7.22.2007 | a right to be wrong

Rod Dreher has written an essay which should be read by anyone who is offended by Pope Benedict's statement earlier this month (MSNBC story here). That statement reaffirmed ancient Roman Catholic teaching: that the Roman Catholic Church is the only true and complete Christian church.

Dreher's central thesis? It's far better for denominations to make forthright truth claims while still respecting the rights of others, rather than going along with the current "I'm OK, you're OK" pap that passes for ecumenicism. Or, in sound-bite terms, "people have a right to be wrong about God." From his essay:

Good relations among believers must be built, but only on a foundation of honesty. It does not follow that acknowledging theological differences – particularly the exclusive correctness of one church or religion – therefore requires a program enacting political or social superiority. In fact, the Second Vatican Council proclaimed that religious freedom is a fundamental human right. Acknowledging that people have a right to be wrong about God is a moral breakthrough for humanity, an idea that should be spread.

This is both powerful, and a little troubling. If I am wrong about what God expects of me on this earth, am I not in danger of eternal damnation? My gut reaction is, "yes, I am." And therein lies the problems of this two-edged sword.

On the one side, we must accept that human beings have free will, and will choose how, or even if, to worship God (ignoring, for the moment, some elements of Calvinism dealing with God's predestination of who, precisely, among us shall use their free will to choose correctly).

On the other side, we are all sinners, and often use our free will wrongly. What's wrong with a church making exclusive truth claims? Doesn't this help us to decide? It certainly can, and, with Rod Dreher, I respect a man, or a church, that stands up and forthrightly tells us what he or it believes to be true.

With the Catholic Church, however, its triumphalism has to be measured against its past, during which the same claim was made. And during which many, many "heretics" were tortured, punished, and put to death for the alleged sin of disbelief. Sorry, Benedict. We've heard this song before, and I won't dance to it.

Now, I don't believe that Benedict, or most other leaders of the Roman Church would bring back those bad old days. And I can't make any statement about whether a Catholic will be damned for his beliefs. Some things are just beyond a mortal man's reach.

So I won't repeat the error of the Catholic church's triumphalism. Let me just say that my statement to the Pope must be, "thanks for the tip, il papa, but I think I'll just go my own Protestant way."

6.07.2007 | Lapsed Catholic?

To anyone who keeps track of such things, I'd be counted as a lapsed Catholic. A former daily-goer-to-Mass and pray-er-of-the-Rosary Catholic, now a member of a Baptist church.

The point of this post is simple: to state, unequivocally, that if I write anything that is critical of my former church, it is out of love. And if I come across as mean-spirited, that is simply because I am a poor scribe. Not because of any malice in my heart towards the Church of Rome.

Even as a Baptist, I remain a brother to all Catholics. What we share, the Incarnation, the Passion, the Resurrection, and Pentecost so far outweighs what separates us that I am tempted to state, we are all Catholic.

Just as we are all Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran, name your denomination. Wherever Christ is king, and not just an excuse to socialize in the parish hall after services.

5.21.2007 | More in common?

An article by David Howard in the Wall Street Journal on the conversion of Francis Beckwith, former president of the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS), makes what has become a common claim: that Christians who are theologically conservative, whether Catholic or evangelical, have more in common than that which divides them.

At least that is the implied claim in this paragraph from "Rome-ward Bound":

A common element among these converts is a strong commitment to the Catechism and papal encyclicals. These Catholics are not generally in sympathy with the theologically liberal wing of the American Catholic Church but are enthusiastic supporters of Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI's emphasis on orthodox teaching and practice. In short, they have more in common theologically with evangelicals than with liberal Catholics, and evangelicals themselves, in many respects, have more in common with traditional Catholics than with mainline Protestants. Especially on social and political issues, there is much room for common cause.

This may be overstated. While it is true that we share generally conservative social values with orthodox Catholics (and orthodox Orthodox, for that matter), there remains a huge stumbling block: Sola scriptura.

This can't be negotiable, and the Roman Church's history is proof of the errors that can be made when the wisdom of a hierarchy is substituted for the Word. Catholics are right about many things, and it is still true (at least to me) that what we have in common is far more important than that which divides us.

But that which divides us should be insurmountable to a Bible-believing Christian. In Mr. Beckwith's case, he chose to put aside sola scriptura. And, contrary to the essay, it isn't about the Apocrypha. It's the rock-ribbed truth of the Reformation, as expressed by ETS, that "the Bible alone . . . is the Word of God written."

The Bible is sufficient for me.