My Catholic Upbringing
“Woah, what was that like?” is usually what people say when they hear that I was raised Roman Catholic.
I attended Mass every Sunday (even midnight Mass every Christmas Eve!), served as an altar boy, went to confession twice a year, and attended a Catholic school from kindergarten through seventh grade. In other words, I was not nominally Catholic.
But, in response to a family tragedy, my dad decided to remove us from the Catholic Church when I was 14. Three years later, the Lord saved me and I began attending church by myself at a local nondenominational mega-church. From there, the Lord led me to North Greenville University and to Ridgewood Church, a Southern Baptist church, where I now serve full-time.
If you pressed me on my memories from my Catholic upbringing, they would be nothing short of sweet up until the very end. I loved my friends and teachers. My priest was always nice to me, and the nun who taught our K-4 class was probably the sweetest person I have ever known — Sister Trudy was her name. My relationship with church was likely the same as anyone at that age regardless of the church — it was fun at times and really boring at other times.
When I speak of my Catholic upbringing, nine times out of 10, the question I get asked is, “Do you think Catholics are saved?” I am not sure that is the most helpful question. A better question might be, “What do they believe?” Asking this, and committing the time to figuring it out, will better equip us to talk to our Catholic friends, neighbors, and co-workers. That is the goal after all, is it not?
So, what is my goal in this series of articles? I would like to make it easily accessible for you to learn what your Catholic friends believe by showing you what their primary document says. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) provides, in great detail, exactly what the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) professes to believe. We will cover topics like Tradition, the Pope, Mary, the Sacraments, Purgatory, and many more.
My goal is not to critically diagnose their beliefs, but to inform and equip you so you can better talk to your Catholic friends and neighbors.
Scripture
Any time we are navigating complex disagreements with other people, it is always helpful to begin with the things we have in common.
Baptists and Catholics alike agree on the inspiration and infallibility of Scripture.
On Scripture, the CCC says the following:
- CCC 106 — God inspired the human authors of the sacred books. “To compose the sacred books, God chose certain men who, all the while he employed them in this task, made full use of their own faculties and powers so that, though he acted in them and by them, it was as true authors that they consigned to writing whatever he wanted written, and no more.”
- CCC 107 — The inspired books teach the truth. “Since therefore all that the inspired authors or sacred writers affirm should be regarded as affirmed by the Holy Spirit, we must acknowledge that the books of Scripture firmly, faithfully, and without error teach that truth which God, for the sake of our salvation, wished to see confided to the Sacred Scriptures.”
The RCC affirms that Scripture possesses both inspiration and infallibility. This is a point we can heartily agree with them on! It is worth celebrating that before we attempt to understand something we disagree on.
Now that we have considered one thing we have in common with Catholics, let us consider one major difference.
This is, arguably, the disagreement which spawns all other disagreements.
Tradition
What do Catholics believe about Tradition?
The RCC believes that Scripture and Tradition are both infallible sources of authority for the Church.
The CCC says the following:
- CCC 79 – The Father’s self-communication made through his Word in the Holy Spirit, remains present and active in the Church: “God, who spoke in the past, continues to converse with the Spouse of his beloved Son. And the Holy Spirit, through whom the living voice of the Gospel rings out in the Church — and through her in the world — leads believers to the full truth, and makes the Word of Christ dwell in them in all its richness.”
- CCC 80 – “Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture, then, are bound closely together and communicate one with the other. For both of them, flowing out from the same divine well-spring, come together in some fashion to form one thing and move towards the same goal.” Each of them makes present and fruitful in the Church the mystery of Christ, who promised to remain with his own “always, to the close of the age.”
Notice the logical progression here: CCC 79 argues that God continues to communicate with “the Spouse of his beloved Son” (the Church). In this communication, God “leads believers to the full truth.” CCC 80 answers how this happens: through both “Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture.” The two are “bound closely together … one with the other … [and both] makes present and fruitful in the Church the mystery of Christ.”
The CCC continues …
- CCC 81 – “Sacred Scripture is the speech of God as it is put down in writing under the breath of the Holy Spirit. And [Holy] Tradition transmits in its entirety the Word of God which has been entrusted to the apostles by Christ the Lord and the Holy Spirit. It transmits it to the successors of the apostles so that, enlightened by the Spirit of truth, they may faithfully preserve, expound, and spread it abroad by their preaching.”
- CCC 82 – As a result the Church, to whom the transmission and interpretation of Revelation is entrusted, “does not derive her certainty about all revealed truths from the holy Scriptures alone. Both Scripture and Tradition must be accepted and honored with equal sentiments of devotion and reverence.”
In the RCC, Sacred Scripture and Tradition derive from one common source but are two distinct modes of transmission. The one common source is God Himself, and the belief is that God has spoken in two modes — through His written Word (the Bible) and through His spoken Word (Tradition). Both Scripture and Tradition are understood to be the Word of God.
