Why I am Protestant, from a Protestant

Jan 23, 2023

Received an email from a gentleman who is in a conversation with a Protestant friend of his, and they are discussing theology, apologetics and Catholic vs Protestant doctrines. He sent me the most recent email from his friend and asked me how I would respond to this email.

Here is the original email in italics, and I have inserted bolded letters (A) to correspond to responses which will follow below:

I woke up thinking about your question “why are you Protestant?” I am sorry I haven’t answered that question directly for you. I am Protestant as much for what I believe (including me within Christianity) as for what I do not believe (excluding me from Catholicism, Anglicanism or Eastern Orthodox).(A)

I am Protestant because I believe in:

God the Father - maker of heaven and earth; things visible and invisible (B)
God the Son - equal with the Father and from eternity past; born of a virgin, both fully God and fully man; of a single nature;(C) who came to earth, lived a sinless life, died on the cross for the sins of humanity, rose again on the third day and is now seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven. Who will come again to collect His own and judge the world.
God the Holy Spirit (D)
Sola scriptura - that Scripture is sufficient to lead people to salvation and teach how to live a Christian life (E)
Sola fide (F), gracia, Christo - I have come to understand (G) through Romans (H) that man is utterly depraved.(I) Without the grace of God, we would not choose salvation and could not keep ourselves within His salvation.(J) This does not negate the need for good works in the lives of believers (K) or that true believers will persevere in the faith and good works until they die (L) or Christ comes again (whichever is sooner).
Believers baptism by submersion. (M)

I am Protestant because I do not believe in:

In the Pope (N)
The necessity of the merits of the saints (O)
Purgatory (P)
Mary - as required to be sinless (Q), the bodily assumption of Mary (R) or Mary as a co-redemptrix.(S) This does not mean she did not have a special place in God’s story of redemption or did not have a faith which should be replicated. However, it does keep in the company of human sinners amongst which God has always chosen to work.
Penance for the forgiveness of sins (T) - I do believe in repentance, which necessitates turning away from a sinful lifestyle, daily dying to self desires to pursue the purity of Christ. (U)
That infant baptism saves. (V)

My Responses:

A. This part is a bit confusing. Do you believe there are multiple forms of Christianity? Or do you believe Christianity is a large umbrella and Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodox and the multitude of Protestant sects are all under that umbrella and each one is part of Christianity?

Neither of these positions seem coherent or in line with Scripture, which says there is only one faith.

Ephesians 4:4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.

There must, by definition, be only one set of actual Christian doctrines. There can’t be multiple competing and mutually contradictory doctrines on things like salvation, baptism, justification, sanctification, etc. So there must be one correct doctrine on all these things and on all Christian teachings. So which one is correct?

B: This phrasing sounds like part of the Nicene Creed. A couple of questions on this if you do accept the Nicene Creed:

Do you hold to the Nicene Creed?
Which early Christian councils do you accept and why?
What is your criteria for which councils you accept and how did you determine these criteria?

C: Please clarify if you mean that Jesus Christ is one Divine Person in the Hypostatic Union, or if you mean that Christ only has one nature, which is an early Christian heresy called Monophysitism. This heresy was condemned at the Council of Chalcedon in 451AD.

D: It is true that Christians believe that the Holy Spirit is the Divine Third Person of the Trinity and is God. But that belief is not stated in Scripture. It is entirely from Sacred Tradition. Sacred Scripture only speaks of the Holy Spirit in general terms and the pronouns given to the Holy Spirit, Scripture speaks of Wisdom in similar fashion. So it is not from Scripture that Christians believe in the Holy Spirit as God. Some Protestant groups deny the Divinity of the Holy Spirit through their reading of the Bible, including Oneness Pentecostals, Seventh Day Adventists and Mormons. Who has authority to declare that their reading of the Bible is in error?

E: How do we know which books are Scripture and which aren’t? Scripture doesn’t tell us this (and can’t logically). The Bible was canonized at early Church councils in the late 4th century. You can read about it here.

