Why I’m NOT a Roman Catholic
From 1545-1563, the Roman Catholic Church held the Council of Trent – the council
convened primarily in response to the issues raised during the decades prior
by men such as Martin Luther, Huldrych Zwingli and John Calvin during the Protestant Reformation.
During the 13th session of the Council in 1551,
the following canons were issued on the issue of the eucharist – what Roman Catholics know
as the mass and most protestant & evangelical Christians know as the sacrament of communion:
CANON I If any one denieth, that, in the sacrament
of the most holy Eucharist, are contained truly, really, and substantially, the body and blood
together with the soul and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, and consequently the whole Christ;
but saith that He is only therein as in a sign, or in figure, or virtue; let him be anathema.
CANON lI If any one saith,
that, in the sacred and holy sacrament of the Eucharist, the substance of the bread and wine
remains conjointly with the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, and denieth that
wonderful and singular conversion of the whole substance of the bread into the Body, and of
the whole substance of the wine into the Blood-the species Only of the bread and wine remaining-which
conversion indeed the Catholic Church most aptly calls Transubstantiation; let him be anathema.
CANON III If any one denieth,
that, in the venerable sacrament of the Eucharist, the whole Christ is contained under
each species, and under every part of each species, when separated; let him be anathema.
CANON IV If any one saith, that, after
the consecration is completed, the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ are not in the admirable
sacrament of the Eucharist, but (are there) only during the use, whilst it is being taken, and not
either before or after; and that, in the hosts, or consecrated particles, which are reserved or
which remain after communion, the true Body of the Lord remaineth not; let him be anathema.
CANON V
If any one saith, either that the principal fruit of the most holy Eucharist is the remission
of sins, or, that other effects do not result therefrom; let him be anathema.
CANON VIII If any one saith, that Christ, given in the
Eucharist, is eaten spiritually only, and not also sacramentally and really; let him be anathema.
Eleven years later, in 1562, the twenty-second session also issued the following canons:
CANON I If any one saith, that in the mass a true and
proper sacriflce is not offered to God; or, that to be offered is nothing else but that Christ is
given us to eat; let him be anathema. CANON II
If any one saith, that by those words, Do this for the commemoration of me (Luke xxii. 19), Christ
did not institute the apostles priests; or, did not ordain that they, and other priests should
offer His own body and blood; let him be anathema. CANON III
If any one saith, that the sacrifice of the mass is only a sacrifice of praise and of thanksgiving;
or, that it is a bare commemoration of the sacrifice consummated on the cross,
but not a propitiatory sacrifice; or, that it profits him only who receives;
and that it ought not to be offered for the living and the dead for sins, pains, satisfactions,
and other necessities; let him be anathema. CANON IV
If any one saith, that, by the sacrifice of the mass, a blasphemy is cast upon the most
holy sacrifice of Christ consummated on the cross; or, that it is thereby derogated from;
let him be anathema. CANON V
If any one saith, that it is an imposture to celebrate masses in honour of the saints,
and for obtaining their intercession with God, as the Church intends; let him be anathema.
CANON VI If any one saith,
that the canon of the mass contains errors, and is therefore to be abrogated; let him be anathema.
In light of these canons, the Roman Catholic Church teaches that:
Jesus is truly & substantially present in the bread & wine following its consecration
The bread becomes Jesus’ body and the wine His blood in a real way
The sacrament brings about the forgiveness of sin for the receiver
To provide clarification, the twenty-second session also issued a decree titled,
“DOCTRINE ON THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS.” The second chapter of this decree states:
“…forasmuch as, in this divine sacrifice which is celebrated in the mass, that same Christ is
contained and immolated in an unbloody manner, who once offered Himself in a bloody manner on
the altar of the cross; the holy Synod teaches, that this sacrifice is truly propritiatory
and that by means thereof this is effected, that we obtain mercy, and find grace in seasonable aid,
if we draw nigh unto God, contrite and penitent, with a sincere heart and upright faith,
with fear and reverence. For the Lord, appeased by the oblation thereof, and granting the grace and
gift of penitence, forgives even heinous crimes and sins. For the victim is one and the same,
the same now offering by the ministry of priests, who then offered Himself on the cross,
the manner alone of offering being different. The fruits indeed of which oblation, of that
bloody one to wit, are received most plentifully through this unbloody one; so far is this (latter)
from derogating in any way from that (former oblation). Wherefore, not only for the sins,
punishments, satisfactions, and other necessities of the faithful who are living, but also for those
who are departed in Christ, and who are not as yet fully purified, is it rightly offered,
agreeably to a tradition of the apostles.” This understanding of the eucharist remains
dogmatized in the Roman Catholic Church through the present day. Consider the following sections
of the Catechism of the Catholic Church: 1366 – The Eucharist is thus a sacrifice
because it re-presents (makes present) the sacrifice of the cross, because it
is its memorial and because it applies its fruit: [Christ], our Lord and God, was once and for all
to offer himself to God the Father by his death on the altar of the cross, to accomplish there an
everlasting redemption. But because his priesthood was not to end with his death, at the Last Supper
"on the night when he was betrayed," [he wanted] to leave to his beloved spouse the Church a
visible sacrifice (as the nature of man demands) by which the bloody sacrifice which he was to
accomplish once for all on the cross would be re-presented, its memory perpetuated until the end
of the world, and its salutary power be applied to the forgiveness of the sins we daily commit.