The CCC cites both 1 Timothy 6:20 and 2 Timothy 1:14 as proof texts for the authority of Tradition. The “deposit” entrusted to Timothy, it is argued, is the faith. “The faith” was given to Timothy in both written and verbal form. Thus, it is argued, both Scripture and Tradition help us to guard the deposit of the faith.
Who exactly is responsible for this Tradition?
The CCC says,
- CCC 85 – “The task of giving an authentic interpretation of the Word of God, whether in its written form or in the form of Tradition, has been entrusted to the living, teaching office of the Church alone. Its authority in this matter is exercised in the name of Jesus Christ.” This means that the task of interpretation has been entrusted to the bishops in communion with the successor of Peter, the Bishop of Rome.
- CCC 88 – The Church’s Magisterium exercises the authority it holds from Christ to the fullest extent when it defines dogmas — that is, when it proposes, in a form obliging the Christian people to an irrevocable adherence of faith, truths contained in divine Revelation or also when it proposes, in a definitive way, truths having a necessary connection with these.
It is important to remember that the “Word of God” can mean both the written Word (Scripture) and the spoken Word (Tradition). The transmission of the Word of God has been entrusted to the “bishops in communion with the successor of Peter, the Bishop of Rome.” In the RCC, the Pope is the Bishop of Rome and Peter’s direct successor; however, there are other bishops scattered throughout the world who act under the authority of the Pope. The Magisterium, then, is the teaching authority of the RCC exercised by the Pope and his bishops.
It is the Magisterium which can define “dogmas.” Dogma is to be differentiated from doctrine in that dogmas are universally binding on the Church. When a dogma is defined, the Church is expected to understand it as “irrevocable” and as “truth contained in divine Revelation.”
Ecumenical Councils
Perhaps you have heard of these before, but what exactly are they? An ecumenical council is a formal gathering of the Magisterium (the Pope and bishops) in which dogmas are defined for the entire Church. As noted in the CCC, these dogmas are “irrevocable.”
Two of these councils — The Council of Trent (1546) and The Second Vatican Council (1962-65) — reaffirm everything that the CCC teaches regarding Tradition.
In particular, Vatican II says the following: “It is clear, therefore, that sacred tradition, Sacred Scripture and the teaching authority of the Church, in accord with God’s most wise design, are so linked and joined together that one cannot stand without the others, and that all together and each in its own way under the action of the one Holy Spirit contribute effectively to the salvation of souls.” (Chapter 2)
Notice here that Scripture, Tradition, and the Magisterium are said to equally “contribute effectively to the salvation of souls.”
Ecumenical councils are the primary means through which Tradition has been defined in the RCC.
Differences Between Baptists and Catholics
Baptists descend from the Protestant Tradition, which warrants the question, “What do Baptists think about the relationship between Scripture and Tradition?”
The 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith, in chapter 1 (On The Holy Scriptures) says the following:
- Paragraph 1 — The Holy Scripture is the only sufficient, certain, and infallible rule of all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience …
- Paragraph 6 — The whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for His own glory, man’s salvation, faith and life, is either expressly set down or necessarily contained in the Holy Scripture: unto which nothing at any time is to be added, whether by new revelation of the Spirit, or traditions of men.
Similarly, the Baptist Faith and Message (2000) says the following:
- Paragraph 1 — [The Bible is] the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried.
The Baptist view of Scripture is the Protestant view of Scripture — chiefly, that Scripture, and Scripture alone, is the only infallible authority for the Church. Infallible simple means “to be without error.” Because Protestants recognize that Scripture is the only infallible authority, we also recognize that it is the ultimate authority of the Church — this is what the Protestant Reformers meant when they said sola scriptura. It is important to note that Protestants do not reject the authority of Tradition outright, but we do reject the infallibility of Tradition. Tradition can err, church councils can err, creeds and confessions can err, pastors can err, but the Bible cannot err.
The view of the RCC, in contrast, is that Tradition possesses infallibility. Scripture, Tradition, and the Magisterium all possess infallibility.
In Summary
What do Catholics believe about Scripture and Tradition?
The RCC believes that Scripture and Tradition are both infallible sources of authority for the Church.
Baptists differ from this in that, while we can appreciate Tradition, we believe the Scripture to be the only infallible — and ultimate — authority for God’s people. Thus, Baptists reject the infallible authority the RCC grants to Tradition and the Magisterium.
Questions to Ask Your Catholic Friend
- Do you believe that Tradition is as authoritative as Scripture?
- Do you believe the Magisterium (the Pope and bishops) speak the very Word of God?
- Do you believe that Tradition and the Magisterium contribute to your salvation as much as Scripture does?
- Why do you think Protestants would disagree with this?
Additional Resources
The Council of Trent (1546) — Fourth Session, Decree Concerning the Canonical Scriptures
The Second Vatican Council (1962-65) — On Divine Revelation, Chapter 2
The 1689 London Baptist Confession — Of The Holy Scripture
The Baptist Faith and Message (2000) — The Scriptures
— Mikey Smith serves as the ministry director at Ridgewood Church in Greer, S.C. He has a B.A. in Christian Studies from North Greenville University. He has been married to his wife, Hannah, for four years.