Why We Resist The Doctrines Of The Church of Rome
Part 2 in a series of articles by A.G. Ashdown, from The Protestant Alliance
Reproduced by Manchester Orange Order under kind permission from The Protestant Alliance.
THE DOCTRINE OF PURGATORY
When Hugh Latimer, former Bishop of Gloucester and Worcester, was preaching before King Edward VI he made the remark, “There be purgatory, the purgatory of Christ’s precious blood shed for us; that other purgatory, that of the Papists, that be the pick purse.”this is the Biblical and Reformation view of this major error of Romanism and is clearly seen when the two doctrines are place side by side:
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CHURCH OF ROME
“If any one saith that after the gift of justification has been received, to every penitent sinner the guilt is remitted and the debt of eternal punishment is blotted out in such wise that there remains not any debt of temporal punishment to be discharged either in this world or in the next in Purgatory, before the entrance to the kingdom of heaven can be opened (to him): let him be anathema.” - Council of Trent, Sess. Vi. C. xxx
“For those who are departed in Christ and who are not yet fully purified, it (the sacrifice of the mass) is rightly offered, agreeably to a tradition of the Apostles.” - Council of Trent, Sess. Xxii. C. ii
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PROTESTANT CHURCHES
“Almighty God, with whom do live the spirits of them that depart hence in the Lord, and with whom the souls of the faithful, after they are delivered from the burden of the flesh, are in joy and felicity…hasten Thy kingdom, that we with all those departed in the true faith of Thy Holy Name, may have our perfect consummation and bliss, both in body and soul, in Thy eternal and everlasting glory.”
- Order for Burial of the Dead
“The Romish doctrine concerning purgatory, pardons (indulgences).., is a fond (weak) thing, vainly invented and grounded on no warranty of Scripture, but rather repugnant to the Word Of God.” - Article xxii of the 39 Articles
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AN INSULT TO CHRIST AND HIS DEATH
The statement above of Roman Catholic Doctrine is seen at once as a direct denial of the plain teaching of Holy Scripture -”…without shedding of blood there is no remission” of sin (Hebrews 9:22, Leviticus 17:11). It is also a denial of the efficacious nature of the blood and work of Christ, “…the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1John 1:7).
On this ground alone, apart from all other Papal doctrine, the Church of Rome must be judged as in fact being the major cult, the Mother of Harlots. The Bible nowhere teaches any way in which sin can be removed but by the blood of Christ.
In the Old Testament the word used in the Hebrew for atonement is covering, thus “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered” (Psalm 32.1).
When Jesus came, John the Baptist announced His as “The Lamb of God, which taken away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).
The sins of the Old Testament saints were not put away by the blood of the cattle slain at their alters, they trusted that God would “provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering:” (Genesis 22:8).
The Lamb is Christ, that blood which is efficacious is His alone, The words of the old hymn are quite correct:
“Nothing can for sin atone,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus,
Nothing of good that I have done,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.”
The Roman Catholic teaching of Purgatory absolutely denies this and is based upon the unscriptural theory of sin being divided into “mortal” and “venial” sin, a division the Bible knows nothing of.
CONTRARY TO ALL SCRIPTURE
Furthermore, the Bible is clear that the dead in Christ are “with Christ; which is far better”
(Phillipians 1;23). By no possible stretch of imagination could the Purgatory of Roman Catholic theology be better than ordinary human life.
Cardinal Manning was reported to have spent the closing period of his terminal illness praying to go to Purgatory, for some Roman theologians had taught that on the way there was a byway leading to Hell. What a dreadful prospect. This kind of teaching is foreign to the Bible and true evangelical belief.
Generally speaking the Roman doctrine is that baptism is the mode of salvation, that the baptised person is made a member of Christ and a child of God. The sacramental act of baptism had wiped out past sin and the person that dies immediately after baptism goes straight to Heaven. If however they continue to live and sin then such post baptismal sin must be atoned for in Purgatory.
ROME A “CULT” NOT A CHURCH
This has no ground in Scripture, in fact the whole doctrine of Purgatory has no place in Holy Writ, it is anti-scriptural, the doctrine of a cult. How can a doctrine that denies the very nature of salvation by the grace of God on the ground of Christ’s one sacrifice on Calvary be in any way Christian?
The confusion of baptism with regeneration dates back to the early church, after the Apostolic Age. Some early church fathers spoke and wrote of the water of baptism as the “water of regeneration”. The Ethiopian eunuch was baptised because he believed. It was the blood of Christ that answered his sin, not the water of the baptismal pool. Out of this careless statement of doctrine came the awful doctrine of baptismal regeneration. From this grew the idea that post baptismal sin was not atoned for by the death and shed blood of Christ. In the Apocrypha , in the book of the Maccabees 2, X11 42-45 there is the record how Judas Maccabaeus arranged for a sin offering, on behalf of those slain in battle.
Both the doctrine of prayers for the dead and Purgatory are wrongfully deduced from this passage. In any case this is not part of the canon of Scripture and was never regarded as such by either our Lord or His Apostles or ever quoted by them in support of any doctrine. Saint Jerome, the translator of the Latin Vulgate, the official Bible of the Roman Church, admits this and is quoted in Article V1 of the Church of England in support of this view. The doctrine of Purgatory was adopted from paganism as a result of the dreams of Pope Gregory the Great.
HUMAN SUFFERING DOES NOT ATONE FOR SIN
The whole idea of satisfaction for sin by human suffering in place of torment is pagan, and is a denial of Scripture, “without shedding of blood is no remission” (Hebrews 9:22). It has been used to “pick purse” as Latimer so rightly said in his sermon. Out of this doctrine of Purgatory has grown the doctrine of Indulgences. This is totally like Purgatory in being entirely contrary to Scripture. The saints and the Virgin Mary are reputed to have performed so much in the way of good works that will be taken by God as satisfaction for the sins of others, that the Church is able to put these to the account of penitents and thereby reduce the period they suffer in Purgatory. The saying of masses is also regarded as a means of reducing the time of the departed in Purgatory.
Indulgences are sold, fees are paid for masses. Vast sums of money have been raised by various Popes, priests and churchmen on the pretence of getting people out of the supposed Purgatory. In Spain there have been raffles for souls, tickets have been sold and the winner entitled to a perpetual mass in a cathedral. The most well known indulgence was that sold in Germany by John Tetzel which prompted Luther to nail his thesis on the door of the Castle Church at Wittenburgh on October 31st 1517. By this means Leo X raised money to build Saint Peter’s basilica in Rome.
THE GRAVE DEPARTURE FROM SCRIPTURE AND REFORMED FAITH
How can a church - the Church of England - that in its Articles declares that the sacrifice of Christ on Cavalry is the only sacrifice for sin. Article XXX1, ever adopt this pagan unscriptural teaching?
Much less how can Bible-believing bob-conformists fraternise with Roman Priests and give the impression to the public that there is no difference between our Biblical, evangelical faith and the doctrine of Rome? The clear teaching of Scripture is that sin can only be atoned for by the blood of Christ.
A SHORT SIMPLE STATEMENT OF FAITH
John Bunyan was correct when he described the experience of his pilgrim at the Cross - the burden rolled from his back into the sepulchre and he states “I saw it no more”.
Sin can only be satisfactorily dealt with by the blood of Christ alone.