Apologetics for the Masses #358 - Problems With Protestantism #4

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Topic

There is No Protestant Equivalent to the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

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Introduction

Hey folks,

This week I continue with my series on "Problems With Protestantism". This week the problem is: "There is No Protestant Catechism." Why is that a "problem"? Well, keep reading and I'll explain it below...

Challenge/Response/Strategy

Problems With Protestantism - There is No Protestant Catechism

If you ask a Catholic, "What does the Catholic Church teach on..." and then name any particular topic, the Catholic can reply, "Well, you just need to look in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) for the answer to that."

If you ask a Protestant, "What does the Protestant Church teach on..." and then name any particular topic, the Protestant cannot reply, "Well, you just need to look in the Catechism of the Protestant Church (CPC) for the answer to that." They can't say that because there is no such thing as a Protestant Catechism. But, why is that a "Problem With Protestantism"?

It's a problem, because of what Paul said to Timothy: "...remain at Ephesus that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine," (1 Tim 1:3). Paul told Timothy to tell certain people "not to teach any different doctrine."

There is no such thing as a Catechism of the Protestant Church, because there are people teaching "different doctrine" all over the place. For instance, some Protestant denominations teach that infant baptism is okay. Others say it's not. Some say baptism is regenerative (that through baptism one is "born again"). Others say it's merely symbolic. Some denominations teach the rapture. Some don't. Some teach a pre-tribulation rapture. Others teach a mid-tribulation rapture. Still others teach a post-tribulation rapture. There are denominations that teach once saved always saved. There are others that deny once saved always saved. There are those denominations that teach salvation by faith alone. There are those denominations that don't. There are denominations that have priests. There are denominations that don't. There are denominations that have bishops. There are denominations that don't. You have denominations that have sacraments. You have denominations that don't. There are denominations that teach men can marry men and women can marry women. There are denominations that say marriage is between one man and one woman. There are denominations that worship on Saturday. There are denominations that worship on Sunday. Certain denominations allow divorce and remarriage. Certain denominations don't. A number of denominations say abortion is okay. A number of denominations say it's not. The Bible is inerrant. The Bible is not inerrant. God is Father. No, God is Mother. God is three Persons but one God. No, God is one Person but is known by three different names.

And on and on and on I could go. So you cannot have a Catechism of the Protestant Church because on any given topic that would be discussed in a theoretical Protestant catechism you would have a minimum of two different teachings and possibly several different teachings. In other words, there is no teaching on faith and morals that you can say is universal throughout Protestantism, with the possible exception of Sola Scriptura - the Bible alone as the sole rule of faith. Although, there are different interpretations of even that fundamental dogma of Protestant teaching. For example: Is the Bible the "sole" authority or the sole "infallible" authority when it comes to questions of faith and morals? Depends on which Protestant you ask.

The fact that there is no such thing as a Protestant catechism is directly related to the fact that there are people teaching "different doctrine" all over the place within Protestantism. How can that be okay? How do Protestants live with that fact? Well, they will tell you that, "Yes, there are differences in doctrine, but those differences are in the 'non-essential' doctrines, not in the 'essential' doctrines." Well, that's delusional at best, and deceitful at worst. Wouldn't the Trinity be an "essential" doctrine? Yet, there are those who have accepted Jesus Christ into their hearts as their personal Lord and Savior (i.e., they are "saved" Christians), who don't believe in the Trinity! If baptism is regenerative, then wouldn't infant baptism be an "essential" doctrine (unless one is born again of water and the Spirit he cannot enter the Kingdom of God - John 3:3-5)? Yet, Protestants are divided on infant baptism. So, not only are Protestants divided on many, if not all, of the so-called "essential" doctrines, they are even divided on what one should consider an essential vs. non-essential doctrine.

Regardless of all that, the problem for Protestants is that Paul told Timothy to tell these other folks not to teach "ANY" different doctrine. Any! I mean, let's think about this: Did Jesus teach any different doctrines to Peter than He taught to James and John? When the Holy Spirit guided the Apostles into "all the truth" (John 16:13), did He guide Bartholomew to any different doctrinal truths than He guided Philip? When the Holy Spirit brought to the Apostles remembrance all that Jesus had told them (John 14:26), did He cause Jude to remember any different doctrinal teachings than He caused Thomas to remember? Did Paul maybe really mean to say to Timothy, "...charge certain persons not to teach any different essential doctrines?"

No, no, no, and no! Jesus did not teach different doctrines to different Apostles - ANY different doctrine. The Apostles, having been taught by Jesus and enlightened and guided by the Holy Spirit, did not teach different doctrines to their disciples - ANY different doctrine. Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, commanded Timothy, his disciple, to prevent other disciples from teaching different doctrine - ANY different doctrine. Paul, again under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, taught Titus, his disciple, that any men Titus would ordain as bishops "must hold firm to the sure word as taught, so that [they] may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to confute those who contradict it." Hold firm. Sure word. As taught. Sound doctrine. Confute those who contradict the sound doctrine. There is no room here for teaching "any different doctrine". There is nothing here about it being okay to disagree on the "non-essentials" as long as you agree on the "essentials".

