A theology which denies the historicity of nearly everything in the Gospels to which Christian life and affections and thought have been fastened for nearly two millennia—-which either denies the miraculous altogether or, more strangely, after swallowing the camel of the Resurrection strains at such gnats as the feeding of the multitudes—-if offered to the uneducated man can produce only one or other of two effects. It will make him a Roman Catholic or an atheist. What you offer him he will not recognize as Christianity. If he holds to what he calls Christianity he will leave a Church in which it is no longer taught and look for one where it is. If he agrees with your version he will no longer call himself a Christian and no longer come to church.
Watering faith down
Jared Gould reports a bit of a bump in Catholic recruitment, but notes that the Christians voting with their feet are not coming so much from the liturgical wings of the Protestant churches as from the rock-band mega-churches that are more social clubs than religious organizations. The young people crossing over to Catholicism put me in mind of a warning from C.S. Lewis in "Christian Reflections" (quoted at p. 171 in this review):
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Well, don't feel too bad; the Pope is doing his best to meet you Protestants halfway. The new Converts are going to want the Latin Rite, I imagine, but the Catholic Church continues to try to suppress it while preaching Bernie Sanders liberalism.
Converting to Catholicism has been a long-term consideration, but has always been "I still think it's a good idea, maybe the only idea. But not this year..." Had I converted in 1976 (or gone the longer route of Anglican first) I could have remained Catholic far more easily than I could make the move to it.
AVI, the church you describe doesn't seem much like the ones the article describes Protestants fleeing from. I went to services in Houston several years ago with my brother-in-law's family and was startled to find a complete absence, not only of liturgy, but of Biblical quotation or discussion or really anything particularly doctrinal. It was Mother's Day, and the entire service focused on mother-niceness. The music, to the extent I can remember it at all, was vague and atmospheric. It could just as easily have been a Junior League meeting or neighborhood picnic.
Post a Comment