📖 Madhehebu Potofu na Dini za Ulimwengu — Sehemu ya 8: Ukatoliki wa Roma📖 Cults & World Religions — Unit 8: Roman Catholicism

Msingi: Waefeso 2:8-9; Warumi 3:28; Waebrania 10:14; 1 Timotheo 2:5 (SUV)Anchor: Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 3:28; Hebrews 10:14; 1 Timothy 2:5 (NKJV)

Neno Kabla HatujaanzaA Word Before We Begin

Sehemu hii ni tofauti na kila sehemu iliyotangulia, na lazima tuseme hivyo tangu mwanzo. Kanisa Katoliki la Roma si dhehebu potofu. Linakiri Utatu, uungu kamili wa Kristo, kuzaliwa kwake na bikira, kifo chake cha upatanisho, na ufufuo wake wa kimwili; linashika kanuni za imani za kale ambazo sisi wenyewe tunazishika; na ndani yake wamo mamilioni mengi wanaompenda Bwana Yesu na kumtumaini. Katika nchi hii zaidi ya zote, Kanisa Katoliki limefumwa ndani ya historia, familia, na moyo wa watu wetu, na hatulizungumzii kwa wepesi wala kama watu wa nje. Wengi wetu tulitoka humo; wengi tunaowapenda bado wamo humo. Kwa hiyo tunaijia mada hii si kama wageni wanaomshambulia mpinzani, bali kama washiriki wa familia moja wanaotamani kuonana wakipumzika kikamilifu ndani ya Kristo. Lengo letu si kudhihaki kilicho cha thamani kwa jirani zetu, wala kujifanya kwamba tofauti hazina maana, bali kuheshimu tunachoshiriki, kusema kwa uaminifu na kwa upole pale tunapotofautiana, na kumwelekeza kila mtu — Mkatoliki na Mwinjilisti vilevile — kwa kazi ya Kristo iliyokamilika. (Neno juu ya kile ambacho sehemu hii si: inashughulikia mafundisho rasmi ya Kanisa Katoliki, si desturi za kienyeji zilizokua kandokando yake, ambazo tutazitazama peke yake katika sehemu inayofuata.)This unit is different from every unit before it, and we must say so at the outset. The Roman Catholic Church is not a cult. It confesses the Trinity, the full deity of Christ, His virgin birth, His atoning death, and His bodily resurrection; it holds the ancient creeds that we ourselves hold; and within it are many millions who love the Lord Jesus and trust in Him. In this land above all, the Catholic Church is woven into the history, the family, and the heart of our people, and we do not speak of it lightly or from the outside. Many of us came from it; many of those we love remain in it. So we come to this subject not as strangers attacking a rival, but as members of the same family who long to see one another rest fully in Christ. Our aim is not to mock what is dear to our neighbors, nor to pretend the differences do not matter, but to honor what we share, to speak honestly and gently about where we differ, and to point everyone — Catholic and evangelical alike — to the finished work of Christ. (A word on what this unit is not: it treats the official teaching of the Catholic Church, not the folk practices that have grown up around it, which we will consider separately in the next unit.)

TunachoshirikiWhat We Share

Kabla ya kusema juu ya tofauti yoyote, lazima tuseme waziwazi jinsi tunavyoshiriki mengi, kwa maana ni mengi sana, na uaminifu unatudai tuanzie hapa. Pamoja na Wakatoliki wa Roma tunakiri Mungu mmoja anayeishi milele katika Nafsi tatu, Baba, Mwana, na Roho Mtakatifu. Tunakiri kwamba Yesu Kristo ni Mungu kweli na mwanadamu kweli, aliyechukuliwa mimba kwa uweza wa Roho Mtakatifu na kuzaliwa na bikira Maria, kwamba alikufa kwa ajili ya dhambi zetu, alifufuka kimwili kutoka kaburini, alipaa kwa Baba, na atakuja tena. Tunashika Kanuni za Imani zile zile za Mitume na ya Nikea, na tunapokea Agano Jipya lile lile kama Neno la Mungu. Tunakubaliana kwamba wote wamefanya dhambi, kwamba hakuna mtu anayeweza kuokolewa pasipo neema ya Mungu na kazi ya Kristo, na kwamba imani ni ya lazima. Haya si mambo madogo; ni mambo makuu, kiini hasa cha imani ya Kikristo, na juu yake tunasimama pamoja dhidi ya kila aina ya kutoamini. Lo lote tutakalosema baadaye, isisahaulike kamwe kwamba tunalisema kwa wale wanaokiri pamoja nasi kwamba Yesu ni Bwana.Before we speak of any difference, we must say plainly how much we share, for it is a great deal, and honesty requires us to begin here. With Roman Catholics we confess one God eternally existing in three Persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We confess that Jesus Christ is truly God and truly man, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, that He died for our sins, rose bodily from the grave, ascended to the Father, and will come again. We hold the same Apostles' and Nicene Creeds, and we receive the same New Testament as the Word of God. We agree that all have sinned, that no one can be saved apart from the grace of God and the work of Christ, and that faith is necessary. These are not small things; they are the great things, the very heart of the Christian faith, and on them we stand together against every form of unbelief. Whatever we go on to say, let it never be forgotten that we say it to those who confess with us that Jesus is Lord.

