Pat Arensberg: Is Church teaching in the Bible?

Does the Catholic Church maintain beliefs and practices that are not in the Bible?

Well, let us recall from the beginning of this course that the Bible is not the sole rule of faith, nor is it the sole means of Divine Revelation.  As Catholics we believe that God reveals himself through Scripture and Tradition of the Church (see January 30th’s blog).  So, yes it is certainly possible that there are practices that are not in the Bible.  But, the same is true in every Church.  I mean, there were no electronic microphones mentioned in the Bible yet all Churches use them.

However, there is no practice in the Catholic Church that can contradict Scripture.  Truth cannot contradict truth.  God cannot reveal himself one way in Scripture and reveal something else through the Church.  As we have seen over the last few days, it is certainly possible that a practice or teaching of the Church seems to contradict Scripture.  I can tell you though, I have investigated so many of those and in each case it becomes clear that the Scripture is being misinterpreted or twisted, or the translation causes misunderstanding.

In fact, what I have found is that the Catholic Church seems to be the most Biblical Church around.  Read the Acts of the Apostles and Paul’s letters and you find a group of people celebrating the Lord’s Supper.  You find them laying hands and ordaining new clergy, anointing the sick and baptizing entire households.  You find priests and bishops in positions of authority.  If you look at some of the things Jesus said you find that the Catholic Church seems to be one of the only ones to remember them.  For example, he tells people that when he is taken away his followers will fast (see Mark 2).  How many Churches require fasting on Good Friday?  Jesus tells his followers that anyone who divorces his wife and marries another is committing adultery; a very unpopular teaching to be sure (see Matthew 19).  How many Churches hold to this unpopular teaching?  You get the point.

About Pat Arensberg Patrick Arensberg is the Director of Religious Education for the Archdiocese of Mobile. Previously, he taught for 17 years at McGill-Toolen Catholic High School, where he served as Chairman of the Theology Department. He attended the Gregorian University in Rome and holds an M.A. in Theology from Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans. He is married to Connie and they live in Mobile with their 5 children.