Chapter IV: Opening of the Tract

 



 

            One can probably guess Chick’s answer to that question, based on the information I have already provided, but let me ignore the word “Roman” for a moment and focus on the word “Catholic.”  The Catholic Church, along with the Orthodox Church, forms the “building block” of traditional Christianity.[1]  All modern-day Christians descend directly, or indirectly, from Catholic-Orthodoxy.  For Chick declare that the Catholic Church is not Christian, he would have to maintain that the other forms of Christianity, which the Catholic-Orthodox Church held to be “heretical,” were somehow correct.  Consider though his Statement of Faith.[2]

            For example, he holds to the books of the Bible, which, as we would conceive of it, is a product of the Catholic-Orthodox Church,[3] and this would put him in opposition to the canon of Marcion.[4]   Likewise, he also holds to the Doctrine of the Trinity, which the Catholic-Orthodox Church officially defined at the Ecumenical Councils of Nicaea I (325 CE/AD) and Constantinople (381 CE/AD), and this would put him in opposition to the Arians and Adoptionists/Ebionites.[5]  Finally, he also holds God to be a “loving being,” which would put him in opposition with some of the forms of Gnosticism.[6]



Billions of People have Been Deceived

           

If billions of people have been “deceived,” it would seem that God would take pity on these “poor souls,” since they were deceived outside of their control.  One of the characteristics of the God of Abraham is that he is an “all loving being.” 

At the same time though, it must be pointed out that it is impossible to prove one religion—in this case, Christianity— to be true, and every other religion to be false.   If such a thing could be done, then no one would state that they “believe” in this particular religion, because there would be no “belief” involved.  The religion would not be a belief, but a fact. 

The Ecumenical Movement is not of God

            “Ecumenicalism,” in the modern sense, has its origins with Protestants, not the Catholic Church.

The Catholic Charismatic Movement is not of God

            This would, of course, be assuming that Christianity, however Chick wants to define it to be, is true, and every other religion is false—which is impossible to prove/disprove.

That Roman Catholics are Headed for a Spiritual Disaster

            Would they avert “spiritual disaster,” if they left the Roman Catholic Church for another liturgical rite within the Catholic Church?  In other words, if they left the Roman Catholic Church for the Byzantium Catholic Church would that help them avoid “spiritual disaster”?  Many individuals, including Catholics, do not understand the meaning behind those questions, so let me explain.

The term “Roman Catholic” refers to a particular liturgical rite within the Catholic Church (Latin or Roman).  There are 23 other liturgical rites within the Catholic Church.[7]  While the Roman/Latin rite is the largest of these liturgical rites, it is not the only one.[8]  I will mention that I do not use the term “Roman Catholic,” unless I am referring specifically to the Roman/Latin liturgical rite of the Catholic Church.  

The Only Way to Find Out is to Check with the Word of God…the Bible

            As a Christian, I certainly hold that the Bible, both the Jewish and the Christian scriptures, is the “Word of God,” but this is my belief as a Christian.  As a historian, I cannot prove the Bible to be the “Word of God,” and every other religion’s sacred text(s) to be false.  In other words, I cannot prove that the Bible is correct, and that the Vedas, the sacred text of Hinduism, is incorrect; and the same is true with a Hindu trying to prove to me that the Vedas are the “Word of God,” and that the Bible is false.

            At the same time though, I would argue that there is more to this statement from Chick.  In the past, I have heard the statement from Protestants about how, “Catholics don’t believe/follow the Bible.”  Yet, they never seem to ask themselves this question:  “If Catholics don’t believe/follow the Bible, why do they use it?” 

For example, Catholics do not believe/follow the Vedas, and guess what, they do not use it.  Likewise, Catholics do not believe/follow the Koran, the sacred text of the Muslims, and guess what, they do not use that text either.  Finally, Catholics do not believe/follow the Book of Mormon, one of the sacred texts of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (commonly called Mormons), and guess what, they do not use that text either.  Maybe it is not an issue of Catholics believing/following the Bible, more than it is an issue of them not believing/following the Bible in same manner as Protestants (which is true).  At the same time though, Protestants do not believe/follow the Bible in the same manner either (which is why there are different forms of Protestantism).

Let’s Study Helen’s Life as a Devout Catholic

            I must point out that Chick did not draw “Helen” as “ugly.”  This is something he is known to do with individuals/groups who do not agree with him.[9] 


 

[1]Keeping it simple, the Catholic Church and Orthodox Church were united as one Church, Catholic-Orthodox, until the Great Schism of 1054 CE/AD.

 

[2]“Statement of Faith” in Chick Publications.  Accessed from https://www.chick.com/information/statement-of-faith.  Accessed on 25 December 2024.

 

[3]The Bible, as we would conceive of it, comes from the Easter Letter of St. Athanasius of Alexandria, the Bishop of Alexandria, in 367 CE/AD, when he lists the 27 books (the word “Bible” in Greek means a “collection of books”) of the canonical New Testament, which eventually became accepted throughout the entire Christian world.

 

[4]Marcion of Sinope, a second century Christian Gnostic (I will discuss the Gnostics later), had a canon of the Bible, which rejected the entire Hebrew Bible, or what Christians call the “Old Testament,” and contained portions of the Gospel of Luke and 10 Letters of Paul.

 

[5]“Arians” comes from the teachings of Arius of Alexandria, a fourth century presbyter/priest, who rejected the divinity of Jesus.  “Adoptionists/Ebionites” is a first century Christian “heresy,” which held that Jesus was the biological son of Mary and Joseph. The Adoptionists/Ebionites held that while the death of Jesus did away with the “sin offerings of the Torah/Law,” other elements of the Torah needed to be maintained, such as the dietary laws and circumcision.  Their opponents, such as Paul, referred to them as “Judaizers.”  

 

[6]There was not one form of Gnosticism, but many.  However, many Gnostics, including Jewish Gnostics, held that the creator god of this world, the Abrahamic God, was an evil being—or, if not evil, stupid and ignorant.

[7]Such as the Byzantium, Alexandrian, Armenian, Maronite, etc… 

 

[8]As I am currently writing this, there are today over one billion members who belong to the Roman/Latin liturgical rite of the Catholic Church, but that was not the case in 1985 when this particular Chick tract/comic was published.

[9]One example of this is Chick’s 1999 comic/tract Murph.  The story centers around “Murph,” a Catholic police officer, who is mortally wounded while trying to stop a bank robbery.  Before his death, Murph abandons Catholicism in favor of Fundamentalist Evangelical Protestantism.  When he does this, his physical appearance changes.  No longer is he drawn as “ugly,” but as “beautiful.”  See Jack T. Chick, Murph (Rancho Cucamonga, CA: Chick Publications, 1999).  Accessed from https://www.chick.com/products/tract?stk=1005&ue=d. Accessed on 24 December 2023.  

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