Posted on 09/08/2014 6:58:49 AM PDT by marshmallow
Once upon a time there was a church founded on Gods entering into human history in order to give humanity a path to eternal life and happiness with him. The Savior that God sent, his only-begotten Son, did not write a book but founded a community, a church, upon the witness and ministry of twelve apostles. He sent this church the gift of the Holy Spirit, the spirit of love between Father and Son, the Spirit of the truth that God had revealed about himself and humanity by breaking into the history of human sinfulness.
This church, a hierarchical communion, continued through history, living among different peoples and cultures, filled with sinners, but always guided in the essentials of her life and teaching by the Holy Spirit. She called herself Catholic because her purpose was to preach a universal faith and a universal morality, encompassing all peoples and cultures. This claim often invited conflict with the ruling classes of many countries. About 1,800 years into her often stormy history, this church found herself as a very small group in a new country in Eastern North America that promised to respect all religions because the State would not be confessional; it would not try to play the role of a religion.
This church knew that it was far from socially acceptable in this new country. One of the reasons the country was established was to protest the king of Englands permitting the public celebration of the Catholic Mass on the soil of the British Empire in the newly conquered Catholic territories of Canada. He had betrayed his coronation oath to combat Catholicism, defined as Americas greatest enemy, and protect Protestantism, bringing the pure religion of the colonists into danger and giving them the moral right to revolt and reject his rule.
Nonetheless, many Catholics in the American colonies thought their life might be better in the new country than under a regime whose ruling class had penalized and persecuted them since the mid-16th century. They made this new country their own and served her loyally. The social history was often contentious, but the State basically kept its promise to protect all religions and not become a rival to them, a fake church. Until recent years.
There was always a quasi-religious element in the public creed of the country. It lived off the myth of human progress, which had little place for dependence on divine providence. It tended to exploit the religiosity of the ordinary people by using religious language to co-opt them into the purposes of the ruling class. Forms of anti-Catholicism were part of its social DNA. It had encouraged its citizens to think of themselves as the creators of world history and the managers of nature, so that no source of truth outside of themselves needed to be consulted to check their collective purposes and desires. But it had never explicitly taken upon itself the mantle of a religion and officially told its citizens what they must personally think or what values they must personalize in order to deserve to be part of the country. Until recent years.
In recent years, society has brought social and legislative approval to all types of sexual relationships that used to be considered sinful. Since the biblical vision of what it means to be human tells us that not every friendship or love can be expressed in sexual relations, the churchs teaching on these issues is now evidence of intolerance for what the civil law upholds and even imposes. What was once a request to live and let live has now become a demand for approval. The ruling class, those who shape public opinion in politics, in education, in communications, in entertainment, is using the civil law to impose its own form of morality on everyone. We are told that, even in marriage itself, there is no difference between men and women, although nature and our very bodies clearly evidence that men and women are not interchangeable at will in forming a family. Nevertheless, those who do not conform to the official religion, we are warned, place their citizenship in danger.
When the recent case about religious objection to one provision of the Health Care Act was decided against the State religion, the Huffington Post (June 30, 2014) raised concerns about the compatibility between being a Catholic and being a good citizen. This is not the voice of the nativists who first fought against Catholic immigration in the 1830s. Nor is it the voice of those who burned convents and churches in Boston and Philadelphia a decade later. Neither is it the voice of the Know-Nothing Party of the 1840s and 1850s, nor of the Ku Klux Klan, which burned crosses before Catholic churches in the Midwest after the civil war. It is a voice more sophisticated than that of the American Protective Association, whose members promised never to vote for a Catholic for public office. This is, rather, the selfrighteous voice of some members of the American establishment today who regard themselves as progressive and enlightened.
The inevitable result is a crisis of belief for many Catholics. Throughout history, when Catholics and other believers in revealed religion have been forced to choose between being taught by God or instructed by politicians, professors, editors of major newspapers and entertainers, many have opted to go along with the powers that be. This reduces a great tension in their lives, although it also brings with it the worship of a false god. It takes no moral courage to conform to government and social pressure. It takes a deep faith to swim against the tide, as Pope Francis recently encouraged young people to do at last summers World Youth Day.
Swimming against the tide means limiting ones access to positions of prestige and power in society. It means that those who choose to live by the Catholic faith will not be welcomed as political candidates to national office, will not sit on editorial boards of major newspapers, will not be at home on most university faculties, will not have successful careers as actors and entertainers. Nor will their children, who will also be suspect. Since all public institutions, no matter who owns or operates them, will be agents of the government and conform their activities to the demands of the official religion, the practice of medicine and law will become more difficult for faithful Catholics. It already means in some States that those who run businesses must conform their activities to the official religion or be fined, as Christians and Jews are fined for their religion in countries governed by Sharia law.
