An Analysis of the Christian Union’s Doctrinal Basis

Yellow – needs further clarification before agreement

Red – cannot be agreed to

1. The Father, the Son and the Spirit are one in the Godhead.

The original statement needs clarification. This can be read as being three God’s in union (which would be
tri-theist) or as there being no begetting and proceeding in which case the source of the divine nature no
longer rests with the Father. Thirdly it could also be read as simply one God with three attributes
(modalism).
For a Catholic more clarification would be needed – for example the following phrases from the Nicene
Creed:
‘We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth... And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the
only begotten Son of God, and born of the Father before all ages. God of God, light of light, true God from
true God of true God. Begotten not made, consubstantial to the Father... And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord
and Giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son’ (Nicene Creed)

2. God is sovereign in creation, revelation, redemption and final judgement.

‘He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the Church; he is the
beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be pre-eminent’ (Col 1:17-18, RSV)

3. The Bible is inspired by God (God-breathed) and infallible, as originally given, and is
the supreme authority in all matters of what to believe and how to live.

What is meant by ‘as originally given?’ The majority of the bible was written down after the events it
speaks of – some times hundreds of years later. Is the original oral tradition therefore of higher authority
than the later record? If so surely the Catholic idea of scripture and tradition is the correct model?
‘According to the Fathers Sacred Scripture is written principally in the Church’s heart rather than in
documents and records, for the Church carries in her Tradition the living memorial of God’s Word, and it is
the Holy Spirit who gives her the spiritual interpretation of the Scripture.’ (CCC 113)
Scripture is not infallible; it contains obvious contradictions and errors. However, it is God breathed
insomuch as it was written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. It contains within it Christ and, along
with the entirety of tradition (Liturgy, Saints, Art, Theology etc...) can bring us to know Christ who alone
reveals to us our faith and morality.

4. Since the fall, human nature everywhere is sinful and people are guilty; this makes
everyone subject to God’s wrath and condemnation.

Needs clarification – does this mean that humanity is broken and cannot be mended or that the creation is
wounded but can be healed? Only the second is acceptable to a Catholic.
A definition of sin would also be useful.
‘Although it is proper to each individual, original sin doe not have the character of a personal fault in any of
Adam’s descendants. It is the deprivation of original holiness and justice, but human nature has not been
totally corrupted: it is wounded in the natural powers proper to it, subject to ignorance, suffering and the
dominion of Death, and inclined to sin.’(CCC 405)
Sin here is a lack of original holiness – and absence of the good that was once part of our nature. It does
not damn us but rather separates us from God; it is not a wrathful condemnation but an invitation to
return to God and to become not just his image but his likeness:
‘O happy fault, O necessary sin of Adam, which gained for us so great a Redeemer!’ (Exultet, Easter Vigil
Liturgy)
5. The Lord Jesus is fully God, his incarnate Son; he was born of a virgin, his humanity real
and sinless; he died on the cross, rose bodily and is now reigning in heaven and earth.

‘And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, and born of the Father before all ages. God of
God, light of light, true God from true God of true God. Begotten not made, consubstantial to the Father,
by whom all things were made. Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven. And was
Incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and was made man; was crucified also for us under
Pontius Pilate, suffered and was buried; and the third day rose again according to the Scriptures. And
ascended into heaven, sits at the right hand of the Father, and shall come again with glory to judge the
living and the dead, whose kingdom there shall be no end.’ (Nicene Creed)

6. We are redeemed from the guilt, penalty and power of sin only through the sacrificial
death once and for all time of our representative and substitute, Jesus Christ, the only
mediator between God and sinners.

