Below is a reply I have written to an old classmate of mine about the Catholic Church. I am using this occasion as an excuse to refire-up our long dormant and short-lived blog. Hopefully, more posts to come on topics far and wide!
Pat, I have written something really long below. To
paraphrase Mark Twain, I would have written less, but I didn’t have enough
time. You and I went to Catholic school
together for a long long time. I think
one thing we can both agree on is that both of our alma maters did a lousy job
of basic catechesis in the faith. I don’t
know how they are doing now, but the 70’s and 80’s were a pretty bleak time for
education in the faith itself. If they
had done their jobs correctly, your questions/objections would have been
answered to some extent then.
I am going to address your points one by one, as succinctly as
I can. I am under no illusion that I am
going to change your mind. I am still wondering, frankly, how you came to this
point, to be so viscerally opposed to the Catholic Church. So, I don’t know what I hope to accomplish,
other than to think that God must have a hand in it somehow, since you’ve
engaged me on this on two separate occasions. Please do me the favor of reading
the whole thing with an open mind, since I spent all of Sunday afternoon
writing it from scratch instead of hanging out with my family. If you wish to respond, great, but just
reading it works for me too. I won’t be
offended if I bored you into disinterest in continuing the conversation.
Your words are in bold below.
Sometimes doesn't
"religion" get in the way of relationship? Doesn't all these rules
and human additions make faith more complicated?
A lot of what you say I agree with. Rules for their own
sake, or legalism, absolutely does make faith complicated. It can suck the life out of faith, and out of
relationship. This assumes two things, though-
that the rules are all the same sort (i.e. human)and not from the Lord, and
that they can’t serve the relationship rather than detract from it.
Forget Catholicism for a minute. Let’s just take the notion of religion, or
Church (as a body of believers accountable to one another) in general. I am assuming, and correct me if I am wrong,
that because you do not put stock in organized religion but in Christ alone, that
you are a “sola scriptura” Christian; a person who relies on the Bible, the
inspired Word of God, alone for his knowledge of Christ and his teachings. In other words, cutting out the “middle
management” of the Church and going straight to Jesus in the Word.
So, assuming that‘s true for a moment, let’s see what the
Word, and in fact Jesus himself, says about the Church:
“And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I
will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail
against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you
bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall
be loosed in heaven.” Mt 16:18-20.
After Jesus founds his church upon the rock of Peter, to
whom he gives the power to forgive sin, he commissions the apostles to “go,
therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them….teaching them to
observe all that I have commanded you.” Mt 29:19-20. So the apostles are called
to evangelize and gather believers into his church, and observe all that Christ
has commanded.
Note that scripture is not called the pillar and foundation
of truth, but the Church is. This makes
perfect sense upon reflection, and in fact is the only logical progression.
It is very easy for Christians today to say that the Bible
is all we need to know the teachings of Christ. However, consider these
questions:
How long was
Christianity believed and practiced before the books of the Bible were even
written?
Where did the Bible
come from?
Who decided which
books were inspired and which weren’t?
What were their
criteria? In other words, against what standards did they judge the words of
the books to be authentic teachings of Christ or not?
How did the common
Christian know the stories of the Bible in the 14 centuries of Christianity
before the invention of the printing press?
There are countless
English translations of the Bible. How do we trust one over another, in terms
of accuracy?
If we do not believe
that Christ founded a Church to which he gave his divine authority, on what
basis do we trust the decisions of those who put the Bible together?
Now, to actually address the question you asked (sorry I got
sidetracked!), With just the Bible to follow and no authoritative church to
listen to, we have 30,000 Christian denominations (literally), all separated
due to their disagreement over how to
interpret what the Bible says and put it into practice. THAT’S what seems complicated to me. One church, founded by Christ, guided by the Holy
Spirit to infallibly teach its members in matter of faith and morals? A lot less complicated. Challenging, yes. Complicated? No.
Why can't people look
to Christ and Christ alone for a role model because we all fall drastically
short of his example?
Again, I am in total agreement on looking to Christ as our
perfect model. But this need not be an either/or choice. Why not both/and? Now, if looking to the
saints or other holy men and women distracted us from Christ, I would be against
it too. But, the church holds up this
people as big flashing arrows of holiness pointing toward Christ. If you read accounts of their lives, if you
read their writings, the resounding theme is of a life, mind, and heart
dedicated to the Lord.
It is human nature to seek out role models in all the things
we wish to do well, and to follow those examples. My 13 year-old son is a pretty decent
basketball player. He works hard,
practices a lot, and watches a whole lot of classic games on TV. Why? To see basketball played at its best in
a variety of game situations.
That’s how it is with the saints (who are, of course,
sinners and human beings just like us). A couple of examples: St. Gianna
Beretta Molla, whose feast day it is today, was canonized a saint relatively
recently by the late Pope John Paul II.
She would be pushing 90 years-old if alive today. She was a wife, mother, and physician in
Italy. She already had several young
children when she became pregnant again.
It was discovered that she had a life-threatening medical condition that
could be fixed with surgery if she would consent to an abortion. She refused, valuing the life of her unborn
child ahead of her own. She gave birth to a healthy daughter, had the surgery,
then died of an infection from the surgery three weeks later. Further investigation into her life revealed
a woman of incredible sanctity. My wife
and many of her friends have taken great inspiration from her as they try to be
good, selfless wives and mothers themselves.