Tunapotofautiana, na Kwa Nini Ni MuhimuWhere We Differ, and Why It Matters

Hata hivyo kuna tofauti halisi, na baadhi yake zinaigusa Injili yenyewe, kwa hiyo hatuwezi kuzichukulia kana kwamba hazina maana. Zinakusanyika kuzunguka swali moja, swali lililowahi kuligawa kanisa wakati wa Matengenezo ya Kanisa na bado linaligawa: mwenye dhambi anahesabiwaje haki mbele za Mungu, na anategemea nini kwa wokovu wake? Wanamatengenezo hawakutilia shaka kwamba Wakatoliki walimwamini Kristo na neema; wasiwasi wao ulikuwa kwamba mafundisho fulani, hata yakishikwa kwa dhati kiasi gani, yaliongeza kwenye kazi ya Kristo iliyokamilika mambo ambayo yangeweza tu kuifunika — mapokeo ya kibinadamu kando ya Maandiko, matendo ya kibinadamu kando ya imani, na sifa za kibinadamu na za watakatifu kando ya sifa za Kristo. Tunashughulikia manne kati ya hayo: swali la mamlaka, swali la kuhesabiwa haki, swali la kazi ya Kristo iliyokamilika, na nafasi ya Maria na watakatifu. Tunayachunguza si kama dini tofauti, bali kama kutokubaliana ndani ya familia kuhusu jinsi ya kumtegemea Kristo peke yake kikamilifu.And yet there are real differences, and some of them touch the gospel itself, so that we cannot treat them as though they did not matter. They gather around a single question, the question that once divided the church in the Reformation and divides it still: how is a sinner made right with God, and where does he rest for his salvation? The Reformers did not doubt that Catholics believed in Christ and in grace; their concern was that certain teachings, however sincerely held, added to the finished work of Christ things that could only obscure it — human tradition alongside Scripture, human works alongside faith, and human and saintly merit alongside the merit of Christ. We take up four of these: the question of authority, the question of justification, the question of the finished work of Christ, and the place of Mary and the saints. We examine them not as a different religion, but as a family disagreement about how fully to rest in Christ alone.

Mamlaka: Maandiko, au Maandiko na Mapokeo?Authority: Scripture, or Scripture and Tradition?

Tofauti ya kwanza inahusu mamlaka: hatimaye tunasikia sauti ya Mungu wapi? Kanisa Katoliki linafundisha kwamba ufunuo wa Mungu unatujia kupitia Maandiko na Mapokeo Matakatifu kwa pamoja, yakifafanuliwa kwa mamlaka na ofisi ya ufundishaji ya Kanisa. Matengenezo ya Kanisa yalijibu kwamba Maandiko peke yake ndiyo kanuni ya mwisho na isiyokosea ya imani — si kwa sababu mapokeo na mafundisho hayana thamani, bali kwa sababu lazima yapimwe daima kwa Neno la Mungu, na yasiwekwe kamwe juu yake. Wasiwasi wetu ni wa Kibiblia. Yesu aliwakemea viongozi wa siku zake kwa sababu "mnaiacha amri ya Mungu, na kuyashika mapokeo ya wanadamu" (Marko 7:8), na alionya kwamba mapokeo yanaweza hata "kulitangua neno la Mungu" (Marko 7:13). Paulo aliandika kwamba "kila andiko, lenye pumzi ya Mungu" linaweza kumfanya mtu wa Mungu "awe kamili, amekamilishwa apate kutenda kila tendo jema" (2 Timotheo 3:16-17) — kamili, bila kuhitaji kanuni nyingine juu yake. Na Waberoya waungwana walisifiwa kwa kupima hata mahubiri ya mtume Paulo kwa "kuyachunguza maandiko kila siku, waone kwamba mambo hayo ndivyo yalivyo" (Matendo 17:11). Tunawaheshimu walimu wakuu wa kanisa na tunajifunza mengi kutoka kwao; lakini Maandiko peke yake ndiyo neno linalohukumu mengine yote.The first difference concerns authority: where do we finally hear the voice of God? The Catholic Church teaches that God's revelation comes to us through Scripture and through sacred Tradition together, interpreted authoritatively by the teaching office of the Church. The Reformation answered that Scripture alone is the final and unerring rule of faith — not because tradition and teaching are worthless, but because they must always be tested by the Word of God, and never set above it. Our concern is a biblical one. Jesus rebuked the leaders of His day for "laying aside the commandment of God" to "hold the tradition of men" (Mark 7:8), and warned that tradition can even make "the word of God of no effect" (Mark 7:13). Paul wrote that "all Scripture is given by inspiration of God" and is able to make the man of God "complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:16-17) — complete, needing no further rule above it. And the noble Bereans were commended for testing even the apostle Paul's preaching by "search[ing] the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so" (Acts 17:11). We honor the great teachers of the church and learn much from them; but the Scriptures alone are the word that judges all others.

