Dylan Riess

Theology 432
26 April, 2020
The Roman Catholic Church
Not too many years after the death of Christ, Gnosticism and other false ideas were coming into
the true church of God. Out of some of the offshoots came an organization that would one day boast over
a billion members in almost every part of the world. Out of this organization would come almost every
off-shoot of Christianity, and it has many possible prophetic roles that may be revealed in coming years.
The Roman Catholic church is a household name, whether respected, worshipped, or looked down upon,
and has anywhere from casual to very devoted observants.
Christianity began as a sect of Judaism, those who believed in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
They endured much persecution in the decades following Christ’s sacrifice, but continually grew stronger
through strong pastorship and ministry outreach as recorded in the New Testament. Around the 90’s, the
Apostle John writes several letters addressing Gnosticism entering the church. At that point, history
becomes much less clear, but the church that exits in the 200s A.D. is drastically different from the first
early church. After decades of persecution by the government of the Roman Empire, the church got a
respite in 313 A.D. Constantine the Great, the current emperor of the empire, had a dream that caused him
to make Christianity legal. Before that, he had followed the pagan traditions of the land. After that edict,
persecution of the Christian belief stopped, and the Catholic church began to grow.
The full name of the Catholic church is the Roman Catholic Church. Throughout its long history, the
Catholic church has always had deep ties with the Roman Empire, sometimes being in control of it. The
word Catholic means ‘Universal.’ As the largest denomination of Christianity – and having the claim of
coming from the original church of Acts under the apostleship of Simon Peter – the Catholic church
claims to be the ‘universal church’ of Christianity.
The Catholic church bases its beliefs in the teaching authority of the Pope and the church has a major role
in sacraments, or mysteries, that the believers participate in. Catholics believe that when the Pope sits ‘ex
cathedra,’ or in the seat, everything he says is infallible. The church follows seven main sacraments:
baptism, confirmation, eucharist, reconciliation, anointing of the sick, holy orders, and matrimony. The
sacraments are separated into two main categories: initiation and healing. The first category, Initiation,
begins with Baptism, which occurs as an infant, followed by confirmation as a young teen remove
original sin and give the Holy Spirit. After these two things, a believer is fully a part of the Catholic faith.
After that, they would weekly participate in the Eucharist, which is the eating of bread and drinking of
wine that followers believe actually become Christ’s body and blood. Another category, healing, includes
reconciliation, also called confession, when you tell a priest your sins and get penance that you must do to
atone for your sin. The other part of healing is the anointing of the sick, when a person who is dying gets
their ‘last rites’ before they die, so they can be as holy as possible when they enter heaven or purgatory.
Instead of just the regular heaven and hell, the Catholic church also believes in purgatory, a place where
Catholics who died in a state of grace but didn’t do enough good works will go to be punished before they
can enter heaven. This creates a three-part church system, where the Triumphant Church (in Heaven), the
Expectant Church (in Purgatory), and the Militant Church (on Earth) all work together to help all three
succeed. A belief that I find very interesting is the belief in two different types of sin. The followers of
Catholicism believe that Venial, or lesser sins, don’t require the sacrament of reconciliation because
they’re not really considered a big deal. However, any law that breaks the 10 Commandments is
considered a Mortal sin, and must be reconciled before death so as to not be sent to Hell by a cruel and
unforgiving God.
Though there are many doctrines and beliefs that differ between the Roman Catholic church and the
United Church of God, the one that stands out the most to me is that we must confess our sins to a human
priest that acts in the place of Christ, and may absolve us of our sin and give necessary penance.
However, no man needs to stand in the place of the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ Himself as our comforter
and intercessor! John 14:16 states: “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that
He may abide with you forever–“ (John 14:16, NKJV). When we are believe in Christ’s sacrifice and ask
things in His name, He will answer us. We do not need to ask another to pray to God for us! King David
himself wrote, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.” (Psalm 32:5, NKJV). Even before Christ,
man could go to God with the Holy Spirit, and after Christ’s sacrifice, the giving of the Holy Spirit
became even easier! You don’t need another person to go to God or to even prescribe you penance –
Christ’s sacrifice atones for our sin, and trying to ‘work’ it off is just a slap in the face to that great
sacrifice!
The Catholic church had nearly 1.3 billion members in 2018 (ZENIT). Though one would think that most
followers were in Europe or North America, over a third of all Catholics actually reside in Latin America!
According to a 2010 Pew Forum study, Catholic followers are spread out in the following way:

 8% in North America
 16% in Sub-Saharan Africa
 12% in Asia & Pacific Islands
 24% in Europe
 39% in Latin America
 <1% in Middle East (“The Global Catholic Population”).
If you were to want to find a Catholic church to worship at near the home office, you would be in luck.
Milford, Ohio has St. Andrew’s Catholic Church. They are very open to visitors, with their website
stating, “Our doors open wide at the very thought of your coming.” They have a website at
https://www.standrew-milford.org/. They have a daily mass almost every day of the week and three
masses on Sunday, but currently livestream once each day because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Catholic church, though not following what the Bible says about God’s plan of salvation, has many
devoted and faithful members doing good works throughout the world. Even with a lot of bad things
they’ve done to the Christian faith and possible future end-time roles, I’ve met some Catholic followers
who were very nice, devout people. As devoted Christians, once their eyes are open, many may run to
God’s salvation. Until that day, they may be respected for their great faith and devotion.
 Bibliography

“The Global Catholic Population.” Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project, Pew
Research Center, 31 Dec. 2019, www.pewforum.org/2013/02/13/the-global-catholic-
population/.

Staff, ZENIT. “Vatican: Catholic Church Statistics 2018 - ZENIT - English.” ZENIT, 20 Oct. 2018,
zenit.org/articles/vatican-catholic-church-statistics-2018/.