What Catholics Believe About. . .


The Bible and Tradition
Salvation
Sabbath
Sunday
Diet and Health
Prophecy
Death
Hell

The Bible and Tradition

Catholics honor and cherish the Bible as the written Word of God. They believe it is true, and that anything that contradicts it is not true. They therefore strive for a perfectly biblical faith. At the same time, Catholics recognize the apostles passed on "traditions" not only by "epistle" by also by "word of mouth" (2 Thess. 2:15; 2 Tim. 2:2). Catholics believe the Bible and authentic traditions from the apostles agree, and they revere both. These authentic traditions illuminate our understanding of the Bible.


Salvation

Catholics, like Adventists, believe God bestows his salvation freely through Christ. As the "Annex" to the "Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification" says, "Justification takes place by grace alone, by faith alone, the person is justified apart from works." Nevertheless, again like Adventists, Catholics stress that salvation cannot ultimately be fruitful if it is not joined to holy living and good works (James 2:14-26). God will ultimately reward people according to their works (Rev. 22:12).


Sabbath

Although Jesus respected the holiness of the Sabbath (Lk. 4:16; Mk. 2:27), He believed His mission was above the claims of the Sabbath (Jn. 5:17-18), and in one instance, commanded a man to violate it to demonstrate His authority (John 5:9; cf. Jer 17:21,27). In time, the Church gradually learned to discard those laws meant to distinguish Jews from non-Jews (Eph. 2:12-19), including circumcision, the dietary laws, and the Sabbath. Hebrews suggests that the seventh-day Sabbath was given as a symbol, shadow, or type of the eternal Sabbath rest of God Christians can enter "today" (Heb. 3:7-4:11; Dies Domini, 8). This is the true Sabbath of interest to Catholics. Now that Christians have access to this rest, weekly observance of the seventh day is no longer required, and should be discarded as circumcision and the other Jewish laws were.

See also:

Essays: Sabbath


Sunday

God is worthy of our time and regular worship. After the abandonment of the Sabbath, Sunday became a regular day of woship for Christians. The Bible demonstrates that the community of God can establish its own feasts of rest and gladness (Esther 9:18, 28; 1 Macc 4:59; 2 Macc. 10:8), which feasts God honors (Jn. 10:22). The choice of Sunday in particular flows from Jesus' death and resurrection. Jesus rest in the tomb on Sabbath mirrored the Sabbath rest, and His rising from the tomb on Sunday ushered in a new Creation. Where the Sabbath of that Easter weekend was a day of sadness and misery, Sunday was a day of joy in the presence of Christ, inspiring the Church's choice of Sunday as her principal day of worship.


Diet and Health

Unlike Adventists, Catholics believe it is no longer necessary to observe the Jewish dietary laws (Lev. 11). During His ministry, Jesus said that no one was “unclean” because of what they ate (Mark 7:18-23); the author of the gospel of Mark concludes: “thus he declared all foods clean” (Mk. 7:19). In fact, in Acts 10, God commands Peter three times to eat unclean animals (Acts 10:9-16), saying, “What God has made clean, you have no right to call profane” (Acts 10:15). For this reason, Catholics refuse to call any animal “profane” or “unclean.”

Catholics also believe it is perfectly acceptable to drink alcohol in moderation, though they believe it is a sin to become drunk (Eph. 5:18). The Bible presents wine as a blessing (Ps. 104:15). Most Israelites freely consumed it, even in religious festivals and rituals (Deut. 14:25-27; :Lev. 23:13).Only certain Israelites were forbidden to drink alcohol (Lev. 10:9; Num. 6:3; Judg. 13:4,7).


Prophecy

Catholics are encouraged to study the Bible, including the books of Daniel and Revelation. Unlike the Seventh-day Adventist Church, however, the Catholic Church does not have definitive interpretations of many prophecies in both books. Over the course of 2,000 years, the Church has seen many interpretations of these books come and go; above all, she exercises caution. Catholics also take issue with the weaknesses and contradictions in many Adventist interpretations, and take offense at those used to malign the Catholic Church.


Death

Catholics believe that human beings are made of both body and soul. The "soul" is a spiritual essence that is not killed when a person dies (Mt. 10:28). When a person dies, the body and soul are seperated. The body dissolves, while the soul actively awaits the judgment day (Rev. 6:9-11). In that "intermediate state" (between death and resurrection), the soul can experience either an anticipatory heavenly reward (Rev. 6:9-11) or an anticipatory judgment of fire (suggested in Lk. 16:23). Catholics also believe in purgatory. When entering heaven, the righteous often need to experience a purification (cf. Isa. 6:5-7). Ultimately, on the judgment day, when Christ returns again in glory, all the dead will be resurrected and receive their final rewards (Jn. 5:25-29).

See also:

The New Testament and the State of the Dead [PDF Essay]
Old Testament Conceptions of the Soul and Afterlife [PDF Essay]


Hell

According to the Catechism: "the teaching of the Church affirms the existence of hell and its eternity" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1035). This teaching is founded on the words of the Bible, which predicts a day in which God will cast the wicked into "eternal fire" (Mt. 25:41), where they will be "toremented day and night for ever and ever" (Rev. 20:10; 14:9-11)