The Top 4 Errors of Protestantism
Table of Contents
Protestantism, the Heresy that Won’t Go Away
Protestantism is a heretical cult that has been around for a little over 500 years.
It has corrupted many souls away from authentic Christianity.
Usually, when I encounter a Protestant, I try to gently help them see the errors of this false ideology.
I usually send them something like a link to this wonderful Fisheaters article here.
That Fisheaters challenge was pretty helpful in my own conversion to Catholicism.
I also like to link Protestants to the Didache, and the writing of the earliest Church Fathers:
St. Ignatius of Antioch, St. Justin Martyr, St. Irenaeus, and others.
The intent of this is to show that the Early Christians were all very Catholic.
But I still get pushback, mostly because people are unwilling to read.
So the intent of this article will be to summarize what I see to be the top 4 errors of Protestantism.
And then I shall refute these errors in a succinct manner, so that you do not have to read as much.
Still, I encourage you to read the primary sources I am linking, instead of just taking my word for it.
Protestantism Error # 1 – Sola Scriptura
Sola Scriptura is Latin for Scripture Alone or Bible Alone.
This is usually the defense Protestants give regarding not needing the authority of the Catholic Church.
But Protestantism started in the early 16th century.
There was literally almost 1500 years of Christianity before then.
Were all the Christians in those first 1500 years heretics because they followed the authority of Bishops?
Hopefully, nobody with any common sense would consider all of Christianity heretical until Martin Luther came along…
What Does the Bible Say About Sola Scriptura?
So the Bible doesn’t say that the Bible is the sole Christian authority.
Don’t believe me? Then look yourself. Find the passage and contact me here.
Ok, some of you say “Read 1 Corinthians 4:6 and Ephesians 3:4!”
The thing to understand here is context. You have to read the whole chapter to understand what is being said.
In 1 Corinthians 4 St. Paul is talking about certain priests being harshly judged by the Corinthians.
And in response St. Paul tell the Corinthians to not exalt one another above what is written.
By referring to “what is written” St. Paul is referring to practicing the virtue of humility written in Scripture.
See here for more info.
Ephesians 3:4 (and 3:3) is just referring to reading Ephesians 2 and understanding it.
If you read it in context it doesn’t really go much deeper that that…
The point here is: context matters!
What about the Bible itself? Who canonized the Bible?
Pope Damasus I and the bishops of the Catholic Church canonized the Bible.
When did they canonize the Bible?
They canonized the Bible in 382 AD at the Council of Rome.
So yes, my dear Protestant, the Catholics canonized your New Testament.
Read here about the history of the process to canonize the Bible.
This is where some readers would point out that the New Testament writings existed in the First Century.
This is true.
It is also true that from the First to Fourth Centuries false teachers wrote many other “Gospels” and “Epistles”.
Heretics, such as Judaizers, Gnostics and others used these other books.
If you reject Catholic authority, then why not count these other books as authoritative?
Because, even though you reject the Church, deep in your heart you know the Catholic canon is True.
The only difference between Catholic canon and Protestant canon is that you reject seven books of the Old Testament.
Why? Because heresiarch Martin Luther decided to use the Masoretic canon instead of the Septuagint.
The Septuagint canon was the one that Christ Himself, St. Paul and the 12 Apostles used.
The Pharisees, the enemies of Christ, put together the Masoretic canon.
And the Pharisees changed some things in the Masoretic canon to be anti-Christian.
So as Protestants, you follow the Pharisee interpretation of the Old Testament over the Christian interpretation.
What did the Christians follow in the first 350-ish years of Christianity, if there was no New Testament canon?
They followed the oral and written teachings as taught by the Apostles and their successor bishops.
Us Catholics refer to the oral teachings as Sacred Tradition.
And we understand Tradition as being just as important as Scripture.
St. Paul talks about this himself:
Therefore, brethren, stand fast; and hold the traditions which you have learned, whether by word, or by our epistle.
2 Thessalonians 2:14
What did Christ leave us then?
He left us a Church. This is evident by reading the Bible.
Christ says it Himself:
And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Matthew 16:18
So Christ obviously left us the Church. And He made it clear that St. Peter was the leader.
Don’t believe me? Read the Book of Acts, which follows the 4 Gospels.
It is quite obvious that St. Peter is the leader of the 12 Apostles.
Even St. Paul defers to St. Peter on matters of the Faith (even though rebuking him in Galatians 2).
Read Acts 15 about the Council of Jerusalem. St. Peter makes the final decision because he leads the Church.
