How did I go from being a devout Catholic to being an evangelical Protestant? It all revolves around what the reformers called “sola scriptura.”
After my new birth experience, I had no plans to leave the Catholic Church. In fact, it was quite the opposite. Since I grew up in the church, I knew a lot about it. I had believed its teachings and followed its traditions for most of my life. I had seen it transition from using Latin during the Mass (which I had to memorize as an altar boy) to the use of the common language of the people. I had been a part of implementing other changes after the Second Vatican Council, many of which were moving in a good direction. Actually, my involvement in the church increased over the next two or three years as I helped to lead music at what were called guitar Masses, an attempt to blend the music of the Seventies with the traditional Mass. I taught children in the Catholic version of Sunday School. So then, what happened that led me to depart from the church I had known and served for most of my life?
Putting the Bible in the hands of common people fueled the movement called the Protestant Reformation more than anything else.
The Catholic Church had long kept that book in the hands of the Church hierarchy and veiled in the Latin language. When it became available to the masses thanks to the courage of translators, who sometimes gave their lives to do this service, and the wonderful timing of the introduction of the printing press, people began to read the Bible for themselves. They saw discrepancies between what the Bible teaches and Church doctrine and practice. Basically this is what happened to me as well.
One of the rallying cries of the Protestant Reformation was “sola scriptura.” This Latin phrase contains three major ideas: 1) The scriptures have the deciding authority in the church and believer’s life, 2) the scriptures are sufficient for salvation, and 3) the scriptures are clear enough to be understood by the average person.
The Roman Catholic Church taught that the authority of the bishops and Pope (the magisterium) could overrule the Scriptures. Only the bishops and Pope could properly interpret the Bible; therefore, their decisions regarding what it meant overruled what anyone else might think. They introduced extrabibical doctrines and practices, such as the Mass, the Immaculate Conception, the Assumption of Mary, purgatory, holy days of obligation, and indulgences. Until the invention of the printing press, most common people were not able to read the Bible in their own language, putting them at the mercy of church teachers, who sometimes hid, twisted, or flatly contradicted the meaning.
Sola scriptura meant that the people could turn directly to the Bible without going through the mediation of the Roman Catholic Church.
Secondly, the Bible teaches that we are saved simply by believing what the Bible teaches, especially regarding faith in our Lord. Over the centuries, the Roman Catholic Church introduced several other “necessary” ingredients, which kept people dependent on the church as the mediator between them and God. This “adding” to the gospel is clearly condemned in the Bible.
Sola scriptura meant that people no longer needed to use the church to get to God. He was directly accessible to them.
Thirdly, even though some scriptures are difficult to understand, even for trained interpreters, the general meaning and teaching of the Bible can be understood by the average person, even a child.
Sola scriptura meant that ordinary people were empowered and encouraged to read, study, and understand what the Bible teaches.
People no longer had to depend on a church hierarchy to understand the Bible. The Holy Spirit could teach them.
But you have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives within you, so you don’t need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know, and what he teaches is true—it is not a lie. So just as he has taught you, remain in fellowship with Christ. 1 John 2:27 (NLT) —
One of the marks of a born again believer is a hunger to read, study, understand, and obey the teachings of the Bible.
Jesus said:
Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. 32 And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31–32 (NLT) —
One of the major hurdles that every believer faces is whether or not the Word of God will have complete authority in his or her life. I personally faced this test not long after becoming a Christian, in maybe about a year. When I first was born again, all I really knew was that Jesus is God’s Son, who died for me and rose from the dead. I still had a lot of confusion about other things because I did not know what the Bible said yet. But I kept reading and studying it. I remember wrestling with the decision of whether to submit completely to its instruction and commands. Maybe for some this would be a “no brainer,” but, for a Catholic, it is a big deal. In a sense, I had to overcome what some call brainwashing.
If I were to accept the Bible as my greatest authority, I would have to reject some of the Church’s teachings and its authority in my life. Yes, this was a big deal! To walk away from the church was to turn my back on what I had been taught all my life would enable me to go to heaven. It would mean I would put all my eggs in the basket of trusting simply in what the Bible teaches and in what Jesus did for me when he died and rose again. It would mean that I would no longer depend on the Roman Catholic Church for anything. A big step… one that some are not willing to take.
Jesus warned the Jewish hierarchy of his day, the equivalent of the Roman Catholic magisterium, that they were guilty of nullifying the clear teaching of God’s Word in favor of their religious traditions. (Mark 7:13) He warned them that the scriptures cannot be altered. (John 10:35) In fact, Jesus is the divine Logos, the eternal word of God. (John 1:1, 14) To invalidate the Bible in favor of religious tradition is the worst sort of idolatry. Instead we are to trust completely the promises of God, which are sufficient to save us. Abraham is a clear example. God promised that he would have innumerable descendants when he was a childless old man. He took God at his word, and Bible says that God put him into a right relationship (justified) with him. (Genesis 15:6) Simple faith is what saves us, faith in the gospel announcement that Jesus died for our sins and rose again as Lord of Lords. (Galatians 2:16)
Jesus taught, even rejoiced in the fact, that God reveals his Word to common people.
At that time Jesus said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. 26 “Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight. Matthew 11:25–26 (NASB95) —
Jesus broke the power of the hierarchy to control access to God’s truth in his day, he did it again during the Reformation, and he is still working.
He warned the Jewish leaders that he knew what they were doing.
What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you shut the door of the Kingdom of Heaven in people’s faces. You won’t go in yourselves, and you don’t let others enter either. Matthew 23:13 (NLT) —
After studying the Bible and praying, I, like many others over the centuries, began to see clearly how the Roman Catholic Church had established traditions and doctrines that run contrary to God’s Word. To remain in that Church would require me to turn my back on the authority of the Bible in favor of the authority of Church tradition and the Pope, something I could not do. As Martin Luther famously said when he stood trial before the Church, “Here I stand. I cannot do otherwise. God help me. Amen.”
