Visiting the Vatican…As a Protestant

Yesterday (5/16/23) I had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to visit the Vatican. A place filled with immense history and colossal influence, it is the center of Catholicism and home to the Pope. Millions come here every year to pray, make pilgrimage, or simply admire the architecture and history. In this post, I would like to share my experience in the Vatican as well as offer some interpretive thoughts as a Protestant visiting this historic place.

To be clear upfront, I am unashamedly a Protestant, Evangelical Christian. By that classification, I align with the Reformers of the 1500’s and 1600’s such as Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Martin Bucer. These men spent their lives defending and promoting central evangelical doctrines such as “justification by faith alone” and “sola scriptura.” Not only would the Reformers argue that these doctrines are biblical—and central to understanding the true gospel—but they would also say that central Catholic doctrines (e.g., transubstantiation, prayers to the saints, salvation infused by sacraments) are unbiblical and, in reality, detrimental to the essential elements of the gospel. I will get into these issues as I walk through my experience, but suffice it to say, as a Protestant, I did not come into the Vatican as a neutral observer (in fact, no one does).

The Walkthrough

The Vatican itself is its own country within Italy. So when you come upon the domain, you can quickly tell you are near the Vatican when you see the massive brick walls surrounding the entire estate. As we passed by in the car, a line of people wrapped around the walls waiting to enter. Our trip guide had bought us express tickets, so we were fortunate enough to enter right away.

Upon entering the walls, we followed the line of people through security and into the main lobby. On a TV screen videos of the Pope were displayed, showing his most recent visitations. After ascending a huge escalator, we walked out on a massive terrace on which you could see St. Peter’s Basilica in the far distance. The Basilica was clearly the focal point of the first stop, and, as our tour guide explained: “no building in Rome can be built above it.” It was clear from this point that the entire tour would revolve around getting to this building.

On the way there, we traversed through countless rooms full of artifacts, statues, paintings and tapestries—multiple displays to flaunt the history and decadence of the Roman Church. The ceilings were ornate, filled with paintings and depictions of various events throughout the Bible or saints in the Church (see photo below). The whole time the line of people never died down (and this was supposedly a slow day).

Finally we arrived at the famous counterpart to St. Peter’s Basilica: the Sistine Chapel. We were not allowed to take pictures while in the Chapel as it is a “holy place,” nor were we supposed to talk. However, at one point the crowd got so loud that an official had to speak over the intercom: “Silencio…Silence…No pictures…”

On the ceiling and walls of the Chapel Michaelangelo’s famous paintings served as the central attraction drawing everyone’s eyes. “The Last Judgment” and “The Creation of Adam” are the two most famous pieces. Apparently, the Pope forced Michaelangelo to paint against his wishes, for Michaelangelo neither favored nor appreciated the power and prestige of the Roman Pontiff.

St. Peter’s Basilica

Upon exiting the Sistine Chapel, we were led through several flights of stairs downward to an outside exit. As soon as we turned right, the grand Basilica appeared. Ornate and decorated with statues of saints on top, this Basilica is the central focus point of the entire Catholic Church.

Once we entered we immediately noticed the beauty of the architecture, mosaic tiles, and expressive statues. I will let the pictures do the speaking and make small comments along the way.

**The golden ceilings captivated our attention and demanded that our gaze be lifted upwards, symbolic of the beauty of heaven.**

These Baroquean pillars are supposedly built directly on top of the Apostle Peter’s tomb after he was crucified upside-down by Emperor Nero in the AD 60’s. (Whether or not this is the real burial place of Peter is speculative). From here, the Pope also administers the Mass—and he is the only one who is allowed to do so from this spot.

This is the main altar where they still hold Mass every afternoon at 5pm. Any priest can administer the Mass from here (and anyone can observe from behind the seats). One thing to notice about this area is the golden window in the middle (where the dove is, representing the Holy Spirit). Also take note of the statues of the saints on the left and right walls.

Saints like “Saint Veronica” line the walls of the Basilica. Apparently this is the woman who put the “shroud of Turin” around Jesus’ face when he was buried. (Again, whether this is true or not is speculative). For this action she is exonerated as a saint.

Though it looks plain, this was perhaps the most fascinating part of the Basilica. This wall is only used once every 50 years on the “Jubilee.” On this year, the Pope takes a hammer and breaks the wall down. Millions of pilgrims come to have *all* of their sins forgiven by taking the Mass and doing confession. This is called a *plenary indulgence*, as opposed to a regular *indulgence*, which only washes away the sins confessed in the moment. Therefore, this is one way in which Catholics believe they can have all of their sins forgiven—by the Pope on the Jubilee year. Last Jubilee, ~57 million people came to the Basilica.

