Roman Catholicism-Chapter
5
CATHOLICISM AND THE PRIESTHOOD by Elder
Laurence A. Justice
"Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling,
consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus." Hebrews 3:1
One day I asked the
Catholic priest who visited the prison where I was Chaplain what he wanted me
to call him. The man responded very curtly, Father, unless of course you are
one of those fundamentalists who don't believe in calling a priest Father! My
response was, I am one of those so what would you like me to call you?
Just what is a
Catholic priest? Why does he want to be called Father? What are his functions?
The basic idea of a priest is a mediator between God and man. Sinful man has no
right to approach a holy God nor does he have the ability to do so. He needs a
priest, a mediator, a go between to deal with God in his behalf. Priests do two
things basically: they offer sacrifices to appease God and they intercede with
God on men's behalf. The Roman Catholic Catechism For Adults by James Alberione
says on page 194, "Priests are taken from among men and ordained for men
in the things that belong to God in order to offer gifts and sacrifices for
sins."
Catholicism teaches
that there is no access to God except through their priests. The Baltimore
Catechism Confraternity Edition under questions #453-454 says " The
effects of ordination to the priesthood are: first, an increase in sanctifying
grace .... third, a character, lasting forever, which is a special sharing in the priesthood
of Christ and which gives the priest special
supernatural powers. The chief supernatural powers of the priest are: to change
bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and to forgive sins in the sacrament of
penance."
Our question here
as it is in regard to any doctrine or practice must be, What does God's word
have to say about the priesthood? and God's word is very clear on this matter.
God's word says that Jesus Christ abolished the human priesthood once and for
all.
The reason the Old
Testament sacrifices had to be repeated was because the priests were mortal and
also were sinners in need of a sacrifice themselves. But Jesus Christ the
sinless Son of God who was fully God yet fully man in one indivisible Person
offered up himself as a sacrifice to satisfy God's justice. This put an end to
all sacrifices for sin making them unnecessary.
The book of Hebrews
in the New Testament gives several chapters to showing that the Old Testament
priesthood has been abolished and that there is no place in Christianity for a
sacrificing priesthood. I want us to read a number of verses from the book of
Hebrews which emphasize this great fact that Jesus Christ, by his sacrifice of
himself, has abolished the priesthood by making the final sacrifice for sinners.
Hebrews 9:26
"For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world:
but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself."
Hebrews 10:10 says
"By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of
Jesus Christ once for all." Hebrews 10:12 says, "But this man, after
he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the
right hand of God..."
Hebrews 9:12 says,
"Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered
in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us."
Hebrews 7:27 says
"Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice,
first for his own sins, and then for the people's: for this he did once, when
he offered up himself"
Priests are no
longer needed since Jesus Christ has offered his once for all sacrifice of
himself to God. Jesus Christ is now our only priest. "Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling,
consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus" says
our text in Hebrews 3:1.
One Mediator alone
is recognized by God's word, Jesus Christ! I Timothy 2:5 says, "For there
is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus."
Our risen, exalted Savior intercedes with God on our behalf. Biblical
Christians look only to Christ as their priest. He has perfectly performed the
function of a priest for all believers.
God's word does not
teach a human priesthood for today. In the scriptures there is no mention of a
mediating, sacrificing priesthood after Christ! There is not even a hint in the
New Testament of the concept of a human priesthood today whose priests offer
sacrifices for sin and intercede for God's people.
The apostles were never
called priests in God's
word. In the New Testament lists of ministers and officers in the church
priests are never mentioned. Ephesians 4:11-12
is perhaps the best known of these lists. "And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the
edifying of the body of Christ." No mention of priests here!
Catholicism tries
to make their priests to be the same as the elders of whom the New Testament so
often speaks but the words priest and elder are two entirely different words in the Greek original of the New
Testament. The word elder is presbuteros meaning older and mature and the word priest is hiereus which is a technical term for one who offers sacrifice and prayers in
worship. In the New Testament hiereus always means priest
and never means elder! The Catholic priesthood is a retrograde to Old Testament
ceremonialism of having a sacrificing human priesthood. The Catholic priesthood
is solely a man made invention and not until the third and fourth century after
Christ did priests begin to appear in Christianity. In this chapter we shall
consider three things in relation to the functioning of the Roman Catholic
priesthood. First let us look at
AURICULAR
CONFESSION AND THE PRIESTHOOD
To whom should we confess
our sins? Who can absolve from sin? Catholicism says we must confess our sins
to a priest and that this is necessary to our very salvation. In A Catechism Of
Christian Doctrine by Thomas L. Kinkead we have the following definition of
confession: "Confession is the telling of our sins to a duly authorized
priest, for the purpose of obtaining forgiveness."
Auricular confession is the
confession of sins in the ear of a priest. Have you ever seen a confessional
booth in a Catholic church? When we were in Mexico recently we saw one. It
looks something like an old fashioned wooden telephone booth which the priest
enters, sits down and closes the door behind him. There are about eight or ten
round holes about one inch in diameter in the side of the booth and there is a
seat on the outside of the booth where the one confessing sits down to speak
through the holes to the priest inside the booth.
