This article is from a PDF file of the March 1949 edition of The Converted Catholic Magazine. L.H. (Leo Herbert) Lehmann (1895-1950) was a former Catholic priest who received the light of the Gospel through reading the Bible. It’s interesting to me that he went to his heavenly reward the year I was born.

If only J.D. Vance’s grandmother knew of L.H. Lehmann’s testimony! If she had known, she would not have told her grandson that there’s no difference between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism and he might not have joined the Church of Rome.

In my opinion, if there’s going to be a true spiritual revival in America, it has to be back to not only the true Gospel of Christ, but also to the principles of the Protestant Reformation.

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YOU ARE A PROTESTANT because of the historic change that came about in the Christian Church at the time of the Protestant Reformation in the sixteenth century. Catholic propagandists say that event was the greatest tragedy of history, and that you are really a Roman Catholic by blood, a Protestant merely because of mistaken leadership. They say this because the Protestant Reformation revealed the corrupt nature of Roman Catholic teaching, and thereby destroyed a great part of the worldly power and authority of the Roman Catholic Church among the nations of Europe.

As far as you are concerned, however, the Protestant Reformation has brought great blessings which have been passed on to you today in America. If Protestants are misled, as many are being misled today, by the false claims and clever propaganda being spread amongst them by Roman Catholic campaigns, then these blessings in the spiritual and the social order will not be passed to your children after you.

FAITH AND FREEDOM

The two main changes that came about as a result of the Protestant Reformation concerned: 1) the reassertion of the true faith in Christ and His saving work; 2) a new culture of freedom in the social order. A change back to the Roman Catholic teaching on these two vital matters would mean abandonment of the true evangelical way of salvation, and, as a consequence, a return to a social order somewhat similar to what Europe experienced during the Middle Ages. This is the issue at stake in the struggle today between the forces of the Roman Catholic Church and those of Protestantism. This is what is behind the great drive of Roman Catholic propagandists today to induce Protestants to become Roman Catholics and to make America Catholic.

It is therefore necessary, first of all, to understand what your Protestant faith means to you. If Protestants are not convinced of the vital importance of what they believe about salvation, then the culture which flows from that belief is not important either.

Martin Luther, more than 400 years ago, clearly understood and strenuously fought for these social liberties that resulted from his reassertion of the Gospel teaching of salvation by grace through faith. In his famous treatise, On the Babylonian Captivity of the Church, published in October, 1520, Luther explained it in this way: “I cry aloud on behalf of liberty and conscience, and I proclaim with confidence that no kind of law can with any justice be imposed on Christians, whether by men or by angels, except so far as they themselves will; for we are free from all.”

UNIQUE TEACHING OF SALVATION

As a Protestant, you know and believe in a salvation that is quite different to that taught to Roman Catholic people. What Roman Catholics have to believe about salvation is the old, pagan anti-Christian way, by which men are not changed from a state of slavery to God and to other men. The “newness” of the Christian Gospel teaching about salvation consists in the almost incredible proclamation that man’s status has been changed, not only from slavery to other men, but also from a state of slavery to God Himself, into one of divine sonship with God. “And if children then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ.” (Rom. 8:17.)

No other religion ever dared to offer such a great salvation. And any church organization that proclaims and teaches this great salvation cannot make use of that teaching as a weapon of power over its followers. It is for this reason that Protestant countries tend to ever-increasing liberty and social betterment, while Roman Catholic-dominated countries remain in a backward state morally and socially.

As a believer in this great salvation, you can claim this double liberation. Your Protestant concept of salvation in the spiritual order is synonymous with freedom and liberation in the social order. For it stands to reason, that if you are saved from sin in such a way that your status is changed from that of a slave into one of sonship with God, you can never allow other men to tyrannize over you in your social and community life. With Luther above quoted, you can cry aloud on behalf of liberty of conscience, and joyfully proclaim with confidence that no dictatorship of men, either in church or state, can be imposed upon you.

FAITH STANDS ALONE

All men crave liberty and freedom but not all men are willing to submit themselves to the power that will make them free. Believing Protestants will always therefore be in the minority. You may be overwhelmed at the thought of the huge masses of people who belong to the Roman Catholic Church, as well as by the magnificence of its ritual and its spectacular political power. Yet the faith and freedom you enjoy today was won for you by men who dared to stand up and separate themselves from that huge organization (the Roman Catholic Church) in order to assert the freedom that is to be found in Christ.