Our salvation does not come purely from the death of Christ on the cross as a substitute for us. This
implies several troubling concepts:
1. That God is constrained by justice and must damn man because justice demands it
2. Sin is not the problem of man but of God; through the incarnation God has to work out a way of
defeating justice which has now been placed above him.
3. God has changed his mind from originally damning man and now has to find a way to save him –
however this makes God both temporal (as he thinks in a liner fashion) and changeable (and therefore
not God on account of having been wrong in either one or the other of these actions, namely
damnation and salvation)
Christ redeems us from sin not by dying in place of us but rather by becoming one of us. He takes on the
mantle of our humanity and sanctifies all that we do – going even to the grave to free us from the
bondage of Satan that we have freely placed ourselves under. It is in the marriage of man and God in the
act of incarnation that we truly come to know God and to accept his grace (which is what saves). This is
the same grace that created and sustains the world from the beginning made intelligible to us through the
incarnation. It was always intended that the creation would be drawn into God and made one with him,
even without a fall there would have been an incarnation and a marriage between creature and creator –
to say otherwise is to state that God changed his mind and became man as a ‘cosmic copout’ to deal with
a mistake he made when he created us.

7. Sinners are pardoned all their sins, and accepted as righteous in God’s sight, only
because of the righteousness of Christ, credited to them; this justification is God’s act
of undeserved mercy, to be received solely by trust in him.

See point 6 for the Catholic viewpoint on the penal substitution. We do not cheat God by presenting him
with Christ’s righteousness on the last day rather than with our own works. Rather we know him as
merciful loving Father rather than as a limited, changeable, time-bound and legalistic demiurge.
It is also important to note that for a Catholic our journey towards God begins with the forgiveness of our
past transgressions along with original sin in the sacrament of baptism. This is the beginning of a life lived
in grace where we constantly strive for righteousness, become more like Christ by coming to know him
through his incarnation (chiefly through the Eucharist) and constantly fail and begin again. Because of this
perpetual falling down and starting again in our journey towards oneness with God Christ saw fit to give
his Church the power to forgive sins again and again. This is so we can again and again return to the
forgiveness of our baptisms and try again in grace to allow our faith to be manifest in our thoughts and
actions.
For a Catholic it is not about being attributed righteousness so we can sneak past God on the day of
judgement. It is a journey to become more than we ever were before, not just a sinful human who hides
 behind the corpse of Christ to shield him form damnation but rather to become God-men by the free and
loving gift of God as he intended before the creation ever came into being.

8. The Holy Spirit is needed to make the work of Christ effective to individual sinners,
and enables them to turn to God from their sin and to trust in Jesus Christ.

Although this is true it is important to note that salvation is not purely an individualistic act. It is not some
special relationship between one human being and God but rather an all encompassing act that draws the
entirety of the created order into God and makes it one with him.
‘The Church... will receive her perfection only in the glory of heaven, when will come the time for the
renewal of all things. At that time, together with the human race, the universe itself, which is so closely
related to man and which attains its destiny through him, will be perfectly re-established in Christ.’ (CCC
1042)

9. The Holy Spirit dwells in all those he has regenerated, producing in them increasing
likeness to Christ in character and behaviour, and giving them power for their witness
in the world.

Clarification is needed on how this is achieved.

‘Confirmation perfects Baptismal grace; it is the sacrament which gives the Holy Spirit in order to root us
more deeply in the divine filiation, incorporate us more firmly into Christ, strengthen our bond with the
Church, associate us more closely with her mission, and help us bar witness to the Christian faith in words
accompanied by deeds.’ (CCC 1316)

10. The one holy universal church is the Body of Christ to which all true believers belong.

Clarification is needed on how ‘Church’ is to be understood and what constitutes a ‘true believer’.

11. The Lord Jesus will return in person, to judge everyone, to execute God’s just
condemnation on those who have not repented and to receive the redeemed to
eternal glory.

Judgement is for God alone. We do not know if only the repentant (those within the Church) will dwell
with God or if there will be many more people. We know where the Church is but we do not know where
it is not. By virtue of his incarnation Christ became truly human and like man in every way except sin.
Therefore, by sharing our nature his is joined to each man in a bond of fidelity and love – hence we cannot
say that only those that recognise him will be accepted by him as he sustains all, dwells in all and became
our very humanity so as to truly be one with us.