The Council of Trent

The Council of Trent brought about a permanent division between the Roman Church and Protestantism. It established a definitive dogma concerning salvation. In Daniel 8 it is said that the sanctuary would be cast down by the antichrist. The truth itself would be attacked, and the Jezebel of Revelation 2 would not repent. Here we wish to give a brief overview of Catholicism as it stands in opposition to Protestantism.

Justification

The chief foundation of Protestantism is justification by faith. It is precisely at this point that the dividing line lies between the Reformation and Catholicism. The question is what justification and faith exactly mean. Let us first give an overview of how the Roman Church sees this. We quote the Council of Trent:

“This disposition, or preparation, is followed by Justification itself, which is not remission of sins merely, but also the sanctification and renewal of the inward man, through the voluntary reception of the grace, and of the gifts, whereby man of unjust becomes just, and of an enemy a friend, that so he may be an heir according to hope of life everlasting.”

“lastly, the alone formal cause is the justice of God, not that whereby He Himself is just, but that whereby He maketh us just, that, to wit, with which we being endowed by Him, are renewed in the spirit of our mind, and we are not only reputed, but are truly called, and are, just, receiving justice within us, each one according to his own measure, which the Holy Ghost distributes to every one as He wills, and according to each one’s proper disposition and co-operation. For, although no one can be just, but he to whom the merits of the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ are communicated, yet is this done in the said justification of the impious, when by the merit of that same most holy Passion, the charity of God is poured forth, by the Holy Spirit, in the hearts of those that are justified, and is inherent therein: whence, man, through Jesus Christ, in whom he is ingrafted, receives, in the said justification, together with the remission of sins, all these (gifts) infused at once, faith, hope, and charity.”

In this view, justification is indeed by grace and by God, but it is understood as something that happens within the Christian. A change takes place in the person, and that in itself is justification. We are justified by a work that happens in us.

The classical Protestants believed that justification is the imputation of the righteousness of Jesus. His personal righteousness is placed to our account. Although this brings about a change in our heart, that inner change is not justification itself. It is a purely judicial concept. This is the picture Paul seems to draw when we simply accept the language as it stands.

Luke appears to give an idea of justification that is not about what happens in someone, but about how someone is regarded.

Luke 7:29
When all the people heard this, and the tax collectors too, they declared God just, having been baptized with the baptism of John.

God was already righteous, yet He was acknowledged as righteous by these people. So we too are regarded as righteous, by grace and through faith. That is what justification entails; it has nothing to do with what has happened within us.

Romans 4:3–8
3. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.”
4. Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due.
5. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness,
6. just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:
7. “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered;
8. blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”

Philippians 3:8–9
8. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ

9. and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.

The righteousness from the law also includes what the Holy Spirit works in us, but it is not what justifies us.

Romans 8:4
in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

In the heavenly sanctuary, at the altar of incense, it is portrayed that Jesus takes our place. He stands there as Mediator to present our prayers and our connection with God before the Father as our Representative. Through Him it is a pleasing aroma, through His personal righteousness as He is in heaven.

Human Corruption

Another point of difference is how far the corruption of man extends and whether sin is present in our good works because of the flesh. Is the desire toward sin in itself condemnable for the Christian if it does not fall under the imputed righteousness of Christ? The more serious the situation is seen, the more we feel our need for a High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary.

Let us again quote the Council of Trent:

“If any one denies, that, by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is conferred in baptism, the guilt of original sin is remitted; or even asserts that the whole of that which has the true and proper nature of sin is not taken away; but says that it is only rased, or not imputed; let him be anathema. For, in those who are born again, there is nothing that God hates; because, There is no condemnation to those who are truly buried together with Christ by baptism into death; who walk not according to the flesh, but, putting off the old man, and putting on the new who is created according to God, are made innocent, immaculate, pure, harmless, and beloved of God, heirs indeed of God, but joint heirs with Christ; so that there is nothing whatever to retard their entrance into heaven. But this holy synod confesses and is sensible, that in the baptized there remains concupiscence, or an incentive (to sin); which, whereas it is left for our exercise, cannot injure those who consent not, but resist manfully by the grace of Jesus Christ; yea, he who shall have striven lawfully shall be crowned. This concupiscence, which the apostle sometimes calls sin, the holy Synod declares that the Catholic Church has never understood it to be called sin, as being truly and properly sin in those born again, but because it is of sin, and inclines to sin.”

Catholicism therefore teaches that the inclinations and desires toward sin are not in themselves sin for a Christian. A born-again Christian would no longer truly have this within himself. It is not merely that it is not imputed, but according to this doctrine it is no longer present in the proper sense. The sinful desires that remain would not make the Christian guilty. The blood of Christ would not need to cover this.

The classical Protestants believed that the Christian does have desires that may be called sin and that these require the righteousness of Christ to be covered. Over these we must repent as Christians; this produces a broken heart. Thus every good work we do is still stained. We can do good works, but not without blemish. Christ Himself must stand in the heavenly sanctuary to present these good works before God. Trent denies this.

