Some people had commented to me about the relatively high score that Roman Catholic had scored on my recent denomination survey I had taken. Should it be surprising that I relate more closely to the Roman Catholic church than I do to Non-Calvinist Baptists, Pentecostals, Charismatics, and Quakers? I don’t think so, and here is why.

Let me qualify this by saying that the Roman Catholic church has major problems. Their distinctive view on Soteriology is a major flaw in their entire system of theology, and one that rightly causes a separation between orthodox Protestants (and not all Protestants are orthodox) and the Roman Catholic Church.

However, that being said, the Roman Catholic Church still contains nuggets of Biblical theology within her, and in some cases, better than many Protestant denominations do. One aspect of this is the idea of the authority of the Church.

As Presbyterians, we believe that the “authority of the holy Scripture, for which it ought to be believed and obeyed, dependeth not upon the testimony of any man or Church, but wholly upon God (who is truth itself), the Author thereof; and therefore it is to be received, because it is the Word of God.” In contrast, the RC Church believes that it is the Church that testifies to the validity of the Scriptures.

In other words, we believe that the Holy Spirit attests to the authority of Scripture, and it is the Church that recognizes Scripture as the Word of God.

The problem is that while this was a key point of the Protestant Reformation, soon afterwards, many Protestants took this too far, and dropped the very important second part, ignoring the fact that it is the Church that is called to recognize the Scriptures.

The Roman Catholic Church believes that the Church is capable of infallibility. Biblical Protestants believe that the Church is always just as fallible as the people who are in it. However, we both agree that the Church has a valid authority. Many in the RC church are afraid that if we reject the idea of the infallibility of the Church, that the Church would lose it’s authority in matters of doctrines and morals. But, if we think of the analogy between the Church as our mother, what mother bases her authority on infallibility? God has given parents have authority over their children, despite their fallibility (and children should see their parents acknowledge their fallibility often). In the same vein, the Church has authority over her children, despite her fallibility.

As an aside, I know a number of Roman Catholics who would have more respect for the Roman Catholic church if she more often acknowledged her mistakes in the past. But that’s a different issue.

The problem is that many Protestants have gone so far as to not only reject the infallibility of the Church, but also the authority of the Church. In this case, they justify disobeying their mother because they know their mother is not perfect. Their actions are just as sinful as the mother who will not acknowldge and repent of her own sin to her child.

That’s not to say that private judgement is a bad thing. The Bereans were commended for comparing the words of Paul to the Scriptures (Acts 17:11). Paul told the Thessalonians to “prove all things; hold fast that which is good” (1 Thess. 5:21). As individual Christians, we are always to make sure that the Church is holding to the truth of Scripture. But, when she is, her authority as the proclaimer of God’s word is an authority given by Him. To reject that authority is to reject God Himself.