Different Gospels: Evangelicals and Roman Catholics

It is often pointed out that Evangelical Protestants and Roman Catholics have a lot in common. On the one hand, there is an apparent “common orthodoxy” based on the ancient Trinitarian and Christological creeds, which use the same basic words of the gospel: God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, the Bible, sin, faith, salvation, church, and so on. On the other hand, nobody can deny the profound differences that separates Evangelical Protestants and Roman Catholics in their accounts of the doctrines of Christ, the Church, and salvation (i.e. the core of the gospel), as well as Mary, the intercession of the saints, purgatory, papal infallibility, and the manifold practices that stem out of them. In many respects Roman Catholicism is really alien to the evangelical faith. The question is: How can we have the “same” gospel if the two faiths have core commitments that do not match? This session will explore how and why the Roman Catholic gospel is different from the biblical gospel.