Absolve means to free from guilt, to forgive. Absolution is forgiveness of sin. In the Catholic book Explanation Of The Baltimore
Catechism, Thomas L. Kinkead says on page 180,
"The priest has the power of absolving
from sins after baptism, because Jesus Christ granted that power to the priests
of his church when he said: `Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whose sins ye shall
retain, they are retained'...The priests of the Church exercise the power of
forgiving sins by hearing the confession of sins and granting pardon for them
as ministers of God and in His name..." The Baltimore Catechism says under
question #381 "The priest
forgives sins with the words `I absolve thee from thy sins in the name of the
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. "'
Here is the
official statement of the Roman Catholic Council of Trent on this matter:
"If any one denieth, either that sacramental confession was instituted or
is necessary to salvation; or saith that the manner of confessing secretly to a
priest alone ... is alien from the institution and command of Christ and is a
human invention: let him be anathema. If anyone sayeth, that the confession of all sins ... is a human
tradition to be abolished by the godly; or that all and each of the faithful of
Christ... are not obliged thereunto once a year, conformably to the
constitution of the great Council of Lateran...let him be anathema." Anathema means cursed of God.
But let's look at
what God's word says about auricular confession. God's word says that
confession of our sins is absolutely necessary. Proverbs 28:13 says "He that
covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them
shall have mercy." I
John 1:9 says "If we confess our
sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our
sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
God's word
specifically teaches the duty of every Christian to confess his sins. The
question here is: To whom should we confess
our sins? God's word teaches that His people should go straight to Him to
confess their sins and have them forgiven. Israel had a high priest when David
was king but David confessed his sins to God. Ps 32:5 says "I acknowledged
my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my
transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin.
Selah." We should confess our sins to God because God is our Creator, God
is our Judge, God is the one against whom we have sinned. It is God's law that
we have broken in our sins.
Who can forgive
sins but God only? is always a legitimate question (Mark 2:7). No human being,
whatever his title, can forgive sins! Forgiveness of sin comes through Jesus
Christ alone. It is absolutely impossible for one sinful human being to forgive
the sins of another sinful individual like himself because that individual has
his own sins to take care of! The 1994 Catechism of the Catholic Church says
under question #1493, "One who desires to obtain reconciliation
with God and with the Church, must confess
to a priest all the unconfessed grave sins he
remembers after having carefully examined his conscience."
But according to
God's word no priest can reconcile the sinner to God! Reconciliation is the
work of Jesus Christ and him alone. Hebrews 2:17 says "Wherefore in all
things it behooved him (Christ) to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God,
to
make reconciliation for the sins of the people." Jesus Christ who is the great high priest of his people is the only One
who can say as he did in Luke 7:48, "Thy sins are forgiven thee."
Auricular
confession is never mentioned in God's word! Jesus Christ never commanded
auricular confession, the apostles never practiced auricular confession and the
apostles never taught auricular confession. The apostles never forgave sins nor
did they ever ask anyone to confess sins to them. When Simon the sorcerer came
to Peter wanting to buy the power of the Holy Spirit Peter did not tell him to
confess his sin to him. Instead he told Simon to repent of his sin and confess
it to God and ask God to forgive him. Acts 8:18-22 says "And when Simon
saw that through laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Ghost was given, he
offered them money, Saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay
hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost. But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish
with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with
money. Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not
right in the sight of God. Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray
God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may
be forgiven thee."
Auricular
confession, like all distinctive Roman Catholic doctrines, is totally without
scriptural authority. Auricular confession is a pure invention of Catholicism.
In auricular confession the priest usurps the place of Almighty God who only
can forgive sin. In confession the priest usurps the place of Jesus Christ as
the only Mediator between God and man.
Auricular
confession is a degrading practice! A human priest has no right to know the
secret sins of a person's heart and life! It's none of his business! Through
the confessional the priest becomes the receptacle of the accumulated dirt and
sin of his community. He knows all the dirt on everybody!
Where will you go
to have your sins forgiven? To a sinful Catholic priest or straight to God
Almighty as the scripture teaches? Next let us consider
CELIBACY AND THE
PRIESTHOOD
Priests (and nuns) in the
Roman Catholic Church are forbidden to marry and must remain celibate
throughout their lives. Canon 10 of the Council Of Trent says "Whoever
shall affirm that the conjugal state is to be preferred to a life of virginity
or celibacy, and that it is not better and more conducive to happiness to
remain in virginity or celibacy than to be married, let him be anathema."
In The Truth About
Catholics by the Catholic Literature Society there is a chapter named "Why
Priests Do Not Marry" and on page 14 the following statement occurs:
"Because Christ, the great exemplar of the clergy ... was not
married..."
As we saw in the
above statement in the Canons of the Council Of Trent, Catholicism strives to
leave the impression that celibacy is holier than marriage. The 1994 Catechism
of the Catholic Church says under question #1579, "Celibacy is a sign of
this new life to the service of which the Church's minister is consecrated;
accepted with a joyous heart celibacy radiantly proclaims the Reign of
God."