Membership in the Roman Catholic Church will give you the comfort of a crowd, but will rob you of the personal liberties which belong with the individual acceptance of Christ as your full and perfect Saviour.

HERE’S YOUR SCORE!

AS A PROTESTANT:

1. You are assured, on the Word of God, of complete salvation without the intermediary of a priesthood.

Your salvation is “to the uttermost.” It is “perfected” by the one, unrepeatable sacrifice of Christ on Calvary, offered “once for all,” and “forever.”

2. You have no fear of condemnation after death.

“There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.” (Rom. 8:1.)

3. Your sins are completely forgiven—both the ‘guilt’ and the ‘punishment’ are taken away.

As a Catholic, you would have to depend on a half-forgiveness by a priest in confession; you would have to believe that a priest’s absolution (all other regulations being complied with) can take away only the guilt of your sins, that you yourself would have to suffer the punishment for them, both in this life and the next.

4. You can dispense with Purgatory, since “The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from ALL sin.” (1 Jn. 1:7.)

You need not be deceived by a.recent Knights of Columbus advertisement headed: “Not Quite Good Enough…” and which goes on to say: “That’s the way most of us feel: not quite good enough for heaven, not quite bad enough for hell.”

5. Your soul’s destiny is not in the hands of priests, bishops and popes, but in the hands of your true Saviour Jesus Christ, pierced for your sake.

These are the only hands that can save. The hands of men are powerless to save your soul.

6. Your final authority is the Word of God Himself.

You must have a secure authority on which to rest your hope of salvation. No man can be such a final infallible authority. The ‘Rock’ on which all your hopes and aspirations rest is Christ.

7. The pastor of your church acts as the ‘minister of God’s Word.’

He does not rob you of the power of Christ and use it for the aggrandizement of his church organization or of himself. He does not pretend to be able to offer a sacrifice to appease God (partially) for your sins and to be able to forgive you your sins (partially) in confession. He puts you in touch with your only Saviour, Who accomplished for you a “perfect” work of salvation and forgiveness. When God “perfects” something, how can a man come along and say he can make up for a deficiency in it or add to it?

8. You enjoy a two-fold liberation: from sin and from the dictatorial power of men in Church and State.

As a Christian saved completely from the power of sin, your whole status toward God and man is changed. From being a slave to God you become a son of God. It is obvious, therefore, that you can never be a slave of any man or organization in Church or State. This is where your Protestant culture of freedom comes from.

9. The power of authority resides in you, not in any dictator or institution outside of you.

Those who rule you in Church and State are merely delegated by you to act for you in the public forum. You, together with others in your community, can withdraw that delegated power whenever there is danger of its being abused and appoint others pledged not to do so. This is the root of Christian freedom as you know it in your democratic, representative form of government, in spiritual things as well as in things pertaining to the social and political order.

10. Your marriage, education of your children, your charitable institutions such as hospitals, orphanages, medical science, recreation, theaters and other amusements, what you may read, write and speak in public, as well as the conduct of things in your town or community, are not arranged for you by Roman Catholic law and practice, as they would be if Protestants in your community or country declined in number to the extent that would enable Catholic Church authorities to assume power.

The freedom now enjoyed by Catholics in your Protestant community life would then be denied you and your church by the dominant Catholic power. As in Spain today, you would have no legal status as a Protestant; there would be no tax exemption for your church, and Protestant schools would be forbidden.

WOULD YOU SWEAR TO THIS OATH?

