Why Be Catholic and Not Just Christian? From Fr. Mike Schmitz
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There are many similarities and differences between the Catholic Church and the Protestant denominations. Fr. Mike Schmitz narrows the differences down to one thing that sets Catholicism apart from other Christian Churches.
What’s the Main Difference Between the Catholic Church and Any Protestant Denominations or Non-Catholic Churches?
Fr. Mike answers, “Authority.”
He says, “Many of us don’t like authority. We’re like ‘Blah, authority! That doesn’t sit right with me.’ I would say this: The Church can teach us. They teach authoritatively. The Church can teach us in the name of Jesus, in the power of the Holy Spirit, and in the glory of God the Father. Authority means that the Church can tell us, ‘This is true, and this is not true.’ The Church can establish doctrine.”
Authority Is Visible
Fr. Mike goes on to say, “I’m not talking about some invisible kind of universal body of believers. I’m talking about the Church that Jesus himself founded back in Matthew chapter 16.
Jesus looks at Simon and says, ‘Simon, your name is now Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.’ Jesus goes on to say, “I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven.'”
“Now, here’s the interesting thing that you may or may not know,” Fr. Mike says.
“Jesus came to establish the kingdom, right? But it’s not an invisible kingdom. Why?
Because when he says to Peter, ‘I give you the keys to the kingdom,’ he’s referencing the Book of the Prophet Isaiah. In Isaiah, there’s the king obviously, but there’s also the prime minister, the one who is the overseer. When the king is gone, this person is in charge. This person has the authority of the king. It says that in Isaiah chapter 22. And it’s almost word for word what Jesus gives Peter, the keys to the kingdom of heaven. He gives the Church, a visible structure and an actual hierarchy.
Jesus says you can teach now. Teach in my name. The Holy Spirit will lead you to all truth. And this is exactly what happens.”
Authority Answers Important Questions
Explaining the importance of authority further, Fr. Mike explains, “The Apostles were called to bring the Gospel to non-Jews. This is amazing and good because if I am a non-Jew, I get to be brought into the people of God. With this evangelization, though, the question came up: in order to be brought into the fulfillment of the New Covenant, do Gentiles first have to be circumcised, and then be baptized? Or can they just be baptized?
Now you can see at least two ways why this would be a very important question.
- If you were an adult Gentile man, this would be a big question he would want answered, ‘Do I have to do this? Or is this kind of optional?’
- Even more importantly, if I need to get circumcised to get baptized, and I’m not, that means I’m not saved. ‘Do we have to do this in order to be saved?’ That is a big question.
The problem is, Jesus never taught about that. The Bible never teaches about this. This is the problem with a thing called ‘Sola Scriptura,’ or ‘Bible Alone.’ One of the pillars of the Reformation was the idea of ‘Bible Alone,’ or ‘Scripture Alone.’ The idea is that you don’t need the Church. You only need the Bible.”
What About When the Bible Does Not Teach Something?
What do we do in times like these? Fr. Mike answers, “Well, in Acts chapter 15, the Apostles came together. Again, I’m not saying this was a loose, invisible Church. This is a structured Church. Those Apostles, the people that Jesus himself called, got together. They discussed, debated, and prayed. And then they decided.
They said, ‘It seems to the Holy Spirit, and to us, that we should not impose this on Gentiles. They do not have to be circumcised to be baptized.’
In that moment, you can see that the visible Church, the structure of the Church, governance of the Church, has the ability to teach. And not just to teach, but to teach definitively, not merely optionally.”
Authority Resolves Heresies
This is not the only time the Church has had to do this, Fr. Mike, explains. He says, “It comes together again and again and again. People pick up the Bible, and they say, ‘Well, I’ve come to the conclusion that Jesus is not really human. He only looked like a human.’ That was a heresy called Docetism. It was one of the earliest heresies. It suggested that Jesus was fully God, but he was not fully man.
The Church, the physical hierarchy of the Church, came together and said, ‘That’s incorrect.’ Then other people came along and said, ‘Well, he’s fully human, but maybe he’s only partly God.’ That’s another heresy: Arianism.
Again, the Church came together at the Council of Nicaea 325. They said, ‘No, Jesus is fully God and fully man.’ Two natures, human and divine, in one divine person. Now, every Christian in the world believes that.”
Every Christian in the World Believes the Catholic Church Has the Authority to Teach
Fr. Mike says, “Whether they admit it or not, every single Christian in the world believes that the Catholic Church has the authority to teach. Every Christian who believes in the Trinity believes in it because of the authority of the Catholic Church.
People believe these doctrines because the Church came together at the Council of Nicaea, the Council of Constantinople, and all the other Church Councils, and declared the truth.”
Why Be Catholic?
Fr. Mike ends his discussion by bringing it back to why we should be Catholic. “You have 30,000+ denominations of Christianity in the United States. That is because someone picks up the Bible and says, ‘Oh, here’s what I think.’ Someone else picks it up, ‘No, no, no, here’s what I think.’
That is one of the reasons why G.K. Chesterton said he was Catholic. He said, ‘I don’t need a church that can tell me when I’m right. I need a Church that will tell me when I’m wrong.’
So if someone asks you, ‘What’s the big difference between the Catholic Church and all the non-Catholic Christian denominations?’
I would say, ‘I think it comes down to authority.'”
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