A reader of the tale of two churches, an outside observer, might note that American civil law has done much to weaken and destroy what is the basic unit of every human society, the family. With the weakening of the internal restraints that healthy family life teaches, the State will need to impose more and more external restraints on everyones activities. An outside observer might also note that the official religions imposing whatever its proponents currently desire on all citizens and even on the world at large inevitably generates resentment. An outside observer might point out that class plays a large role in determining the tenets of the official State religion. Same-sex marriage, as a case in point, is not an issue for the poor or those on the margins of society.
How does the tale end? We dont know. The actual situation is, of course, far more complex than a story plot, and there are many actors and characters, even among the ruling class, who do not want their beloved country to transform itself into a fake church. It would be wrong to lose hope, since there are so many good and faithful people.
Catholics do know, with the certainty of faith, that, when Christ returns in glory to judge the living and the dead, the church, in some recognizable shape or form that is both Catholic and Apostolic, will be there to meet him. There is no such divine guarantee for any country, culture or society of this or any age.
“She called herself ‘Catholic’”? Do you have scripture for that?
Good read.
Great post. Even the Bible says the church is universal (catholic) for everyone.
Why does there have to be scripture for that? Is there scripture for "Protestant" or "Calvinist" or many other names Christians use?
And it won't be a pretty sight...
There is a Baptist.
How about “Go and preach the Gospel to all men?” That’s what the Church is doing.
The first evangelizers in what is now the US were Spanish Catholics, btw; the first “pastor” was Fr. Francisco Lopez, who celebrated the first Mass in what is now St Augustine, Florida on September 8, 1565. It was attended by the Indians and evangelization began immediately.
Only a couple of centuries later, the extensive chain of Indian missions were destroyed by the attacks of English Protestant colonists from Georgia and South and many Indians and priests were killed, while about 11,000 captured Indians were sent as slaves to the British sugar plantations in the West Indies.
The irony is dripping ...
I see the usual suspects have attacked as usual.
That said, the first place to officially permit religious tolerance in what is now the US was the Catholic colony of Maryland, founded in 1654, where all citizens were to be accepted.
Of course, once the extremely restrictive anti-Catholic laws of England came into effect in the late 1600’s, Catholics ended up (even in Maryland) being excluded from holding public office, owning land, etc.
As a result, Charles Carroll of Carrolton, the Catholic grandson of the Catholic founder of the colony and the only Catholic to sign the Declaration of Independence, was not at that time allowed to vote, formally participate in politics or even practice law, the profession for which he had been trained. He was known to other members of the Continental Congress because of his writings (under a pseudonym) and thus was asked to participate.
They were called Christians at Antioch, acts 11:26
Jesus called it my Church Matthew 16:18
My kingdom John 18:36 and Luke 22:30
The kingdom Matthew 16:19
The kingdom of God John 3:5, Luke 22:16
So in my view the Church of Christ or the Church of God would be the only thing it could be called based on the teaching of Christ.
I also believe that both of these Churches has doctrine that is not Biblical, so does it matter what it is called?
Correction = The kingdom of heaven Matthew 16:19
At least the Catholics had everything South of the United States, from Mexico to Central America and South America.
Reading these Papist threads on the RF reminds me of reading the reverse psychology lies Pravda put out back in the days of the soviets. The lead article has the Papacy a continuity going back to the original church of the New Testament, thus, in effect attacking, not just the Church of England, but by extension every Protestant.
Then, when any Protestant disagrees with their propaganda, he is said to be "attacking." They can attack at will, especially on this RCC RF, but if anyone disagrees, HE is the attacker. Go figure. It's Pravda reverse psychology they use.
This thread had nothing to do with Protestants but was something addressed by a Catholic bishop to Catholics, reflecting on the state of the Church.
To immediately go from this into bizarre fundamentalist Protestant anti-Catholic charges is to me an attack.
If you don’t want Protestants to post to this thread, you should have it designated “Catholic Caucus.” Nothing “bizarre” about my reaction to the “the Papacy the only true church, Protestants excluded” tone of this article.
You folks have no idea what all this tripe Papists post looks like to a Protestant.
Christ established the Catholic Church and Its been here ever since. If that bothers you take it up with God.
go forth and teach all nations....Catholic means universal....close enough, besides it is a historical fact, probably beginning as early as the first century.
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