A LESSON NOT YET LEARNED FROM THE PAST

 

For a long time Catholics have chided Protestants for their divisions.  The Catholic Church claims to be the one true Church of Jesus Christ (CCC #2105).  They claim that they are “one” because of the Church’s dedication to unity.  See this article:

https://answeringcatholicclaims.blogspot.com/2014/02/there-aremany-important-choices-that-we.html

Catholics claim a “profound” unity, one which is established by God and is “inherent” in the Church.  They will claim that their unification is in direct obedience to the prayer of Jesus Christ in John 17.  But interestingly, the Catholic Church is also concerned about unity with other spiritual groups, including non-Christian ones.

But this is nothing new – they have been spearheading (and are totally committed to) an ecumenical movement which will ultimately cause all religions to come together in “peace,” with the Catholic Church as the head, of course. 

Those leading in this ecumenical movement seem to be saying that we should all put aside our differences and focus on our agreements and similarities.  After all, wasn’t unity what Jesus was all about?  (Actually, no – see Matthew 10:34).  And wouldn’t this unity lead to peace, something that would benefit the whole world?

Well, this sounds really good, doesn’t it?  Everyone would be one big happy family.  Although we would not agree on everything, or even agree on many things, we would at least be “unified” and enjoying peace, right?

But what does this type of unity look like?  Would it look like former Pope John Paul II’s  prayer meetings, where he prayed together with religious leaders from around the world, including Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Bahais, a voodoo priest, witch doctors, and other pagans – hoping to focus on “common ground”?  Is this the “unity” that the Catholic Church is hoping for?

What Will I Have to Give Up?

These ecumenical groups want to encourage dialogue with others in order to bring about this unity.  Dialogue with other groups is fine, but again, their emphasis must be, and will ultimately be, on putting aside our theological and spiritual differences, even our most cherished ones in order to be part of this group.  But this concept is totally unbiblical and promotes “unity at any cost.”  And the cost would indeed be great.

But how can Catholics “unite” with others whose faith does NOT include the same authority, doctrine, worship, government, outward expression, or sacraments?  “Can two walk together, unless they are agreed” (Amos 3:3)?

But it is interesting how they praise the “special” unity they have, yet they also want to unite with other spiritual groups (like Protestants and others) who (according to the Catholic Church) do not have true unity!  So, which is it?  Do you Catholics want to embrace true unity or not?  Why brag about your own “unique” brand of unity and then desire to tarnish that unity by joining with other groups whose concept of unity is “tainted”?

Even if Catholics would be sincere about true unity and true faith, those with whom they are joining would necessarily be corrupting that faith with a different form of their own. 

The Core Biblical Truth

But is the peace sought after in this modern ecumenical movement biblical?  Is this actually the kind of peace and unity that Jesus had in mind?

Jesus Christ is indeed the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6).  But there is such a thing as false peace, as well (Jeremiah 6:14).  This is the “peace” that the ecumenical movement brings.  The Bible also tells us:

“There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked” (Isaiah 48:22). 

These groups will have neither true peace nor true unity.  And it is extremely important to remember that the unity that Jesus calls for is unity in the truth (John 17:17)!

Following is one of the simplest and most critical teachings in all of Scripture.  The rejection of this verse by the world religions and other non-Christians is the cause of many, if not most, of them perishing in the Lake of Fire.  Listen very carefully to what Jesus Christ says:

“Jesus saith to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life:  no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.’” (John 14:6)

There is no way to avoid this core biblical truth.  It is His work on the cross, alone, that allows any human being to be fit for Heaven.  Absolutely no one on the face of this planet could possibly make it into Heaven apart from His suffering at Calvary.  Those who do not abide by this truth will be lost.  Yes, Christianity is exclusive, so the secular world (and even the religious world) doesn’t like this fact. 

John 14:6 simply will not allow the modern ecumenical movement to ultimately prosper.  This is an absolute biblical fact.  This movement cannot and will not circumvent the truth of God’s Word.  I pray that we can all embrace this truth before Judgment Day comes.

Who is Behind this?

It’s interesting to see some of the groups who are behind all this modern ecumenical activity.  How is it that secular organizations like the United Nations (UN) and the European Union (EU), corrupt as they both are, would be so interested in a religious crusade like the ecumenical movement?  Personally, I believe that their interest is in control, not brotherly unity.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) is another corrupt entity that is pushing this idea.  In fact, they have been working together with the Catholic Church to bring about this movement for quite a while now. 

