Catholicism

The Roman Catholic Church teaches that God's Word comes through Scripture and Tradition as interpreted by its Magisterium, and that salvation comes through the Catholic Church and its sacraments. Scripture teaches that a sinner is saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

The Roman Catholic Church teaches that Scripture and Tradition form one deposit of God's Word that only its Magisterium may authentically interpret. Scripture teaches that it alone is God-breathed and sufficient, and that every tradition and teacher must be tested by it.

The Roman Catholic Church teaches that Christ made Peter the rock and head of the church, that the bishops of Rome succeed him as the Vicar of Christ, and that the pope is infallible when he speaks ex cathedra. Scripture shows Peter as a faithful apostle and fellow elder, Christ as the church's only foundation and head, and the Word as the only infallible rule.

The Roman Catholic Church was not founded whole by Christ on Peter. It grew over centuries as bishops rose over local churches, the church joined the Roman state, and Rome's bishop claimed rule over all, while Christ's free churches stood apart.

Over seventeen centuries the Roman Catholic Church has added new dogmas, made old practices binding, and revised earlier teaching, while the faith once delivered to the saints has not changed.

Rome teaches that God justifies by pouring grace into the soul, first in baptism, a righteousness that good works increase and mortal sin destroys; Scripture teaches that God declares the believing sinner righteous by crediting Christ's righteousness to him through faith alone.

The Roman Catholic Church teaches that Christ instituted seven sacraments that confer the grace they signify by the very performance of the rite; Scripture gives Christ's churches two ordinances, baptism and the Lord's Supper, which picture a grace already received by faith.

The Roman Catholic Church teaches that at the consecration the bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ, to be adored, and that the Mass makes present and offers the one sacrifice of Calvary for the living and the dead; Scripture teaches that Christ offered Himself once for all and gave His churches a supper of remembrance.

Rome teaches that sins committed after baptism are ordinarily forgiven through confession to a priest who absolves in Christ's name, but Scripture sends every sinner directly to God through Christ, the one Mediator and great High Priest.

Mary was a blessed and believing woman who rejoiced in God her Saviour, but Rome's dogmas of her immaculate conception, perpetual virginity, and assumption, and its devotion to her as Mediatrix and Queen, rest on tradition rather than Scripture and give her a place that belongs to Christ alone.

Rome teaches believers to ask the saints in heaven for their prayers and to venerate images and relics, but Scripture calls every believer a saint, forbids bowing to images, and gives every child of God direct access to the Father through Christ, the one Mediator.

The Roman Catholic Church teaches that many who die in God's grace must still be purified after death, and that indulgences from the Catholic Church's treasury of merit can remit the punishment they owe; Scripture teaches that Christ by Himself purged our sins, so that a believer who dies is at once present with the Lord.

Sharing the Gospel with a Catholic friend means asking what he is trusting, beginning from the truths you share, making the Gospel of grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone plain, and loving him with patience and prayer until he rests in Christ alone.