And where does Scripture state the doctrine of Sola Scriptura and that Scripture is sufficient to lead people to salvation? The truth is it doesn’t. Every verse that is claimed to teach Sola Scriptura doesn’t actually teach it. The verse that is most often cited as teaching Sola Scriptura is 2 Timothy 3

2 Timothy 3:14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it, 15 and how from childhood you have known the sacred writings that are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.

But this is a seriously erroneous reading of this passage. First, this letter is written from St. Paul to St. Timothy, a bishop that St. Paul ordained personally. This passage actually says that when St. Timothy is giving doctrine, that Scripture is USEFUL (not required) for supporting the doctrines St. Timothy is giving.

Secondly, if you read verse 15, you see that St. Paul is referring to the Scriptures that St. Timothy has learned since he was a child. In other words, St. Paul is talking about the books of the Old Testament. So if you want to claim this passage teaches that Scripture is sufficient to lead people to salvation, then you are claiming that just the Old Testament is sufficient to lead people to salvation and the New Testament is not needed.

Third, we must remember that St. Paul explicitly taught that Christians must hold fast to both the written traditions that have been handed on from the Apostles AND the oral traditions that have been handed on from the Apostles.

2 Thessalonians 2:15 So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by our letter.

We must remember, this second letter to the Thessalonians was Paul’s last letter to the Thessalonians and he never writes down the oral tradition that he mentions here for them to have in written form. He leaves it as oral tradition.

Fourth and lastly, always keep in mind that Scripture warns about people trying to read Scripture by themselves and refusing to listen to the Church to understand it properly.

2 Peter 3:15 and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation. So also our beloved brother Paul wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, 16 speaking of this as he does in all his letters. There are some things in them hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other scriptures.

Note that the people St. Peter is writing about are those who are reading St. Paul’s letters, but refusing to listen to St. Peter and the other Apostles about how to properly understand them. Don’t forget, even Jesus Himself mocked the Pharisees because they possessed and knew the Scriptures intimately but still missed salvation Himself who is standing right in front of them.

John 5:39 “You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that testify on my behalf. 40 Yet you refuse to come to me to have life

F: There is only one place in all of Scripture where you will find Sola Fide, or faith alone. Except faith alone is condemned, explicitly

James 2:24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.

Read the entire chapter of James 2. He devotes a large passage to utterly refuting the doctrine of faith alone. It really can’t get more explicit than that.

G: You have come to understand….but do you determine Christian beliefs and doctrines? Are you infallible or are you capable of making errors in your understanding of God and Scripture?

This is not an attack on the writer, but an honest question about who has authority in the Christian faith to determine and define what is and what is not Christian doctrine. Who has that authority? The Christian faith is not determined or defined by individuals reading the Bible and coming up with their own interpretation of it.

H: Just the one letter of Romans? What about the other 26 books of the New Covenant? And who determined that only Romans is the letter which determines all doctrines?

I: Except the letter to the Romans doesn’t say that man is utterly depraved. That’s an interpretation of Romans, not Romans itself. It is the opinion or word of man and not the word of God.

J: Of course man has to be given grace first from God to be able to choose God. This is standard Catholic teaching.

K: Yes, that’s actually exactly what the doctrine of Sola Fide means and teaches. If we are saved by faith alone, then our works do not have any effect on our salvation. In your opinion, why are good works needed and what happens to someone who chooses not to perform good works?

L: So what happens to those who do not persevere until they die? Jesus seems pretty clear on this, which means the doctrine of Once Saved Always Saved can’t be true, correct?

Matthew 24:12 And because of the increase of lawlessness, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

M: If baptism is only by immersion, why did the first Christians teach differently? (see Didache ch7) If baptism is only by immersion, why does Scripture say we will be sprinkled with clean water and made clean?

Ezekial 36:25 I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26 A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will put my spirit within you, and make you follow my statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances.

I think it also has to be noted that there is no pool of water big enough in Jerusalem to baptize by immersion 3000 people in one day (you’re talking about a baptism every six seconds for 8 hours straight). Just logistically this is impossible. Those at Pentecost had to be baptized by either sprinkling or pouring.

