Volume > Issue > How Catholicism Is Different

How Catholicism Is Different

THE CATHOLIC CHURCH ISN'T JUST ANOTHER 'DENOMINATION'

By Bobby Jindal | December 1996
Bobby Jindal recently received his M.Litt. in Politics from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar. He is currently working for a management consulting firm in Washington, D.C. A convert to Catholicism, he was raised in the Hindu tradition.

Just as C.S. Lewis removed any room for comfortable opposition to Jesus by identifying Him as either “Lord, liar, or lunatic,” so the Catholic Church leaves little room for complacent opposition to her doctrines. Without inflating the issues that separate Catholics from Protestants, for we do worship the same Trinitarian God who died for our sins, I want to refute the notion that Catholicism is merely another denomination with no more merit than any other.

The Reformers who left the Catholic Church rejected, to varying degrees, five beliefs which continue to be upheld by the Catholic Church. The Church claims that these points are found in Scripture, and they have been consistently and clearly taught throughout the Church’s history. I will support the Church’s claims here.

(1) SCRIPTURE AND TRADITION: Is sola scriptura (the Bible alone) a sufficient basis for the modern Christian to understand God’s will?

The Bible does not contain either the claim that it is comprehensive or a listing of its contents, but does describe how it should be used. Scripture and Tradition, not the Bible alone, transmit God’s revelation. Tradition is reflected in the Church’s authority to interpret Scripture.

Enjoyed reading this?

READ MORE! REGISTER TODAY

SUBSCRIBE

You May Also Enjoy

Letter to the Editor: January-February 1994

Those No-Brain Traditional Catholics... Chase Me Back to Protestantism?... Looking For the Long-Lost Church... The Fateful Turning Point... The American Catholic Church: Unproductive... 'Devils' As God's Messenger... Reproof From Geneva... Satanic Lies in Scripture... The Suffering of Animals: Wasted...

New Oxford Notes: September 2017

A Pontificate of Mercy — or a Merciless Pontificate?

Letter to the Editor: September 2018

A World without Fathers... An Anxiety Agitated... Hope for Nonbelievers... A Clear Compendium... Blurred Borders... Appalled... Baffled... and more