Certainty was one of the most important influences in my becoming a Catholic Christian. The word of God is certain, but interpretations are not.  It is neither biblical nor reasonable to believe Christ would leave the Church without clear guidance.  ”Good men differ,” we used to say as protestants.  But diametrically opposed positions —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.”

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 the Catholic Church.  He cites certainty, history, unity, and authority.

We all want certainty—not just want, but reasonably and biblically, 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 thereby achieved?  The pattern for the Church is found in 2 Timothy 2:2. The apostles chosen by Christ sent forth a subsequent generation of faithful men, who sent forth the next generation of faithful men, who sent forth the next, right up to and including those who are leading Christ’s Church today.  To be a Catholic Christian 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 common 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?” This protestant concern for Catholics, of course, serves to underscore how important certainty about eternal questions really is. And for evangelical readers of this post, Catholics humbly trust in God for salvation— “perseverance unto glory” in the words of Father Garrigou-Lagrange, director of Karol Wojtyła’s doctoral thesis before Cardinal Wojtyła became John Paul II.)

Good men needn’t differ about theological points.  Certainty is found in the Church founded by Christ. 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).

Jesus then said to the Apostles, “‘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). Authority was transferred to those men to whom Christ entrusted the Church.

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