Presbyterian Scholar of Today:
In other words, I believe Roman Catholics and Protestants both agree that the sole OBJECT of faith is Christ. Anyone who believes in someone or something OTHER than Christ for justification does not have genuine faith. Faith is a whole-hearted commitment of oneself to, and trust in the person of Christ. The Roman Catholic who trusts in his good works, plus Christ, is damned. (Can anyone show me where the Council of Trent says that we are to trust in ourselves, as well as in Christ for our justification?) The Protestant who trusts in the accuracy of his doctrinal formulations, plus Christ, is damned. The Protestant who trusts in his faith, plus Christ, is damned. Anyone who trusts “in themselves” is not justified (Lk. 18:9, 14). (Paul Owen, Montreat College)
Presbyterian Scholar of a Century Ago:
In one word, the Church in this system (Rome) is conceived to be Jesus Christ himself in his earthly form, and it is therefore substituted for him as the proximate object of the faith of Christians. “The visible Church,” says Mohler, “is the Son of God, as he continuously appears, ever repeats himself, and eternally renews his youth among men in human form. It is his perennial incarnation.” It is to the Church, then, that men must look for their salvation; it is from the Church and its ordinances alone that salvation is communicated to men; in a word it is to the Church rather than to Christ or to the grace of God that the salvation of men is immediately ascribed. Only “through the most holy sacraments of the Church,” it is declared plainly, is it, “that all true justice either begins; or being begun is increased; or being lost, is repaired.” (B.B. Warfield, The Plan of Salvation, p. 52).