N: It’s abundantly clear in Scripture that there are people who have authority and that everyone who wants to follow Jesus must obey them. All of the epistles of the New Testament are proof of this, since the people who the letters were sent to were required to obey those letters. Not one Christian had permission to ignore the Apostles.

There’s also the example of the first Church Council in Acts 15. St. Paul was being confronted about circumcision by those who said it was required. It got so severe that St. Paul, following the teaching of Christ (Matthew 18), took the matter to the Church. The Church listened and argued vociferously, but when Peter stood up and spoke, all fell silent. The Church had spoken and all had to listen to it on the topic of circumcision and the Church spoke in the Name and authority of God.

So to whom to you listen to? To whom do you submit to as the authority in the Christian faith? To which church can you and I go to so that we can take these matters to the Church and listen to it?

O: Honestly I’m not sure of what specifically is being argued against. Do you believe the saints have merits?

P: In the letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians, he describes a process, on the day of our judgment, when each man and his works are tested:

1 Corinthians 3:11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one that has been laid; that foundation is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— 13 the work of each builder will become visible, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each has done. 14 If what has been built on the foundation survives, the builder will receive a reward. 15 If the work is burned up, the builder will suffer loss; the builder will be saved, but only as through fire.

So each man is tested and his works put through a type of fire that refines and purifies good works and burns away bad works. It seems this is a fire that purges away these bad works. This is what the Church calls Purgatory.

Q: If Mary was sinful and her flesh was sinful, then you are left with two options. Either Jesus received this sinful flesh and as such He was not an acceptable Paschal Lamb since He would be blemished, OR Jesus had salvific grace applied to Him and His sinful flesh at His conception which would mean that Jesus could not be God because God does not need saving.

When the angel Gabriel greets Mary with a royal greeting, he also calls her by a title, Kecharitomene. This word is used only once in Scripture and it means having already been and continuing to be graced by God. Mary was in God’s grace before the Incarnation.

R: Well Revelation 12 tells us that the mother of the Child is in Heaven. Some try to argue that this woman is Israel or the Church, but that interpretation doesn’t hold water. Scripture tells us the mother of Jesus is Mary, and every other “character” (there are 8 of them) in Revelation 12 is a real being or beings and not symbols. How do you interpret all 7 other “characters” as real beings but the 8th “character” is only a symbol? Under what interpretation standard does that hold water?

S: Co-redemptrix does not mean being equal with Jesus Christ as the one Redeemer of the world. It means that Mary, uniquely, participated in the redemption of every single person who ever has been saved and everyone who will be saved in all of history. No one comes to Christ by themselves, they need someone to bring Christ to them. The Blessed Virgin Mary, uniquely, participated in bringing Christ to all mankind unlike anyone else. To be clear, this title does NOT mean that Mary redeems us. It means that she participates in the plan of redemption.

T: Do you mean the sacrament of Confession, or are you talking about acts of penance? Not that it really matters, since both can forgive sins. We see the Apostles being given the authority to forgive or retain sins and we are commanded to confess our sins to other men:

John 20:21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent Me, so I send you.” 22 When He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

James 5:14 Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. 16 Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.

Scripture even says that the prayers of a faithful Christian can forgive certain sins of others:

1 John 5:16 If you see your brother or sister committing what is not a mortal sin, you will ask, and God will give life to such a one—to those whose sin is not mortal. There is sin that is mortal; I do not say that you should pray about that. 17 All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that is not mortal.

U: What happens to the person who does not pick up their cross daily? What happens to a true, saved believer who does not continue to walk the narrow path?

V: Well the problem is that Scripture says that baptism saves us (1 Peter 3:21) and that baptism is for us AND for our children.

Acts 2:38 Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him.”

Entire households were baptized and households back then included babies.

Acts 16:14 A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul. 15 When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home.” And she prevailed upon us.

Acts 16:30 Then he brought them outside and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 They answered, “Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 They spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. 33 At the same hour of the night he took them and washed their wounds; then he and his entire family were baptized without delay.

1 Corinthians 1:16 I did baptize also the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.

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