**This is a confession booth where one can speak with a priest and have their sins forgiven.**

A Protestant Interpretation

There is no doubt that the Vatican is one of the most beautiful, historic, and renowned places in all the earth. However, as I walked through, I couldn’t help but be sad at how hidden the true gospel of Jesus Christ is from everyone who enters and leaves. And while the Basilica is a beautiful building on the inside, the gospel is obscured much like a thick layer of clouds darkens the sun. In fact, I am afraid that anyone who comes in wishing to meet God is actually met with an outward appearance of true religion masquerading under the guise of works and idol worship. Why do I say this? Well, somewhat ironically, I will use Paul’s letter to the Roman church to show why.

When Paul wrote to the Roman church, he declared that the “gospel is the power of salvation for everyone who believes…for in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, ‘the righteous shall live by faith’” (Rm 1:16-17). And when Martin Luther, 1500 years after Paul, “rediscovered” the doctrine of “justification by faith alone” after it had been obscured under the dark cloud of sacramental theology, he found the essence of the gospel depended on one phrase: “the righteousness of God.”

The Problem with the Mass

For centuries, the Roman Catholic Church taught that the sacraments (of which there are 7) literally “infused” grace into one’s soul much like a medicinal vaccine infuses protection into one’s body. In this view, the Mass is central. The priest (ordained by God) is the only able to administer this “grace” to the masses. If one does not take Mass, he or she will not take injections of “grace,” and therefore will be damned. Thus, to be “righteous,” one must participate in the sacraments according to the Roman Catholic understanding.

More than this, the Roman Catholic Church (both in Luther’s time and still today) believes that the elements of the Mass (the bread and wine), literally become the body and blood, respectively, of Jesus Christ. In this sense, it makes it all the more important to partake of the Mass, for if you do not, you do not have “any part” with Jesus, who becomes the bread and wine.

So why is this problematic? When the Pope stands upon Peter’s tomb and administers the Mass, what is the big deal? Is he not just doing what Jesus said to do, to “remember” him? Well no, because it all comes back to Luther’s understanding of the “righteousness of God.”

Before Luther had his breakthrough with Romans 1:17, he struggled for years to believe he was “good enough” (righteous) before a holy God. For him, the “righteousness of God” meant God’s right justice and wrath against sinners like him. Thought he participated in the sacraments and had this temporary, “infused” grace, he never felt secure in his salvation. For him (and for millions today), the Catholic Church taught that to be “saved,” or “justified,” you must keep up your good standing as a Catholic.

Yet this is directly contradictory to what the Bible teaches. In fact, as I walked through the Vatican, I noticed how little Bible there actually was. Instead, the Basilica relied on images, statues, and the Mass to tell me what the “gospel” was—if there even was one. In the Roman building, sadly, there was a clear lack of the book of Romans, which contains the clearest presentation of the gospel of Jesus Christ for sinners in need of salvation. The place where Paul longed to go those 2,000 years ago to preach the gospel now promotes a false one, one of which Paul would be appalled. Read the following verses from Romans to understand how one is “justified,” or saved, according to God’s Word:

“There is no one righteous, not even one” -Rm 3:10

“For no one will be justified in [God’s] sight by the works of the law” -Rm 3:20

“The righteousness of God is through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe…For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. They are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ” -Rm 3:22-24

“God presented [Jesus] to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so that he would be righteous and declare righteous (justify) the one who has faith in Jesus.” -Rm 3:26

So how is one “made righteous,” or “justified,” according to Paul? The answer lies in one phrase: faith in Jesus Christ. This was Luther’s breakthrough. After spending years in turmoil in the Roman Catholic Church trying to prove his own righteousness before God, he realized that he was never meant to be righteous himself. No, the answer has always been “faith in Jesus Christ,” who was put forward as an “atoning sacrifice” to wash away all our sin. In this way, God is righteous because Jesus paid for our sin, but He is also able to declare us as righteous because Jesus gave us his perfect account. So when one places his faith in Jesus’ work alone, God declares that sinner justified, or made right, before Him. This is the evangelical gospel, as opposed to the “infusion” of grace in the Mass which the Roman Church promotes today.