Romans 7:7–8, 23–24
7. What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”
8. But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead.
23. but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.
24. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?

The Lord’s Supper

Much could be said about the Lord’s Supper or the Eucharist, but we will limit ourselves to the mass. We again quote the Council of Trent:

“And forasmuch as, in this divine sacrifice which is celebrated in the mass, that same Christ is contained and immolated in an unbloody manner, who once offered Himself in a bloody manner on the altar of the cross; the holy Synod teaches, that this sacrifice is truly propritiatory and that by means thereof this is effected, that we obtain mercy, and find grace in seasonable aid, if we draw nigh unto God, contrite and penitent, with a sincere heart and upright faith, with fear and reverence. For the Lord, appeased by the oblation thereof, and granting the grace and gift of penitence, forgives even heinous crimes and sins. For the victim is one and the same, the same now offering by the ministry of priests, who then offered Himself on the cross, the manner alone of offering being different. The fruits indeed of which oblation, of that bloody one to wit, are received most plentifully through this unbloody one; so far is this (latter) from derogating in any way from that (former oblation). Wherefore, not only for the sins, punishments, satisfactions, and other necessities of the faithful who are living, but also for those who are departed in Christ, and who are not as yet fully purified, is it rightly offered, agreebly to a tradition of the apostles.”

Thus Christ is offered in an unbloody manner for propitiation and for the satisfaction of punishment. In Catholic theology this does not concern eternal punishment, but a temporal punishment that must be paid here or in purgatory. According to this teaching, not all punishment was removed in the one bloody sacrifice on the cross, but Christ must be offered repeatedly for what remains.

Even if it is acknowledged that Christ was offered once in a bloody manner for eternal punishment, this still appears to stand in direct contradiction to the spirit of the New Testament. Catholics do not see the Eucharist merely as a thank offering or as a symbol of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, but as a propitiatory sacrifice in itself.

Hebrews 7:26–28
26. For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.
27. He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself.
28. For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever.

Hebrews 9:24–28
24. For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.
25. Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own,
26. for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
27. And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,
28. so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

We have spoken elsewhere about purgatory itself and will not go into it more deeply. It takes away from the glory of Jesus’ sacrifice and causes man partly to rely on a sacrifice that only the priest can offer here, on our own works or those of others as satisfaction for sin, and on the fear of a purgatory.

The Bible

The Bible is the Bread of Life. It reveals Jesus in all His fullness. In the time of Jesus there were already people who wanted to subject Scripture and its interpretation to themselves or to their institution. The Jews did this with the Old Testament.

Matthew 15:1–9
1. Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said,
2. “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat.”
3. He answered them, “And Why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?

4. For God commanded, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’
5. But you say, ‘If anyone tells his father or his mother, “What you would have gained from me is given to God,”
6. he need not honor his father.’ So for the sake of your tradition you have made void the word of God.
7. You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said:
8. ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me;
9. in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”

These rules were not always bad in themselves and sometimes even seemed good.

Colossians 2:20–23
20. If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations—
21. “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch”
22. (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings?
23. These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.

Thus the Holy Spirit of Scripture was subjected to the authority of a man or a human institution. Scripture was mixed with human traditions that were presented as divine.

The Council of Trent says:

“Furthermore, in order to restrain petulant spirits, It decrees, that no one, relying on his own skill, shall,–in matters of faith, and of morals pertaining to the edification of Christian doctrine, –wresting the sacred Scripture to his own senses, presume to interpret the said sacred Scripture contrary to that sense which holy mother Church,–whose it is to judge of the true sense and interpretation of the holy Scriptures,–hath held and doth hold; or even contrary to the unanimous consent of the Fathers; even though such interpretations were never (intended) to be at any time published. Contraveners shall be made known by their Ordinaries, and be punished with the penalties by law established.”

By “holy mother Church” is not meant the spiritual church, with the New Jerusalem as the mother city of us all, but the church of Rome as represented by the pope and his cardinals. Thus the interpretation and meaning of the Bible are subjected to human authorities. The agreement of the church fathers, who individually according to Catholicism can err, is suddenly treated as infallible.

The institution of the church must be respected in such a way that every criticism and discussion is excluded.

Classical Protestantism holds to the principle of Sola Scriptura. The Bible alone is the infallible standard for faith. Other authorities may provide insight and may sometimes be respected, but they can never bind the conscience. These other authorities are never infallible or spotless.

The Holy Spirit interprets Scripture, and it is the responsibility of the individual to receive the light he has been given. Although not everything is immediately clear and a person himself may make mistakes, God leads him where necessary, as long as he sincerely builds upon the Rock, the Word of God.

These are some of the points on which Protestantism and Catholicism differ. We could elaborate further by speaking about baptism, original sin, the papacy, the veneration of saints, and the veneration of images. This is only a small glimpse into some of the most important differences.

We see how the heavenly sanctuary is trampled underfoot and the atonement undergoes a compromise.