There is a
big push today in the Catholic Church for ecumenism. According to the Oxford dictionary of
English, ecumenism is “the principle or aim of promoting unity among the
world’s Christian churches.” In fact,
not only are they interested in uniting with Christian denominations, but with
those in other world religions, as well.
So, how would this unity with other religions affect the groups
involved? Would they each be able to
keep their respective beliefs or would they have to change their doctrines in
order to unify?
A Schoolyard
Story
There were
several elementary school kids playing a game together on the schoolyard. One of them was older, bigger and stronger
than all the others. Although all the
kids knew the rules of the game, the big kid was cheating. Not only was it quite obvious that the big
kid was cheating, but his cheating was getting worse and worse. But no one dared to point out his dishonesty,
since they were afraid of him and didn’t want to be kicked out of the game. Finally, a few of the other kids had
enough! They must face this cheating
giant and confront his dishonesty.
The group
was relieved that someone finally spoke up.
But after their protest (which humiliated him) the big kid not only continued
cheating, but he began to create ridiculous new rules for the game to his
advantage, while all the others were harshly treated when they didn’t give in
to his unfair demands and his new rules.
He was showing his true colors by demonstrating his childishness. In any case, no one wants to play with a deceiving
cheater.
An Analogy
The story above
is an analogy (although not perfect) of something that actually happened in
history. The Catholic Church was a large
and powerful force in the 1500’s. She had
no equal in the religious world. Not
only was she corrupt, but the corruption kept increasing. It seemed that no one dared to point out her
corruption, lest they be kicked out of the church (excommunicated), and
therefore, be unable to partake of her sacraments and lose “access to Heaven.” Finally, a few men (later known as reformers)
had had enough of this corrupt giant.
They were going to confront the Catholic Church concerning her unbiblical
teachings and her corruption, thus starting the Protestant Reformation. The people were relieved that someone finally
spoke up and this movement caused many to leave the Catholic Church after
hearing biblical truth.
But the Catholic
Church didn’t take this lying down. After
the reformers’ protest, which humiliated and angered the Church, she began to
persecute the reformers and made ridiculous and unscriptural demands on these
“protesters.” The Catholic Church didn’t
want to play by the biblical rules,
so she started the “Counter Reformation” and established the Council of Trent
in 1545. In this council, she issued
multiple “anathemas” (formal curses) to those who refused to play by the Church’s rules, thus demonstrating
her childishness and her unwillingness to abide by Scripture. Again, no one wants to play with a deceiving
cheater.
“Let Him be Anathema!”
But what exactly
were these anathemas with which the Catholic Church was threatening these
protesters? According to
the Oxford Dictionary of English, an
anathema is:
“A formal
curse by a pope or a council of the Church, excommunicating a person or
denouncing a doctrine.”
According to
the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, it is:
“A ban or
curse solemnly pronounced by ecclesiastical authority and accompanied by
excommunication.”
According to
the online New Advent Catholic
Encyclopedia, an anathema from the Church is declaring the gravest, most
serious, form of excommunication possible within the Catholic Church… an
excommunication which eternally condemns the person to Hell… unless and until
he does penance to the Church’s satisfaction.
The word
“anathema” is used 150 times in the Council of Trent (including a couple of
times using the variant, “anathematize”).
The anathemas of the Council of Trent pertain to, and protected, teachings
like the canon (list of Bible books) of the Catholic Bible, veneration of
saints, relics and “sacred images,” indulgences, the Catholic priesthood, the
Mass, the Eucharist, sacraments, the Catholic view of justification
(salvation), and original sin.
Interestingly, they seemed to focus their anathemas on those who were
against these mostly Catholic
ideas, desiring to maintain their unbiblical teachings and (through the power
of anathema) force people into accepting them.
Catholics
will tell us today that these anathemas were intended only for Catholics, since it is an excommunication (they can’t
excommunicate non-members), but in practice it is obvious that the anathemas
were directed toward the protesters and their biblical arguments.
But what
about the unity that we mentioned at the beginning of the article, and this desire
in the Catholic Church for “peace” and “cooperation” with other religions? How can any group enjoy peace while having
anathemas hanging over their heads? How
can all these different religions cooperate if they don’t even believe in these
teachings?
Catholics
will sometimes tell us that all these anathemas were canceled in the 1983 Code of Canon Law. So, does this mean that there are no more
anathemas? You mean to tell me that
these anathemas were all just a big mistake, after all? Do they not count today? If this is the case, this change in policy is
little comfort for those profoundly affected by these anathemas in the
past. What about those who refused to
comply and ended up persecuted or killed?
Would an apology hundreds of years later help them? Because of this “change” in 1983, are those
who perished because of these anathemas now released from Hell?
The Catholic
Church likes to brag that it has not changed its doctrine for 2000 years. But if these “infallibly pronounced” anathemas
are wrong or somehow unacceptable now, they must have also been wrong back then! So much for an “infallible” church. I pray that Catholics will see and understand
this deception.
Conclusion
The Catholic
Church has been flinging anathemas for a long time now. If they really are considered to be in force
today by the Church, it is irrelevant because many, if not most, of the Council
of Trent’s anathemas were not even biblical to start with, therefore, were
never binding. If they are considered to
be no longer in force today, then the Catholic Church’s supposed “infallibility”
has been exposed as fraudulent. Either
way, she has a problem.
Worst of
all, it is ironic that the Catholic Church anathematizes HERSELF by preaching a
false gospel, according to Galatians 1:8-9.
