place with regard to the doctrine of evolution, in as far
as it inquires into the origin of the human body as coming from
pre-existent and living matter.”
In 2004, a Theological Commission overseen by Cardinal Ratzinger (now
Pope Benedict XVI) issued this statement: “According to the widely
accepted scientific account, the universe erupted 15 billion years ago
in an explosion called the ‘Big Bang’ and has been expanding and cooling
ever since. [...] Converging evidence from many studies in the physical
and biological sciences furnishes mounting support for some theory of
evolution to account for the development and diversification of life on
earth, while controversy continues over the pace and mechanisms of
evolution.”
Catholic Schools all around the world (including the US) teach scientific evolution as part of their science curriculum.
Misconception: Indulgences let you pay to have your sins forgiven
First of all we need to understand what an indulgence is. The
Catholic Church teaches that when a person sins, they get two
punishments: eternal (hell) and temporal (punishment on earth while
alive, or in purgatory after death). To remove the eternal punishment
of hell, a person must confess their sins and be forgiven. But the
temporal punishment remains. To remove the temporal punishment a person
can receive an indulgence. This is a special “blessing” in which the
temporal punishment is removed if a person performs a special act such
as doing good deeds or reading certain prayers.
In the Middle ages, forgers who were working for disobedient Bishops
would write fake indulgences offering the forgiveness of sins (removal
of eternal punishment) in exchange for money which was often used for
church building. Popes had been long trying to end the abuse but it
took at least three centuries for the sale of indulgences to finally
end. True indulgences existed from the beginning of Christianity and
the Church continues to grant special indulgences today. Wikipedia has
an excellent and honest article on the abuse of indulgences from the
Middle Ages.
You can read it here. Here is a BBC article on a
new indulgence granted by Pope Benedict XVI in 2007.
Misconception: Emperor Constantine invented the Catholic Church in 325 AD
In 313 AD, Emperor Constantine announced toleration of Christianity in the
Edict of Milan,
which removed penalties for professing Christianity. At the age of 40
he converted to Christianity and in 325 he convened the first ecumenical
Council of Nicaea. Because of the importance of this council, many
people believe that Constantine created the Church, but in fact there
had been many councils (though not as large) prior to Nicaea and the
structure of the Church already existed. Constantine was at the council
merely as an observer and the Bishops and representative of the Pope
made all of the decisions. Before the council of Nicaea, priestly
celibacy was already the norm, baptism of infants was practiced (as were
all 7 sacraments), and the structure of priests and Bishops was already
300 years old.
Misconception: Catholic Priests can’t get married
This has appeared on a
previous list,
but it is well worth including it here as well. In order to clear this
one up, we need to first understand the nature of the Catholic Church.
Within the universal Church there are sections (also called churches but
not in the sense that they are separate) – the most common one is, of
course, the Roman (or Latin) Catholic Church. Then there is the Eastern
Catholic Church (not to be confused with the Orthodox which is a
different religion). Both of these churches fall under the jurisdiction
of the Pope and all believe the same doctrines. There are a lot of
differences between the two groups but these are all in matters of style
of worship and certain rules. In the Eastern Church, priests are
allowed to be married – but a married priest can’t become a Bishop.
It also happens that occasionally in the Latin Church, pastors who
convert from other religions such as the Church of England are allowed
to become priests even though they are married, so married priests can
be found in all parts of the Roman Catholic Church. Pictured above is a
Greek Catholic priest and his wife. Don’t believe me?
Here is proof. And here is
more proof.
Misconception: The Church added books to the Bible
The Catholic version of the Old Testament differs from the Protestant
version in that the Catholic edition contains seven more books than
Protestant Bibles. These “extra” books are the reason that many people
consider the Church to have added to the Bible, but in fact these books
were considered the official canon (list of books) by all Christians
until the Protestant reformation during which Martin Luther (leader of
the revolution) removed them. Interestingly some of these books contain
affirmations of Catholic doctrines which Luther rejected. The reason
that the Catholic Church uses the Greek edition is because the apostles
used it exclusively in their preaching.
Luther decided to use the Jewish Masoretic canon (circa 700 – 1000
AD) instead of the Apostolic canon. The seven books he removed were:
Tobit,
Judith,
1 Maccabees,
2 Maccabees,
Wisdom,
Ecclesiasticus, and
Baruch. While initially wanting to remove at least one book (
The Epistle of James,
because it contradicts Luther’s teaching that faith alone is needed for
salvation [James Chapter 2]) from the New Testament, Luther ultimately
decided to keep the Catholic New Testament in full.
Interestingly, Hanukah is mentioned only in 1 and 2 Maccabees, which
is not included in either the Jewish or Protestant versions of the Old
Testament.
Misconception: The Papacy is a medieval invention
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, and from the beginning of
Christianity he was considered the head of the Church. This fact is
alluded to in many of the early Church documents and even in the Bible
itself: “And I say to thee: That thou art Peter [Greek for "rock"]; and
upon this rock I will build my church” (Matthew 16:18). Peter was the
first Bishop of Rome and he led the Church until his death in 64 AD, at
which point St Linus became the second Pope.
St Irenaeus mentions him
here:
The blessed apostles, then, having founded and built up the Church, committed into the hands of Linus
the office of the episcopate [office of Bishop of Rome]. Of this Linus,
Paul makes mention in the Epistles to Timothy [2 Timothy 4:21]. To him
succeeded Anacletus [third Pope, pictured above]; and after him, in the
third place from the apostles, Clement [4th Pope] was allotted the
bishopric. — Against the Heresies, 180 AD
St Irenaeus goes on to mention another six Popes and the various
tasks they undertook during their reigns – such as the imposition by
Pope Linus of the rule that women cover their heads in Church (a rule
which, though often ignored, still exists today).
