Many Protestants have misconceptions about the Roman Catholic Church.

The Protestantism believes the Bible is the final authority and the only authority

and Roman Catholicism believes that the Pope or the Church is the only final authority

as if Rome had a low view of sacred scripture. And I want to put that caricature to rest today

as we examine the development of the Roman Catholic view of sacred scripture.

Welcome to Renew your mind on this Monday, I'm Lee Webb. Over the last five centuries,

Roman Catholics and Protestants have disagreed over major points of theology.

But what are the real differences? And do they still matter?

R.C. Sproul was of the opinion, yes, they do matter. And it's why he devoted an entire teaching series

to explaining and critiquing the belief of the Roman Catholic Church.

Now, if you are Roman Catholic, I realize that right now you may be tempted to tune out.

But let me say it and I think from what you just heard, you'll find that Dr. Sproul approaches

this controversial subject humbly and fairly.

In the 16th century, we saw the Protestant Reformation. And it was called Protestant because there was

obviously a protest. And the protest of the 16th century is often divided between the so-called

material cause of Reformation or the material protest and the formal protest. So we make this

distinction between the material cause or protest of the Reformation and the formal cause.

The material cause being the issue of justification.

Namely, the question, how is a person ultimately redeemed by Jesus Christ?

The formal issue, the underlying issue, the issue that was not at the center of the stage in the

controversy, but nevertheless, was at the center of the hold of spute and the hold debate was the

question of authority. And most specifically, the question of the authority of Scripture.

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