(b) DISSENSUS.
I. The eternal Procession of the Holy Ghost from the Son (Filioque): denied by the Greek, taught by the Latin Church.
II. The papal supremacy and infallibility: rejected by the Greek Church as an antichristian usurpation, asserted by the Latin Church as its corner-stone.
III. The immaculate conception of the Virgin Mary: proclaimed as a dogma by the Pope, 1854: [1723]
IV. The marriage of the lower clergy: allowed by the Greek, forbidden by the Latin Church.
V. Withdrawal of the eucharistic cup from the laity.
VI. A number of rites and ceremonies.
Greek rites: threefold baptismal immersion, instead of pouring or sprinkling; use of leavened, instead of unleavened, bread in the eucharist; the invocation of the Holy Ghost for the benediction of the sacred elements; infant communion; anointing baptized infants; the repetition of holy unction (to euchelaion) in sickness.
C. Consensus and Dissensus of the Greek Church and the Evangelical Churches.
(a) CONSENSUS.
I. They believe the Scriptures and the doctrines of the oecumenical Creeds. (See A.)
II. They reject:
1. The supremacy and infallibility of the Pope.
2. The immaculate conception of the Virgin Mary.
3. The withdrawal of the cup from the laity.
4. The enforced celibacy of priests and deacons.
(The Greek Church, however, prohibits the second marriage of the lower clergy, and requires the celibacy of the bishops.)
(b) DISSENSUS.
I. The double Procession of the Holy Spirit. [1724]
II. In the post-oecumenical doctrines mentioned sub B. (a), II., the Greek Church sides with Rome against Protestantism.
D. Consensus and Dissensus of the Roman Catholic and the Evangelical Protestant Churches.
(a) CONSENSUS. (See sub A.)
(b) DISSENSUS.
I. Scripture and Tradition, as a rule of faith.
Roman Catholic doctrine:
The necessity of ecclesiastical tradition (culminating in the infallible decisions of the papal see), as a joint rule of faith and as the sole interpreter of Scripture.
Protestant doctrine:
The absolute supremacy and sufficiency of the Scriptures as a guide to salvation.
II. Other differences concerning the Scriptures.
1. Extent of the Canon:
The Apocrypha of the Old Testament are included in the Roman, excluded from the Protestant Canon.
2. Authority of the Latin Vulgate:
Put on a par with the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures by Rome; while Protestantism claims divine authority only for the original Scriptures of the inspired authors.
3. Popular use and circulation of the Bible:
Discouraged (and relatively forbidden) by Rome; encouraged by Protestantism, which goes hand in hand with the Word of God, and must stand or fall with it.
III. Objects of Worship.
Roman Catholic doctrine:
1. God (latria);
2. The Virgin Mary (hyperdulia);
3. Angels and Saints (dulia);
4. Images and Relics of Saints. Protestant doctrine:
God alone. All other worship is gross or refined idolatry.
The Roman Catholic Christian approaches Christ through human mediators, and virtually substitutes the worship of Mary for the worship of Christ; the Protestant approaches Christ directly, and prays to him as his only and all-sufficient High-Priest and Intercessor with the Father.
IV. Primitive State.
Difference (asserted by Roman Catholics, denied by Protestants) between the image of God (imago, eikon, tslm), i.e., the natural perfection of the first man as a rational and free being, and similitude of God (similitudo, homoiosis, dmdt), i.e., supernatural endowment of man with righteousness and holiness together with the immortality of the body.
V. Original Sin.
Roman Catholic doctrine:
Original sin is a negative defect (carentia justitiæ originalis), or the loss of the similitude--not of the image--of God, and is entirely removed by baptism.
Protestant doctrine:
Original sin is a positive corruption and total depravity, involving the loss of (spiritual) freedom, and retains the character of sin after baptism.
VI. Justification by faith and good works (Roman Catholic);--or by faith alone (Protestant).
1. Different conceptions of justification (dikaiosis, justificatio): a gradual process of making the sinner righteous (identical with sanctification);--or a judicial and declaratory act of God (acquittal of the penitent sinner on the ground of Christ's merits and on condition of faith in Christ), followed by sanctification.