Another such attempt at ecumenism happened in 1994, where a group of Catholics and Protestants got together and drafted a document titled Evangelicals and Catholics Together: the Christian Mission in the Third Millennium (ECT).  It was signed by prominent members on both sides.   The document emphasized unity and a common mission between the two groups.  This seemed to be an attempt to reverse the Protestant Reformation of the 16^th century, and there was a heavy emphasis on agreement on the doctrine of justification.

Shame on these Protestants for betraying the gospel of grace.  Whether intentional or not, they have fallen for the slick language and have violated the biblical gospel and traded it for a works-based salvation, which is inherent in the Catholic system.  Have both sides forgotten what the Reformation was all about?  Did these people forget about all the anathemas (curse of excommunication) hurled at Protestants from the Catholic Council of Trent?  Do they not remember that many people died (on both sides) to maintain their cherished doctrines?  Or is it all just a simple “mistake” or “misunderstanding” from the past, to be glossed over today?

The Tower of Babel One More Time?

The book of Genesis tells us of man’s first attempt at ecumenism (Genesis 11:1-8).  In a nutshell, God confounded this endeavor when they were trying to form a one-world government/religion.  He didn’t like it then, and He doesn’t like it now.  But in this modern, last-day attempt, God will actually allow mankind to go through with it, but man will finally see that the result will be disastrous.  It will end with the anti-Christ creating a one-world “church” where everyone will be forced to worship him (the anti-Christ) because he performed impressive false miracles (Revelation 13:11-15)… and many will believe in this great delusion (2 Thessalonians 2:11) and will be eternally lost because of it.

Conclusion

Shouldn’t the world have learned an important lesson from this biblical story?  No, they haven’t, but this ecumenical movement is an attempt by man to re-create the tower of Babel.  In essence, it is man shaking his fist toward God once again, and saying “We don’t care what God thinks about it, we will make a name for ourselves” (Genesis 11:4). 

I once heard an example given by Greg Koukl of Stand to Reason.  His example demonstrated the importance of similarities and differences.  He drew a picture of two small round circles, one representing an aspirin and the other representing arsenic (a deadly poison).  He pointed out that they were both small pills, both round, and both started with the letter “a”.  These were the similarities.  But far more important was the fact that one would KILL you and the other would help if you had a headache.

He made the point that their differences were far more important than what they had in common.  It is the same thing with different religions/beliefs.  No matter how many similarities a false religion has with the true one, being at odds with the most crucial core belief of Christianity is fatal.  The difference between the biblical gospel and other “gospels” is one’s destiny for eternity.

So, there is no way that all religions can come together in “unity” in a successful way.  They cannot tolerate the harsh truth that Jesus is the only way to Heaven.  My friends, either Jesus is lying or He is telling the truth.  We cannot have it both ways.

If I were a Catholic, I would take a serious look at the list of powerful people and organizations that are promoting this ecumenism and run far away from them.  Any group pursuing such “unity” is extremely dangerous.

This biblical lesson from the past that God has given mankind concerning ecumenism is simply one from which we MUST learn.  Each person’s eternal destination depends on it.

SOLA SCRIPTURA AND THE “CONSTITUTION” ARGUMENT

As our readers may already know, the doctrine of Sola Scriptura (“Bible Alone”) is a key part of many Protestants’ world view.  Since Catholics believe in an inspired “Magisterium” and an inspired “Sacred Tradition,” both (supposedly) being on equal footing with Scripture, they have come up with a number of arguments against the Bible Alone concept.  One of those is the “Constitution” argument.

The Constitution argument goes something like this:

“Sola Scriptura doesn’t work because, in this view, each person interprets the Bible for himself, causing all sorts of disagreements and confusion.  You Protestants would never allow the interpretation of an important document like the Constitution of the United States of America to be subject to the whims of any and every citizen, would you?  There would be no unity.  This would only lead to chaos!  So why would you allow this kind of abuse to happen to an even greater document, like the Bible?”

   

Ok, first of all, no true Sola Scriptura person believes that the Bible should ever be subject to the “whims” of anyone reading it.  If you truly want to get something out of it, the Bible cannot be read flippantly or haphazardly.  It should be studied carefully and read with a humble, prayerful and reverent attitude (Isaiah 66:2; 2 Timothy 2:15).  It is not a toy to play with, or a book you can mold into anything you desire.  This is a misrepresentation of Sola Scriptura.