In fact, this whole thing about it being okay to disagree on the non-essentials is a crock. Jesus said if you can be trusted in the small things, then you can be trusted in the bigger things (Luke 16:10; Matt 25:21), but if you can't be trusted in the small things, then you can't be trusted in the bigger things. So, to acknowledge that you can't be trusted in the small things - that you could be wrong in the "non-essentials" - but then claim that you can indeed be absolutely trusted to get it right when it comes to the bigger things - the "essentials" - is the exact opposite of what Jesus teaches! If you can't get the small things right, then how can you be trusted in the bigger things?

So, knowing that neither Jesus nor the Holy Spirit taught different doctrines to the Apostle and other disciples. And knowing that the Apostles, who were guided by the Holy Spirit, did not teach different doctrines to their disciples and converts. And knowing that the Apostles saw to it - as Paul's example shows us - that their disciples did not teach different doctrines to the next generation of disciples, why is it that teaching different doctrines within different denominations is all hunky dory within Protestantism? Hmmm...good question.

All of this is why not having a Protestant catechism is a problem with Protestantism. Now, let me address two objections I've received in the past when I've asked people about the fact that there is no such thing as a Protestant catechism:

1) Yes, there is such a thing as a Protestant catechism. For example, there are various "Confessions" within Protestantism that are, essentially, catechisms.

2) There are just as many divisions and different beliefs in Catholicism, so you can't really say Catholics have a unity of belief that is reflected in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

To the former argument, I say this: The very fact that I am referred to several different confessions of faith (or catechisms) when I make the argument that there is no Protestant equivalent to the CCC, is proof of my argument. There is no one source within Protestantism that a Catholic can consult to find out what Protestants believe on any given article of faith or morals. That is not true of Catholicism. Furthermore, the confessions of faith that I am often referred to - such as the Thirty-nine Articles (Anglican – 1563); Belgic Confession (Christian Reformed – 1561), Augsburg Confession (Lutheran – 1530), Baptist Confession (Baptist – 1689), Westminster Confession (Methodist – 1646), and others - all conflict with one another in one or more areas...further proving my point. Those confessions may be good for their particular denomination (although many of the articles within those confessions are no longer believed by even those particular denominations), but they are not universally held within Protestantism. (For more on this, see my Issue #255: Protestant Catechism?

To the latter argument, I say this: There is one body of teaching in the Catholic Church...one. If there are folks who call themselves Catholic, but who do not agree with one or more doctrines and dogmas of the Church, then these people are known as dissenters. They are, in essence, Protestants. They are no longer one with the Church. The body of doctrine and dogmas of the Church, however, is one. In Protestantism, is there one set body of doctrine and dogmas? No, there is not. In Protestantism, you have a myriad of beliefs (all supposedly from the one and same Bible) spanning a myriad of denominations and it is a perfectly acceptable situation to most Protestants to have all of these varying beliefs. One is not a dissenter or a heretic in Protestantism, one merely starts a new denomination and then their different belief (or beliefs) is accepted as normal, at least, for that denomination. So, yes, there are dissenters to Catholic teaching within the Church and they may indeed try to pass off as "Catholic" the dissent that they teach, but it has no official stamp of approval from anyone. There is an authoritative body within the Catholic Church (the Pope and the Magisterium) that is recognized as such by Catholic and non-Catholic alike, which gives witness to only one set of official and authoritative beliefs in Catholicism - the set of beliefs found in the CCC. Protestantism has nothing similar.

In closing, I will repeat what I said in Issue #255 of Apologetics for the Masses: "Regarding the Protestant catechisms you mention, do you really wish to contend that they are similar to the Catechism of the Catholic Church? Really?! The Catechism of the Catholic Church is a systematic and detailed explanation of the Catholic Faith. If someone reads that, they will know the official teaching of the Catholic Church. Which catechism can I read that gives me the official teachings of each and every Protestant? Is the Reformed catechism the official teaching of the Baptists? Is the Baptist catechism the official teaching of the Methodist church? And what about all of those non-denominational denominations out there? Where are the catechisms with their official teachings? Which of the Protestant catechisms that you know of represent the official teaching of all of Protestantism? Sorry, but there is no source book a Catholic can go to in order to find the official teaching of all of Protestantism. That book does not exist. Whereas, there is a source book that Protestants can go to in order to find the official teaching of all Catholics."

All of that is to say, that the non-existence of a Catechism of the Protestant Church is a "Problem With Protestantism" because it highlights the fact that there is no one, official, authoritative, set of beliefs in Protestantism; yet, the Bible clearly shows us there was one, official, authoritative set of beliefs in the early Church - the Church that Jesus founded. And, there still is, today, one, official, authoritative set of beliefs in the Catholic Church - the Church that Jesus founded.

Closing Comments

I will be traveling this coming week, so no newsletter. Will catch back up with you the following week. Godspeed!

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