2. Different conceptions of faith: intellectual assent and submission to divine authority;--or personal trust in Christ and living union with him.
3. Different position assigned to works: condition of justification;--or evidence of justification.
4. Assurance of justification and salvation: denied (except on the ground of a special revelation) by Roman Catholics; asserted by Protestants (though in different degrees).
Paul and James. Basis of reconciliation: faith operative in love. [1725]
VII. Good works of believers.
The meritoriousness of good works (meritum ex congruo and meritum ex condigno): Works of supererogation, not commanded, but recommended (consilia evangelica), with corresponding extra merits, which constitute a treasury at the disposal of the Pope for the dispensation of indulgences.
Here is the root of the ascetic and monastic system (vota monastica: voluntary obedience, poverty, and celibacy), and the chief difference between Roman Catholic and Evangelical ethics.
VIII. The Church.
1. Identification of the Church of Christ with the Church of Rome--the fundamental error (the proton pseudos) of the papacy.
2. Distinction of the invisible Church (one and universal under the sole headship of Christ), and the visible Church (existing in many organizations or denominations): asserted by Protestants; denied by Roman Catholics.
3. Different conception and application of the attributes of the Church; unity, holiness, catholicity, apostolicity, indefectibility, infallibility, and exclusiveness, especially the last (extra ecclesiam nulla salus, which is made to mean extra ecclesiam Romanam).
IX. The Pope.
The infallible head of the Universal Church, the Vicar of Christ on earth, by virtue of his office as the successor of Peter.
This is the cardinal doctrine of Romanism, but rejected by Greeks and Protestants as an antichristian usurpation of the prerogative of Christ.
X. Sacraments in general.
1. Definition: visible signs of invisible grace instituted by the express command of Christ in the New Testament (Protestant);--or simply by the authority of the Church (Roman Catholic).
2. Number: seven (Roman Catholic);--or two (Baptism and the Lord's Supper).
3. Effect: ex opere operato (i.e., by virtue of the objective act);--or through faith (as the subjective condition).
XI. Baptism.
Its effect on original sin; its relation to regeneration; its necessity for salvation; and several ritual differences.
XII. The Eucharist. Romanism holds, Protestantism denies:
1. Transubstantiation and the adoration of the elements.
2. The withdrawal of the cup from the laity.
3. The Eucharist as a sacrifice, i.e., an actual though unbloody repetition of Christ's sacrifice on the cross by the priest for the sins of the living and the dead (the souls in purgatory).
The celebration of the Mass is the centre of Roman Catholic worship.
XIII. The other five Sacraments: Confirmation, Penance, Matrimony, Ordination, Extreme Unction.
Maintained by Rome as sacraments proper; rejected by Protestants, or admitted only as semi- or quasi-sacramental acts.
1. Confirmation.
Retained by the Lutheran, Anglican, and the German Reformed Churches (as supplementary to infant baptism after a course of catechetical instruction). Rejected by other Protestant Churches, in which a voluntary union with the Church by a public profession of faith takes the place of confirmation.
2. Penance (sacramentum pænitentiæ).
Auricular confession and priestly absolution; satisfaction for venial sins; indulgences. The Lutheran (and Anglican) standards approve private confession to the minister; other Churches leave it entirely optional; all Protestants deny the efficacy of priestly absolution except as an official declaration of God's forgiving mercy to the penitent
3. Ordination.
A separate priesthood and clerical celibacy (Roman Catholic); the general priesthood of the laity and the right of the laity to participate in Church government (Protestant).
4. Matrimony.
Differences in matrimonial legislation, mixed marriages, and divorce.
5. Extreme unction.
Rejected by Protestants, who in James v. 14 emphasize the praying rather than 'the anointing with oil' (a physical remedy).
XIV. Purgatory.
A temporary middle place and state (until the final judgment) between heaven and hell for the purification of imperfect Christians, which may be advanced by prayers and masses in their behalf.
Protestantism holds that there are only two conditions in the other world, but with various degrees of bliss or misery.
The indulgences closely connected with purgatory were the first occasion, though not the cause, of the Reformation.
E. Doctrinal Differences among Evangelical Protestants.