Catholics Come Home? | Christianity Today | A Magazine of Evangelical Conviction

A self professing "Calvinist" Evangelical pastor over at Christianity Today, Chris Castaldo, gives a word of warning to the Inquisitors of the come home to the synagogue of satan campaign:

From this historical example, my encouragement to Catholics pursuing the New Evangelization is to remain positive. While there will necessarily be moments of defining yourself over and against Protestants, don't let this become your modus operandi. Unfortunately, this negative trend seems to have already started in some of the above-mentioned apostolates. Even the Catholics Come Home site, in the "Answering Your Questions" section, has some content that is, shall we say, less than winsome. It's one thing to express disagreement with Protestants; it's quite another to portray them as morons.

Odd, but in this article Castaldo never once mentions the Council of Trent, justification by faith alone or the other four solas of the Protestant Reformation. Of course being a good "ecumenical" Evangelical means not damning your Roman Catholic "brethren" to hell or evangelizing them. But it's quite alright for Roman Catholics to evangelize Protestants. This sort of "tolerant" Evangelicalism is really liberalism and theological relativism in disguise. The Scriptures make it clear that there are more issues than simply Roman Catholic tradition being placed on the same level as biblical revelation. A consistent Calvinism cannot be "Evangelical" in the sense advocated by Chris Castaldo. Like most Evangelicals Castaldo is naive. He thinks that Roman Catholicism is not militant and Castaldo is under the mistaken impression that Roman Catholicism is content with leaving Protestants be. Nothing could be further from the truth.

As anyone who has been following the apologetics ministry of Gerry Matatics. I am not a huge fan of James White of Alpha and Omega Ministries. However, as a calvinistic or particular Baptist White has done a fine job of debating Roman Catholics like Matatics. (See James White Versus Gerry Matatics, Sola Scriptura). Many confused Evangelicals convert to Roman Catholicism because they have not fully understood the authority of Scripture or the real issues. (See Romeward Bound). If the Bible is insufficient in and of itself to reveal enough propositional truths for saving faith, then having another "divine revelation" alongside the Bible as an infallible interpreter of Scripture, namely Roman Catholic tradition, would not solve the problem of insufficiency.  It would follow then that Roman Catholic "revelation" in the form of tradition would require an infallible interpretation and thus requiring an infinite regress of infallible interpretations of the interpretations.

I have to agree with Rome. Protestants who think Roman Catholicism is benign and benevolent toward Protestants and Evangelicals are simply "morons". The fact is Roman Catholicism and Calvinism are diametrically contradictory to one another. A true believer is required to choose sides. Either the believer will side with Scripture or with Rome. There really is no middle ground. In fact, those who consistently follow the teaching of Rome are lost and in need of conversion to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Council of Trent officially condemned and anathematized the Gospel as "heresy". Until that changes the theological and philosophical battle between Rome and Geneva/Canterbury/Wittenberg continues.

When the plow boy knows the Scriptures better than the pope it is a sign that Rome is truly apostate. (John 5:39 KJV; John 12:47-48 KJV). The sine qua non of the Gospel is justification by faith alone and salvation by grace alone. In fact, I would say that all five of the solas of the Protestant Reformation are absolutely essential doctrines. Sola Scriptura! Sola Gratia! Sola Fide! Solus Christus! Soli gloria Deo!

Catholics Come Home? | Christianity Today | A Magazine of Evangelical Conviction