User:Marax/Criticism of Protestantism

This was published already in Wikipedia on Sept 13: Criticism of Protestantism

Criticism of Protestantism covers critiques and questions raised about Protestantism, the movement based on Martin Luther's Reformation principles of 1517. Criticism come mainly from Catholic and Orthodox sources, although Protestants themselves have engaged in self-critique.

The biblical critique assert that Protestantism's doctrines, even its foundational principles, are unbiblical. Sola scriptura, critics say, fails because the Bible is Catholic in its origins, presupposes the Church, and refers to other sources of revealed truth such as tradition, spoken word, a Council, and “the Church is the pillar and the bulwark of the truth”. (1 Tim 3:15) Sola fide is directly contradicted by the Biblical teaching "a man is justified...not by faith alone" (James 2:24), according to the critics.

The historical, sociological and ecclesiological critique points to the disparity of Protestantism with early Christian practices and the teachings of the Church Fathers, the 16th century foundation of Protestantism, the moral quality of its founders, and its fragmentation and doctrinal contradictions that foster schism and disunity in contrast to the unity of the Church described in the New Testament.

Sources of criticism
While the Catholic leaders have been seeing the positive side of the founder of Protestantism, Martin Luther, calling him "thoroughly Christocentric" and saying that his intention was "to renew the Church and not to divide it," the Catholic doctrine views Protestantism as "suffering from defects" and not possessing the fullness of truth and "the fullness of the means of salvation". A number of Protestant converts to Catholicism through the centuries have written their criticism of Protestantism in explaining their conversion.

Orthodox Christians also criticize Protestants in their lack of a visible church, and it its adherence to some of the aspects of Western Christianity including Roman Catholicism.

Protestants also engage in self-criticism, a special target of which is the fragmentation of Protestant denominations.

Biblical critique
Starting around the 1990s, a series of key conversions from Protestantism to Catholicism were based on arguments that Protestantism is unbiblical. This movement was led, among others, by Presbyterian biblical scholar Scott Hahn and his wife Kimberly, whose conversion story is told in Rome Sweet Home and in audio form later called The Tape. Other conversion stories critical of Protestantism were told in the two volumes of Surprised by Truth, and in other websites.

As explained by John Salsa, among the top reasons why they find Protestantism unbiblical, and Catholicism biblical are: (1) Authority: the giving of the keys of the Kingdom to Peter in Matthew 16:18-19; (2) Church, and not the bible, as "the pillar and bulwark of the truth" in 1 Timothy 3:15; (3) Tradition: the command of Paul to "hold to the traditions which you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by letter" in 2 Thessalonians 2:15; (4) "Baptism now saves you", in 1 Peter 3:21; (5) "If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven" in John 20:23 which they believe refers to the power to forgive in confession; (6) "my flesh is food indeed" and "Will you also go away?" in John 6:53-58, 66-67; (7) "Whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord" in 1 Corinthians 11:27 to show that Jesus was not speaking symbolically; (8) Anointing of the sick with forgiveness of sins in James 5:14-15; (9) Suffering: "I complete what is lacking in Christ's affliction in Colossians 1:24; (10) "a man is justified by works and not by faith alone" in James 2:24.

Bible as Catholic
Luther himself said that "We are compelled to concede to the Papists that they have the Word of God, that we have received It from them, and that without them we should have no knowledge of It at all."

Former Protestant Jimmy Akin asserted that the "Bible-only" position was self-refuting as the Bible itself does not prescribe the official list or canon of the Bible books, and he had to trust the Catholic church and its claim to infallibility in its choice of books. "There were a number of New Testament books (e.g., Hebrews, James, 2 Peter, 2 and 3 John, Jude, and Revelation) whose authorship and canonical status were debated in the early Church. Eventually the Church decided in their favor and included them in the canon of inspired books...This meant that for one very foundational doctrine-the doctrine of what Scripture is-I had to trust the Church since there was no way to show from within Scripture itself exactly what the books of the Bible should be. But I realized that by looking to the Church as an authentic and reliable witness to the canon, I was violating the principle of sola scriptura...If I was going to claim that the Church had done its job and picked exactly the right books for the Bible, this meant that the Church had made an infallible decision three hundred years after the apostolic age, a realization which made it believable that the Church could make even later infallible decisions, and that the Church could make such decisions even today."

