Gates of Hell shall not prevail?
I got this email from someone who is considering becoming Catholic. Please share your thoughts in the comments.
I have been studying the catholic faith for almost a year now. I have read many books and watched a lot of EWTN. I have found the study very interesting and enlightening when compared with the faulty teaching on the Catholic Church that I have recieved in the past. Yet I am not sure how much progress I am making. At times I am almost sure that I will become Catholic and at other times after discusion with a protestant friend or after watching a program on some Catholic Saint, with their sometimes very mystical almost unbelievable stories I begin to think I am foolish to even entertain the idea. Some of my biggest concern of late has to do with the current condition of the Catholic Church now and in the past 50 years or so. I am not the list bit concerned about the crisis with the wayward priests, that is just part of the human condition and I am confident that the Church will deal with it. My concern is that if the Catholic Church is the fulfillment of Christ’s ministry, in my eyes (and granted they come from a protestant church view), it does not appear that the Church has done a very good job of teaching its followers the tenants of it’s faith with the focus on a relationship with God through Christ as the central foundation of the Sacrements. My wife who is a cradle Catholic has learned so much from my study of the Church that it leaves me questioning how the people who worship in the Catholic Church could be left to be so ignorant of her teaching. I realize that EWTN and the protestant converts have focused many onto some of these central issues and onto the scriptures, but this appears to be a very recent occurence. I discuss Catholic apolegetics with an ex-catholic co-worker and this is one of her arguments. She argues that she grew up in the Church and will agree that maybe since Vatican II the Church has turned over a new leaf and there is now a focus on the scriptures and the importance of a relationship with Christ as the foundational building stone, but she states that it is her belief that prior to this time and even now that there are millions of catholics who have died in ignorance of the grace of Christ due to the Church’s failing to teach its people. I can understand and except many if not all of the teaching that I have recently recieved on Sola Scriptura and the like, but if what she argues is even partially true how can we believe that the gates of hell have not prevailed against this church. Don’t get me wrong I want to believe. I see many things that make sense in the Catholic Church that did not make sense before. But if I am going to believe and promote the Church’s teaching I have to be sure of the truth. Give me some feedback.
My first thought is that the promise that “the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it” means that the Church will not err in the teaching of faith and morals. This means the Church does not teach error with regard to faith and morals, it doesn’t mean members of the Church are perfect teachers. I can’t speak to catechism before Vatican II. The catechism of my youth was abysmal but I had it while Reagan was President which was some time after Vatican II. I didn’t began to better understand the faith until I was challenged by some Protestants in a Bible Study. That was when I began doing a great deal of study on the teachings of Church. That is one of the beautiful things about the faith. It is simply enough that you can explain it to a child (see Eric posting on Charlie’s questions below) and deep enough that you could study it for your whole life and still find new things. I think our local churches have a lot to do in this area, but I’m not going to give up hope. Converts like Scott Hahn and Mark Shea (and many others) have done great things in recent years to wake up Catholics to the richness of truth in the Church. I understand that you are challenged by the shortcomings of the Church, but if you believe the truths the Church teaches, the relationship with Christ through the Sacraments, the totality of Scripture, it could be that you are going to be one of those converts who will be a powerful witness to all Christ has shown you.
Scripture alone is not a complete picture. Christ instituted the Sacraments so that His grace would be truly and substantially present to us in this life. The nature of His sacrifice and the Eucharist were absolutely necessary for the Jews to understand it at all. Think of Moses – he sacrificed a lamb. Christ is the Lamb of God. The Jews had manna from Heaven to sustain during their long years in the desert. We, in the desert of this life, have the Eucharist to sustain us. This should be a huge comfort to us. God’s plan for the salvation of mankind has unfolded over the course of thousands of years. Christ insituted a Church that cannot fail, it’s member can fail and often do. Don’t give up hope!