Catholic vs. Protestant - why is there so much animosity?

Got Questions? ^

[Between the Lines]

Question: "Catholic vs. Protestant - why is there so much animosity?"

Answer: This is a simple question with a complicated answer, because there are varying degrees of, and reasons for, animosity between any two religious groups. This particular battle is rooted in history. Degrees of reaction have ranged from friendly disagreement (as reflected in the numerous ecumenical dialogues produced between the two groups), to outright persecution and murder of Protestants at the hands of Rome. Reformation teachings that identify the Pope as the Beast of Revelation and / or Roman Catholicism as Mystery Babylon are still common among Protestants. Clearly, anyone with this view is not going to “warm up” to Rome any time soon.

For the most part, today at least, most of the animosity comes from basic human nature when dealing with fundamental disagreement over eternal truths. Passions are sure to ignite in the more weighty matters of life, and one's faith is (or at least should be) at the top of the heap. Many Protestants think Roman Catholics teach a works-gospel that cannot save, while Roman Catholics think Protestants teach easy-believism that requires nothing more than an emotional outburst brought on by manipulative preaching. Protestants blame Catholics for worshipping Mary and Catholics think Protestants are apparently too dull to understand the distinctions Rome has made in this regard. These caricatures are often difficult to overcome.

Behind the particular disagreements over the role of faith and works, the sacraments, the canon of Scripture, the role of the priesthood, prayers to saints, and all the issues surrounding Mary and the Pope, etc., lies the biggest rift between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism: the issue of authority. How one answers the authority question will generally solve all the others. When it comes down to deciding a theological issue about defined Catholic dogma, there isn’t really much to discuss on the Catholic's side because once Rome speaks, it is settled. This is a problem when trying to debate a Roman Catholic - reason and Scripture are not the Catholic’s final authority, they can always retreat into the “safe zone” of Roman Catholic authority.

Thus, many of the arguments between a Protestant and a Catholic will revolve around one's “private interpretation” of Scripture as against the "official teachings of the Roman Catholic Church." Catholics claim to successfully avoid the legitimate problems of private interpretation by their reliance on their tradition. But this merely pushes the question back a step. The truth is that both Roman Catholics and Protestants must, in the end, rely upon their reasoning abilities (to choose their authority) and their interpretive skills (to understand what that authority teaches) in order to determine what they will believe. Protestants are simply more willing to admit that this is the case.

Both sides can also be fiercely loyal to their family's faith or the church they grew up in without much thought to doctrinal arguments. Obviously there are a lot of possible reasons, and while we should not divide over secondary issues, both sides agree that we must divide when it comes to primary issues. Beyond that, we can agree to disagree and worship where we find ourselves most in agreement. When it comes to Roman Catholicism and Protestantism, the differences are just too great to ignore. However, that does not give license for caricatures or ignorant judgments - both sides need to be honest in their assessments and try not go beyond what God has revealed.

[annalex]

It is my understanding that the reason Roman Catholics pray to various saints is that those saints have, by their many good works, stored up extra grace that they can dispense to those in need of it who ask them.

Yes. This is why I quoted Rom. 5:19-20, which speaks of the just. If your objection is that the saints don't themselves "dispense" of the grace, you are right but neither the Church teaches that.

Abraham is in heaven at that point

The scripture does not say that, and the Church does not teach that. Abraham's bosom is not heaven. It is the "prison" Christ ministered to and opened (1 Peter 3:19).

2 Cor 3:18 certainly does not instruct us to behold Holy Images

But we all beholding the glory of the Lord with open face, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord.

I think it does.

There is no record of him using icons, statues, pictures, or images of any kind in his preaching

I just quoted one such record. You are rigth that it did not last long, as since 1c we don't worship in synagogues.

[annalex]

I said, “absolution”, that is a discovery done by the person in authority, a priest, that a confessed sin has been pardoned by God (John 20:21-23).

[Persevero]

Abraham’s bosom is a prison! I’m sorry, I don’t get that from the text.

To be made in the image of something doesn’t mean there is a statue present to me. We of course are made in God’s image. That doesn’t imply statues or so forth.

I might entertain the idea that there might have been statues here or there if God throughout His word didn’t so strongly forbid them.

If the saints don’t dispense the grace, then I am not sure why you petition them.

[Persevero]

I just noted the title of this thread - why the animosity? and I just wanted to further comment that certainly our exchanges and some exchanges with others don’t show animosity to me.

Disagreement doesn’t always equal animosity.

I don’t feel hatred towards anyone I talk about Catholicism/Protestantism with. I can disagree with someone without disliking or hating them. I also don’t think anyone has treated me with hatred as we have discussed these issues.

[annalex]

You may not get that from the text, because you rely on the text alone. However, Catholic theology is firm on this: prior to the sacrifice of the Cross, man was without ordinary recource to sanctification; righteousness was extraordinary. Death was the rule; the righteous people who died awaited the liberation from the future messiah. That was their prison, known as the limbo of the fathers.

Christ gave everyone, including those in that prison, eternal life. That opened the heavens and enabled the ininhibited communication for anyone with God, the angels and the saints. The order of the universe has changed after the Cross.

Regarding holy images, I don’t see how else to read those verses, other than as an indication that veneration of icons and statues was a practice in the Early Church and so it was described, and praised, by St. Paul. Perhaps some way to explain these prooftexts away exists, but this is how I as Catholic understand them. Your original thesis was that the Catholic worldview goes against the scripture. No, — most emphatically not. It only goes against the Protestant interpretation of it.

Thank you very much for your thoughtfullness. I wish every debate went on equally friendly terms.

[Persevero]

“You may not get that from the text, because you rely on the text alone.”

And so we come full circle! My first post on this thread was an opinion that: what divides Protestants and Roman Catholics is our view of Scripture. All of our doctrinal divisions stem from that, in my observation.

I appreciated our conversation as well.

[annalex]

The views are indeed different; I merely pointed out that Catholicism is not in contradiction with the scripture.