Under “About,” you’ll find the five reasons I was drawn to the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.  They are certainty, history, unity, authority, and liturgy.

Certainty is among the most important influences on my pilgrimage.  The word of God is certain, but interpretations are not.  It is neither biblical nor reasonable to believe Christ would leave the Church, for which He died and rose again, without clear guidance. Opposing positions held by godly men and women—all claiming the Bible as their authority—cannot simultaneously be true.  A PewSpective post underscores the point:

I remember discussing the Eucharist with a Presbyterian friend whose opinion on the subject was very different than mine. He smiled and said, “We can agree to disagree and both leave here friends.” I smiled back. “You bet, but we can’t both leave here right.”  [Emphasis mine]

Scot McKnight, in “From Wheaton to Rome,” quotes Irenaeus (Bishop of Lyons in the second century) as saying “the mission of the Church to teach with infallible certitude.” Indeed!  It was Dr. McKnight’s article—the work of a protestant theologian—that helped me make sense of why the Catholic Church seemed so right.  He cites certainty, history, unity, and authority.

We all want certainty—not just want, but are biblical and reasonable to expect it. “God is not a God of confusion” (1 Corinthians 14:33).  Such certainty is achieved in fellowship with the Church that received “the faith once delivered to the saints” (Jude 1:3).

How is the “faith once delivered” transmitted and certainty achieve?  The pattern for that Church is found in 2 Timothy 2:2. The apostles chosen by Christ send forth a subsequent generation of faithful men, who send forth the next generation of faithful men, who send for the next, right up to and including those who are leading Christ’s Church today.  To be a Catholic today is to be in direct contact with faithful men who trace their offices all the way back to those who knew Christ (1 John 1:1-3).

To suggest that Catholics enjoy any certainty might seem ironic, since one protestant objection to Catholicism is, “Oh, those poor people.  They live in such fear.  Don’t they realize they can know they are going to Heaven?”  Protestant concern for Catholics only serves to underscore how important certainty about eternal questions really is. (And for evangelical readers, be assured humble trust in God for salvation is possible— “perseverance unto glory” in the words of Father Garrigou-Lagrange, director of Karol Wojtyła’s doctoral thesis before Cardinal Wojtyła became John Paul II.)

Resolution of those questions about which good men differ is found in the Church founded by Christ and transferred after His resurrection to the Apostles. Jesus said, “All authority 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, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20).

His authority transferred, Jesus then said, “‘As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.’  And with that he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.  If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven’” (John 20:21-23).

These are among the charters the Apostles of Christ’s Church received.  Apostolic succession matters.  Certainty matters—and certainty is possible.  Christianity Richly!