1. Last month (July 2007) Pope Benedict XVI reasserted what the RCC refers to as “the universal primacy of the Roman Catholic Church.”
2. What the RCC means by this is they claim to be the only true Christian church.  The pope approved a recently released 36-page document that says Eastern Orthodox churches were “defective” and that other Christian denominations were not even true churches.
3. Actually this is not a new doctrinal statement.  In 2000, Dominus Jesus, authorized by the pope’s predecessor Pope John Paul II, made the same arguments.  This has always been the position of the RCC.
4. Pope Benedict approved this document from his old office at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (formerly called the Office of the Inquisition), which restates church teaching on relations with other Christians.
5. This was the second time in a week that the pope corrected what he says are erroneous interpretations of the Second Vatican Council, the 1962-65 meetings that supposedly modernized the RCC.
6. In this latest document — formulated as five questions and answers — the Vatican is seeking to set the record straight on Vatican II’s position on ecumenism, saying some contemporary theological interpretations had been “erroneous or ambiguous” and had prompted confusion and doubt.
7. This is not surprising at all.  The Bible identifies the RCC as “MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH” (Rev. 17:5).
8. The idea behind “Babylon” is “confusion.”
9. We do not have time to analyze this RC document, but I will pick out its main teachings, and then compare these teachings with Scripture.

I. THE RCC SAYS THAT OTHER CHURCHES ARE NOT TRUE CHURCHES.

1. According to the RCC, the Pope is the successor to the apostle Peter, whom they claim Christ named as his first “vicar” on Earth.
2. The word “vicar” does not appear in the Bible.  The idea behind vicar is “substitute.”   Here is a definition from the dictionary: “One deputed or authorized to perform the functions of another; a substitute in office; a deputy” (www.dictionary.net).
3. This is not taught in the Bible (cf. Matthew 16:18; I Cor. 10:1-4; I Peter 2:6-9; 5:1-4; Scofield notes, p. 1021).
4. In fact, if there is a genuine “vicar of Christ,” He is the Holy Spirit, not the pope (cf. John 14:16, 17; 16:7).
5. But the RCC insists they are the only true church because they have their pope, the so-called “vicar of Christ.” They refer to this as “papal primacy.”
6. Here is what they say: “Therefore, there exists a single Church of Christ, which subsists in the Catholic Church, governed by the Successor of Peter and by the bishops in communion with him” (“Other churches not true faith, says Vatican” – CNN.com).
7. The document repeated RC teachings that all other Christian churches had “defects,” partly because they do not recognize the primacy of the Pope.
8. The document declares that it is the RCC alone which possesses and has been entrusted with “the fullness of grace and truth” (cf. John 1:14; Col. 2:6-10).
9. Not only does the RCC teach that Baptist and all other non-RC churches are not true churches, they also teach that we do not have the “means of salvation.”
10. This is important because it reminds us once again that the RCC does not preach the true Gospel of salvation by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (Gal. 1:6-9).
11. To the RCC, salvation must come from the church and its priests, not through faith in Christ (cf. John 3:16; 5:24; Eph. 2:8, 9).

II. THE RCC WANTS OTHER CHURCHES TO SUBMIT TO THE POPE.

1. The RCC has two main strategies: on the one hand they are wooing gullible Protestants and Baptists into the Catholic fold through ecumenicalism, the charismatic movement, the pro-life movement, etc.  This has proven successful but yet there are still millions of Protestants and Baptists who have not bowed down to the pope.
2. So while on the one hand they are wooing non-Catholics, on the other hand they are warning them that their congregations are “defective” and not “true” churches.
3. In fact, according to the pope, they do not even have “the means of salvation.”
4. An article from beliefnet.com says, “Despite the harsh tone of the document, it stresses that Benedict remains committed to ecumenical dialogue.  However, if such dialogue is to be truly constructive, it must involve not just the mutual openness of the participants but also fidelity to the identity of the Catholic faith.”
5. In other words, the pope is saying, “We will work with you heretics, but you’d better convert to Catholicism!”

III. HOW ARE WE TO IDENTIFY TRUE CHURCHES?

1. The RCC is not the only church to make such arrogant claims, but they are certainly the biggest, loudest, and most powerful.  Contrary to their claims, they have not been around since the days of Christ but they have been around about 1600 years.
2. The Eastern Orthodox Church split off the RCC in the 11th century, and ever since then the EOC has regarded itself as the One true Church of Christ.
3. Mormons claim to be the only true church yet they did not even come into existence until 1830 when it was founded by Joseph Smith.
4. Other churches and cults make similar claims. Since there is much confusion over this issue, we must go to the Bible for our answer.  The Bible is our only authority.
5. The true church is “apostolic.”  The RCC claims to be apostolic but they do not practice apostolic doctrine (cf. Acts 2:41, 42).  Apostolic doctrine would include:

• Salvation by grace through faith (Eph. 2:8, 9).
• Believers’ baptism by immersion (Acts 8:36-39).
• Preaching against idolatry (Acts 15:20; I Cor. 10:14; II Cor. 6:16; Gal. 5:19-21; I Thess. 1:9; I John 5:21).
• Holiness – the RCC often refers to itself as the “One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.”  This phrase appears in the Nicene Creed and in the so-called Apostles’ Creed.   But can a church be called holy that has recently spent over $2 billion in court settlements to victims of homosexual priest scandals?  Not to mention the rampant gambling and drunkenness, the Vatican bank scandal, etc.  True Christians are holy people, not worldly people (cf. I Peter 1:15, 16).

CONCLUSION:

1. In a recent article regarding this RC document, David Cloud refers to the San Giovanni Laterno Church in Rome.
2. Bro. Cloud says this is the first RC church in Rome, and has an inscription on the front (translated from Latin) that says, “MOST HOLY LATERAN CHURCH, MOTHER AND MISTRESS OF ALL CHURCHES OF THE CITY AND THE WORLD.”
3. The RCC claims their church be the “mother” church of all the churches of the world.  But according to the Bible, the first church was established in Jerusalem.
4. There is much confusion and false teaching in the world today.  We must know our Bibles in order to refute it.