I just received a comment that posed what is a very good question. The question was: “Why differentiate between Catholicism and Protestantism? In other words, what aspects of Roman Catholic Truth contradict what aspects of Protestant Truth?” When I was first writing my introductory post I did write simply “Christianity.” However, before I published it I went back and changed it for one simple reason – the difference in the standard of truth of Catholicism and Protestantism.
According to the catechism of the Catholic church which states; “As a result the [Roman Catholic] Church…does not derive her certainty about all revealed truths from the holy Scriptures alone. Both Scripture and Tradition must be accepted and honored with equal sentiments of devotion and reverence.”( CCC Para 82) This is the result of a belief in a doctrine known as “Apostolic Succession.” If there is validity to this doctrine of the Catholic church then the Catholic Church the one true church and Protestantism is teaching a lie.
Since, my objective is to weigh what I believe to be true against other truth claims, as a Protestant, I must compare my standard of truth with that of Catholicism and because that is the case I made a distinction between them. When I begin my quest into the Catholicism my objective will not include how they interpret Scripture differently then I do, it will include what are the truth claims that church tradition makes and are those truth claims internally consistent. Thank you for your comment.
This is a very good answer. And I agree, they are different standards of Truth. I hope, for the sake of the Roman Catholic Church, they are not contradictory.
In the love of Christ,
-Mel