Letters    

 TO ONE INVESTIGATING ROMAN CATHOLICISM

Dear J. C.                                                                                                           March 4, 1984

      ...I am sincerely saddened over the contents of your last correspondence. Is this not properly called "apostasy?" And, is it not contrary to the truths you so faithfully held for so many years? I hope that your present wanderlust which has apparently blinded you will prove only temporary, and would urge you to muster all the convictions you once held to draw away from this "force field." If you lack any desire to return to the God of our fathers, it would appear as though your apostasy was finalized.

     Why is the pastor of Rome any more enlightened than any other pastor? Why do you have a right to say the church proceeded from Rome? The "Catholic" church is composed of all believers, but all believers do not proceed from Rome, nor have the greatest majority of them anything to do with Rome.

    You stated that you accept the doctrine of transubstantiation on the same authority as you do the epistle of James. Yet most believers do not accept the idea that a little flour baked in an oven is capable of becoming the Sovereign God when a man says a magical incantation over it. While the church almost universally accepts the authority of the letter of James, few saints accept the doctrine of transubstantiation. What basis can you find in Scripture for praying to the saints as intercessors, or of bowing before the statues of Mary? What basis can you find in Scripture for the doctrine of "the perpetual virginity of Mary," or of the sinlessness of Mary's mother? If you do what is right, you will come out from the great whore and pray for them who remain.

     You must not mistake the tone of this letter. It is given in frankness, but is administered by the hand of a brother who sincerely loves you. "Faithful are the wounds of a friend," but "the kisses of an enemy are deceitful." With love and prayers.

Dear J. C.                                                                                                        August 19, 1984

       ...The Church of Jesus Christ does have a Pastor, a Chief Shepherd in the Lord Jesus Christ. When you state the pastor of Rome is more enlightened than other pastors, and that Peter was given by Christ a unique authority over the other disciples that is conveyed upon the successors of Rome, please give chapter and verse.

     Matthew 16:18 certainly does not bear this out, for in the Greek, the word "Peter" is "Petros" and is properly translated "a little stone." It is in the masculine gender and refers to a person. The word "rock" is the Greek word "Petra" and means an immoveable rock." Peter certainly does not fit this bill, especially since the word "rock" is in the feminine gender. If "Peter" and "rock" was to refer to the same person, the words would have to agree in gender. Instead, the feminine word "rock" refers" to the declaration Peter had just given: "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God."

     Does not the Apostle Paul expressly tell us that the Church is built upon the "foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone" (Ephesians 2:20)? Again, "For other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ" (I Corinthians 3:11).

   The reason Christ changed the gender in the middle of a sentence is because He changed the subject. He made two distinct statements: "Thou art Peter," and "upon this rock I will build my church."

     Peter was certainly neither infallible nor immoveable, for did not Christ deliver him a stinging rebuke saying, "Get thee behind me Satan for thou savourest not the things that be of God but the things that be of men"? Your unwillingness to face up to these issues will lock you into a system but not into truth.

     Did not our Lord rebuke Peter for severing the ear of Malchus? Did he not later even deny the Lord with oaths? You follow a man; but as for me and my house we will serve the Lord.

    Paul rebuked Peter to his face for his two-facedness. This is not the character of one who is infallible in matters of faith and morals. Are you so carnal that you think Christ built His church upon a weak and sinful man? If I did not love you, my brother, I would not bother to pray for you.

     Show me one instance in the Bible where Peter assumed authority over the other disciples. Our Lord Himself declared that the Gentiles exercise lordship over each other, but that would not be the basis upon which He would set up His church, but whosoever would be chief among them should be minister to the others. The church of the Lord Jesus Christ is not based upon one who wishes to have the preeminence, but rather upon serving one another.

    We are told that the Heavenly City "hath twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb." Which apostle is preeminent there? Why set up a man-made system and try to call it truth? By the way, if you will check both Augustine and Jerome, you will find they both agree that Matthew 16:18 makes Peter's confession the "rock."

     The "keys" spoken of in verse 19 refers to the authority God gave to all the disciples as well as to every pastor called of God since. In Matthew 18:15-20, does not our Lord address His disciples when He says, "Verily, I say unto you, `Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven'"? Where did Peter ever claim papal authority?

     I must go for now, but please do not allow this letter to sever our friendship. I truly care for you and will be praying you may find peace for your restless soul. Love and Prayers.

Dear J. C.                                                                                                        October 8, 1984

     ...I had hoped you had not lost your senses.... I had thought that your lack of assurance of salvation lay in your frequent bouts with melancholia, but now that you have sought for salvation in a church, I wonder if you are acquainted with the grace of God at all. ... Paul exhorted us that we should be followers of him so far as he followed Christ. No man on earth is deserving our worship, save the Son of God Himself. I adhere to much of Calvin's teachings because I believe he was the greatest expositor of Scripture; however, I believe he was "all wet" when it came to infant baptism. ...

     The crux of the issue is "Where does authority lie?" Is it in tradition or in Scripture? Since Scripture antedates tradition, as well as the church, Christians have over the centuries been known as "people of the Book;" and, we are not much ashamed of it.

    How do we know the Bible is the Word of God? By faith —saving faith; faith which God pronounces to be Righteousness. It is precisely this, and not our good deeds that saves the soul. We believe, so we are known as "believers."

     I love you in Jesus Christ, and I pray your reason and logic will not be the damnation of your soul. Your friend.

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