They ask for St. Gianna’s intercession to the Father in Heaven often.
How about St. Maximilian Kolbe, a priest in a concentration
camp who freely offered his life for execution in place of a Jewish man who had
a wife and children? When I try to teach
my boys about courage for the sake of Christ, I want them to know all about
Maximilian Kolbe, and ask him for his intercession.
Are the saints perfect? No- they would be the first to say
they fall short. Do we worship them? No-we admire and emulate them. Do they point to themselves? No- their lives
point to Christ dwelling in them. Does God love them more? No- rather, God
invites us to draw as close to him as they did, and through his grace, we all
can! The saints are evidence of the love and closeness to the Lord that is
available freely to all of us.
Why does the catholic
church put some individuals above others especially when the church throughout
history is strife with sin?
I think I addressed this above in part, in that while the
church recognizes and holds up some individuals as models of sanctity, it in no
way suggests that they are better than anyone else. All have fallen short, all are called to
holiness, all are loved by God, and Christ died once for all.
Is the history of the Church filled with sinners? Absolutely.
Have priests, bishops, and popes sinned, sometimes scandalously and
grievously? Yes. Will this continue to
happen? No doubt. But see, this is precisely where Christ’s promise comes into
focus; the promise above that he was founding a Church and the gated of hell
would not prevail against it. He also
promised to leave behind “another paraclete” (the Holy Spirit). See, if he left
the teaching authority solely in the hands of sinful men, it would take about
five minutes for the whole thing to derail. That is why he protects and guides
the teaching authority of the church (the Magisterium) with the Holy Spirit.
So, no matter how flawed or sinful a particular priest or pope may be, the
faith and moral teaching of the church is divinely protected.
I don’t believe in the teaching authority of the Church in spite of man’s sinfulness. I believe
in it because of man’s sinfulness;
those who run the church and my own.
Just as I would not trust a purely human institution to mediate between
me and Christ, so I would likewise not trust myself fully, with my own agenda
and rationalizations and pride. By
submitting to the authority of the Church Christ’s founded, I can trust in its
wisdom apart from my own, knowing that the Holy Spirit is work thru it.
I am a Christian
because of obedience to God...God doesn't ask me to join a specific church but
instead to accept his soon a my savior...that is my relationship and I don't
need a sinful man to listen to my sins and tell me I am forgiven. The blood of
Jesus Christ has already cleansed me of my sins past present and future.
Again, we agree! We are both Christians out of obedience to
God. And, we agree on the importance of accepting Christ as our savior. But, the question that remains is, does
Christ call us to his church? I think scripture makes it clear that he does. So
the question is which church is his church? Since his says the gates of hell
would not prevail against it, it must be one that is traceable back to him. If
we read Acts of the Apostles, the Church as a structured organization began
basically immediately after Pentecost (the descent of the Holy Spirit upon
those whom he entrusted with his power). Where is that church today? I believe
the Catholic Church makes the only logical claim to be that Church; it is the
Church that finalized the canon of scripture, for one. Without the Church there would be no Bible.
And about confessing your sins to a sinful man- that is a
topic that would take another 5 pages. But just think about this one small
aspect- “But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus' feet, saying, ‘Go
away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!’” Luke 5:8 This is the same Peter (and the other apostles)
to whom Jesus said, “Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you
retain are retained.” John 20:23 Now if
there were no need to ask for forgiveness in a tangible, ongoing manner, why
would Jesus say this?
Of course, we are all redeemed by the blood of Christ. There is no way to heaven except through the
cross of Christ. But we must cooperate with that redemptive act all life-long. Any time I offend my wife, I must ask her for
forgiveness; I hate to think what she would say if I told her the one time I
asked for forgiveness 20 years ago ought to cover me from now on! A relationship with Christ can grow and wane,
just like any other if we are not dedicated to it. Paul tells us to “work out your salvation
with fear and trembling.” Philippians 2:12.
Why would he say this is it were simply a “one and done” deal? Because it
isn’t.
Pat, iIf you have made it this far, I will challenge you
with this: Read and study the writings of the early Church Fathers, the first
generations of Christians who were themselves taught by the apostles. How did
they understand the teachings about Christ’s commands, before folks get all
caught up in the Reformation etc?
You
will find it eye-opening. If you are willing, here is link:
http://www.salvationhistory.com/library/category/apologetics.
If you go here, and scroll down and look at
the links under Selected Topics, you will find a lot of interesting reading
from the early Church on many Catholic teachings that many Christians have
trouble with.
Finally, please know that, for me, my Catholic faith is
joy-filled. It is not about rules,
legalism, superiority, or any of that.
It is about experiencing the joy of Christ. I am deeply sorry that for whatever reason,
that was not your experience of the Catholic Church. Please know that there is another experience
there, of what the Church really is, and was meant to be from the beginning.
There is book I’d like to send you (a short one!) if you are
open to it. If so, send me your
address. If not, no problem.
Last thing: I am not interested in winning an argument, or
anything like that. If this discussion
is in any way helpful to your walk with Christ, let’s keep it going, by all
means. If not, that’s fine too, and we
can end it here. Your call. I am praying
for you either way.
