What Does the Catholic Church Teach?

What Rome Teaches, and Why It Matters

The Roman Catholic Church is the largest body in the world that bears the name of Christ, with about 1.4 billion baptized members by the Vatican's own count. Many of us have Catholic parents, grandparents, spouses, children, neighbors, and coworkers. This series asks three questions: what does the Roman Catholic Church teach, in its own words; how did those teachings develop over the centuries; and how do they compare with the Word of God?

We let Rome speak for itself. This series quotes the Catechism of the Catholic Church (1992; second edition 1997), the Council of Trent (1545–1563), and the First and Second Vatican Councils, citing each by paragraph, session, or chapter. A faithful Catholic should recognize his church's teaching in what follows. Where we disagree, we say so plainly, and we answer from the Bible.

Why It Matters

Because the Gospel is at stake. The differences between Rome and the Bible are not about candles, vestments, or styles of worship. They concern how a guilty sinner is made right with a holy God. Paul wrote to churches that had begun to add something to Christ, and he called the result another gospel, adding at once, Which is not another (Galatians 1:6–7). Nothing matters more than getting this right.

Because we love them. Paul longed for his own people, who were devoted to God, that they might be saved. He said they had a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge, going about to establish their own righteousness (Romans 10:1–3). Many Catholics are sincere and devout. Sincerity is not the question. The question is whether a person rests in Christ's righteousness or in a righteousness worked within him.

Because shared words can hide different meanings. Catholics and Baptists both speak of grace, faith, justification, and being born again. They often mean different things by them. Unless we understand what Rome teaches, we will talk past the people we love.