What Does the Catholic Church Teach About Jesus?
A Catholic Apologetics Defense Against Protestant Objections & Pagan-Myth Claims
By Chris M. Forte
Few topics stir more debate between Catholics and many Protestants than the identity of Jesus Christ. For Catholics, the answer is simple, ancient, and rooted in Scripture:
Jesus is the eternal Son of God — true God and true Man — the Second Person of the Trinity who became incarnate for our salvation.
Everything in Catholicism flows from that truth.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” — John 1:1
“The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” — John 1:14
“Jesus Christ is true God and true man.” — Catechism of the Catholic Church §464
“He was made man that we might be made God.” — St. Athanasius, On the Incarnation
This is the unified witness of Scripture, the Apostolic Church, and 2,000 years of Christian teaching.
But critics — whether secular skeptics, some Protestants, or online polemicists — still raise objections. Let’s address them directly.
1. Protestant & Evangelical Objection: “Catholics Don’t Believe in a Personal Relationship With Jesus.”
Answer: Catholics believe in the most personal relationship with Jesus possible — one that is not symbolic, not merely emotional, and not based on subjective feelings.
Catholics encounter Christ:
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In the Eucharist, where Jesus said plainly,
“This is my Body… This is my Blood.” (Matt 26:26–28)
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In Baptism, where we are united with His death and resurrection (Rom 6:3–4)
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In Scripture, proclaimed in the liturgy as the living Word of God (Heb 4:12)
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In prayer, mysticism, contemplation, and sacramental grace
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In the Church, which Scripture describes as His Body (1 Cor 12:27)
A Catholic does not merely “invite Jesus into their heart.”
A Catholic receives Him fully — body, blood, soul, and divinity — into their very body.
That is the most intimate relationship imaginable.
2. Protestant Objection: “The Trinity is real, but Catholics distort it with tradition.”
Answer: Catholics affirm exactly what Scripture says:
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Jesus is eternally God (John 1:1, John 20:28, Col 2:9, Heb 1:3)
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The Father is God (1 Cor 8:6)
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The Holy Spirit is God (Acts 5:3–4)
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And yet God is One (Deut 6:4)
All orthodox Christians — Protestants, Catholics, and Eastern Orthodox — accept this because the early Church defined the Trinity long before Protestantism existed.
Who defended the Trinity against heresies?
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St. Athanasius
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St. Augustine
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St. Basil the Great
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St. Gregory Nazianzen
Not Luther.
Not Calvin.
Not modern Evangelical pastors.
Catholics simply believe what the earliest Christians fought to preserve.
3. Protestant Objection: “Catholics teach a ‘divine Jesus’ invented later. The early Christians didn’t believe He was God.”
Answer: The earliest Christian writings — long before the Council of Nicaea — proclaim Christ’s divinity.
Ignatius of Antioch (107 AD):
“Our God, Jesus Christ, was conceived by Mary.” — Letter to the Ephesians 18:2
Justin Martyr (150 AD):
“We worship and adore Him, the Son of the true God.” — First Apology, 63
Tertullian (200 AD):
“Christ is God.” — Against Praxeas, 22
These men were not Catholics vs. Protestants.
They were the first Christians. Their writings are unmistakably Catholic in theology.
If the early Church “invented” something, then Protestantism – which uses their same Bible – stands on a foundation laid by Catholic bishops and councils.
You cannot reject the Church that formed the very canon of Scripture you call authoritative.
4. Secular & Internet Claim: “Jesus was just copied from pagan myths like Horus, Dionysus, and Mithras.”
This claim has been debunked by serious historians — Christian, Jewish, and secular — for over 150 years.
It survives only in memes and YouTube videos.
Why the claim is false:
A. The dates don’t line up
Most alleged “parallels” come from after Christianity began (2nd–4th centuries), not before.
Many pagan cults invented “Christ-like” traits in response to Christianity’s success.
B. The alleged similarities are fabricated
Example: “Horus was born of a virgin on December 25.”
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No ancient Egyptian text says Horus was born of a virgin.
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December 25 was never part of Egyptian religion.
Example: “Mithras was resurrected.”
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No ancient source describes Mithras dying or rising.
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Mithraism was an all-male cult with zero parallels to the Gospels.
C. Early Christians were fiercely anti-pagan
Why would a group suffering persecution copy the religions that persecuted them?