And what was St. Peter when he died? St. Peter was the Bishop of Rome. He was the first Pope.
Read more here.
When was the New Testament written?
The first Pauline Epistles started getting written around 50 AD, and the rest followed before the end of the First Century.
Christ died, Resurrected, and Ascended into Heaven in 33 AD.
That means there were about 17 years of Christendom with NO New Testament whatsoever!
What did the Christians follow then? They followed the authority of the 12 Apostles and St. Paul.
The 12 Apostles and St. Paul also created Churches, consecrated Bishops and ordained Priests and Deacons.
Again, this is all written in the Book of Acts, which exists in EVERY PROTESTANT BIBLE!!!
Why did they wait so long to write New Testament documents?
For the same reason Christ Himself never wrote New Testament documents: Most people were illiterate.
The focus of Christ, and His Apostles after He ascended, was conversion by oral preaching.
Preaching orally was the best way to teach people and convert since most people couldn’t read.
The printing press wasn’t around yet, either.
So again, as I mentioned in previous sections, oral Tradition was just as important as written Scripture.
In conclusion, for the first 1500 years of Christianity there was no Protestantism.
Protestantism Error # 2 – Sola Fide
Sola Fide is Latin for Faith Alone. Protestants use it to mean Salvation by Faith Alone.
Luther, Calvin, and other heresiarchs were uncomfortable with the Christian understanding of Justification.
The orthodox Catholic view of Justification is that one can lose salvation if one dies in Mortal Sin.
See more here and here regarding the differences between the heretical and orthodox understanding of Justification.
What does the Bible say about Sola Fide?
So usually Protestants will cite Galatians 2:16, Romans 3:28, Romans 4, Romans 5:1, Philippians 3:9, Ephesians 2:8-9, and other passages.
Here is Romans 3:28, for example:
For we account a man to be justified by faith, without the works of the law.
They will say, “See, Paul says that we are justified by Faith and not works of the law!”
But is it that simple? No. Protestants saying this aren’t considering the context of the passages.
in these passages St. Paul is criticizing the “works of the law.”
What are the “works of the law?”
The “works of the law” are referring to the old Law of Moses of the Old Testament.
The “works of the law” include things like circumcision.
Christ fulfilled the Old Law, as He said here:
Do not think that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.
Matthew 5:17
So when St. Paul is saying that we are justified through Faith in Christ and not by the “works of the law” he is affirming the New Covenant has fulfilled the Old Covenant.
Therefore, the Mosiac Law of the Old Covenant is no longer binding on Christians.
If you still deny this, read Acts 15 again, where the Apostles decided that the Old Covenant is no longer binding.
They ended up condemning the Judaizers as heretics.
Read here, here, and here for more info.
So why is Sola Fide wrong then?
The Bible itself condemns Sola Fide. The Bible says:
Do you see that by works a man is justified; and not by faith only?
James 2:24
If you look at this passage and compare it to Romans 3:28 it would seem on the surface that there is a contradiction.
But there isn’t a contradiction. St. Paul was talking about the Mosaic Law, as we previously discussed.
St. James is referring to keeping God’s moral Commandments when he refers to “works.”
Read here to learn God’s Ten Commandments.
Christ reaffirmed these Commandments in His 2 Great Commandments:
Jesus said to him: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. And the second is like to this: Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments dependeth the whole law and the prophets.
Matthew 22:37-40
Christ also said this:
If you love me, keep my commandments.
John 14:15
So unlike the Mosaic Law, God still requires Christians to follow His moral Commandments.
So going back to James 2, St. James is telling us that we need to follow God’s Commandments to be saved.
It is not enough that we have Faith alone.
So does this mean that “Once Saved, Always Saved” isn’t true?
Yes, that is false. Christ Himself, again, repudiates this false teaching:
Not every one that saith to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven: but he that doth the will of my Father who is in heaven, he shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. Many will say to me in that day: Lord, Lord, have not we prophesied in thy name, and cast out devils in thy name, and done many miracles in thy name? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, you that work iniquity.
Matthew 7:21-23
That is very clear. Christ is saying that not everyone who professes His Name will go to Heaven.
Only the people that do the “will of His Father” – the Will of God – will go to Heaven.
So if you have Faith in God, but do not do His Will, then you will not go to Heaven.
So that means I can lose Salvation?
Yes, you can. In order to have the Grace bestowed upon you to go to Heaven, you must be Baptized.
Christ says that:
Unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
John 3:5
And again, like I quoted in the previous section, Christ Himself says you can lose that Grace by not keeping the Commandments.
