Book Review: Are We Together? #RomanCatholicism

Are We Together? A Protestant Analyzes Roman Catholicism. By R.C. Sproul. Sanford, Florida: Reformation Trust Publishing. pp. 125. 2012. ($17.00 Hardcover)

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Five Stars | Highly Recommended!

The Roman Catholic Church claims more than one billion adherents. As a Protestant, that’s not something I can overlook. Are we all of one faith, with our own particular differences and idiosyncrasies, but a common gospel? The Reformers who birthed Protestantism came to the conclusion that Rome had departed from the biblical gospel. Are things different today?

R.C. Sproul sets out to answer that question with his book Are We Together? A Protestant Analyzes Roman Catholicism. It’s no surprise that Sproul doesn’t think we are together, and each of his chapters address the six main points of difference between Protestantism and Roman Catholicism. This is probably his biggest service to readers, focusing on the main issues and not addressing each and every point of difference ad nauseum.

His chapters are:

1. Scripture
2. Justification
3. The Church
4. The Sacraments
5. The Papacy
6. Mary

It is in the chapter on Mary (which was also the most interesting chapter) that Sproul summarizes the greatest difference between the Roman Catholic Church and Protestantism:

The biggest issue in the whole Mariology debate is the sufficiency of Christ. In truth, this is the issue with Roman Catholic theology from beginning to end. It is the issue with Rome’s doctrine of Scripture, its doctrine of justification, and even here, with its doctrine of Mary. Is Christ alone our perfect sacrifice? Does He offer Himself for the sins of His people or is He offered by His mother? Does He alone achieve our redemption or does He have to depend upon the cooperation of His mother? Protestants believe that Christ alone is our justification. (p.115)

It is vitally important that Protestants like myself really understand what the sufficiency of Christ really means and how this differs from Roman Catholic teaching. Although any random person who self-identifies as Roman Catholic may or may not know or believe the official doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church, Protestants should be aware of what they themselves believe. This is a good introduction to this very important issue, and I highly recommend it, especially for those who work with and minister to those who claim to follow Rome.

I received this book from the publisher for purposes of review.

Cipriano de Valera: A Spanish Reformer, Part 5

This is the fifth post in a series. Access prior posts below:

Cipriano de Valera: A Spanish Reformer, Part 1 published September 20, 2011

A Forgotten Reformer (sbcIMPACT!) published September 23, 2011

Cipriano de Valera: A Spanish Reformer, Part 2 published September 27, 2011

Cipriano de Valera: A Spanish Reformer, Part 3 published October 6, 2011

Cipriano de Valera: A Spanish Reformer, Part 4 published October 12, 2011

Cipriano de Valera, the great Spanish reformer and editor of the 1602 Reina-Valera translation of the Bible, made changes to Casiodoro de Reina’s 1559 translation regarding the apocrypha:

In relation to the order of the sacred books Valera introduced an improvement into Reina's Bible, for he distributed them again into two parts, those which had been translated from the Hebrew, and the apocryphal books, which had been translated out of Greek or Latin; whilst Reina following the Septuagint and the Vulgate had mingled the protocanonical with the deuterocanonical books… Nor did Valera admit marginal references to the apocrypha. (155).[1]

Early editions of various translations of the Bible into modern languages typically contained the apocrypha, which Roman Catholics prefer to call the deuterocanonical books since apocrypha doesn’t mean “hidden” so much anymore as it means “false”.

The apocrypha were never considered part of God’s inspired writings. When Jerome set about translating the Latin Vulgate he was at first hesitant to include them but was finally persuaded by Augustine. That’s not to say they believed the writings were inspired by God. Actually, Jerome noted that they were not, and Augustine criticized an opponent for having so poor an argument as to have to appeal to the apocrypha for support.

It wasn’t until the Council of Trent, partially as a response to Martin Luther and the growing Protestant Reformation, that the Roman Catholic Church officially added the apocrypha to the canon of Scripture. Some important Roman Catholic practices doctrines, such as purgatory and prayers for the dead, are founded on passages from the apocrypha.

Cipriano de Valera, like other Reformers, recognized the value of the apocrypha for historical and cultural information from the period between the Testaments leading up to the birth of Christ. But they also recognized that these works were not inspired by God. Valera intentionally kept these books distinct.

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[1] Boehmer, Edward & Benjamin B. Wiffen. (1904). Bibliotheca Wiffeniana: Spanish Reformers of Two Centuries from 1520. Karl J. Trübner: Strassburg. Google Books. Digitized May 15, 2008.

Cipriano de Valera: A Spanish Reformer, Part 2

This is the second post in a series. Access prior posts below:

Cipriano de Valera: A Spanish Reformer, Part 1 published September 20, 2011

Apart from the Reina-Valera Bible (1602) and his one-volume work Two Treatises on the Pope and on the Mass (1588), it appears his third most popular work was A Treatise to Confirm the Captives of Barbary (1594). The short biography I found on Valera had this to say about it:

In 1594 he printed a treatise addressed to the Spanish prisoners in Berbery, among whom there had been an evangelical revival. Valera, wishing to strengthen their faith against Popery [Roman Catholicism] and Mahometanism [Islam], expounds to them the doctrine of the Bible, and also refers to the three œcumenical symbols. He exhorts them to show a model life to the heathens. And pray for Spain, he says at the end. (153).

