Stark Difference: Gospel Vs Catholic
It is a constant struggle for Gospel preacher to convince Christians to share the Gospel with their Catholic neighbors. Sometimes, it is difficult to explain to people the fact that we are dealing with two different religions. The devil, of course, wants to exalt man over God; therefore, all of his religions end up being the same–works-based. But with certain religions, he is able to mask it better than others. Roman Catholicism is perhaps his greatest masterpiece. Sometimes though, the truth is brought out more clearly than at other times.
Recently, The Daily Wire—a website run by Ben Shapiro—had two guests on their show, and the difference between the two could not be starker. Both spiritual leaders and both with a big influence in their particular religions. Pastor John Macarthur and Bishop Robert Barron.
If you have two hours of time to spare, you can watch the whole Macarthur interview here and the Barron one here and judge for yourself, but for those with less time, let me just say the difference between the two men could not be overstated. The two of them had different agendas and different outlooks on the interview. Perhaps the two areas of greatest disagreement, though, was on the topics of salvation and the authority of Scripture. And I’ll illustrate it with two short clips a piece.
John Macarthur wanted Ben Shapiro to get saved. Robert Barron didn’t believe Ben Shapiro needed to.
John Macarthur had a simple, clear goal throughout the interview: to present the Gospel faithfully. You could see throughout the interview that he had great compassion for Ben Shapiro, and desperately wanted Ben to hear the truth. I’m a firm believer that all roads lead to the Gospel, and John Macarthur proved that over and over again as he seemed to return to the Gospel in so many questions Ben would ask him.
Barron on the other hand encouraged Shapiro in his quest to salvation through his works. He seemed to believe that Shapiro was ok just the way he is. Sure a couple times he said that JEsus is the preferred way to Heaven, but that’s a far cry from what the reformers would call “solus Christus!” Christ Alone! While Macarthur has the urgency of someone who believes Jesus is the only way, Barron believes that Jesus is one way but that it is through your conscience and through following the law that one is saved. One believes John 14:6, and Acts 4:12 the other does not.
John Macarthur wanted Ben Shapiro to read the Bible. Robert Barron thought it would be “borderline irresponsible” to hand anyone a bible and tell them to read.
Another clear goal of Macarthur was to defend the authority of scripture. He wanted people to understand that outside the bible there is no salvation, but on top of that there is no basis for anything including morality. Throughout the interview Macarthur would push people back to the bible and it was quite obvious that everything he was saying was based on scripture.
Barron on the other hand was completely different. He was basing most of his thinking on “church fathers” and reason. You can judge for yourself if you’d like but the sentence, “it is borderline irresponsible to just pick up the bible give to someone and say off you go now read it. You’ll be fine.”
In other words, you need tradition, the magisterium and popes to help you before you can properly understand scripture.
It truly comes down to the belief about salvation, and the role of the Holy Spirit. Macarthur believes that salvation is so simple that a child can do it.
While Barron believes that it is so complex, it is a life process and that there are many hurdles one must go through in order to be saved.
Macarthur believes that the Holy Spirit is the one who enables people to understand the Bible which is why Luther famously said that a “plowboy with the Holy spirit understand scripture better than the pope himself”, while Barron rejects that and adds the importance of help when reading the Bible. In keeping with tradition there is almost a reluctance to have people read the Bible at all and just trust the church’s interpretation.
I want believers to be equipped to evangelize Roman Catholics and to be more discerning. Truth is hard to swallow especially when we are dealing with the eternal destination of souls, but truth is essential in order for us to know how to speak to our friends, family and neighbors about Jesus.
My prayer is that more men and women would rise up who see the truth of the Gospel and declare it boldly. I am so thankful for John Macarthur and his unceasing commitment to defend the truth, but I was also reminded about his genuine love for those he declares the truth to. He loved Ben Shapiro and desperately wanted him to know the Jesus he so faithfully has preached throughout the years.
