The folks over on the Catholic Answers board came across my entry, Who Has The Fullness of Truth? The first set of criticisms concentrate on the differences I noted between Biblical conversion and Roman Catholic conversion. First I was said to miss the need for baptism in my citations of Acts 8:35 and 16:14. While indeed there is a Biblical mandate for believers to be baptized, Scripture does not teach that baptism regenerates. Neither of these chapters in Acts states that conversion is brought about by baptism. My critic then states, “Next he goes on with the typical Romans 4 verse but again, he fails to note why or how this is in conflict with Catholic teaching. He is most likely promoting faith alone in a drive by manner but this article doesn’t do justice to the issue of conversion.” The majority of Catholic interpretations I’ve seen on Romans 3-4 attempt to limit Paul’s concern to the Jewish ceremonial laws. But such an interpretation misses Paul’s contrast between working and believing, as Romans 4:4-5 clearly demonstrates.
I was then criticized for referring to the “gospel of peace” (Eph. 6:15), “The Eph 6 reference is also interesting considering it’s in the context of Paul teaching Christians to prepare for the daily struggle they will encounter in trying to live a holy life, this is perfectly inline with Catholicism.” This criticism neglects the distinction between justification and sanctification. This distinction is set forth earlier in Ephesians 2:8-10. Paul goes on to describe Christ as “our peace” (2:14) and notes we are now members of God’s household (2:19-20), not that we will later become such people by “trying to live a holy life.” My citation of Colossians 1:20 pointed out salvation is the result of Christ’s atonement. My critic cited Colossians 1:22-23 and 2:18-19 and noted, “It is clear this is an ‘IF’ situation, ‘IF’ you continue in your faith…nothing guarantee here…in fact the second quote says explicitly you can be disqualified…in total contradiction to what [Swan] asserts.” Note that Colossians 1:21 speaks of the believer as reconciled and presented as holy in His sight. “If you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel” is descriptive and not prescriptive as the context shows.
Finally, my point that a Protestant converting to Catholicism goes from certainty of salvation to uncertainty of salvation befuddled my critic. The point was simply to contrast the message of the Biblical gospel with the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church. Ludwig Ott notes a Roman Catholic cannot know if one is saved. 1 John 5:13 states, “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.”
Alpha and Omega Ministries is a Christian apologetics organization based in Phoenix, Arizona. James White, director, is a professor, having taught Greek, Systematic Theology, and various topics in the field of apologetics for numerous schools.