Is Protestantism Still at Odds with Catholicism?

A Line in the Sand

Yes, Protestantism is still at odds with Catholicism. And the Reformation is not over. The Reformation was founded on two major principles. First, the material principle is justification by God's grace alone, appropriated through faith alone.

The Roman Catholic church and Protestant churches continue to disagree on the principle of how one is made right before God. Roman Catholic theology believes that justification is not only the remission of sins, but also sanctification and the renewal of the internal person.

Our formal principle is Scripture alone as our only and ultimate authority—Divine revelation.

Roman Catholic theology thus fuses forgiveness, sanctification, regeneration, and renewal, and therefore is not a biblical view of justification. As Protestants, we believe that justification is God's declaration that we're not guilty, but righteous instead. So, we continue to diverge on this key principle of Protestantism: how one is made right before God.

Roman Catholic Theology and Practice

Gregg R. Allison

A theologian and church historian walks readers through the Catechism of the Catholic Church, winsomely evaluating Roman Catholic doctrine and practice from the perspective of both Scripture and evangelical theology.

We also disagree on the formal principle of Protestantism, that is sola scriptura—Scripture alone. In other words, we disagree on the nature of Divine revelation for the people of God, the source of authority for knowing God and his way.

Roman Catholicism believes in Scripture plus tradition. They subscribe to the belief that Jesus’s orally communicated teachings to his apostles were orally communicated to their successors, the bishops of the Catholic Church. This tradition is nourished and proclaimed by the Catholic Church today.

Protestants disagree. Our formal principle is Scripture alone as our only and ultimate authority—Divine revelation. While we continue to disagree on these two major principles, the Reformation is not over.

Gregg R. Allison (PhD, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) is professor of Christian theology at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is secretary of the Evangelical Theological Society, a book review editor for the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, an elder at Sojourn Community Church, and a theological strategist for Harbor Network. Allison has taught at several colleges and seminaries, including Western Seminary in Portland, Oregon, and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois, and is the author of numerous books, including Historical Theology; Sojourners and Strangers; and Roman Catholic Theology and Practice.

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