1367 – The sacrifice of Christ and the sacrifice of the Eucharist are one single sacrifice:
"The victim is one and the same: the same now offers through the ministry of priests,
who then offered himself on the cross; only the manner of offering is different."
"In this divine sacrifice which is celebrated in the Mass, the same Christ who offered himself once
in a bloody manner on the altar of the cross is contained and is offered in an unbloody manner.”
For millions, if not billions of people who have lived under the authority of the Roman
Catholic Church in the centuries following the Council of Trent,
this understanding of the eucharist – the bread & wine offered in communion – has been at the
heart of how they are taught they have peace with God…by receiving a real body & real blood
in a real presentation of the same sacrifice that Jesus first offered on the cross 2,000 years ago.
However…does the Roman Catholic doctrine of the mass actually correspond to what the
Bible teaches about Christ’s sacrifice on the cross and what it accomplished?
In speaking of Jesus’ atonement, the author of the book of Hebrews wrote in chapter 9:
“…when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He
entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle,
not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and
calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained
eternal redemption.” (Hebrews 9:11-12) Continuing in verse 24:
“Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one,
but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; nor was it that He would
offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the holy place year by year with blood that is
not his own. Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world;
but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin
by the sacrifice of Himself. And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after
this comes judgment, so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many,
will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who
eagerly await Him.” (Hebrews 9:24-27) It is the testimony of the Bible that
Christ’s atoning sacrifice was once for all – once for all time and once for all location.
Jesus did not and does not need to offer Himself for another sacrifice because the
sacrifice He has already offered has, “obtained eternal redemption,” and, “put away sin.”
This understanding of Jesus’ death & resurrection is known as the sufficiency of His sacrifice. His
one-time sacrifice is enough – it does not need to be helped, assisted or offered multiple times.
This is why Jesus, with His dying breath, said, “It is finished.” (John 19:30). The price has been
paid; His people have been forgiven. There is nothing else that needs to be done.
To emphasize this point, the author of Hebrews continues into chapter 10:
“…the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things,
can never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make perfect
those who draw near. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers,
having once been cleansed, would no longer have had consciousness of sins?” (Hebrews 10:1-2)
The contrast being presented here is the sufficient, one-time sacrifice of Christ
on the cross with the insufficient, ongoing sacrifices offered under the old covenant.
Where Christ’s sacrifice was sufficient in that it was offered once, the old covenant
sacrifices were insufficient in that they needed to be offered over and over again. Therefore,
a sacrifice that is offered again & again, by it’s very nature is insufficient – it
can not save the one who is offering it. Remember that it is the position of the Roman
Catholic Church that Christ’s sacrifice is being offered again in a very real way every single time
communion is presented. If this is true, then it goes against the very words of scripture.
Moreover, the Roman Catholic Church maintains that, even though someone has received the
body & blood of Christ in the eucharist, they can still potentially commit a sin that would
separate them from God for eternity – in other words, a sin that Christ can not save them from.
The atonement of the Roman Catholic Church does not present a real, sustained salvation,
because it demands the merit & cooperation of the sinner that they are trying to save. In contrast,
the Bible presents a salvation that is real, accomplished and sustained
in the person and work of Jesus Christ alone. “By this will we have been sanctified through
the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Every priest stands daily ministering and
offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but He,
having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD, waiting
from that time onward UNTIL HIS ENEMIES BE MADE A FOOTSTOOL FOR HIS FEET. For
by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.” (Hebrews 10:10-14)
If you are a Roman Catholic watching this, I’m not saying that you are not saved. I know my share of
Roman Catholic believers who I consider to have a real, saving relationship with Christ. However,
what I am saying is that the institution of the Roman Catholic Church to which you belong
does not present the true, Biblical understanding of what Christ has done to save you.
If you are saved, it is because Jesus saved you 2,000 years ago on the cross – not because a Roman
Catholic priest (an Alter Christus – another christ), “brings Christ down from His throne,
and places Him upon our altar to be offered up again as the victim for the sins of mankind.”
Jesus’ work is finished. We receive His sacrifice as our own by placing our faith, hope and trust
in what He has already done, and we abandon any sense of worth, merit or cooperation in ourselves.
Jesus offers peace & assurance to those who follow Him. He is the Good Shepherd who laid
down His life for His sheep. He protects and sustains you – even from yourself. Please…if
you have not trusted in Him & Him alone as your perfect, once-for-all sacrifice for your sin,
do not wait another moment to call upon His name, repent of your sin and receive Him as your Savior.