St. Paul mirrors what Christ says, by saying:
Know you not that the unjust shall not possess the kingdom of God? Do not err: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, Nor the effeminate, nor liers with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor railers, nor extortioners, shall possess the kingdom of God.
1 Corinthians 6:9-10
St. Paul is referring to Mortal Sins here that will separate a person from Salvation.
For more on Mortal Sins read here.
The Catholic Church has taught for almost 2000 years that Baptism bestows Sanctifying Grace and that staying away from Mortal Sin keeps it.
This teaching is consistent with what the Bible says, as I have proven.
So can I get Sanctifying Grace back if I commit a Mortal Sin?
Yes! Thankfully, Christ gave His Apostles the power to forgive sins.
Christ says this to St. Peter and the other Apostles:
And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven.
Matthew 16:19
This means that the Apostles, and their successors, the bishops and priests, can bind and loose.
One way to do this is to forgive Sins. Read more here.
Moreover, on God’s Merciful Forgiveness, St. John states:
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all iniquity.
1 John 1:9
Protestantism Error # 3 – Denying the Body and Blood of Christ in Communion
Another huge error of Protestantism is denying the real presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist.
Again, Christ makes this clear:
And whilst they were at supper, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and broke: and gave to his disciples, and said: Take ye, and eat. This is my body. And taking the chalice, he gave thanks, and gave to them, saying: Drink ye all of this. For this is my blood of the new testament, which shall be shed for many unto remission of sins.
Matthew 26:26-28
Also:
And taking bread, he gave thanks, and brake; and gave to them, saying: This is my body, which is given for you. Do this for a commemoration of me. In like manner the chalice also, after he had supped, saying: This is the chalice, the new testament in my blood, which shall be shed for you.
Luke 22:19-20
St. Paul echoes Christ in saying this:
For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread. And giving thanks, broke, and said: Take ye, and eat: this is my body, which shall be delivered for you: this do for the commemoration of me. In like manner also the chalice, after he had supped, saying: This chalice is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as often as you shall drink, for the commemoration of me.
1 Corinthians 11:23-25
Now a lot of Protestants will read that and say, “But they were speaking figuratively…”
Were they?
What did the early Christians believe about Communion?
St. Ignatius of Antioch, c. 50 – c. 98/117 AD
St. Ignatius of Antioch, who was a disciple of St. John the Apostle, writes:
I desire the bread of God, the heavenly bread, the bread of life, which is the flesh of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who became afterwards of the seed of David and Abraham; and I desire the drink, namely His blood, which is incorruptible love and eternal life.
The Epistle of Ignatius to the Romans, Chapter VII
Obviously, he believed Communion was really the Body and Blood of Christ.
Moreover, regarding heretics, St. Ignatius says:
They abstain from the Eucharist and from prayer, because they confess not the Eucharist to be the flesh of our Saviour Jesus Christ, which suffered for our sins, and which the Father, of His goodness, raised up again. Those, therefore, who speak against this gift of God, incur death in the midst of their disputes.
The Epistle of Ignatius to the Smyrnaeans, Chapter VII
So St. Ignatius basically said that anyone who denies the Real Presence are heretics 1400 years before Protestantism existed.
St. Justin Martyr, c. 100 – c. 165 AD
St. Justin Martyr said this:
For not as common bread and common drink do we receive these; but in like manner as Jesus Christ our Saviour, having been made flesh by the Word of God, had both flesh and blood for our salvation, so likewise have we been taught that the food which is blessed by the prayer of His word, and from which our blood and flesh by transmutation are nourished, is the flesh and blood of that Jesus who was made flesh.
The First Apology, Chapter 66
St. Irenaeus, c. 130 – c. 202 AD
St. Irenaeus also said:
He has acknowledged the cup (which is a part of the creation) as His own blood, from which He bedews our blood; and the bread (also a part of the creation) He has established as His own body, from which He gives increase to our bodies.
Against Heresies, Book V, Chapter 2
So it’s rather obvious the Christian apologists in the first couple of centuries believed in the Real Presence.
This is what all orthodox Catholic Christians believed in the first 1500 years before the heresy of Protestantism.
If you still don’t believe in the Real Presence, then read about Eucharistic Miracles here or here.
*Note: Some Protestants (Lutherans, some Anglicans) believe in the Real Presence.
They still deny Transubstantiation, though, which is what all Christians believed for 1500 years.
Read more about Transubstantiation here.
Protestantism Error # 4 – Belittling the Virgin Mary, Mother of God
The disrespect many Protestants give to the Blessed Mother of God cannot be understated.
