Objections to the Church

What are the strongest objections to the Catholic claim, and how do we respond?

The claim that the Catholic Church is the Church Christ founded is not a small one, and it deserves to be tested against its strongest challengers, not its weakest. Each objection here is stated in its most forceful form before any reply is given.

These are not abstract puzzles. For many sincere Christians who already love Christ, they are the real reasons for keeping their distance from the Catholic Church: the honest sticking points, not excuses. Some ask whether the Reformers or Rome kept the faith; one asks where the Eastern Orthodox stand, since they share so much of the Catholic claim; one asks about the place the Church gives the Blessed Virgin Mary; one asks whether praying to the saints is devotion or idolatry; and one asks whether the Church is an enemy of science or demanding of a young earth and a rejection of evolution.

The point of working through them is not to score points against other Christians, but to see whether the Catholic claim still stands up with its hardest difficulties in full view.

Expand a section below to sit with each objection and its response.