Bible, Church and Tradition
Critics argue that New Testament books were written during a period that starts two decades after the death of Jesus Christ, and thus the "Church precedes and presupposes the Bible" and the New Testament is not a manual but a description of a community with established policies and practices of devotion, structures of authority and decision-making. Jesus did not write anything nor command his disciples to write, but "to do this" in reference to the Eucharist. The above also implies that the early Christians did not have a Bible for their salvation, and that it was through the aid of oral tradition that the present Bible was written.

Critics also argue that the Bible itself emphasizes that Christians should faithfully adhere to tradition that comes from the Apostles. 2 Thessalonians 2:15 states: Stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by letter.

Unbiblical doctrine
According to Dave Armstrong, former Methodist and Evangelical, "no biblical passage teaches that Scripture is the formal authority or rule of faith in isolation from the Church and Tradition. Sola scriptura can’t even be deduced from implicit passages. The relevance of Timothy 3:16 regarding all scripture being inspired and profitable is criticized since it does not categorically state that scripture is the only one with these qualities and does not preclude others in having these qualities.

Armstrong lists nine other "refutations" such as "The Word of God refers to Oral teaching also" (1 Thessalonians 2:2-13), the apostles exercised authority at the Council of Jerusalem, and Sola Scriptura is a circular position.

Protestant traditional defense states that the Bible is "fallible collection of infallible documents". Critics say that this leaves the Christian readers uncertain on whether they are reading a falsehood or the truth. Thus they refer to Biblical evidence wherein "God's authoritative Word is to be found in the Church: her Tradition (2 Th 2:15; 3:6) as well as her preaching and teaching (1 Pet 1:25; 2 Pet 1:20-21; Mt 18:17)," and that there needs to be thinking and authorized interpreter, given that the Bible itself warned "that it contains difficult and confusing information which is capable of (if not prone to) being twisted into all sorts of fanciful and false interpretations (2 Peter 3:16)."

Critics of Protestantism argue that since God wanted all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth, he set up authorities to provide authoritative interpretation that would prevent false interpretations that can mislead his flock. They refer to the passage that give Peter the keys of the kingdom.

Moreover, some converts to Catholicism have expressed their anxiety over the salvation and Christianization of millions of illiterate people in the world, who are unable to draw from scriptures. The Bible itself says the faith comes through hearing.

Sola fide
At "the crux of the disputes" is the doctrine on justification and sola fide is the principle on which Protestantism "stands or falls," as per Luther. The Catholic Church and the Lutherans (later joined by the Methodists) have issued Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, showing a ""a common understanding" of justification: "By grace alone, in faith in Christ's saving work and not because of any merit on our part, we are accepted by God and receive the Holy Spirit, who renews our hearts while equipping and calling us to good works."

Although an important step forward in the work of ecumenism, the declaration continues to show the differences of thought. Lutherans state that "human beings are incapable of cooperating in their salvation... God justifies sinners in faith alone (sola fide)."

Critics argue that (1) sola fide does not appear in the Bible, (2) the only time the phrase appears in the Bible, it is expressly denied: "a man is justified by works and not by faith alone," (James 2:24), (3) Luther inserted the word "alone" in his German translation, although the word was not in the Greek original, (4) Paul teaches salvation by faith, but in other parts he talks about salvation saved by faith working in love. Critics also state modern scholarship has established that Rom 3:28 is interpreted to mean that "a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Torah".

Critics argue that the Protestant faith declaration of "accepting Christ as savior" is not found in the Bible. They also state that the Bible teaches that "baptism now saves you" (1 Peter 3:20-21) and that "being born again" of Jn is interpreted by the following verse about "being baptized by water and the Spirit."

Sola gratia
Bishop Robert Barron said that "The single most significant contribution of Martin Luther and those who followed in his theological path was the stress on the primacy of grace", protesting against "Pelagianism, or the illusion of auto-salvation". However, he said that this doctrine of gratia prima (primacy of grace) which Catholicism fully agrees with, was converted by Luther into sola gratia, thereby contradicting the teaching of Scripture itself. Isaiah 26:12 says: "Lord, you establish peace for us; all that we have accomplished you have done for us.” This passage, says Barron, shows that "because of the unique manner in which God relates to creation, this human cooperation doesn’t compromise the absolute primacy of the divine love."

