We live in what is for the most part a society that is tolerant of various religions. We also live in an age that is sensitive to criticism of any one religion by the adherents of another. This is no truer among 21st century Reformed Christians when we consider that question, “How should we view Roman Catholicism?” A couple of years ago I wrote a brief sidebar article for Modern Reformation magazine on the issue of whether we should commune a Roman Catholic. Naive as I was, I thought no Reformed Christian would think my answer would elicit the amount of scathing e-mails I received.

Our problem is that we immediately run to experience and counter any such criticism, “But my Catholic neighbor loves the Lord,” or we think back to the death of Pope John Paul II (the greatest commercial for Rome ever!) and think, “He was humble and loveable, how can anyone criticize him?” From the outset let me say that when I approach this question, I am not issuing personal criticism of any one person, but am addressing the question of how Reformed Christians and churches should view the institution of the Roman Catholic Church.

Thinking Confessionally⤒🔗

As Reformed churches that subscribe to the Belgic Confession, we affirm that there are three marks that distinguish a true church from a false church: the pure preaching of the gospel; the pure administration of the sacraments; and the exercising of church discipline (Belgic Confession, art. 29). Because of this our forefathers affirmed that the Church of Rome was at least a part of the false church (BC 29) and that its Papacy was at least one manifestation of the Antichrist (Original Westminster Confession, 25.6).

Yet some say this language was an “overstatement” (E.g., Eugene Osterhaven, Our Confession of Faith, 154). It is not an overstatement because this language of two churches and their outward marks was a part of Christian vocabulary from the time of Augustine and inherited by Martin Luther, which comes from a biblical concept. For example, John instructed the early church, saying,

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.1 John 4:1

It is a biblical given that not all prophets are sent by the Lord (Matthew 7:15, 24:5, 24; John 10:1 ff.; Acts 20:29, 30; 2 Peter 2:1). Because of this, the New Testament warns us against false doctrine (Colossians 2:8, 20), false prophets (Galatians 1:7; 2 Peter 2:1-4), and the harlot of Babylon (False religion mixed with the powers of the world, Revelation 18). Even more clearly, the apostle speaks of there being a “synagogue of Satan” (Revelation 2:9, 3:9), in contrast to the true lampstands identified as the churches of Asia Minor (Revelation 1).

Testing Confessionally←⤒🔗

What are we to do with this idea of true and false churches? We must diligently and circumspectly, to use the language of the Confession, apply the marks of the true church as a test of whether the Roman Catholic church is a true church. The Confession summarizes these marks in the one overarching mark of being governed by the pure Word of God alone:

In short, if all things are managed according to the pure Word of God, all things contrary thereto rejected, and Jesus Christ acknowledged as the only Head of the Church. Hereby the true Church may certainly be known, from which no man has a right to separate himself.

This baseline loyalty to the Word of God is testified to in Scripture, which says that Christ alone is the foundation of the church (1 Corinthians 3:11), as well as the cornerstone of that foundation (1 Peter 2); yet we are also taught that the apostles and prophets are the foundation of the church (Ephesians 2:20) because they testify and point us to Christ. A true church, then, is one that governs itself by the authority of the Word.

Pure Preaching of the Gospel←⤒🔗

The first mark of the church was understood by our forefathers to refer to the doctrine of justification by grace alone through faith alone on account of Christ alone. As Peter Martyr Vermigli said about Rome in his discussion of the first mark,

They have undoubtedly corrupted doctrine, since they deny what Scripture affirms: that we are justified by faith alone.

We see throughout the writings of the Reformers that they understood justification to be purely preached when the Word was “rightly divided” (2 Timothy 2:15) into its two parts: law and gospel. The law was preached in all its terror, while the gospel was preached in all its comfort, as that which the law could not do (Romans 8:3-4; Canons of Dort, III/IV, 6). In doing this, the Reformers taught us to preach Christ and him crucified (1 Corinthians 1:23). Rome does not purely preach the gospel of God's grace but a confused doctrine that grace is given to us as sort of a substance that we cooperate with by means of faith-filled obedience in order to attain to eternal life – after we have done thousands and even millions of years of penance in purgatory.

Pure Administration of the Sacraments←⤒🔗

The sacraments are purely administered when only the two sacraments that Christ instituted – baptism and the Lord's Supper – are celebrated in the church (Cf. Heidelberg Catechism, Q&A 68). This means that Rome is not a true church as it has seven sacraments. As well, the sacraments must be administered as Christ instituted them. With baptism, this means that an ordained minister must administer the water in the name of the triune God (Matthew 28:18-20). Rome adds to this sacrament with all sorts of man-made traditions. With the Lord's Supper, the pure administration means that both bread (whether leavened or unleavened) and wine as Calvin says, no matter the color) are to be given to the people with recitation of the words of institution (1 Corinthians 11:23-26), as the example of Paul testifies, along with prayer (“when he had given thanks.” Rome has corrupted this sacrament with its doctrine of the Mass as a propitiatory sacrifice and offering for the sins of the living and the dead.

Church Discipline←⤒🔗

The third mark – discipline – is administered as a means of defending the Lord's holiness (Ezekiel 36:16-21; 1 Corinthians 5:1) and the church's holiness (1 Corinthians 5:6; Hebrews 12:15-16; 2 Timothy 2:14, 16-18). It also restores the rebellious (1 Corinthians 5:5; 2 Corinthians 2:5-11; Hebrews 3:12-13, 10:24-25, 12:11-16). It goes without saying, at least from this former Catholic, that Rome does not Practice discipline with its one-billion so-called members.

Treating Compassionately←⤒🔗

One final pastoral note is necessary in all this, lest we become too bitter. The words of Peter Martyr Vermigli concerning Rome should become ours:

We will not cease to love them in a Christian way because we desire a better life for them. We continually hope and pray that they may be converted to the Gospel of God's Son, and eventually correct and reform what they have ruined and corrupted in the Church.

We follow Vermigli's words by recognizing that we are not saying that all those in true churches are saved or that all those in false churches are damned. Instead, we are speaking of “the body and communion” of the true church versus the false church. Our calling is not to go to a church and determine who is saved and who is not, nor is it to find a pure church with no unbelief or hypocrites within it. When we say that a particular church is a “false church,” we are not saying there are no Christians in that place, nor when we say that a church is a true church are we saying that there are no hypocrites in that place. Our task is to discern the confession of faith of particular churches. After listing the marks of the church, article 29 goes on to list the marks of Christians. It does so because the Reformers taught a distinction between the Church, as it is invisible to us and yet visible to the Lord, and the church as it is visible to us. This means that there may be elect even among the false church of Rome.

We also follow Vermigli's words not only by recognizing the above, but by praying that those who are in Christ but not yet in his true church may be enlightened by the Holy Spirit through our witness to leave Rome. These “Nicodemites” are “to separate themselves from all those who do not belong to the Church, and to join themselves to this congregation, wheresoever God has established it” (BC 28).