It is true that after the wedding at Cana miracle she isn’t featured much in the Gospels.
However, this is not to diminish her importance but rather to put the spotlight on her Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Mary, being the most humble of all women, would have supported the focus being on her Most High Son.
But since Mary is not featured, the Protestants will still say, “Why is she important then?”
Well let me throw it back at you, my dear Protestant reader…
Out of the billions of women that ever lived…
God the Father chose one holy woman to be His most Blessed Daughter to be the Mother of His Son.
God the Son chose one holy woman to be His most Blessed Mother to bear Him, raise Him, and love Him.
And God the Holy Ghost chose one holy woman to be His most Blessed Spouse to conceive of the Son of God.
So out of the billions of women that have ever lived didn’t God Himself think the Virgin Mary was important?
It appears so. Here’s what the Virgin Mary says in the Bible:
Because he hath regarded the humility of his handmaid; for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
Luke 1:48
If God exalted her to such a high position, then who are you to say she isn’t important?
When you die and are in front of Christ, what will your answer be when He asks:
“Why did you not find my Mother as important as My Father, the Spirit and Myself found her to be?”
What will your answer be to Our Most Glorious and High Lord Jesus Christ?
Will you just say, “Well Martin Luther didn’t think she was so great…”???
HOW DARE YOU!? For shame!
The arrogance of men to judge Our Lady as unimportant when God Himself has exalted her is frightening…
But was Mary really a perpetual virgin?
Christians have believed she was a perpetual virgin for most of Church history.
Again, heretics came along to challenge this idea, but orthodox Christians can explain this pretty simply.
When the Bible talks about Jesus’s “brothers” and “sisters” it was never meant literally.
It was meant in the same way as you call a close friend or family member “brother” or “sister.”
The term used could refer not only to blood-siblings, but also cousins, family friends and personal friends.
St. Jerome, the same person that wrote the Latin Vulgate, the first Holy Bible, actually defended Mary’s perpetual virginity in this work here.
Read that, and you will see how the writer of the original New Testament canon read the Greek New Testament as not saying that Christ had siblings.
But should we pray to Mary and the other Saints?
Why not? Protestants will say that by praying to Mary and the Saints that we are worshipping them.
We aren’t. We worship the Trinitarian God alone.
St. James says this:
…pray one for another, that you may be saved. For the continual prayer of a just man availeth much.
James 5:16
In other words, the more righteous a person is the more that God listens to their prayers.
And who is more righteous than those who have already attained Salvation and are perfected in God’s glory?
And of those, who is more revered than the one woman out of billions that the Trinitarian God chose to become the Mother of God?
This is why we pray to the Saints, and Mary especially.
It’s not because they are gods, but rather because we know that they are in the presence of God.
They are God’s friends for all Eternity.
And in addition to petitioning God with our prayers it makes sense to ask the greatest friends of God to pray with us as well.
Doesn’t this make sense? You would ask the holiest person you know to pray for you, correct?
Then why in the world won’t you ask the closest people to God to pray for you?
In addition to asking for Our Lady’s help, we should also acknowledge that her Son sends her as a messenger to us.
Click here to learn more about the many approved Marian Apparitions.
*Note: Some “High Church” Protestants (Lutherans, some Anglicans) venerate Mary.
Give Up Protestantism, and Come Home!
In conclusion, Protestantism just doesn’t make sense.
Protestantism completely contradicts the Bible.
Protestantism also was non-existent in the first 1500 years of Christianity.
It’s really nothing more than the ideology of people that want to be their own Pope.
Speaking of Popes, another criticism or Protestants is that there are bad Popes, Bishops and Priests.
There have also been many Saintly Popes, Bishops, and Priests.
Here is a list of canonized Popes. That’s a lot of Saints!
For the first few hundred years of Christianity almost ALL were Saints!
But back to the point of bad Catholics… Unfortunately, you are are correct.
There have been numerous bad Christians in the past 2000 years. That’s just par for the course.
It doesn’t mean that the Catholic Church is not the Church that Christ founded. It still is.
The majority of all Christians, including Catholics, are sinners. Many are great sinners.
Many Christians that die in unrepentant sin will go to Hell. It’s sad.
But the good news is that you don’t have to!
Become Catholic. Instead of just having Faith in Christ, have Faith and keep His Commandments.
Become a part of His Church, even though it is full of flawed sinners.
The Church is the Hospital for Sinners.
So come back and get the Sacraments, which are Medicine for the Soul!
Give up Protestantism. Become Catholic.