After Two Years Goldstein Is Up To His Old Tricks

Two years ago as editor of the Daniel Lesson Study Guide Clifford Goldstein took it upon himself to misrepresent the Roman Catholic Church. After those Lessons In Misinformation Goldstein once again uses the technique of lifting a line from the Roman Catholic Catechism to show how the Catholic church acts as the little horn of Daniel 8. On the lesson study guide for Friday September 8 Goldstein writes:

Below are quotes, all taken from the Catechism of the Catholic Church (New York: Doubleday, 1995). As you read, keep in mind Daniel 8:11, 12 and the little horn's usurpation of what belonged only to God and Christ.

Just for the sake of comparision here are some of his Catechism quotes interspersed with quotes taken from the Adventist book Seventh-day Adventists Believe ... A Biblical Exposition of 27 Fundamental Doctrines Followed by the actual full quotes from the Catechism.

"There is no offense, however serious, that the Church cannot forgive."—No. 982.

SDA: Persons unwilling to accept the atoning blood of Christ receive no forgiveness of sin, and are still subject to God's wrath. (Seventh-day Adventists Believe Page 137)

"Baptism is birth into the new life in Christ. In accordance with the Lord's will, it is necessary for salvation, as is the Church herself, which we enter by Baptism."—No. 1277.

However, while baptism is vitally linked to salvation, it does not guarantee salvation. (Seventh-day Adventists Believe Page 183)

"The Church is catholic: she proclaims the fullness of the faith. She bears in herself and administers the totality of the means of salvation." No. 868.

SDA: This remnant announces the arrival of the judgment hour, proclaims salvation through Christ, and heralds the approach of His second advent. (Seventh-day Adventists Believe Page 152)

"Basing itself on Scripture and Tradition, the Council teaches that the Church, a pilgrim now on earth, is necessary for salvation."—No. 846.

SDA: The church is God's instrument for the administration of the ordinance of baptism, the rite of entrance to the church (see chapter 14 of this book), and the ordinances of foot washing and the Lord's Supper (see chapter 15 of this book). (Seventh-day Adventists Believe Page 144)

"As sacrament, the Church is Christ's instrument. 'She is taken up by him also as the instrument for the salvation of all,' `the universal sacrament of salvation.' "—No. 776.

SDA: —the church. As a body, the church is nothing less than Christ's body . (Seventh-day Adventists Believe Page 138)

The power to 'bind and loose' connotes the authority to absolve sins. . . . Jesus entrusted this authority to the Church through the ministry of the apostles."—No. 553.

SDA: When the church proclaims the truths of the Bible, these keys to salvation have the power to bind and to loose, to open and shut heaven, because they declare the criteria by which people are received or rejected, saved or lost. Thus the church's gospel proclamation exudes "the fragrance of life" or "the smell of death" (2 Cor. 2:16, NIV). (Seventh-day Adventists Believe Page 144)

So What is the definition of the church given in the Roman Catholic Catechism as compared to the SDA book?

946

After confessing "the holy catholic Church," the Apostles' Creed adds "the communion of saints." In a certain sense this article is a further explanation of the preceding: "What is the Church if not the assembly of all the saints?"⁴⁷⁹ The communion of saints is the Church.
http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/pt1sect2chpt3art9p5.htm

The Nature of the Church
The Bible portrays the church as a divine institution, calling it "the church of God" (Acts 20:28; 1 Cor. 1:2). Jesus invested the church with divine authority (Matt. 18:17, 18). We can understand the nature of the Christian church by viewing its Old Testament roots and the various metaphors the New Testament uses in speaking of it. (Seventh-day Adventists Believe Page 137)
553

Jesus entrusted a specific authority to Peter: "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."²⁸⁷ The "power of the keys" designates authority to govern the house of God, which is the Church. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, confirmed this mandate after his Resurrection: "Feed my sheep."²⁸⁸ The power to "bind and loose" connotes the authority to absolve sins, to pronounce doctrinal judgments, and to make disciplinary decisions in the Church. Jesus entrusted this authority to the Church through the ministry of the apostles²⁸⁹ and in particular through the ministry of Peter, the only one to whom he specifically entrusted the keys of the kingdom.
http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/pt1sect2chpt2art3p3.htm#ii
776