The Problem with the Pope, Saints & Mary

As if the central question of justiciation was not enough, the Catholic Church further obscures the gospel by their elevation (can I say worship?) of the Pope, Saints, and Mary.

The Catholic Church believes that the papacy is in direct succession to the Apostle Peter, who was apparently the first “bishop” of Rome in the early church. Because Peter was the “apostle of apostles” and the church’s foundation, the bishop of Rome is therefore the most important position in the church. Once the Roman Empire fell, the Church filled the vacancy of power by elevating the bishop of Rome to the title of “pope,” or “father.” Since then, this one man has received prestige, power, and position far superior to any other person on earth. And this has not come without consequence.

For instance, scroll back up to the picture of that door. Once every 50 years, the Pope breaks down this door to allow pilgrims to come into the Basilica and receive a plenary indulgence whereby ALL of their sins can be forgiven at his word. Does this sound strange? If one reads their Bible it should, for Paul tells Timothy there is only “one mediator between God and man, the man Jesus Christ, who gave himself as a ransom for all” (1 Tm 2:5-6). In other words, a sinner does not need to have a priest, pope, Mary or any other saint to forgive his sins; he only needs Jesus, who “is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 Jn 1:9). We don’t need a pope to break down a door every 50 years to open up salvation; the door is Jesus Christ himself, who became sin for us, that we might become righteous before God. If one simply and humbly comes to God (who is the only one who can forgive sins), and looks to Jesus, who became the sacrifice for our sins on the cross, he or she can have assurance of forgiveness.

So here is the central problem with the pope, Mary, and all the other saints: they take the place of Jesus. If Romans 3:10 is true when it says “there is no one righteous,” then no man or woman (whether they are called a pope or saint) can be a mediator between God and sinners. Only Jesus, who is truly God and truly man, can save sinners. Let us go back to Paul’s words to the Romans: “Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We have also obtained access through him by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God” (Rm 5:1-2)

How does one obtain access to God in this verse? Not through the pope or a priest, or the intercession of the saints, but only by faith in Jesus. If you have been declared righteous by God through faith in Jesus, you have full access to God the Father. And this is good news.

If You Visit the Vatican…

To conclude, I said at the beginning of the post that visiting the Vatican was a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.” This is certainly true for the travel experience. The buildings are beautiful and the architecture is awe-inspiring. But for anyone seeking God, you don’t need to have this experience. You only need to visit Jesus, who is Himself more beautiful than a Basilica and more powerful than a pope. He says “Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest for your souls” (Mt 11:28). He also says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (Jn 14:6). And for final assurance, He declares “the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mk 10:45).

I certainly am grateful for my visit to the Vatican, but walking through, I couldn’t help but think about all the people who walked through—people in need of grace and salvation just like me—who will never see the true gospel of Jesus Christ…and for that I am grieved.

Hard Things (Psalm 60:3)

You have made your people see hard things; you have given us wine to drink that made us stagger
Psalm 60:3

In David’s time it was very common for the corporate body of Israel to view the outcome of national or political events as either God’s favor or indictment upon them. In this psalm, which sits within the context of a military campaign, we find David (an individual) lamenting for his people (a corporate body). As Christians we can learn from this practice, although we should never apply it on such a strict basis as the Israelites did: for we are not under a theocratic nation-state as they were, but under the heavenly kingdom of the Spirit. Even still, this psalm clearly expresses a difficult time for the Israelites, and it applies to ours as well.

First note the agent of the “hard things.” David does not hesitate to say it is God: “Lord, it is you who have made your people see hard things. God, you have given us this bitter wine!” As Christians, we must remember the sovereignty of our Lord. There is not one situation in which He does not exercise complete control, wisdom and direction over the outcome. He reminds us of this elsewhere through His prophet: “I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the LORD, who does all these things” (Isa 45:7). So we see that, as difficult as it may be in the “hard things,” God is in control of both our blessings and our brokenness, our triumphs and our tragedies, our laughter and our lament. When we are tempted to doubt God’s wisdom and goodness for what He allows in our lives, we must ask our souls like Job, “shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” (Job 2:10).