Louis Bouyer. author of the Spirit of Protestantism, further points to other scriptural passages: "grace, for St. Paul, however freely given, involves what he calls 'the new creation', the appearance in us of a 'new man'... So far from suppressing the efforts of man,... he himself tells us to 'work out your salvation with fear and trembling', at the very moment when he affirms that '. . . knowing that it is God who works in you both to will and to accomplish.'...all is grace in our salvation, but at the same time grace is not opposed to human acts and endeavor in order to attain salvation, but arouses them and exacts their performance."

Simul iustus et peccator
The Vatican's note in response to the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification said that the formula "at the same time righteous and sinner"...is not acceptable: "In baptism everything that is really sin is taken away, and so, in those who are born anew there is nothing that is hateful to God . It follows that the concupiscence [disordered desire] that remains in the baptised is not, properly speaking, sin."

The Catechism of the Catholic Church's article on Justification quotes the letter to the Romans in its explanation:


 * The grace of the Holy Spirit has the power to justify us, that is, to cleanse us from our sins and to communicate to us "the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ" and through Baptism. (Rom 3:22. Cf. 6:3-4.)But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him. For we know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. The death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves as dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.( Rom 6:8-11)

Great apostasy
A foundational premise for the need of the Protestant doctrines of the solas, such as sola scriptura and sola fidei, is the doctrine that traditional Christianity especially the Catholic church has fallen away from the primitive principles of Christianity, a doctrine known as the Great apostasy.

Catholic converts from Protestantism have been criticizing this as unscriptural on the basis of Jesus' promise to his apostles "I will be with you until the end of the age," and "that the Paraclete will lead you all the truth", plus his promise to Peter "On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it." They also assert that it is the Church, and not the scriptures, that is the "pillar and bulwark of the truth." (1 Tim 3:15) "It's inconceivable that [Jesus] would permit his body to disintegrate under the attacks of Satan. The apostle John reminds us that Jesus is greater than Satan. (1 John 4:4)."

Also, "There is no mention in any of [Church Fathers'] writings of a great apostasy or any sort of battle for the faith on such a scale... Even if it is assumed that the Church Fathers were part of the apostasy it is likely that they would have mentioned it – even if just to condemn the “true” Christians! But there is no sign in the writings of the Church Fathers of this heresy, nor are there any other writings which support the notion. History is totally silent." Moreover, the argument that the excesses and misconduct of the papacy constitute apostasy is misplaced, according to Patrick Madrid, since Jesus' conduct towards Peter shows a clear distinction between the misconduct of Peter (denial and "Get behind me Satan") and affirmation of Peter's office to govern and teach ("feed my sheep" and "keys of the kingdom").

Eucharist
Protestants lack the belief in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, which Catholics say contains "the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ himself," and makes the Church into one body. (cf. 1 Cor 10:16-17: we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread) Protestants fail to take the Jesus' words in the Bible literally as regards the Eucharist and have departed from "the witness of the whole of the Christian Church for 1,600 years", according to critics.

Jesus said when he instituted the Eucharist "This is my body... This is the blood of New Covenant,"and that “he who eats my flesh has eternal life”. Critics say that this is no figure of speech or mere symbol, for Jesus' use of graphic words shocked his listeners as Greek words say "chew" and "gnaw" his flesh. Also Jesus did not give in when “many of his disciples” left due to this “hard saying” (Jn 6:48-68), and St. Paul taught that he who eats the bread unworthily is “guilty of profaning the Lord’s body” (1 Cor 11:28). The early Christians Fathers such as St. Ignatius of Antioch (1st-2nd c.) said “the Eucharist is the flesh of the Redeemer,” while St. Irenaeus (3rd c.) stated that “we receive the bread as Jesus”, and St. Cyprian “Christ is our bread”.