As sacrament, the Church is Christ's instrument. "She is taken up by him also as the instrument for the salvation of all," "the universal sacrament of salvation," by which Christ is "at once manifesting and actualizing the mystery of God's love for men."¹⁹⁹ The Church "is the visible plan of God's love for humanity," because God desires "that the whole human race may become one People of God, form one Body of Christ, and be built up into one temple of the Holy Spirit."²⁰⁰
http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/pt1sect2chpt3art9.htm#p1
824

United with Christ, the Church is sanctified by him; through him and with him she becomes sanctifying. "All the activities of the Church are directed, as toward their end, to the sanctification of men in Christ and the glorification of God."²⁹² It is in the Church that "the fullness of the means of salvation"²⁹³ has been deposited. It is in her that "by the grace of God we acquire holiness."²⁹⁴
http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/pt1sect2chpt3art9p3.htm
846

How are we to understand this affirmation, often repeated by the Church Fathers?³³⁵ Re-formulated positively, it means that all salvation comes from Christ the Head through the Church which is his Body:

Basing itself on Scripture and Tradition, the Council teaches that the Church, a pilgrim now on earth, is necessary for salvation: the one Christ is the mediator and the way of salvation; he is present to us in his body which is the Church. He himself explicitly asserted the necessity of faith and Baptism, and thereby affirmed at the same time the necessity of the Church which men enter through Baptism as through a door. Hence they could not be saved who, knowing that the Catholic Church was founded as necessary by God through Christ, would refuse either to enter it or to remain in it.³³⁶
http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/pt1sect2chpt3art9p3.htm
868

The Church is catholic: she proclaims the fullness of the faith. She bears in herself and administers the totality of the means of salvation. She is sent out to all peoples. She speaks to all men. She encompasses all times. She is "missionary of her very nature" (AG 2).
http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/pt1sect2chpt3art9p3.htm
982

There is no offense, however serious, that the Church cannot forgive. "There is no one, however wicked and guilty, who may not confidently hope for forgiveness, provided his repentance is honest."⁵²⁹ Christ who died for all men desires that in his Church the gates of forgiveness should always be open to anyone who turns away from sin.⁵³⁰
983

Catechesis strives to awaken and nourish in the faithful faith in the incomparable greatness of the risen Christ's gift to his Church: the mission and the power to forgive sins through the ministry of the apostles and their successors:

The Lord wills that his disciples possess a tremendous power: that his lowly servants accomplish in his name all that he did when he was on earth.⁵³¹

Priests have received from God a power that he has given neither to angels nor to archangels. . . . God above confirms what priests do here below.⁵³²

Were there no forgiveness of sins in the Church, there would be no hope of life to come or eternal liberation. Let us thank God who has given his Church such a gift.⁵³³
http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/pt1sect2chpt3art10.htm
986

By Christ's will, the Church possesses the power to forgive the sins of the baptized and exercises it through bishops and priests normally in the sacrament of Penance.
http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/pt1sect2chpt3art10.htm
1069

The word "liturgy" originally meant a "public work" or a "service in the name of/on behalf of the people." In Christian tradition it means the participation of the People of God in "the work of God."⁵ Through the liturgy Christ, our redeemer and high priest, continues the work of our redemption in, with, and through his Church.
http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/parttwo.htm
1276

"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" (Mt 28:19-20).
1277

Baptism is birth into the new life in Christ. In accordance with the Lord's will, it is necessary for salvation, as is the Church herself, which we enter by Baptism.
1278

The essential rite of Baptism consists in immersing the candidate in water or pouring water on his head, while pronouncing the invocation of the Most Holy Trinity: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/pt2sect2.htm