Second, we must be careful to note that this does not make God the author of evil. Evil as the absence of good is foreign to God’s nature. We are not talking about evil in the moral sense, but evil in the sense of disaster, calamity, strife, or suffering—the effects of living in a fallen world. What we see through David’s words is that God is able to use these various sufferings for our good. It is easy to believe that suffering is pointless; it certainly feels that way. But there was an immediate purpose for the staggering wine of affliction which God made His people drink. It was to make them trust in Him. Our “hard things” have a way of emptying our self-dependence and making us realize how frail and destitute we really are apart from God. Unless God shows up, we don’t know if we will be able to carry on. This makes us cling to God, and this is good. God’s purposes for our sufferings are often outside of our immediate view, but through grueling dependence we learn to say “whom have I in heaven but you?” (Ps 73:25). When everything is stripped away, only God remains. So we see that God has a purpose for our hard things.

Finally, we recollect the plural nature of this psalm: lament is done together. There were national events occurring which caused the Israelites to grieve. So too will there be events in our lifetime that should grieve the corporate body of Christ. On a smaller level, in our local bodies there will inevitably be hardships among our individual members. In these times we must remember that the sufferings of one impact the whole. Paul tells us to “rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep” (Rm 12:15). In your sufferings, then, you need the body of Christ; and in others’ sufferings, they need you.

To end, the good news is that in our “hard things,” we have One who has walked the wasted roads of a fallen world with us, and for us. The Good Shepherd Himself wept at the grave, grieved loss, felt betrayal, was falsely accused, and took a piercing bed of thorns upon His head. This Jesus is Emmanuel—God with us. So no “hard thing” will remain that way. In reality, it is “light and momentary” (2 Cor 4:17, NIV), for we know that He is there with us, He has beaten death, and one day He will return to make all things new.

“In Your Light We See Light” (Psalm 36:9b)

“…in your light do we see light.”
Psalm 36:9b

The grace of God functions much like the sun: apart from it, you live in darkness. This verse from the psalter reminds us of the startling truth that, apart from the light of God in our lives, we are “dead in our sins” and blind to God’s truth (Eph 2:1). It is only when the light of God shines upon us in breathtaking mercy that we can see life for what it was always meant to be: a sacrificial offering lived for the worship and obedience of our great God.

Christian, how easy it is to fall into the trap of believing the light you now see is somehow a product of your own power or progress. No! The life you live has only ever been lit by grace alone. Your initial salvation was an awakening by the glorious grace of God to the truths of the gospel. Remember how your eyes lightened when you first heard about the blood our Savior poured out to forgive you? Remember the tenderness your soul felt when you believed Jesus drew near to you, despite your sins? Remember the freedom when the blindness of your heart was overcome by the light of His Spirit within you? Truly, on that day, in his light you saw light.

Furthermore, the growth you have seen up until now on this well-lit path of sanctification is not by your strength. Find comfort in this, O Christian: the same grace which initially sparked the embers of faith in your heart is the same grace which ultimately will carry the growing flame of love for Christ until the end. The dual lights of His Spirit and Word are the beams piercing daily into your soul to remind you of your security in Christ. You are united to Him. And now, you await an eternal kingdom where you will be with Him forever. In that eternal light—Oh happy day!—we shall finally “see him as he is” in his resplendent glory and majestic worth (1 Jn 3:2).

As you wait for His return in a dark world, remember this: now that you have seen the light, there is no returning to the darkness. Why tarry in the night any longer? Why return to the groping and grasping? Why make void the light-giving grace of God by intentionally running back to the darkness of your past? Dear Christian, you are now a child of the light. So walk in the light. Make your life about bringing others into this light. Speak of this light. Tell others how happy your soul is to bask in the rays of God’s grace. And pray to the Father above to shine the light of His Spirit upon blinded eyes. Ultimately, this verse finds its culmination in the beautifully-bright Person of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the “light of the world” (Jn 8:12). This light came into the world, and the “darkness has not overcome it” (Jn 1:5). Many men physically saw this light, but they could not comprehend it. It is only through the gracious choosing of our Savior that eyes are opened. If you have seen this great Light, be grateful: it was only by grace this truth was revealed to you. The King of Light has opened your eyes to behold His salvation. Now, child of the light, walk daily with Him. “His word is a lamp unto thy feet, a light unto thy path” (Ps 119:105). We shall never walk alone.

Magnify (Psalm 34:3)

Oh, magnify the LORD with me,
and let us exalt his name together!
Psalm 34:3

Let us consider the word magnify. When one magnifies something, he makes it larger than it actually is in his sight. A magnifying glass bends the bug to appear larger than it is. A telescope magnifies a distant object to be visible to the naked eye.