Kuhesabiwa Haki: Kwa Imani, au Kwa Imani na Matendo?Justification: By Faith, or By Faith and Works?

Tofauti ya pili ndiyo ya kina zaidi, kwa maana inahusu Injili yenyewe: mwenye dhambi anahesabiwaje haki — anatangazwaje kuwa mwenye haki — mbele za Mungu? Hapa lazima tuwe wa haki. Kanisa Katoliki halifundishi kwamba tunaokolewa kwa matendo yetu pasipo neema; linafundisha kwamba wokovu unaanza kwa neema ya Mungu na unapokelewa kwa imani. Lakini halifundishi kwamba tunahesabiwa haki kwa imani peke yake. Katika mafundisho yake rasmi, kuhesabiwa haki kunahusisha neema inayofanya kazi ndani yetu, ushirikiano wetu, sakramenti, na matendo mema yanayofuata, na kunaweza kupotea kwa dhambi kubwa na kupatikana tena kupitia kitubio. Matengenezo ya Kanisa, yakirudi kwa Paulo, yalikiri kwamba tunahesabiwa haki kwa neema kupitia imani peke yake, tukitegemea kazi ya Kristo iliyokamilika, tukiipokea kama kipawa cha bure na si kitu tunachokipata kwa lo lote tunalofanya. Huu si uvumbuzi wetu; ni fundisho la wazi la Paulo: "mwanadamu huhesabiwa haki kwa imani pasipo matendo ya sheria" (Warumi 3:28); "kwa mtu yule asiyefanya kazi, lakini anamwamini yeye amhesabiaye mtu asiyemcha Mungu kuwa mwenye haki, imani yake imehesabiwa kuwa haki" (Warumi 4:5); "mmeokolewa kwa neema, kwa njia ya imani; ambayo hiyo haikutokana na nafsi zenu, ni kipawa cha Mungu; wala si kwa matendo, mtu awaye yote asije akajisifu" (Waefeso 2:8-9). Rafiki zetu Wakatoliki wataelekeza kwa Yakobo, kwamba "imani pasipo matendo imekufa" (Yakobo 2:26), nao wako sahihi kwamba imani iliyo hai daima huzaa matunda ya matendo mema. Lakini Yakobo anazungumzia matendo yanayothibitisha kwamba imani ni ya kweli, si matendo yanayotupatia msimamo wetu mbele za Mungu; mzizi ni imani, na matendo ni tunda lake. Kuweka kukubaliwa kwetu juu ya kitu cho chote tunachokiongeza kwa Kristo ni kupoteza ubure wa kipawa, na pamoja nao amani iliyokusudiwa kuletwa nacho.The second difference is the deepest, for it is about the gospel itself: how is a sinner justified — declared righteous — before God? Here we must be fair. The Catholic Church does not teach that we are saved by our works apart from grace; it teaches that salvation begins with God's grace and is received through faith. But it does not teach that we are justified by faith alone. In its official teaching, justification involves grace working within us, our cooperation, the sacraments, and the good works that follow, and it can be lost by grave sin and regained through penance. The Reformation, returning to Paul, confessed that we are justified by grace through faith alone, resting on the finished work of Christ, received as a free gift and not earned by anything we do. This is not our invention; it is the plain teaching of Paul: "a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law" (Romans 3:28); "to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness" (Romans 4:5); "by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9). Our Catholic friends will point to James, that "faith without works is dead" (James 2:26), and they are right that a living faith always bears the fruit of good works. But James speaks of the works that prove faith to be real, not of works that earn our standing before God; the root is faith, and the works are its fruit. To rest our acceptance on anything we add to Christ is to lose the freeness of the gift, and with it the peace it was meant to bring.

