Roman Catholics and Evangelicals

Last Things

Last updated Fri Mar 23 19:03:55 EST 2001

Individual Eschatology

There is very little disagreement between Catholics and orthodox Protestants on the fate of individuals.

The reality of death. This would seem to be obvious, but while Protestants and Catholics agree, many cults (Christian Scientists) and religions (where "reality" is a dream from which one awakes when elightened) do not.
The nature of death. The Bible distinguishes physical and spiritual death. "And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul." [Mat 10:28] Eternal death is irrevocable spiritual death.
Reincarnation. Christians deny the idea of may lifetimes as the Scripture clearly says, "It is appointed unto man once to die, but after this the judgement." [Heb 9:27]
Is death natural? There is some disagreement over whether death is natural - i.e. would Adam and Eve have died had they not sinned? It seems clear from Scripture that immortality required eating the fruit of the tree of life. Therefore, death is unnatural, but a possibility contingent on Adam's and Eve's obedience.
The effect of death. While death is the last enemy, for the believer it is also the door to complete freedom from sin and ushers in an eternity in communion with God.
Soul sleep. Catholics and orthodox Protestants affirm a conscious existance after physical death, but before the bodily resurrection. Some groups deny this. (E.g. old line 7th day Adventists). For Catholics, this conscious existance can be in purgatory.
Bodily resurrection. "On no point does the Christian faith encounter more opposition than on the resurrection of the body. It is very commonly accepted that the life of the human person continues in a spiritual fashion after death. But how can we believe that this body, so clearly mortal, could rise to everlasting life?" CCC 996 A surprising number of Christians, Catholic and Protestant, including some at Truro, do not believe in a bodily resurrection. "But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain." [1 Cor 15:13]
Hades is distinct from Gehenna.

General Eschatology - the Second Coming

There are many variations on the second coming among Protestants. There are, however six elements clearly taught in Scripture which all orthodox Protestants must deal with. The Catholic position also affirms these biblical elements. What is not so clear from Scripture is the order in which these elements occur - and whether the millenium is literal or spiritual.

The Tribulation.
The Rapture.
The Second Coming of Christ. The Second Coming is "imminent". It could happen at any time - no man knows the day nor hour.
The Millenium.
The Final Judgement.
The New Heavens and the New Earth.

The best way to organize the many Protestant positions is to classify them by which element comes first. We all agree that the New Heavens and New Earth come last.

Pre-trib - the rapture before the tribulation.
Mid-trib - the rapture in the middle of the tribulation.
Post-trib - the rapture after the tribulation. The Catholic view.

Pick one of the above, and mix with one of the following:

Pre-mil - the second coming occurs before the millenium.
Post-mil - the second coming occurs after the millenium. We are in the millenium now: isn't this obvious? The millenium must be spiritual for this view to match history.
A-mil - the millenium is spiritual and refers to the New Heavens and the new Earth. The Catholic view.

Just War

Then said he unto them, But now, he that hath a purse, let him take it , and likewise his scrip: and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one. [Luke 22:36]

Christian ethics were largely developed before the Reformation, and Protestants agree with Catholics on almost everything. I will present several ethical issues where many (but not all) Protestants disagree with Catholics.

Just War theory defines when it is right to wage war. It is based on "natural law". The right to wage war stems from the natural rights of its citizens - because it is often necessary to use force to secure those rights. It is in fact the duty of civil government to use force to secure those rights.

Conditions (title) of a Just War to preserve the rights of a state:

Only a state may wage war. "For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil." [Rom 13:3,4]
The state's right (either directly or indirectly through those of its citizens) are menaced by foreign aggression not otherwise to be prevented than by war.
The fact of actual violation of right not otherwise reparable;
The need of punishing the threatening or infringing power for the security of the future.
There must be a reasonable prospect of success.

Secondary titles may come to a state:

From the request of another state in peril (or of a people who happen themselves to be in possession of the right);
From the fact of the oppression of the innocent, whose unjust suffering is proportionate to the gravity of war and whom it is impossible to rescue in any other way; in this latter case the innocent have the right to resist, charity calls for assistance, and the intervening state may justly assume the communication of the right of the innocent to exercise extreme coercion in their behalf.

Many anabaptists have always taught that War is always wrong - this seems to completely deny Just War theory. However, they were persecuted by Catholic and Reformed states alike. There was no Anabaptist state, because their understanding of the Church precluded such. They were also powerless. So the behaviour of the Anabaptists was actually consistent with Just War theory in regard to their own persecution.

They will also not serve in the military even to defend to innocent - so this is the central point of their disagreement.

In class, we will also discuss Birth Control, Capital Punishment, and some current issues.
This work by Stuart David Gathman is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.