Confession and other sacraments
Critics say that Protestants reject Jesus' authorizing the Apostles to "forgive sins" (Jn 20:23) and St. James admonition to "confess your sins to one another" (James 5:16) as they do have the sacrament of Confession. Also, "Peter taught that 'Baptism now saves you' (1 Pt 3:21) and thus is not a mere inciter of faith. The Bible speaks about 'anointing the sick with oil' (Jas 5:14-15), two kinds of laying of hands (Acts 8:17; 2 Tim 1:6), and marriage in the Lord (1 Cor 7:39)."

The rejection of the seven sacraments, says Catholic critics, show that Protestantism does not accept the Incarnational principle: In Jesus, God united to his divine person a human nature, a material body and a soul. Thus, "God demonstrates at once that creation, including human nature, is not only good but is capable of being further elevated through the impenetration of the Divine life. This is the basis of the entire sacramental system, which uses outward (material) signs to transmit to us a share of God’s life, from the initiation of the believer’s journey in Baptism to its conclusion in Anointing of the Sick. It is the basis of the Church, a visible society which itself serves as a living connection between God and man, a sort of meta-sacrament for the transmission and embodiment of grace."

Peter and the Popes
Protestants are criticized for not accepting Jesus' word to Simon whom he renamed Petros and given the primacy of jurisdiction in his singular Church: "On this rock (petros), I will build my Church and I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven” (Mt 16:18-19). He gave Petros or Peter, “the keys of the kingdom”, which according to Scott Hahn, refers to the power of a prime minister of the King and chief teacher, based on the Old Testament. (Is 22:22). Also, Jesus told him alone to “feed my sheep” (Jn 21:15-17), while the Acts of the Apostles shows Peter leading the Church. The early Christians referred to Peter’s Roman Church as “presiding” (Ignatius, 1st -2nd c.), “of superior origin” and standard of “true Faith” (Irenaeus, 2nd c.), “Chair of Peter”, “the principal” (Cyprian, 2nd-3rd c.), and “the primacy” (Augustine, 4th-5th c.).

Visible hierarchical church
Both Orthodox Christians and Catholics criticize Protestantism for their lack of belief in a visible, hierarchical Church. Scott Hahn said that the word "body" chosen by St. Paul to refer the Church is a deliberate way of showing that the Church is visible like Jesus Christ. The Church that Jesus built, say the critics, included apostles and sacraments, which are visible signs.

Mary and the saints
Catholic critics say the Protestant lack the help that devotion to Mary and the saints provides and that Protestant opposition to them is unscriptural and does not follow early Christian practice. Scripture, say Catholics, refer to "supplication, prayers, intercessions" as "good and acceptable" and also efficacious in bringing peace in 1 Tim 2, "prayer of all the saints" in heaven in Revelations (7:15;8:3-4), including the blessing, "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord" (Rev 14:13), a blessing from God that men have to imitate. Etched in stone in early Christian pilgrimage sites are phrases such as "Peter and Paul, pray for Victor."

Also critics allude to (1) Mary's statement after being filled with the Holy Spirit that "all generations shall call me blessed, (2) the principle of imitation of Christ who followed the fourth commandment "Honor your father and your mother"; honor in Hebrew means to give glory, (3) woman clothed with the sun who is introduced as the new Ark of the Covenent in Revelations, (4) the example of the early church Fathers.

Purgatory
Protestantism is criticized for denying the biblical foundations of the doctrine of Purgatory and overlooking the practice of praying for the dead among the early Christians. Critics say that "As shown in their tombstones, the early Christians followed the Bible: “Pray for the dead that they may be loosed from sins” (2 Mc 12:46), for “nothing unclean can enter heaven” (Rev 21:27).  It does not make sense to pray for the dead if they only go, as evangelicals say, either to heaven (with faith in Christ) or to hell (without faith).  Jesus spoke about forgiveness in the age to come (Mt 12:32) and St. Paul stated that those judged by God are “saved but as through fire” (1 Cor 3:13-15)."