D. Pagan gods were not historical persons
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No documented birth
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No eyewitnesses
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No followers who died for them
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No crucifixions under Roman record
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No empty tombs
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No historical writings by contemporaries
Meanwhile, Jesus appears in:
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Tacitus (Annals 15:44)
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Josephus (Antiquities 18:3)
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Suetonius
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Pliny the Younger
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The Talmud
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Multiple early Christian documents
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Roman legal records
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1st-century archaeological references
No pagan mythic figure has anything remotely similar.
5. Protestant Objection: “Catholics say Jesus makes us gods. That’s heresy.”
Answer: Catholics say exactly what Scripture and the Fathers say:
“That you may become partakers of the divine nature.” — 2 Peter 1:4
“We shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” — 1 John 3:2
“He was made man that we might be made God.” — St. Athanasius
This is not polytheism.
This is theosis — sharing in God’s life through grace.
Evangelicals often reduce salvation to a legal transaction:
“Jesus paid the price, and I’m forgiven.”
Catholicism proclaims something far deeper:
Jesus came not just to forgive us, but to transform us — to make us what we were created to be from the beginning.
The early Christians universally taught this.
It was not “invented by Catholics.”
It is the heart of the Gospel.
6. Protestant Objection: “The Church added things to Jesus’ teaching.”
Answer: Jesus established a Church — not a book — to guard His teaching.
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He appointed Apostles (Luke 6:13)
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Gave them authority (Matt 18:18)
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Promised the Holy Spirit would guide them (John 16:13)
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Declared the Church is the pillar and foundation of truth (1 Tim 3:15)
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Commanded them to teach all nations (Matt 28:19)
The New Testament didn’t exist as a finished book until the Catholic Church compiled it in the 4th century.
Without the Church, there would be no New Testament.
Catholicism is not “adding” to Christ.
It is preserving what Christ gave the Apostles.
7. The Catholic Conclusion About Jesus
As a Catholic, I profess with the earliest Christians:
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Jesus is eternal God
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Jesus is eternal Son
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Jesus is true Man
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Jesus is Lord, Savior, Redeemer, and King
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Jesus truly died, rose, and ascended
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Jesus founded one Church
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Jesus continues His work through the Sacraments, the Holy Spirit, and the Apostolic Church
Anything less than this is not the historic Christian faith.
The more I studied Scripture, history, and the Church Fathers, the more clear it became:
To be deep in history is to cease being Protestant — because history is Catholic.
Footnotes
¹ John 1:1 (NRSV).
² John 1:14 (NRSV).
³ Catechism of the Catholic Church, §464.
⁴ Athanasius, On the Incarnation, 54.
⁵ Matthew 26:26–28.
⁶ Athanasius, Orations Against the Arians.
⁷ Augustine, De Trinitate.
⁸ Ignatius of Antioch, Letter to the Ephesians, 18:2.
⁹ Justin Martyr, First Apology, 63.
¹⁰ Tertullian, Against Praxeas, 22.
¹¹ Ronald Nash, The Gospel and the Greeks (Phillipsburg: P&R Publishing, 1992).
¹² Jonathan Z. Smith, “Dying and Rising Gods,” in The Encyclopedia of Religion (Macmillan, 1987).
¹³ Tacitus, Annals 15.44.
¹⁴ Josephus, Antiquities 18.3 (Testimonium Flavianum).
¹⁵ Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 43a.
¹⁶ 2 Peter 1:4.
¹⁷ 1 John 3:2.
¹⁸ Athanasius, On the Incarnation, 54.
¹⁹ Council of Carthage (397 AD), Canon 36.
²⁰ John Henry Newman, An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine (1845).
Bibliography (With Hyperlinks)
Athanasius. On the Incarnation.
https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/2802.htm
Augustine. De Trinitate.
https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1301.htm
Catechism of the Catholic Church.
https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM
Council of Carthage (397 AD). Canon 36.
https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/3816.htm
Ignatius of Antioch. Letter to the Ephesians.
https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0104.htm
Josephus, Flavius. Antiquities of the Jews.
https://penelope.uchicago.edu/josephus/
Justin Martyr. First Apology.
https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0126.htm
Nash, Ronald. The Gospel and the Greeks. Phillipsburg: P&R Publishing, 1992.
(Overview: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/reviews/gospel-greeks/)
Newman, John Henry. Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine.
https://www.newmanreader.org/works/development/
Smith, Jonathan Z. “Dying and Rising Gods.” Encyclopedia of Religion.
Summary: https://www.baslibrary.org/bible-review/16/6/2
Tacitus. Annals.
https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Tac.+Ann.+15.44
Tertullian. Against Praxeas.
https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0317.htm
Talmud. Sanhedrin 43a.
https://www.sefaria.org/Sanhedrin.43a
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