Protestants who become Roman Catholics are obliged to take the following oath on the Bible:

OATH FOR PROTESTANTS

[Following is the complete official text of the solemn oath which Protestants must take before being baptized and received into the Catholic Church]:

“I, (Name), having before my eyes the holy Gospels, which I touch with my hand, and knowing that no one can be saved without that faith which the Holy, Catholic, Apostolic Roman Church holds, believes, and teaches, against which I have greatly erred, inasmuch as I have held and believed doctrines opposed to her teaching:

“I now, with grief and contrition for my past errors, profess that I believe the Holy, Catholic, Apostolic Roman Church to be the only true Church established on earth by Jesus Christ, to which I submit myself with my whole heart. I believe all the articles that she proposes for my belief, and I reject and condemn all that she rejects and condemns, and I am ready to observe all that she commands me. And especially I profess that I believe:

“One only God in three divine persons, distinct from, and equal to, each other—that is to say, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost;

“The Catholic doctrine of the Incarnation, Passion, Death and Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the personal union of the two natures, the divine and the human, the divine Maternity of the most holy Mary, together with her most Spotless Virginity;

“The true, real, and substantial presence of the Body and Blood, together with the Soul and Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in the most holy Sacrament of the Eucharist;

“The seven sacraments instituted by Jesus Christ for the salvation of mankind, that is to say, Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Penance, Extreme Unction, Order (priesthood), Matrimony;

“Purgatory, the Resurrection of the dead, Everlasting life;

“The Primacy, not only of honor, but also of jurisdiction of the Roman Pontiff, successor of St. Peter, Prince of the Apostles, Vicar of Jesus Christ;

“The veneration of the saints and their images;

“The authority of the Apostolic and Ecclesiastical Traditions, and of the Holy Scriptures, which we must interpret and understand only in the sense which our holy mother the Catholic Church has held, and does hold;

“And everything else that has been defined and declared by the sacred Canons, and by the General Councils, and particularly by the holy Council of Trent, and delivered, defined and declared by the General Council of the Vatican, especially concerning the Primacy of the Roman Pontiff, and his infallible teaching authority.

“With a sincere heart, therefore, and with unfeigned faith, I detest and abjure every error, heresy, and sect opposed to the said Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Roman Church.

“So help me God. and these His holy Gospels, which I touch with my hand.”

Note that you would here swear, on the Word of God Himself in the Bible, not to take God at His Word, but to take the word of a man instead!

IS ROMAN CATHOLICISM MORE ATTRACTIVE?

I have already fully explained all the so-called advantages and attractions to be enjoyed by becoming a Roman Catholic. To many these are most appealing, and they are made even more appealing by the way in which Roman Catholic propagandists advertise them. In the K-of-C ad about Purgatory quoted above, for instance, you are told: “Purgatory is one of the most human and comforting of our Catholic beliefs.”

Although Catholics are made to think so, and many Protestants are also deceived by it, this is downright falsehood. “It gives us a place for squaring our lesser obligations with God,” this ad says, “should death overtake us before we have reached perfection.”

In the first place, by our own works we can never “square ourselves with God” (atone for our sins); and secondly, we, by our own works or sufferings, can never reach “perfection.” Jesus Christ, our Saviour, has “squared” things with God for us, and He has “perfected forever those that are sanctified.” Besides, it is no comfort to have to believe that, after all that has been suffered by Christ and by ourselves, after all the sacrifices of the Mass, confessions, penances, novenas, money contributions, etc., we still have to descend into a lake of fire after we die, and remain there at the mercy of priests and others on earth.

Are drinking, gambling and other indulgences allowed to Catholics but frowned on by Protestants as attractive as they are said to be? It must be admitted that they do appeal to weak human nature, but they are a source of shame and remorse to the spiritual man. There is great joy in not yielding to those things; headaches, heartaches and stark tragedy result from indulgence in them. The fruits of the spirit, on the other hand are: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. (Gal. 5:22)

Do you want to be sure of your salvation?

Do you want to have Christ as your own personal Saviour, without a priest between you and God, the Pope between you and your Government ?

Do you want the Word of God in place of the word of man as your infallible guide?

Do you want to have a clean, decent community in which to live and bring up your children?

Do you want the culture and institutions of your country and community to remain free of Roman ecclesiastical control?

Do you want to be sure to pass on the heritage of these blessings to your children and your children’s children?

Then remain a Protestant! Cooperate with your pastor and church so that your community will remain Protestant. Live your Christian life, “not in word only, but in power.” Resist the blandishments and clever inducements offered you by radio, by books and pamphlets, and by misleading advertisements of Roman Catholic propagandists. And since they are flooding the country with this false propaganda to change the traditional Protestant faith and culture of America and make it Catholic, you must help spread the truth and the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, to which you owe all the blessings you now enjoy.

Listen to Paul’s warning (Col. 2:8):

“Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.”