Kazi ya Kristo Iliyokamilika: Misa, Toharani, na Sifa za KustahiliThe Finished Work of Christ: The Mass, Purgatory, and Merit

Tofauti ya tatu inafuata kwa karibu, na inahusu utoshelevu wa kile ambacho Kristo amekwisha kufanya. Kutoka katika kweli moja kwamba dhabihu ya Kristo imekamilika, kunatokea tofauti kadhaa. Katika Misa, Kanisa Katoliki linafundisha kwamba dhabihu moja ya Kristo inafanywa kuwapo tena juu ya altare; Wakatoliki wanakuwa waangalifu kusema kwamba hii si dhabihu mpya bali ni ile ile ikiletwa tena kuwapo, lakini wasiwasi wetu ni kwamba dhabihu inayotolewa tena na tena inaonekana kufifisha utukufu wa kazi iliyokwisha kukamilika. Kwa maana Maandiko yanasisitiza neno "mara moja": Kristo alitolewa "sadaka mara moja azichukue dhambi za watu wengi" (Waebrania 9:28); "tumepatiwa utakaso, kwa kutolewa mwili wa Yesu Kristo mara moja tu" (Waebrania 10:10); "kwa toleo moja amewakamilisha hata milele hao wanaotakaswa" (Waebrania 10:14). Kutoka msalabani alilia, "Imekwisha" (Yohana 19:30). Vivyo hivyo, fundisho la toharani — utakaso kwa mateso baada ya kifo kabla mtu hajaweza kuingia mbinguni — linaonekana kuongeza kwenye utakaso ambao damu ya Kristo imekwisha kuukamilisha, kwa maana "damu yake Yesu, Mwana wake, yatusafisha dhambi yote" (1 Yohana 1:7), na Paulo alitamani "kutoka katika mwili na kukaa kwa Bwana" (2 Wakorintho 5:8), bila kitu chochote katikati. Na mfumo wote wa hati za msamaha (indulgences) na sifa za kustahili, ambao wakati mmoja ulimsumbua sana Martin Luther, unaongeza deni la sifa za kibinadamu na za watakatifu kwenye hesabu ambayo Kristo amekwisha kuilipa kikamilifu. Katika kila moja ya haya, ombi letu si heshima pungufu kwa Kristo bali zaidi: kuiacha kazi yake iliyokamilika iwe imekamilika kweli.The third difference follows closely, and concerns the sufficiency of what Christ has already done. From the one truth that Christ's sacrifice is complete flow several disagreements. In the Mass, the Catholic Church teaches that the one sacrifice of Christ is made present again upon the altar; Catholics are careful to say this is not a new sacrifice but the same one re-presented, yet our concern is that a sacrifice continually re-offered seems to dim the glory of a work already finished. For Scripture presses the word "once": Christ was offered "once to bear the sins of many" (Hebrews 9:28); "we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all" (Hebrews 10:10); "by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified" (Hebrews 10:14). From the cross He cried, "It is finished" (John 19:30). In the same way, the teaching of purgatory — a cleansing by suffering after death before one may enter heaven — seems to add to the cleansing that Christ's blood has already accomplished, for "the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin" (1 John 1:7), and Paul longed "to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord" (2 Corinthians 5:8), with nothing in between. And the whole machinery of indulgences and merit, which once so troubled Martin Luther, adds human and saintly credit to an account that Christ has already paid in full. On each of these, our plea is not less honor to Christ but more: to let His finished work be truly finished.

