Letter to...

The following is from an article over at Pontifications...check it out...

This is the authority that the Catholic Church believes Jesus gave to Peter and the other Apostles. But the ultimate authority lies with Peter. In paragraph 883 of the CCC it states,

“The college or body of bishops has no authority unless united with the Roman Pontiff, Peter’s successor, as its head.” As such, this college has “supreme and full authority over the universal Church; but this power cannot be exercised without the agreement of the Roman Pontiff.”

This is what the Catholic Church believes about St. Peter and his successors. But you seem to think that Catholics have a different understanding of the Pope. You seem to think that Catholics no longer believe that it was Christ who won for us our victory over death. You even imply that we have replaced Christ with the Pope. This is absolutely untrue. The Pope is not Christ; he is the Vicar of Christ. This designation is based on what Jesus said to Peter in St. John 21:15-17, “Feed my lambs … Tend my sheep … Feed my sheep.” Jesus is here giving Peter charge over His flock. And what is Jesus’ flock but the Church? Therefore, Catholics believe that Peter is the head of the Church on earth. This in no way takes away from Christ His ultimate role and responsibility for the salvation of mankind. Jesus Christ is our Savior. But He did give Peter charge over the Church on earth.

In connection with this point of Jesus Christ being the Savior of Catholics I want to address what you have said about dogma. You said, “Protestants believe salvation is found in a relationship with Christ and not the following of institutional dogma.” This statement to a certain extent bewilders me. Where on earth do you get the idea that Catholics believe that dogma will save us? True, dogma is necessary to be believed but it does not save us. Christ alone saves us. In explanation of what Catholics believe about dogma the CCC states in paragraph 89: “Dogmas are lights along the path of faith; they illuminate it and make it secure. Conversely, if our life is upright, our intellect and heart will be open to welcome the light shed by the dogmas of faith.” Therefore, dogmas do not save us but they do help us along the path toward salvation.

Now to address your thoughts on Universal Truth: you say, “individual interpretation of scripture can get hairy, as some people are so obviously wrong in their interpretations, but part of the Holy Spirit’s job is to give us discerning hearts.” Can you answer the following question—who is to say that you are not the one who is “so obviously wrong in (his) interpretation”? What makes you so sure that the Holy Spirit has protected your interpretation instead of someone that disagrees with you? This was my point in my Apology—Protestants have no Authority on which to base their interpretation of Scripture. What you may say is the meaning of a passage may very well be overruled by another Protestant. Catholics, on the other hand, have a source of Authority that they can turn to for answers to the most difficult questions.