Updated June 20, 2000
Back to Defenders... Back to Home Page.
Yep, they sure did:
Here is a listing of things
the Catholic Church has done for ALL
Christians...
No Matter which Church you belong to, you cannot deny that the
doctrines which YOU use, and some which you refuse to use, were handed down by
infallible decisions made by the
Catholic Church.
The Canon, or list of inspired books of the Old
Testament was debated in several Church Councils, and by infallible decision by
the Catholic Church, was finalized in 397 in the
Council of Carthage. Forty-six books were listed as inspired. These same 46
books are in all Catholic Bibles today.
The Canon of the New Testament was debated in several Church Councils, and by an
infallible decision made by the Catholic Church at
the same Council of Carthage in 397, the 27 books included in ALL Bibles today
were finalized.
The Doctrine of the Holy Trinity was decided at the Council of Nicea I in 325.
Jesus Christ, being GOD, was declared equal to the Father and to the Holy
Spirit. An infallible decision was made by the Catholic
Church on a subject that almost all fundamentalists accept today, yet is
NOT defined in Holy Scripture. The doctrine is manifested in the Nicene
Creed:
"We believe in one GOD, the Father
Almighty, creator of Heaven and earth, of all things both visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of GOD, born of the Father
before all time; light from light, true GOD from true GOD; begotten, not
created, consubstantial with the Father; through Him all things were made. For
the sake of us men and for our salvation, He came down from Heaven, and was made
flesh by the Holy Spirit from the Virgin Mary, and became man; and He was
crucified for our sake under Pontius Pilate, suffered, died, and was buried. And
on the third day He arose according to the Scriptures; He ascended into Heaven,
sits at the right hand of the Father, and is going to come again in glory to
judge the living and the dead. His reign will have no end. We believe in the
Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life; He proceeds from the Father and the
son, is adored and honored together with the Father and the Son; He spoke
through the prophets. We believe in ONE, HOLY,
CATHOLIC, and APOSTOLIC Church. We profess one
baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We expect the resurrection of the dead and
the life of the world to come. Amen."
Sola Scriptura
believers, please show me the verse which defines the
'Holy Trinity'.
The Primacy of the Bishop of
Rome, (the Western Church), is affirmed as being over the Primacy of the Bishop
of Constantinople, (the Eastern Church). This decision is spelled out in Canon
3, of the
First Council of Constantinople in 381.
I have included this
one because Protestants insist that the Bishop of Rome was never given primacy
in the Catholic Church.
The Blessed Virgin Mary is declared Ever Virgin and the
Mother of GOD at the Catholic Council of Ephesus in 431. This is another
infallible decision made by the Catholic Church.
In the Council of Chalcedon in 451, Jesus Christ is defined as one person with
two natures, one divine and one human.
The Virgin Birth is defined and
affirmed.
"By not being pupils of truth, they turn out to be masters of
error."
A great one-liner from this council...
The Second Council of Constantinople in 553 declared, a reaffirmation of the
doctrine of the Holy Trinity, that Jesus Christ was not two persons, but one
with two natures, that Jesus Christ is GOD, the second person of the Holy
Trinity, that Blessed Mary is ever virgin and that she is the Mother of GOD.
The defense of Tradition of the Church, whether written or oral, was a firm
commitment in the Council of Nicea II in 787. It was affirmed that Church
Tradition came from the Holy Spirit and must be preserved and perpetuated.
Anyone found to be not perpetuating Tradition...'Let him be Anathema'.
The Catholic Church
was affirmed to be 'without blemish or wrinkle'. Eph
5:27
Holy images of Jesus Christ, the Blessed Virgin GOD Bearer,
Angels, and Saints are to be displayed in the Churches.
These decrees from
the only Christian Church in existence at the time, came over 700 years before
the start of protestantism.
The Fourth Council of Constantinople in 869-870, under canon #1, stated to keep
the declarations and teachings of the Holy Fathers. 'We will preserve the
Traditions which we have received, either by WORD, or by LETTER'.
Canon #2
stated, 'Obey your leaders, for they are keeping watch over your
souls'.
Canon #3 said, 'Icons should be honored and venerated'.
So here
again, the Catholic Church decreed to keep the traditions, as St. Paul had taught us in
2Thess 2:15
The Council of Trent called in 1545, in response to the protestant
reformation, reaffirmed that the Deuterocanonical books were inspired, and will
remain in the Canon of the Old
Testament where they had been for over 1500 years.
Contrary to what
Protestants charge, these books were in the Septuagint (100 B.C.), and the Latin
Vulgate, and remain today in all Catholic bibles, and are now even in some King James bibles.
This
Council decreed, "If anyone does not receive the entire books with all their
parts as they are accustomed to be read in the Catholic Church, and in the old Latin
Vulgate edition, as sacred and canonical...let him be anathema."
They
were NOT ADDED by this Council, but were
merely reaffirmed as canonical.
Back to Defenders... Back to Home Page.