Answer
The Liberal Catholic Church, or LCC, began in Britain in the early 1900s. The Liberal Catholic Church is not a liberal offshoot of Roman Catholicism. Rather, its background is Independent Catholicism. Independent Catholic churches identify with Roman Catholicism in some practices and beliefs, but they are not approved by the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, or the Anglican Church. It is truly independent of these. It nonetheless retains much of the outward practice of Catholicism, including sacraments, liturgy, and holy ordination.
Liberal Catholics are essentially Theosophists, which means they seek wisdom and mystical enlightenment from a multitude of sources. The Liberal Catholic Church believes that all religions are unified under the same spiritual wisdom—all religions are from God and contain the same basic truths—but each expresses that wisdom differently. In other words, the Liberal Catholic Church takes an unbiblical view of Christ, who proclaimed Himself to be the truth and the life and the only way to the Father. He did not say He was one truth among many truths; instead, He called Himself “the truth” (John 14:6).There is salvation only in Christ (Acts 4:12).
The Liberal Catholic Church says that there are many paths by which a person can find God’s wisdom. This is a perversion of the gospel. By claiming there is no “right” path to God, the Liberal Catholic Church confuses people and cuts them off from their only hope of true salvation, and they do so in the name of Christ. This is abominable. As Paul said, “If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!” (Galatians 1:9).
The Liberal Catholic Church follows the Roman Catholic doctrine of a works-based salvation; grace, according to the LCC, comes through the receiving of the sacraments. Like Roman Catholicism, the Liberal Catholic Church also teaches the false doctrine of transubstantiation—the actual body and blood of the Lord Jesus are present in the Eucharist. Unlike Roman Catholicism, the LCC approves of the ordination of women to the priesthood (in violation of 1 Timothy 2:11–12) and the ordination of practicing gays and lesbians (ignoring 1 Timothy 1:10 and 1 Corinthians 6:9). Any religious organization that so blatantly ignores God’s Word cannot truly be called Christian at all and should be avoided (1 Corinthians 5:1–11).
