At the memorable night of the Last Supper, Jesus Christ once more told His Apostles:
“I have told you this while I am with you. The Advocate, the holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name–he will teach you everything and remind you of all that (I) told you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid” (John 14, 25-27).
What outstanding guarantee of infallibility to the Church! The Holy Spirit “will teach you everything and remind you of all that (I) told you.”
How could then the Church be mistaken? To accept the Protestant Reformation that denied the long fifteen-century journey of the Church, daily guided by the Holy Spirit, first you would have to accept that Jesus deceived His Church and lied to Her and He broke His Promise of always helping Her with His Truth. That is impossible! Jesus is the Husband of the Church, He has never abandoned Her nor shall He ever abandon Her up to the end of times!
“Then Jesus approached and said to them, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age” (Matthew 28, 18-20).
The Protestant Reformation denied the dogmas, the Sacraments, the Church as a Divine Institution, the Sacred Heritage, the Holy Ministry, the Sacred Hierarchy, the sacred Catholic devotions and in brief it denied fifteen centuries of Apostolic Tradition sealed with the testimony of the blood of Martyrs and Confessors and confirmed by the Popes.
Is it possible that all the Apostles were mistaken? Is it possible that all the Martyrs, who gave testimony of Jesus Christ with their own blood, were all mistaken as well? Is it possible that all Popes lied to us? Is it possible that all the saintly Doctors of the Church misled us into wrong pathways of faith?
At present, many Protestant pastors are converting to Catholicism. The American magazine “Sursum Corda!” Special Edition 1996 published an article affirming that during the previous 10 years around 50 American pastors had converted to Catholicism, and many others were in process of conversion at the time. The three most frequent causes for conversion, according to the article, were:
- The doctrinal subjectivity reigning in the several Protestant denominations: this is a consequence of the Protestant principle “the only source of faith is the Bible” and “the free analysis” each faithful can perform on its contents, which opens way to many different interpretations of the same article of faith or moral value;
- The re-evaluation and study of the documents written by Catholic Popes, that greatly contributed to the correct formulation of Catholic Doctrine: the Holy Trinity, Jesus Christ, the Church, the Sacraments, the Grace and so on, and that have been written since the times of the first Apostles up to Saint Gregory Magnus (died 604 A.D.) in the West and Saint John Dalmatian (died 749 A.D.) in the East;
- The definition of the Canon of the Bible (its Index), which was not inferred from the Bible itself, but from the oral tradition of the Church. It is the Church that avows the historical credibility of the Bible and not the Bible that avows the legitimacy of any church or denomination as true Herald of God’s Will. Only God can do that. The deep analysis of these issues has revealed the mistakes of Protestantism to several of its pastors (Magazine “Ask and we shall answer” # 419. April 97, pages 146-160).
- The guarantee of credibility of the Doctrine of the Church is the Holy Spirit, Who has been the Church’s Professor for over 20 centuries: the dogmas of the Creed, the truths of faith about Virgin Mary, the Sacraments, the Catholic Morals and so on. I firmly repeat: denying the teachings of the Ministry of the Church is equivalent to denying to promises Jesus Christ made to His Apostles during the Last Supper.
Professor Felipe Aquino is a widower, father of five children. On TV Canção Nova he presents the program “Escola da Fé” [School of faith] and “Pergunte e Responderemos” [Ask and respond], on Radio he presents the program “in the heart of the Church”. On weekends he preaches deepening meetings throughout Brazil and abroad. He wrote 73 books of Catholic background by publishers, Loyola and Cleopas and Canção Nova. His teacher’s page:www.cleofas.com.br Twitter: @pfelipeaquino