Maria na WatakatifuMary and the Saints

Tofauti ya nne inahusu Maria na watakatifu, na hapa hasa lazima tuwe wa kweli na wapole pia, kwa maana inagusa kile ambacho watu wetu wanakishika kwa upole mwingi zaidi. Tuwe wa haki kuhusu kile ambacho Kanisa Katoliki linafundisha kwa kweli: halishikilii kwamba Maria ni Mungu, wala kwamba anapaswa kuabudiwa kama Mungu anavyoabudiwa. Linamheshimu kama mama wa Bwana, linashikilia kwamba alihifadhiwa asiwe na dhambi na kwamba alichukuliwa mbinguni, na linamwomba yeye na watakatifu watuombee, kama mtu anavyoweza kumwomba ndugu wa kiume au wa kike aliye hai amwombee. Sisi pia tunamheshimu Maria kwa furaha: aliambiwa, "Umebarikiwa wewe katika wanawake" (Luka 1:42), mwanamke wa imani ya ajabu aliyesema, "Na iwe kwangu kama ulivyosema" (Luka 1:38), na vizazi vyote vinamwita kwa haki mbarikiwa. Lakini wasiwasi wetu ni kwamba ibada na maombi yanayoelekezwa kwa Maria na kwa watakatifu, hata yakitofautishwa kwa uangalifu kiasi gani na ibada ya Mungu, kwa vitendo huelekea kuwapa viumbe kile kilicho cha Muumba, na kuweka wapatanishi kati ya nafsi na Kristo pale ambapo Maandiko yanamweka Kristo peke yake: "Kwa sababu Mungu ni mmoja, na mpatanishi kati ya Mungu na wanadamu ni mmoja, Mwanadamu Kristo Yesu" (1 Timotheo 2:5). Tunaweza kwenda kwake moja kwa moja, wala hatuhitaji mwingine wa kubeba maombi yetu. Katika nchi hii ibada kwa Mama Yetu imefungamana na upendo wa nyumbani na wa urithi, nasi tunaizungumzia kwa upole wote; lakini heshima kubwa zaidi tunayoweza kumpa mama ni kuyatii maneno yake ya mwisho yaliyoandikwa: "Lo lote atakalowaambia, fanyeni" (Yohana 2:5) — yaani, kwenda moja kwa moja kwa Mwanawe.The fourth difference concerns Mary and the saints, and here especially we must be both truthful and gentle, for it touches what our people hold most tenderly. Let us be fair about what the Catholic Church actually teaches: it does not hold that Mary is God, nor that she is to be worshiped as God is worshiped. It honors her as the mother of the Lord, holds her to have been preserved from sin and taken up to heaven, and asks her and the saints to pray for us, as one might ask a living brother or sister to pray. We gladly honor Mary too: she was "blessed among women" (Luke 1:42), a woman of remarkable faith who said, "Let it be to me according to your word" (Luke 1:38), and all generations rightly call her blessed. But our concern is that devotion and prayer directed to Mary and the saints, however carefully distinguished from the worship of God, tend in practice to give to creatures what belongs to the Creator, and to place mediators between the soul and Christ where Scripture sets Christ alone: "there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus" (1 Timothy 2:5). We may go to Him directly, and we need no other to carry our prayers. In this land the devotion to Our Lady is bound up with the love of home and heritage, and we speak of it with all tenderness; but the greatest honor we can give the mother is to obey her own last recorded words: "Whatever He says to you, do it" (John 2:5) — that is, to go straight to her Son.

Lengo la UkomboziA Redemptive Aim

Kwa hiyo hatulijii kanisa hili kama adui, bali kama ndugu ambao tunashiriki nao ukiri mkuu, na ambao tunatofautiana nao kuhusu jinsi ya kumtegemea Kristo kikamilifu. Lengo letu ni la ukombozi, na ni lile lile kwa Mkatoliki anayempenda Bwana na kwa wengi wanaoliacha kanisa hilo kwenda kwenye imani ya Kiinjili, kama wengi sana katika makusanyiko yetu wenyewe walivyofanya: kwamba sisi sote tufikie kupumzika, kikamilifu na kwa utulivu, juu ya kazi ya Kristo iliyokamilika, na kuipokea haki ya Mungu kama kipawa cha bure ilivyo. Kwa wale wanaosumbuliwa na hesabu isiyolipwa kabisa kamwe, na mbingu isiyo na uhakika kabisa kamwe, tunawaletea neno la Injili: "Basi tukiisha kuhesabiwa haki itokayo katika imani, tuna amani kwa Mungu, kwa njia ya Bwana wetu Yesu Kristo" (Warumi 5:1). Tunawaheshimu jirani zetu Wakatoliki, tunafurahia yote tunayoshiriki, tunakataa kuwachora kwa dhihaka au kuwadharau, na tunatamani, kwa upendo, kila mmoja wao aijue amani inayotokana na kumtegemea Kristo peke yake.So we do not come to this church as to an enemy, but as to kindred with whom we share the great confession, and from whom we differ on how fully to rest in Christ. Our aim is redemptive, and it is the same for the Catholic who loves the Lord and for the many who are leaving that church for evangelical faith, as so many in our own congregations have done: that all of us would come to rest, wholly and restfully, on the finished work of Christ, and receive the righteousness of God as the free gift it is. To those who are troubled by an account never quite paid, by a heaven never quite certain, we hold out the word of the gospel: "having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 5:1). We honor our Catholic neighbors, we rejoice in all that we share, we refuse to caricature or to scorn, and we long, in love, for every one of them to know the peace that comes from resting in Christ alone.

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