Now, we must be careful: when David says to “magnify the Lord,” he does not mean to make Him appear or become larger than what He already is. No, the great God of the cosmos cannot become any greater, any wiser, any more powerful, or sovereign. Rather, this language is used to describe the largeness of God in David’s soul. David wants to make more of God in his life. He desires God to become more and more to him—to overtake him, to be exalted in him, to be flooded with His presence. This is what is meant by the word magnify. David desired that his people would make much of God in their hearts. Or, another way this can be said: David pleads with his people to worship God as He is: the infinite, mighty, awesome, glorious God of the universe. So he sings: “magnify the Lord with me!”

Oh, how I fear that we make too little of who God is. We consider him like a little bug in the grass, thinking we have to search with a magnifying glass just to find him. We think that we are the ones who make him bigger by our worship or false piety. May it not be so! Rather, our situation is more akin to viewing the sun through a telescope. With our naked eye, we are blinded by its glory. We cannot see it. Likewise, in our sinful flesh, we are blinded to God’s presence and weight in our lives. Only through the telescope of God’s grace can we behold a fraction of who He is. We need Him to be magnified in our souls in the sense that, apart from His mediating grace, we could never behold Him.

Oh Christian, praise the Lord that this mediating grace is found in Jesus Christ alone. Jesus is the telescope of God’s glory, the pure magnification of who He is to us. Jesus said “if you have seen me, you have seen the Father” (Jn 14:9). He is the eternal “Word made flesh,” the “radiance of God’s glory”, and the “exact imprint of his nature.” Magnify the Lord today by beholding Jesus Christ. Look upon Him: see His scars and ponder the great love which led Him to give up His very life to cleanse us. The blindness of our eyes due to the dimming power of sin has been healed: we can now behold the Father, Son and Holy Spirit by sheer grace. Now, everything in this world we are so prone to magnify in His place will become strangely dim as we behold the light of His presence!Yet, we know we still do not see Him perfectly. We await a final day of magnification: the great coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. On that day, when we are changed in the twinkling of an eye, we will be with Him forever—unhindered, free, without any sin, magnifying the Lord in His eternal fullness. Oh, what a day! But as we wait right now, magnify the Lord by looking upon Christ today!

The False Hope of a War Horse (Psalm 33:17)

“The war horse is a false hope for salvation, and by its great might it cannot rescue.”
Psalm 33:17

In ancient times the war horse was a sign of military power and therefore security from one’s enemies. If you had many chariots, you could be cheerful: you were safe and protected. Here, the psalmist shows us what a war horse really is: “a false hope for salvation.” He is saying, “it is just a horse. That is all.” Yes, in reality, a war horse is nothing more than a galloping animal that cannot speak nor command. The human controls where it goes. It cannot direct. It cannot save in and of itself. It is just a horse. A neighing horse.

The psalmist asks, “Why trust in such a helpless, galloping animal that merely has the appearance of strength?” To relate, the question we must ask ourselves today is this: what are the “war horses” I look to for security, comfort, peace, happiness—and yes—even salvation? What in my life has the appearance of strength, yet, when all the armor is removed, is nothing more than a temporal flash of comfort and security? Is it your job? Your success? The number in your bank account? The stock market? Your hope for a future political situation? The list goes on.

The false hope of war horses can be even more subtle than these, like a Trojan horse sneaking into the fortress of our souls. If not checked, it becomes a parasite. Do you trust in your good deeds, the rush of charity you feel after you do something nice for someone else? This will fail, because your good deeds are “dirty rags” before the Lord (Isa 64:6). Do you trust in your self-righteousness, the checklist of spiritual obligations you complete every week? These too will fail, because “no one is righteous, no not one” (Rm 3:10). Do you trust in the affirmation and praise of others, looking everyday for cheap “likes” and compliments? These too are a false hope, for you have now become a slave of “pleasing people” (Gal 1:10).

Indeed, if you but search, there are many “war horses” in your life prancing around, promising to provide for you only what the Lord can. Stop these in their tracks for what they are: false hopes of salvation. Instead, turn to the Lord Jesus today, who himself rides on top of the war horse with the name of “Faithful and True,” with flashing eyes and a burning tongue of justice and deliverance (Rev 19:11). Trust in this Savior, the one who can provide living water to your soul that never runs dry (Jn 4:14) and bread of life which daily nourishes your hungry soul (Jn 6:35). He alone can be the rightful King of your life. His arm alone can rescue you from these false hopes of salvation. Why trust in a horse when you have the Almighty? Why trust lesser, temporal things when you have the eternal, life-giving Creator with you always, to the end of the age?