As I prepared to write an article this past week, I saw a quote which resulted in the original topic being put on the shelf, and this article about the true gospel being penned instead. The quote comes from an essay entitled “Ecclesial Deism,” written by Bryan Cross, a former Protestant who converted to Catholicism. In his essay, he wrote:
The Mormons believed that the true gospel was recovered in the early nineteenth century by Joseph Smith. I believed, as a Reformed Protestant, that the true gospel was recovered in the early sixteenth century by Martin Luther.
In his essay, Cross speaks of a pair of Mormons whom he shared a study with. In the course of their discussion, he realized that his position as a Protestant differed very little from them with regard to the early church having suffered an apostasy so great that the truth of God was lost. They differed slightly on the time of the departure; Mormons believing it was near the time of the last apostle’s death. Protestants do not go back that far, but rather to the 5th century AD. The Protestants have no confidence in the post-500 AD church fathers and councils. Mormons likely find all the church fathers, even those in the second century to be suspect. It was in these men and their documents that the gospel was presumably lost. As noted in the quote above, the Protestants and Mormons also differ on the details of the recovery. Other than these details, their positions are essentially parallel.
Having converted to Catholicism, Cross no longer holds that the church fathers or their councils caused a great apostasy to happen. He skilfully shows the fallacy of the Protestant rejection of the church fathers and councils that he once rejected himself. Drawing on the reasoning of Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, it is shown that what some call “traditional Christian orthodoxy” is not grounded in the pre-500 AD councils. Protestants will pick and choose portions of these early councils, for they do not agree with all that was given. The standard that Mohler and his colleagues in Protestantism claim is simply a figment of their imaginations. They’d be better off and consistent if they sided with the Mormons, and rejected all the church fathers & councils.
So, what am I saying? That the Catholic church is correct? Not at all, just that Cross is absolutely correct about the error of the Protestant movement in this regard. The true gospel was not lost, as the Mormons and the Protestants affirm. And if it was not lost, there was no need for it to be recovered by Luther or Smith. Both men, though perhaps intending to lead people away from error and to truth, led folks to a different form of error.
The Bible does speak of an apostasy. Paul wrote:
Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4)
The Bible speaks of this falling away, but it says nothing of the gospel being lost in any way. The gospel has continued since it was first given. It has not ceased, nor has it’s power diminished. Mr. Cross contends that the message has been preserved and perpetuated by the Catholic church. In fact, he affirms that were it not for the Church we’d “have no basis for believing that the Church got the canon right.”
The Catholic church did not give us the Bible. The Old Testament canon had been established long before the coming of Christ. Evidence reveals that the New Testament canon was accepted well before the Catholic church finally came to a consensus on what was Scripture and what was not. It was not until the council of Trent (1546 AD) that a precise articulation was made.
By the end of the second century AD, men such as Turtullian and Clement of Alexandria had made reference to almost every New Testament book in their own writing, which reveals how widespread the New Testament books were, and indicates that they were accepted as inspired. By the middle of the 3rd century (250 AD), Origen had catalogued all 27 New Testament books.
The Catholics will claim the work of these men as their own, but these men were not Catholics. The Catholic church as we know it did not begin until about 606 AD. Jesus promised to build His church (Matthew 16:18), not the Catholic church. The Bible reveals Jesus’ church, and it looks nothing like the Catholics.
Remember the text from 2 Thessalonians which spoke of the man of sin? That is where the Catholic church fits into the picture. The great apostasy that the Mormons and Protestants concern themselves with was in fact the Catholic church. They are right to not trust the councils and “church fathers” found between the age of the apostles and the falling away into Catholicism. It took centuries for the falling away to come to fruition – a change here, a change there. The Catholic church today is the result of centuries of tradition mixed with a little bit of Scripture. It is no more the church Jesus built than any start-up denomination is.
The true gospel was not recovered near Palmyra, NY by Joseph Smith in the early 19th century. Neither did Martin Luther recover the true gospel when he nailed his 95 thesis to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenburg, Germany. Further, the true gospel was not preserved by the Catholic church by means of their church fathers & councils. The gospel was revealed by God to the apostles and prophets, and has been preserved by God since that time. Man need not be concerned that the true gospel has or will cease, God has it kept secure. Peter said the true gospel is
..the word of God which lives and abides forever, because ‘All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers and its flower falls away, but the word of the LORD endures forever.’ Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you. (1 Peter 1:23-25)
We need to concern ourselves with obeying the message which God has preserved. Don’t be a Mormon, don’t be a Protestant, don’t be a Catholic – simply be a Christian. These others do not fulfill, but depart from the true gospel.
Links: YouVersion | GROW magazine
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