At a glance:
Roman Catholic traditions do not merely come from the historically verifiable teachings of the Apostles. They come from the popular beliefs of lay people, from apparitions, from the writings of various saints and Popes.
Regarding Marian dogma and many other un-Biblical teachings, Roman Catholic apologists always claim that these are things that Catholics have believed from the earliest years of the church. There are some puzzling aspects to this claim. If the Holy Mother Church, the one true Church has not infallibly-officially taught a doctrine, why do individual Catholics have to believe in these things as gospel truth? And if these things are gospel truth, why does it take the Catholic Church centuries or even millennia to teach these ancient truths as infallible-official doctrines that Catholics must believe?
Catholic apologist Karl Keating explains,
…dogmas are defined formally only when there is a controversy that needs to be cleared up or when the Magisterium thinks the faithful can be helped by particular emphasis being drawn to some already-existing belief…[Pope] Pius IX, who was highly devoted to the Virgin, hoped the definition would inspire others in their devotion to her.1
While this explanation may be helpful in understanding how dogmas are officially defined, it neglects to mention that when the Church formally defines dogma it goes far beyond clearing controversy and helping the faithful by emphasizing. What the Roman Catholic Church does in its official declarations is that it places anathema (condemnation) on those who do not accept the teaching as is. In the case of the inauguration of a Feast Day in relation to a new official dogma, the penalty for not attending Mass for that day places mortal sin upon the Catholic.
According to the Catholic Catechism if one dies with unrepented mortal sin they will go to hell for all eternity unless they confess it to a priest. Even if they died with repented-forgiven mortal sin they still have to suffer for it in Purgatory (See our essay on Purgatory). This is a flagrant disregard of Paul’s teaching about the freedom we have in Christ:
Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ (Colossians 2:16-17).
One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it (Romans 14:5-6).
Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. But now that you know God—or rather are known by God—how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable principles? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again? You are observing special days and months and seasons and years! I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you (Galatians 4:8-11).
Elucidating the Facts of the Matter:
“Among the less-well-known facts of his life is the cure from epilepsy that John Mary Mastai-Ferretti, the future Pius IX, attributed to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin. He avowed to do everything in his power to advance her cause and make her better known and loved by the people.”2
Note the subjective-emotional motivation for the propagating of Marian devotion.
Alan Schreck, Associate Professor of theology at the Franciscan University writes, “Where did these teachings [about Mary] come from? They are not explicitly taught in scripture, and it is not even historically clear that they were handed down from the preaching of the original apostles. Rather, these beliefs emerged over time as Christians reflected on what the Bible says about Jesus and his mother.”3
Roman Catholicism claims what we may distinguish as three forms of revelation. One is the written Bible, which is a historical record of the life and teachings of Jesus Christ and His apostles. Second is oral tradition, which claims to have been handed down from the original teachings of the Apostles. And third is infallible revelation, which can be revealed at any time through the Popes. Yet, is it really through the Popes who the Vatican calls “sweet Christ on earth”?4 Is it really a case of the Pope receiving revelation, making an infallible declaration and officially requiring Catholic acceptance? The reality of the matter appears to be that once people believe something long enough and enough people push for it to become an official doctrine, the Catholic Church folds under the pressure, regardless of whether it is un-Biblical, non-historic or contradictory to earlier revelation.
An example of this is the dogma of the assumption of Mary to heaven that “defined as a Catholic belief by an ‘infallible’ statement of Pope Pius XII in 1950 in response to the faith of millions of Catholics who desired that the Pope speak out officially about the truth of this belief. In the hundred years before Pope Pius’ declaration, the popes had received petitions from 113 cardinals, 250 bishops, 32,000 priests and religious brothers, 50,000 religious women, and 8 million lay people, all requesting that the Assumption be recognized officially as a Catholic teaching. Apparently, the pope discerned that the Holy Spirit was speaking through the people of God on this matter.”5
Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J. wrote, “From Gaeta, in the following year [1849], the Pope issued an encyclical letter addressed to the bishops of the Catholic world. It was an act of papal collegiality in which he asked the prelates to help him decide on the question [of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception].”6
“This introduces the admission that Rome was asked to define the Immaculate Conception. The initiative came from the bishops and faithful, but the Pope had to speak to make the doctrine irreversible….Almost as soon as Pius IX defined the dogma of Mary’s Immaculate Conception, Rome was besieged with petitions for defining also her bodily Assumption. It is calculated that from 1870 to 1940, over four hundred bishops, eighty thousand priests and religious, and more than eight million of the laity formally signed requests asking for the definition…The Pope drew the inevitable conclusion from the consent of those whom ‘the Holy Spirit has placed as bishops to rule the Church of God’…On November 1, 1950, Pius XII answered these requests of the Catholic Hierarchy with a solemn definition… ‘We pronounce, declare, and define as divinely revealed dogma: The Immaculate Mother of God, Mary ever Virgin, after her life on earth, was assumed, body and soul to the glory of heaven.’…[Pope Pius] told them [the bishops] the joy he felt over the proclamation and the assurance it gave him that Mary would obtain the graces of which mankind stood in such dire need. On the level of piety and devotion, therefore, Mary’s Assumption was only the climax in a series of definitions to honor the Blessed Virgin…
Of the two sources of revelation, theologians commonly say the Assumption was implicit in Tradition, in spite of the practical absence of documentary evidence before A.D. 300. Yet the Pope finally declared that the doctrine was in revelation.”7
“when Pius XII defined the Assumption, he did more than propose the doctrine for acceptance by the faithful or give them a new motive for devotion to the Blessed Mother. He indicated the Church’s right to authorize a legitimate development in doctrine and piety that scandalizes Protestants and may even surprise believing Catholics.”8
The Fatima Crusader published the following add, “More Than 6,000,000 Signatures and Counting! The historic struggle to answer Our Lady’s Fatima request to consecrate Russia to Her Immaculate Heart continues unabated! Now, more than ever, we need the help of all Our Lady’s friends in this great crusade…our goal is to collect more than 1,000,000 signatures over the next 12 months…Do petitions really work? According to Pope Pius XII it was through the petitions of the faithful that the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary was solemnly and infallibly defined as a dogma of the Catholic Faith.”
It is incredible to think that if Russia is consecrated to Mary’s heart, when this consecration goes down in history it will be stated that God by His Holy Spirit has revealed His divine wIL When in fact mere humans are being asked to bully the Vatican in proclaiming as divine truth a concoction of the words of an ghostly apparition and human opinion. The add goes on to invite the reader to “Send or Call for Your Free Consecration Petition Kit Now!”9
Since when is divine revelation being decided on by popular consensus and peer pressure?
Roman Catholic Apologists:
Catholic apologist Karl Keating admits that certain Roman Catholic dogmas are “accepted, ultimately, on the authority of the Church rather than on the authority of clear scriptural references.”10
Catholic apologist Jerry Matatics made the following statement in his introduction to a debate with Christian apologist James White on four doctrines about Mary, namely the immaculate conception, perpetual virginity, bodily assumption and queenly coronation, “James White cannot, with all due respect to his prodigious gifts and his abilities, and his sincerity, cannot really win a debate on these four topics for one simple reason. What the Catholic Church, that Jesus founded, teaches about Mary is quite simply the truth about Mary, and the truth, ultimately, by the power of God, always triumphs.”11
Granted, this is not all that these gentlemen have to say on the subject. But why depend upon authority in order to substantiate dogma? Why does Jerry Matatics begin a four part debate by stating that James White cannot win? What we have is a very clear demonstrates that, for them, the beginning and the end of their view of doctrinal issues is the absolute and ultimate authority of the Church.