But the doctrine of
a celibate ministry is unknown in the New Testament. The New Testament never
commands celibacy for the ministry. Neither Christ nor the apostles ever
commanded celibacy.
Marriage was
divinely instituted at the beginning in the garden of Eden after God had said
in Genesis 2:18 "It is not good that the man should be
alone; I will make him an help
meet for him." Hebrews 13:4 says that "marriage is honorable in
all" and this includes religious leaders
like priests and nuns. Proverbs 5:18 says to all young men "Let thy
fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth."
I Corinthians 7:9
has reference to single people when it says, "But if they cannot contain,
let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn" or it is better to get married than be lustful. In I Corinthians 7:2 Paul
says "Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife,
and let every woman have her own husband." In I Corinthians 9:5 Paul says
that he and the apostles and even Peter all had a right to get married when he
said, "Have we not power to lead about a sister, a wife, as well as other apostles, and as
the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas?"
I Timothy 3:2 says
that the Bishops or pastors of the churches are to be husbands. "A bishop
then must be blameless, the husband of one wife..."
Contrary to what
Catholicism teaches about celibacy being superior spiritually to the married
state Paul says in I Timothy 4:1-3 that celibacy is a doctrine of demons.
"Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall
depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot
iron; Forbidding
to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats,
which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe
and know the truth."
Celibacy is
unnatural and morally disastrous. Suppression of sex in men is in defiance of
the nature that God gave the male human being so in the mind of the priest we
have something frustrated and secretly resentful, something sexually and
intellectually malignant. No matter how glamorous and revered the pope, the
cardinals, the bishops or any other priest, underneath it all there is
something unnatural and perverted and wicked as far as sex is concerned.
The practice of
celibacy produces nothing but trouble and grief for its slaves. This burden of
celibacy that Rome places on men is hard to be borne because God has never
commanded it and because it goes against a man's very nature. Celibacy results
in great loneliness and leads to great temptations to immorality which ordinary
men are unable to resist.
The doctrine of
celibacy has honeycombed the Catholic Church with rampant and extreme
immorality through the centuries. Fornication has been a problem for priests
and nuns and popes in all the centuries that Catholicism has required celibacy.
On January 30, 2000
the Kansas City Star reported on an extensive study it had done among Catholic
priests nationwide in America and one of the glaring findings of this study was
that "Catholic priests are dying of AIDS at rates many times higher than
the general population..." But what else could one expect as a result of
this unnatural requirement of celibacy? No the state of virginity is not holier
than marriage!
How tragic that
hundreds and thousands of priests and nuns in the Roman Catholic Church are
missing the joy and pleasure of sharing their lives with a legitimate spouse
thinking their sacrifice is pleasing to God when in actuality they are
following a doctrine of demons! Last of all in this chapter we shall consider
THE TYRANNY OF THE
PRIESTHOOD
Catholicism demands
great reverence to its priests, a reverence that is more than God's work allows
for any man. The Baltimore Catechism says under question #455 "Catholics
should show reverence and honor to the priest because he is the representative
of Christ Himself and the dispenser of His mysteries. In showing reverence and
honor to the priest one shows reverence and honor to Christ Himself, for the
priest in a very true sense is `another Christ'...it is the custom to honor
priests by addressing them with the title `Father'."
The Council of
Trent makes this statement about reverence for the priests: "He that
despiseth the priest despiseth God' he that hears him hears God. The priest
remits sin as God-Wherefore they are justly called not only angels but also
God, holding as they do among us the power and authority of the immortal
God." But the Lord Jesus Christ says in Matthew 23:9 "Call no man father upon the earth!"
Catholic priests
have tremendous power over their people. Catholics, especially those in the
poorer countries of the world, are characterized by a feeling of dread and fear
of the priest. The priest
dictates to his people concerning their church, school, marriage, children,
family affairs, politics, reading material and everything else in life and may
freely ask about any of these things in the confessional.
The priest
administers extreme unction at the time of death thus directing the soul into
eternity and must even pray for one to enter heaven. When the priest knows the
secrets of a public leader through the confessional he has control of him and
can either silence him or get him to do the Church's bidding.
My mother was told
by a Catholic lady whom mother was trying to get to come to church that the
priest had seriously told her that if she went inside a Baptist church building
the roof would fall in on her head.
The priests truly
have a tyrannical control over their people, the sort of tyrannical control by
religious people which our Lord so clearly condemns in Mark 10:42-42.
"...Ye know that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles
exercise lordship over them; and their great ones exercise authority upon them.
But so shall it not be among you: but whosoever will be great among you, shall
be your minister."
Which priest are
you going to follow? From which priest will you seek forgiveness of your sins?
The Catholic priest whose position is non biblical? Or Jesus Christ the one
great high priest who has offered the once for all sacrifice of his own blood for
the sins of his people and ever lives to make intercession for them?
(Roman Catholicism; Chapter 5 CATHOLICISM AND THE PRIESTHOOD; Laurence A. Justice)
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