During this time Spain was under constant threat both from the Ottoman Empire and from Barbary (or Berbery) Pirates. Some Spaniards had been captured by the Muslims and Valera heard of their plight. He wrote to them to encourage them in the midst of their current suffering at the hands of both the Papists and Islamists.

The three ecumenical symbols Valera refers to are the Apostles’ Creed (called simply “the Creed”), the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed. This section of his letter deals with Trinitarian themes and he calls them to appropriate the faith as their own, unlike their enemies who simply state “we believe what the Church believes” without really knowing or holding to such doctrines.

As I looked for the reference about praying for Spain I became enamored with Valera’s writing. It reminds me of the language of Paul’s letters and Peter’s letters—due largely in part because it is dripping with Scripture. His language is both beautiful and surprisingly easy to translate. I’ve not found an English translation, so I translated it myself:

Pray for our Spain and principally for the king and for all those who have [charge over] the government of the republic, that God give them the grace to read and meditate on the Holy Scripture, without knowledge of which it is impossible for them (as by the same Scripture and by the ancient doctors we have already sufficiently covered) to do their duty, nor for their subjects to be well-governed in the true fear of God: pray also for me. …

I truly remember you in my prayers, asking the Father of mercies to add to your faith, give you patience in your afflictions and captivity, make you firm in the confession of His name, and enrich you with His spiritual gifts, so that when the Lord comes to judge the living and the dead He might find you as such, having made you as such, saying: Come, blessed of my Father, possess the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

To the one who, with the Father and with the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns eternally, be glory and honor forever. Amen.

[translation, paragraphing, and minor punctuation mine]

Had the Reformation caught on in Spain I have no doubt that we would be reading his writings just as much as those of Calvin, Luther, and others. It is my hope that as more Hispanics come to faith in Christ they will develop a holy curiosity about their faith heritage. As they study and learn, they will write and share. And who knows? Perhaps in our day we may see the English speaking peoples introduced to these forgotten Reformers who were willing to lose everything for the sake of gaining Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Resources:

I have a longer section of the Valera’s treatise translated into English on sbcIMPACT!

Sources:

Boehmer, Edward & Benjamin B. Wiffen. (1904). Bibliotheca Wiffeniana: Spanish Reformers of Two Centuries from 1520. Karl J. Trübner: Strassburg. Google Books. Digitized May 15, 2008.

Cipriano de Valera. (1854). Tratado para Confirmar en la Fe Cristiana a los Cautivos de Berbería. Reformistas Antiguos Españoles, Tomo VIII. I.R. Baroja. Google Books. Digitized Jul 3, 2008.

Image credit.

Would Luther Find this Humorous?

“The papists, it has been observed, reckon Luther the beast of the Apocalypse, and have seriously endeavoured to discover in his name the famous mystical number—666.”

Luther, Martin. (1862). The Life of Luther written by Himself. Trans. William Hazlitt. Ed. Jules Michelet. H.G. Bohn: London. Google Books. Digitized Oct 24, 2007. Pg. 4.

Cipriano de Valera: A Spanish Reformer, Part 1

I’ve looked in vain for a decent and thorough biography of Cipriano de Valera. Valera was a Spanish Reformer, a contemporary of Martin Luther and John Calvin. Unfortunately, the Reformation never caught on in Spain like it did in Germany, Switzerland, England, and elsewhere. As such, much of the history of Spanish Reformers has been neglected in modern works.

Yet the Reina-Valera translation of the Bible stands as the most popular Spanish Bible translation today. Cipriano de Valera served as its chief editor after his good friend Casiodoro de Reina passed away.

Though I know little and am still in pursuit of a descent biography, I felt it worth sharing what little I could find through GoogleBooks.

A theologian of Seville, Pedro de Fuentidueña, had said in a sermon which he delivered before the members of the Tridentine Council, that the protestant heretics sought to subvert the two pillars of the church, viz. the mass and the Pope. Valera did his best to merit this reproach. (152, emphasis mine).

Valera, like Luther, recognized the abuses in the Catholic Church and sought both to identify them and call people to the true faith, not just empty practice. To do this, he adamantly opposed the absolute authority of the Pope. One quote I found from his work “Two Treatises on the Pope and on the Mass,” should give you a feel for why Pedro de Fuentidueña leveled this charge against the Protestants:

“Money is the Holy Spirit that elects the Pope.”

Though the Reformers first set out to reform the Catholic Church, it became apparent quite early on that such a reformation would not be permitted. As such, they had to choose between bowing to the ecclesiastical structures or to their convictions based on the Bible as their sole authority. Praise God they went with conviction!

Boehmer, Edward & Benjamin B. Wiffen. (1904). Bibliotheca Wiffeniana: Spanish Reformers of Two Centuries from 1520. Karl J. Trübner: Strassburg. Google Books. Digitized May 15, 2008.

Image credit.