Reason and Faith
While the Catholic Church championed the harmony of faith and reason, since man's reason is a creation of God who is the Logos (Reason), Protestantism separated faith and reason and thus denying faith an access to whole of reality through reason, according to Pope Benedict XVI:


 * Dehellenization first emerges in connection with the postulates of the Reformation in the sixteenth century. Looking at the tradition of scholastic theology, the Reformers thought they were confronted with a faith system totally conditioned by philosophy, that is to say an articulation of the faith based on an alien system of thought. As a result, faith no longer appeared as a living historical Word but as one element of an overarching philosophical system. The principle of sola scriptura, on the other hand, sought faith in its pure, primordial form, as originally found in the biblical Word. Metaphysics appeared as a premise derived from another source, from which faith had to be liberated in order to become once more fully itself. When Kant stated that he needed to set thinking aside in order to make room for faith, he carried this programme forward with a radicalism that the Reformers could never have foreseen. He thus anchored faith exclusively in practical reason, denying it access to reality as a whole...


 * The West has long been endangered by this aversion to the questions which underlie its rationality, and can only suffer great harm thereby. The courage to engage the whole breadth of reason, and not the denial of its grandeur - this is the programme with which a theology grounded in Biblical faith enters into the debates of our time.

Contraception
Critics refer to the doctrine of modern Protestantism that favors contraception in contrast to the historical fact that before 1930 all Christian Churches without exception condemned contraception in the strongest terms. This shows, for the critics, the result of lack of authority and fidelity to the God and Church tradition, a lack of "courage and integrity to teach this most unpopular truth."

Scott Hahn said that the teaching against contraception in the history of the Church up to 1930 is based on a Biblical view of marriage as a sacred covenant. Tim Staples said the teaching of the Bible against the sin of Onan shows that the Protestant doctrine on contraception is in error.

Historical, sociological and ecclesiological critique
A basic premise of the Catholic historical critique is Cardinal John Henry Newmann's statement that "To be deep in history is to cease to be a Protestant." Catholic historians believe that a detailed and honest study of the history of Christianity shows that the early church does not describe Protestant teachings and practices and mirrors the teachings and practices of the Catholic Church, and that this study can show the flawed roots of the Protestant Reformation.

Early church practices and beliefs
According to Robert Sugenis, in contrast with Protestantism, "the early Church believed in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, confession of sins to a priest, baptismal regeneration, salvation by faith and good works done through grace, that one could reject God's grace and forfeit salvation, that the bishop of Rome is the head of the Church, that Mary is the Mother of God and was perpetually a virgin, that intercessory prayer can be made to the saints in heaven, that purgatory is a state of temporary purification which some Christians undergo before entering heaven."

Founders
Protestantism per se, critics argue, was not present in the beginning of Christianity, since the founders of Protestantism lived in the 16th Century. The reformers did not receive any legitimate mission from God, and did not show any signs that they did receive this mission, unlike St. Peter who performed several miracles in the Acts of the Apostles and died a martyr's death.

Another criticism lies in the moral quality of the founders of Protestantism. Luther was said to be anti-semitic, misogynist and cruel towards the poor. His fellow reformer John Calvin described Luther as "craving for victory, haughty and abusive language, delusional, insolently furious, and careless about propriety of expression and historical context. He is accused of egocentrism or metaphysical egoism, due to his doctrine expressed in his statement that “I do not admit, that my doctrine can be judged by anyone, even by the angels. He who does not receive my doctrine cannot be saved.” Henry VIII, the founder of Anglicanism, was married six times and beheaded two of his spouses.

Doctrinal contradictions and disunity
Protestant self-criticism stresses the fragmentation of the Protestant groups. The ecumenical movement, which some trace to the 1910 World Missionary Conference, owes its genesis to a realization of "scandal" of disunity among the Christian groups.

The disunity is not in accord, say these critics both Protestant and Catholic, with the Bible's teaching on "one faith, one baptism", "one body" and being "united in the same mind and same judgement". (1 Cor 1:10)

According to Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, there were 43,000 Christian denominations globally in 2012, while there were only 500 in 1800. The numbers are expected to grow to 55,000 by 2025. Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary estimates that a new Christian denomination is formed every 10.5 hours, or 2.3 denominations a day.

"Their views on the Trinity, on gays, etc. contradict each other. Since truth (e.g. Jesus is God) cannot be falsehood at the same time, real falsehoods are sadly being taught among these groups," says a Catholic theologian. Also, as per Francis Beckwith, former President of the Evangelical Theological Society and a revert to Catholicism, Protestantism makes "schism as proper and unity as unnatural" and promotes the subordination of Church and theology to the individual ego.