Theological Difference between Catholic Church and Protestant
Church
The
main features of Martin Luthers theology may be summarized in his four
doctrines: Sola Scriptura, Sola Fides, Sola Gratia, and Solus Deus.
1.
Sola Scriptura
The
first doctrine, that of Sola Scriptura (Scripture alone), affirms that the
Faith is based only on Holy Scripture and that it is Holy Scripture itself that
interprets Holy Scripture. (which means, in effect, that the interpretation is
left to the person reading it), while the Catholic Church, in a declaration
from the Council of Trent (S.4, 1546), which was taken up again at the First
Vatican Council (s.3c.2), teaches that the Faith is based on Divine Revelation
(also called Depositum Fidei), and is
comprised not only of Holy Scripture (the written part of Depositum Fidei), but also of Tradition (the oral part of Depositum Fidei).
It is not the
individual person that has authority over the Depositum Fidei, but the Church. The Church has established
which books belong to Holy Scripture, and the Church interprets these books and
the data of oral Tradition to define the Dogmas of the Faith. The
Ascension is an example of a dogma defined by the Church on the basis of Holy
Scripture; the Assumption is an example of a dogma defined by the Church
on the basis of oral Tradition.
2. Sola Fides
The second
doctrine, Sola Fides (Faith alone) affirms that in order to be saved
Faith alone is necessary, and not Faith and works as the Church teaches.
In this connection, the sacred Council of Trent (s.6 c.10) cites the following
words from the Epistle of St. James, 2,24 Do you see that by works a man is
justified; and not by faith only?
Therefore, both
Faith and Charity (or works of Charity) are necessary for salvation, and while
the false ecumenists act as if Charity alone were necessary, Martin Luther
claims that only Faith is. Luthers response to the Epistle of St. James,
which clearly expresses Catholic Doctrine, was that of cancelling it from his
new canon of Holy Scripture defining it simply as a an epistle of straw. From
this we can see how Luther was less motivated by the Holy Scripture than by his
own subjectivist presuppositions. The same goes for other parts of the
Bible that were cancelled by him.
Moreover, it is
necessary to keep in mind that Luther understands Faith in a very different way
from Catholics. According to Luther, Faith consists in trusting
that God in His mercy will forgive man on account of Christ, while the Church
teaches that the Faith consists in accepting Revelation on the authority of God
Who reveals it.
Luther anyway had
already completely lost the Catholic Faith from the moment that he denied a
single article of Faith, because he who denies even one article of Faith,
denies the authority of God Who has revealed it.
3. Sola Gratia
In the third doctrine,
Sola Gratia, ( Grace alone), Luther affirms that through Original Sin human
nature was totally corrupted, so that man became incapable of knowing religious
truth and of acting freely and morally, with the result that Grace could not
heal man, but only cover his sinfulness. Whereas the Church teaches that
human nature is only fallen and wounded, and can be healed with Grace; man can
know the truth and possesses free will by means of which he collaborates with
Grace in order to act morally, even if this often requires a great struggle.
4. Solus Deus
The fourth doctrine, Solus
Deus, (God alone), means that salvation comes directly from God and not through
the Church, the Priesthood, the Sacraments, the intercession of the Most
Blessed Virgin Mary and the Saints. Luther claims that there is direct
access to God. He does not recognize the intimate union between God and the
Church: God in His Divinity and God in the Person of Our Lord Jesus Christ+.
a.God, in
actual fact, in virtue of His divine and sublime Majesty, has established
a hierarchical order in all things, whether they be natural or supernatural,
whether they be in Heaven, Purgatory or Hell; and He operates through this
intermediary hierarchical order for His own ineffable purposes.
As for the Redemption,
He has acted through the Fiat of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, by means of
the Incarnation, the Passion and Death of His Divine Son, and, with regard to
the particular point under discussion, by means of the Holy Catholic Church and
Her Sacraments.
b. Moreover, God,
in the Person of Our Lord Jesus Christ+ has prolonged His earthly life and
works in His Church: His life on earth through the Church which is His Mystical
Body, and in His works through the Sacraments where He acts in Propria
Persona. The most sublime and glorious example of His work is undoubtedly
the Holy Mass where He continues to offer and immolate Himself to the Father at
every moment of the day and night, and will do so until the end of time.
In fact Luther professes
only two Sacraments: Baptism, and that which he was pleased to define as the
Supper in substitution for the Holy Mass, the sacrificial nature of which he
denied.
II The heretical nature of Luthers theology
So
here we have a brief synthesis of Martin Luthers doctrine contained in
the forty-one Articles condemned by Pope Leo X with the Damnatio in globo in
the Bull Exsurge Domine 1520, ...as heretical, false, scandalous, or
offensive to pious ears, as seductive of simple minds, originating with false
exponents of the faith who in their proud curiosity yearn for the worlds
glory, and contrary to the Apostles teaching, wish to be wiser than they
should be.
Now, according to
the Code of Canon Law (CIC 1983 Can.751) heresy is the obstinate denial,
after having received Baptism, of any truth to be believed by Divine and
Catholic faith, or obstinate doubt regarding it Having denied the truth of
the Faith, Martin Luther is heretical, that is a formal heretic. Indeed, in
virtue of the quantity of heresies that he conceived and taught, the number of
protestant sects that he generated, and the consequent damage he wrought for
the Catholic Church, he merits the name of heresiarch, or prince of the
heresiarchs, or the heresiarch par excellence.
In May