Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Adult Sunday School Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/bb/bb20020317.htm

ROMAN CATHOLIC BELIEFS IN VIEW OF THE APOSTLE PETER'S WORDS
Part VII: Roman Catholicism's Canon Law Ethics In View Of Peter's Words
(1 Peter 1:13-16; 2:11-18; 3:10-14; 4:1-4, 17)
  1. Introduction
    1. A religion based on the Bible's teachings presumably reflects the Bible's values on morals and ethics.
    2. However, examining Roman Catholic Canon Law ethics and morals in view of the Apostle Peter's words, we often find a stark contrast between some of the ethics and morals of Peter and the Catholic Church:
  2. Roman Catholicism's Canon Law Ethics In View Of Peter's Words.
    1. Catholicism's canonized saint, Alphonsus Liguori, defined ethics that were later accepted by the Church:
      1. Liguori was canonized by Pope Gregory XVI in 1839 and has been declared a doctor of theology for Catholics by Pope Pius IX, cf. Loraine Boettner, Roman Catholicism, p. 385.
      2. As such, Liguori penned the following officially accepted remarks on Catholic morals and ethics:
        1. "It is not a mortal sin to get drunk...unless one loses completely the use of his mental faculties for over one hour,'" St. Alphonsus, 1, 5, 75 as cited in Boettner, Ibid., p. 386.
        2. "...prostitutes are to be permitted (in society)...because...remove prostitutes from the world, and all things will be disordered in lust.'" (Liguori, 3, 434 as cited in Boettner, Ibid.)
        3. Regarding civil codes on hunting and fishing, Liguori wrote: "It is lawful to violate penal laws,'" St. Alphonsus, 1, 5, 75 as cited in Boettner, Ibid.
    2. Other Roman Catholic authoritative writings expand on these ethics as follows:
      1. The Church has used bingo gambling for raising much money itself, and so has not only supported legislation to curb underworld gambling, but even violated gambling laws itself, Ibid., p. 392-394.
      2. Catholic hospitals are supposed to baptize even unconsenting Protestants into the Catholic Church if these patients in Catholic hospitals are near death, cf. Hospital Progress, April 1959, by Father John R. Connery, S. J. This periodical is the "Official Journal of the Catholic Hospital Association" as stated in the magazine, Ibid., Boettner, p. 400-401.
      3. If a maternity patient experiences difficulty in delivering her child in a Catholic hospital, the doctor is not supposed to perform a clinical abortion to save the mother, but let both mother and infant die, Paul Blanchard, American Freedom and Catholic Power, p. 141 as cited in Boettner, Ibid., p. 401-403.
      4. One may steal if he has extreme need and his stealing does not create extreme hardship for his victim, and if the one stealing has exhausted legal means for compensation from his victim for a wrong suffered by the one doing the stealing, cf. The Manual of Christian Doctrine, p. 297, a Catholic work bearing the censor Librorum of Cardinal Doughtery of Philadelphia, cf. Boettner, Ibid., p. 390-391.
    3. Ignatius Loyola, Catholic theologian and founder of the Jesuits, wrote: "...If anything shall appear white to our eyes which the Church has defined as black, we likewise must declare it to be black." (cited in Boettner, Ibid., p. 388)
    4. However, the Apostle Peter himself critiques such ethics and morals in his first epistle as follows:
      1. Peter called Christians to forsake sinful lusts of their unsaved days and live holy lives, 1 Peter 1:13-16.
      2. In fact, Peter wrote Christians are to live so that their unbelieving critics have nothing to say about them that effectively charges them of any actual sin, 1 Peter 2:11-12.
      3. Indeed, Peter claimed in 1 Peter 2:13-17 that Christians were to obey every ordinance of government, the exception being one must obey God above man when God's laws differ from man's, Acts 5:29.
      4. Peter wrote godly Christians must speak the truth if they would see long life in 1 Peter 3:10-14.
      5. In 1 Peter 4:1-4 NIV, Peter wrote Christians must no longer practice evil lusts as in their pre-Christian days, practicing such things as debauchery, lust, substance abuse, orgies and carousing, but to live self-controlled lives in respect for God and a sense of accountability to Him, cf. 1 Peter 4:17.
Lesson: The Catholic Church's canon law ethics at points violate the commands of the Apostle Peter for the Christian to live without indulging in his lusts, practicing deceit and disobeying penal codes of secular governments. Rather, believers must live lawfully in respect for God as separate from such sin!

Application: Christians must not heed Catholic canon law, but the ethics taught by the Apostle Peter!