Catholic Church. Religion.

Catholicism is the world’s largest religion, with nearly 1.4 billion adherents to the faith. It is also one of approximately 10,000 religions worldwide. This leads to a question. What is the Catholic Church’s position and attitude concerning these religions?

As I can not examine each of these 10,000 religions, I will limit myself to explicating the Catholic Church’s views vis-a-vis Protestantism, Judaism, and Islam. I will also mention the various Eastern religions.

It should be noted that this essay is predicated on Nostra Aetate (In Our Time or Declaration on the Relation of the Church with Non-Christian Religions). Nostra Aetate is an official document created as part of Vatican II and is primarily concerned with the Catholic Church’s relations with Judaism and Islam.

Protestantism

It should be observed that the term Protestantism is an umbrella term, covering as many as 35,000 denominations. (Numbers provided by The Association of Religious Data Archives).

Unlike the other faith traditions mentioned, Protestantism is decidedly Christian. As such, Protestantism can be defined as a Christian religious movement that began in northern Europe in the early 16th century as a reaction to medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices.

From a Catholic perspective, Protestants are our brothers and sisters in Christ. The basis for this position is that Protestantism splintered from the Catholic Church. Moreover, to be a Christian, one must profess faith in Christ and be properly baptized. Since this is true of Protestants in general, they are considered to be Christians as Catholics are.

Nonetheless, the teachings of the various Protestant denominations are considered heretical and were condemned by the Council of Trent in 1547. Additionally, as they have split from the one true faith that is Catholicism, they are not in full communion with the Catholic Church.

Judaism

Judaism provides the historical and theological foundation upon which Catholicism is built. The Catholic Church “remembers the bond that spiritually ties the people of the New Covenant [Christians] to Abraham’s stock [Jews].” (See Nostra Aetate).

Since God first revealed Himself to the Israelites, the Catholic Church acknowledges the words of the Apostle Paul about his kinsmen: “They are Israelites; theirs the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; theirs the patriarchs, and from them, according to the flesh, is the Messiah. God who is over all be blessed forever.” (See Romans 9:4-5).

Indeed, those Apostles who were integral to the growth and development of the early Church, as well as the early disciples who proclaimed Christ’s Gospel to the world, sprang from the Jewish people.

There is, of course, much that differs between Judaism and Catholicism. I will delineate five such differences.

Within the subset of soteriology (theology of salvation), Judaism emphasizes correct conduct that is focused on the Mosaic covenant, as recorded in the Torah and Talmud. Catholicism correctly argues that both faith and works are factors in a person’s salvation.

Arguably, the most significant difference is what Catholic theology calls “the Incarnation,” which is the belief that God became a human being in the person of Jesus of Nazareth without ceasing to be God.

The third difference is the Trinity. The Catholic teaching is that God has revealed Himself as a community of three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Differences exist with regard to the biblical canon, as well. While Catholicism and Judaism share the Old Testament, Judaism denies that the New Testament is the word of God.

This leads to the fifth and final point of contention, the identity of the Messiah and the area of eschatology (end time).

While both Catholicism and Judaism accept the belief that the world will end with the coming of the Messiah, Jews deny that Jesus is the Messiah foretold in Scripture. More specifically, Catholicism asserts that the Messiah (in the person of Jesus) has already come and will come again; Judaism is waiting for the first (and, in their view) only arrival of the Messiah.

Islam

Historically, Catholicism has taken a dim view of Islam. Saint John of Damascus considered Islam heretical, a view held more recently by the French writer Hilaire Belloc. This is to say nothing of the eight major crusades in which Catholicism and Islam clashed.

More recently, efforts have been made to moderate and reconcile the relationship between Catholicism and Islam. Nostra Aetate sought common ground by observing that Islam “adores the one God, living and subsisting in Himself; merciful and all-powerful, the Creator of heaven and earth, who has spoken to men.”

Of course, there is much that makes Islam incompatible with Catholicism.

Islam denies the truth of the Holy Trinity, although the Quran refers to a “holy family” consisting of God, Jesus, and Mary. Additionally, Islam denies the theological position that God can become human (i.e., the Incarnation).

Catholicism and Islam differ widely in matters of morality, as well. Where Catholicism understands evil as a privation of being, Islam believes that God is the source of good and evil. This position seems to contradict the Bible (“God is light and in him is no darkness at all.” 1 John 1:5) and is in direct contradiction to Catholic theology.

Eastern Religions

In any discourse on comparative religions, one encounters difficulties regarding the numerous Eastern religions. By Eastern religions, I am referring to Buddhism, Hinduism, Confucianism, Shinto, Sikhism, Jainism, and Taoism. The cause of this difficulty is that the Eastern religions frequently blur the line between religion and philosophy.

For its part, the Catholic Church again seeks common ground with these Eastern traditions. By recognizing that “The desire for God is written in the human heart,” the Church sees in Hinduism that men contemplate the divine mystery and express it through myths and philosophical inquiry. In a similar fashion, the Church recognizes aspects of an understanding of our fallen nature in the various forms of Buddhism that seek to detach the individual from the causes of suffering.

Conclusion

To paraphrase Aristotle, all people seek to know the truth. From a Catholic vantage point, that truth is God. While it is true that the Catholic Church possesses the fullness of truth, it is possible to find embers of the light of that truth in other religious traditions. In this paper, I have examined the Catholic Church’s position vis-a-vis these other faiths.