Furthermore, there are basic hermeneutical principles involved in Bible interpretation on which we pretty much all agree.  Hermeneutics is the science of Bible interpretation.  Certain rules must be followed when reading Scripture, for example, observing the context of a passage (both immediate and overall), historical perspective, genre, grammar, and the writer’s intent.  So again, the Bible cannot be interpreted “just any way you feel like it,” as those using the Constitution argument would accuse us.

Second, Catholics using the Constitution argument assume that there will be ONE human head over everyone in the church, just as there is one person (or body of persons) over the United States.  But the Bible doesn’t say this about the church.  The Constitution of the United States of America was meant to have a very specific group of elected officials to determine / interpret the exact meaning of the Constitution.  But this concept of one person being over the church is absent from the Bible.  So, this is not an accurate premise to start with, and thus, not a valid comparison.

When it comes to law and order (as in the Constitution), there must be a final human arbiter (to at least make people behave “on the outside”), but Scripture is able to deal with the heart and make people behave “on the inside,” as well.  The law deals with the external behavior, but Scripture deals with the conscience.  The judge’s responsibility is interpreting the Constitution for lawmakers.  But God, the Creator, is able to reveal His truth (Scripture) even to babes, i.e., to the simple, humble and “unlearned” (Matthew 11:25; Luke 10:21). 

Third, concerning unity, remember that unity is not the Constitution’s nor the Bible’s sole reason for existence, nor its greatest emphasis.  Is unity more important than truth?  Is unity greater than righteousness?  Of course not.  Unity is indeed important, but that unity has to be built upon something greater than itself.  But listening to Catholics attacking Sola Scriptura, one would swear that unity has to be the highest of all virtues, the greatest good, and the solution to mankind’s problems.  We have to remember that any cult or unorthodox group can have unity, but God wants us to have UNITY IN THE TRUTH OF HIS WORD (John 17:17; Ephesians 4:11-14).  In the Bible, God puts far more emphasis on truth and sound doctrine than He does on unity.  Without truth and sound doctrine, unity is meaningless.

No doubt, Catholics will say, “But we do have truth and sound doctrine.  In fact, it is only the Catholic Church who has the ‘fullness of the truth’ (CCC #819).”

But not only does the Catholic Church not have the sound doctrine and “fullness of truth” that it claims to have (as this blog and many other websites attest), but it doesn’t even have the level of unity that it claims for itself.  See here:

http://answeringcatholicclaims.blogspot.com/2010/12/sola-scriptura-and-divisions.html

http://answeringcatholicclaims.blogspot.com/2014/02/there-aremany-important-choices-that-we.html#comment-form

Interestingly, the Catholic Church’s idea of “unity” also includes union with Protestants (for example, the dangerous and unbiblical “Evangelicals and Catholics Together” document) and also union with pagan and demonic world religions, as well.  See here:

http://answeringcatholicclaims.blogspot.com/2010/08/cant-we-all-just-get-along-ecumenical.html

We are here warning everyone that this same false unity will also be used by the “man of sin,” the “son of perdition” (2 Thessalonians 2:3), also known as the antichrist, to form his ungodly one-world church (Revelation 13:7-8, 12).  We can only hope and pray that this thought is just as disturbing to others as it is to us.  You see, this craving for unity at any cost is very dangerous.

Conclusion

Having a single “authoritative” human authority over the church does not guarantee truth, just as a single ultimate authority over the U.S. Constitution does not guarantee that the right thing will be done.  An ultimate human authority can become corrupt.  This same “ultimate authority” over the Constitution has produced evil things like the Roe v. Wade decision on abortion, which regrettably, became the law of the land.  In the same way, having a person (pope) over the entire church does not guarantee truth or righteousness, either. 
 
But the Catholic will say, “But, unlike the judges who interpret the Constitution, the pope is infallible!”  Then why try to use the Constitution argument in the first place, since it is a false analogy?  So, now they must admit that the Constitution argument is an invalid “apples and oranges” comparison, and the resulting mismatch negates this whole argument.

So, the bottom line on this unity issue is this - you can either:

1) Accept the fact that there are always going to be differences / disagreements in Bible interpretation, (yet with imperfect, but acceptable, levels of unity in different places) or 

2) You can default and let someone else “infallibly” decide what Scripture says, like a church whose “unity” is an all-inclusive tolerance for false doctrine, or a dictator-type church with its forced unity.

This second type of “unity” does not work, and neither does the “Constitution” argument.