Koan #18: Can Protestantism Even Be True

It is incumbent on the Protestant, who claims to hold to Christian truth, to wonder if there truly is truth in Protestantism. For if there can only be one truth of Christian, doctrine, dogma and theology, and with approximately 140 different Protestant denominations in existence, the question of course becomes: which one holds the truth? Are more than one true? Are some partially true? Are any true? And how does the Protestant, ultimately basing his choice on his own interpretation of scripture, in the end know that his choice is true? Even more importantly, how does he ultimately know that his very interpretation is true, especially in light of so many others of the Protestant vein that sincerely believe the opposite? And if Protestants can be so confused about what Christian truth actually is, then how do they square this with the Christian’s knowledge that God is not the author of confusion (1 Cor 14:33)? And if the Church is the bulwark and pillar of truth (1 Tim 3:15), then how can such truth be contained in the contradictions and doctrinal differences of all the various Protestant denominations? Catholics, by contrast, are one in doctrine and teaching, and such problems of division do not exist there. And certainly the Catholic Church, being of one doctrine, is not the author of confusion. And certainly the Catholic Church, being one body, is not divided. And certainly the Catholic Church, being the teacher of one faith, can hold the Christian truth. And thus perhaps the Catholic Church, being as it is of one body, one doctrine, one faith and one truth, is indeed the very Church that Christ founded on earth. It is truly something the every Protestant should contemplate deeply.