“I can have Jesus without all that extra [Catholic] stuff.”
“I want mere Christianity.”
“I am just interested in the gospel.”
I still hear and read sentiments like these. They hold rhetorical sway in their simplicity. Inversely, Catholicism is often accused of over-complicating Christianity. This charge is leveled in the extensive theology it boasts, especially questions dedicated to Mary or the sacraments, its emphasis on sacramentals and personal devotions, and even matters pertaining to the Church itself.
Gospel +
One must question the underlying assumption. To accept the assumption that the Church is extrinsic to the Gospel makes the Church superfluous at best and a stumbling block at worst.
Sometimes in apologetics, more good can come from asking than answering questions.
Call: “Where is [Catholic teaching x] in the Bible?”
Response: “Where in the Bible does it say every Christian teaching must be written in the Bible?”
c. “How can you believe in a God you can’t see?”
r. “Why are the only true things the ones we can see?”
c. “Why do you hate [insert apparently oppressed group of the moment here]?”
r. “Why are you assuming my feelings toward another person?”
All of these follow-up questions seek to address underlying assumptions. When Catholicism is accused of adding things to the gospel—things like the sacraments, doctrines about Mary, devotions, and a hierarchical structure—we must ask what relationship these things have with the gospel. Because the above examples are all extensions of the Church, we can simplify this question by asking about the nature of the relationship between the Church and the gospel.
Simplicity or Insufficiency?
For the “mere Christian,” the Church appears to be, at best, an extraneous appendage to the gospel, or, at worst, an idolatrous distraction from Christ. (I recognize that C.S. Lewis did not intend the term “mere Christianity” to purposely exclude “the Church,” but it often does in practice.)
It is similar to an assumption atheists sometimes make about the two options for explaining nature: either there is everything, or there is everything plus God. God becomes an extra, unnecessary complication, so why have him? This is also St. Thomas Aquinas’s second proposed objection to the existence of God (ST I, Q 2. A 3).
The problem with this assumption is that nature does not explain itself. It is not sufficient because built into nature is a need for an Unmoved Mover, an Efficient Cause, a Necessary Being, a Standard of Existence, and a Final Cause (these are Aquinas’s famous five ways).
Similarly, the “mere Christianity” option without a church is insufficient because Christianity has built into it the need for a church. Just like how cutting away God from nature does not make it more easily explainable—it makes nature inexplicable—so too does Christianity become inexplicable when it cuts away a Church.
But which Church?
Hierarchy
The Gospels undeniably show that Jesus founds and refers to a “church” (Matt. 16:18-19, 18:17). The difficulty here lies in the ambiguity of the word; various traditions will give different definitions of it.
To exposit and defend every element of the Catholic definition of the church would take too long here. A person will not easily make the jump from this “mere Christianity” option all the way to kissing the papal ring. However, a reasonable leap to make could be to an understanding of the Church with a stronger sense of hierarchy.
In the two passages where Jesus uses the term “church,” Matthew 16:18-19 and 18:17, he is presenting a hierarchical model. Aside from the controversial “rock” debate, Jesus is setting Peter aside and giving him “the keys.” Plenty of exegetical work has been done already connecting these keys to the royal steward of Isaiah 22:22. Again, aside from the implications for who has the keys, they clearly denote a hierarchy in the Old Testament Davidic kingdom, which Jesus is alluding to in Matthew.
In Matthew 18:17, Jesus is establishing a disciplinary model for handling conduct issues within the Church. Even if one proposes an egalitarian model for discipline—maybe the congregation all vote to remove the offending party—one still must preside over the vote and carry out the sentence as a judge. Even to grant for the sake of argument that it is less obvious or formal, it is still a hierarchy.
The “Whole Christ”
Jesus is often referred to as king throughout the New Testament. “Christ is King” is a popular slogan for all Christians, not just Catholics. What is a king without a kingdom, and what kingdom is not hierarchical?
Even if it is clear that Jesus indicated the importance of a church and that this church is hierarchical, does that necessarily mean that “the Church” should be considered part of the gospel?
This falls to an important image, and connection, that the New Testament provides for the Church: the body of Christ (Rom. 2:4-5; 1 Cor. 12:12-13,27; Eph. 1:22-23; Col 1:24). In Church history, St. Augustine calls the Church “the whole Christ.” According to the New Testament and one of Christianity’s most important theologians, to reject the Church was to reject Christ and to reject the gospel.
Even if we want to draw a hard line between the kingdom of God and the Church, as some do, and conclude that the kingdom refers more to Jesus than it does the Church, we must still face the words of St. Paul and Augustine that unite Jesus and the Church. Here again, if there is a kingdom, there is a hierarchy, and if the gospel is about faith in Christ, then that includes the “whole Christ, which must include the Church.
This should lead us to the question: “Which Church is united to Christ?” Absolutely, that is the right question to ask, and there is an answer. At least we can move beyond the assumed minimalism that prevents us from even considering the apparently overly complicated Catholic Church.
Keeping It Saintly Simple
Saints have a way of simplifying things, especially at the end of their lives. One saint saw clearly the simplicity in the unity between Jesus and the Church and, ironically, saw through the apparent simplicity of a merely Christian minimalism. St. Joan of Arc, at her trial before her martyrdom, boldly stated, “About Jesus Christ and the Church, I simply know they’re just one thing, and we shouldn’t complicate the matter.” For this heroine and Christian martyr, the gospel very much included the Church.