What Ultimately Divides Us
There is a fundamental difference in the way Protestants and Catholics approach their respective churches.
A Protestant joins a church that aligns with what he believes.
A Catholic, on the other hand, embraces a Church that tells him what to believe.
Many times, inquirers to the Catholic faith express their excitement with Catholic teaching, and how it conforms to what they have read in scripture. That is a wonderful moment, but it represents only the first phase in their development. The second phase, and the most difficult, is to recognize that the Church is not subject to our readings of scripture, which can be flawed. Humility moves us to recognize our limitations as finite beings, and to trust that the Church is always wiser than us. We listen to the Church, through all our doubts and fear, and exhibit a spirit of deference, even through our honest and sincere confusion. We talk to her, and she listens; we read, and she illuminates; we question, and in time, the answers come.
I've learned this from experience: one night, a year ago, wrestling with a doctrinal question that shook me (recent developments in the limbo issue). I stayed up the whole night in prayer and study... I was so tempted to doubt the Church... but she corrected me. By morning, I laughed; I had wasted an entire night seemingly. The solution was that simple and clear, though my finite mind took hours to extract it. Reason #3,467 not to trust myself.
If you are interested in becoming Catholic, or are already Catholic, this lesson in self-distrust is the most important to learn.
A Protestant joins a church that aligns with what he believes.
A Catholic, on the other hand, embraces a Church that tells him what to believe.
Many times, inquirers to the Catholic faith express their excitement with Catholic teaching, and how it conforms to what they have read in scripture. That is a wonderful moment, but it represents only the first phase in their development. The second phase, and the most difficult, is to recognize that the Church is not subject to our readings of scripture, which can be flawed. Humility moves us to recognize our limitations as finite beings, and to trust that the Church is always wiser than us. We listen to the Church, through all our doubts and fear, and exhibit a spirit of deference, even through our honest and sincere confusion. We talk to her, and she listens; we read, and she illuminates; we question, and in time, the answers come.
I've learned this from experience: one night, a year ago, wrestling with a doctrinal question that shook me (recent developments in the limbo issue). I stayed up the whole night in prayer and study... I was so tempted to doubt the Church... but she corrected me. By morning, I laughed; I had wasted an entire night seemingly. The solution was that simple and clear, though my finite mind took hours to extract it. Reason #3,467 not to trust myself.
If you are interested in becoming Catholic, or are already Catholic, this lesson in self-distrust is the most important to learn.
3 comments:
why on earth would you trust a church??? I wouldn't even trust my own church, I trust the bible and that's it...........if the catholic church is about leading people to believe a man over the bible than that's not a very smart move to make. God put the bible on this earth to be read and followed, not pushed away and let some man tell you what God wants.
The Catholic Church is not about putting "man over the bible." It respects the fact that many Christians have different interpretations of the Bible, and believes the leaders of the Church must prayerfully decide which of these interpretations is correct (cf. Acts 15). They clarify the Bible's teaching in times of controversy.
The question is: will I stubbornly hold to my private interpretation of scripture, or will I submit to the interpretations of the Bible held by the community, as defined by the "apostles and elders" in the councils?
Even Ellen White cautioned Adventists against ostensibly scriptural views at variance with the teachings of (her) church. She urged Adventists to submit their readings of scripture to that of the Adventist church:
"We are not to receive the words of those who come with a message that contradicts the special points of our faith. They gather together a mass of Scripture, and pile it as proof around their asserted theories. This has been done over and over again during the past fifty years. And while the Scriptures are God's word, and are to be respected, the application of them, if such application moves one pillar from the foundation that God has sustained these fifty years, is a great mistake. He who makes such an application knows not the wonderful demonstration of the Holy Spirit that gave power and force to the past messages that have come to the people of God. {1SM 161.2}"
"God has not passed His people by, and chosen one solitary man here and another there as the only ones worthy to be entrusted with His truth. He does not give one man new light contrary to the established faith of the body. In every reform men have arisen making this claim. Paul warned the church in his day, "Of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them." {CW 45.2}"
Those are rather fantastic egw quotes, Hugo. If one were to actually follow their logic, especially of the second of the two, one would have to reject SDA-ism in favor of the Church. Irony is the word I'm thinking of.
Post a Comment