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Posted on 08/09/2020 7:46:24 AM PDT by MurphsLaw
We should stop trying to evangelize Protestants, some Catholics say. “Let’s get our own house clean first, before we invite our fellow Christians in,” someone commented on a recent article of mine that presented a Catholic rejoinder to a prominent Baptist theologian. Another reader argued that, rather than trying to persuade Protestants to become Catholic, we should “help each other spread God’s love in this world that seems to be falling to pieces before our eyes.” As a convert from Protestantism, actively engaged in ecumenical dialogue, I’ve heard this kind of thinking quite frequently. And it’s dead wrong.
One common argument in favor of scrapping Catholic evangelism towards Protestants is that the Catholic Church, mired in sex-abuse and corruption scandals, liturgical abuses, heretical movements, and uneven catechesis, is such a mess that it is not, at least for the moment, a place suitable for welcoming other Christians.
There are many problems with this. For starters, when has the Church not been plagued by internal crises? In the fourth century, a majority of bishops were deceived by the Arian heresy. The medieval Church suffered under the weight of simony and a lax priesthood, as well as the Avignon Papacy and the Western Schism, culminating in three men claiming, simultaneously, to be pope. The Counter-Reformation, for all its catechetical, missionary and aesthetic glories, was still marred by corruption and heresies (Jansenism). Catholicism has never been able to escape such trials. That didn’t stop St. Martin of Tours, St. Boniface, St. Francis de Sales, St. Ignatius Loyola, or St. Teresa of Calcutta from their missionary efforts.
The “Catholics clean house” argument also undermines our own theology. Is the Eucharist the “source and summit of the Christian life,” as Lumen Gentium preaches, or not? If it is, how could we in good conscience not direct other Christians to its salvific power? Jesus Himself declared: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.” (John 6:53) Was our Lord misrepresenting the Eucharist?
Or what of the fact that most Protestant churches allow contraception, a mortal sin? Or that Protestants have no recourse to the sacraments of penance or last rites? To claim Protestants aren’t in need of these essential parts of the Catholic faith is to implicitly suggest we don’t need them either.
* Moreover, in the generations since the Reformation, Rome has been able to win many Protestants back to the fold who have made incalculable contributions to the Church. St. John Henry Newman’s conversion ushered in a Catholic revival in England, and gave us a robust articulation of the concept of doctrinal development. The conversion of French Lutheran pastor Louis Bouyer influenced the teachings of Vatican II. Biblical scholar Scott Hahn’s conversion in the 1980s revitalized lay study of Holy Scripture.
Another popular argument in favor of limiting evangelization of Protestants involves the culture war. Catholics and theologically conservative Protestants, some claim, share significant common ground on various issues: abortion, homosexuality, transgenderism, euthanasia, religious freedom, etc. Secularism, the sexual revolution, and anti-religious progressives represent an existential threat to the survival of both Catholics and Protestants, and thus we must work together, not debate one another. “Let’s hold back any criticism of them,” a person commenting on my article wrote. “Believe me, in the times that we are in, we need to all hang together, or we will definitely hang separately on gallows outside our own churches.”
This line of thought certainly has rhetorical force: we don’t have the luxury of debating with Protestants when the progressivists are planning our imminent demise! Ecumenical debate is a distraction from self-preservation. One problem with this argument is that it reduces our Christian witness to a zero-sum game – we have to focus all our efforts on fighting secular progressivism, or we’ll fail. Yet the Church has many missions in the public square – that Catholics invest great energy in the pro-life movement doesn’t mean we shouldn’t also focus our efforts on other important matters: health-care, education, ensuring religious freedom, or fighting poverty and environmental degradation. All of these, in different ways, are a part of human flourishing. Even if we consider some questions more urgent than others, none of them should be ignored.
Besides, there is a vast difference between mere polemics and charitable, fruitful discussions aimed at resolving disagreements. The former can certainly cause bad blood. The latter, however, can actually foster unity and clarity regarding our purposes. Consider how much more fruitful our fight against the devastation of the sexual revolution would be if we persuaded Protestants that they need to reject things like contraception and the more permissive stance towards divorce that they have allowed to seep into their churches. Consider how non-Christians could learn from charitable ecumenical conversations that don’t devolve into name-calling and vilification.
Finally, abandoning or minimizing the evangelizing of Protestants is to fail to recognize how their theological and philosophical premises have contributed to the very problems we now confront. As Brad Gregory’s book The Unintended Reformation demonstrates, the very nature of Protestantism has contributed to the individualism, secularism, and moral relativism of our age. A crucial component to our Catholic witness, then, is helping Protestants to recognize this, since even when they have the best intentions, their very paradigm undermines their contributions to collaborating with us in the culture war.
I for one am very grateful that Catholics – many of them former Protestants – persuaded me to see the problems inherent to Protestantism, and the indisputable truths of Catholicism. My salvation was at stake. I also found and married a devout Catholic woman, and am raising Catholic children. The Catholic tradition taught me how to pray, worship, and think in an entirely different way. It pains me to think what my life would be like if I hadn’t converted to Catholicism.
Why bother to evangelize devout Protestants? Because they are people like me.
“they really do believe they hold the copyright to the word ‘church’.”
Yes. They confuse “church” with “denomination”. Very weird.
“I think they are brainwashed to believe ONLY their church can administer the Lord’s Supper ...”
Yes — “brainwashed”. It’s necessary for any cult to survive.
At least Paul was HONEST; recording what HE thought about certain things, and making sure that the RECORD showed some things were HIS ideas and NOT God's!
HMMMmmm...
Chapter and verse?
Please also give us the chapter and verse where Paul is addressed as *Father Paul*.
Note also that such apologetical converts usually justify their error by making so-called "church fathers" determinitive of what the NT church believed - as their church accepts and interprets them - rather than the wholly God-inspired substantive infallible record of what the NT church believed word of God.
I don’t own a ballpark to give you.
Some would say that’s got some humor to it..
:)
May our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus
have Mercy on you.
7
May our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus
have Mercy on you.
7
I have been shown great Mercy from the King of Kings..
Because I was blind but now I see!
For His Glory!
You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
I'm stating the obvious by remarking that this passage gets everybody worked up about interpretations. It's specifically about the interpretation of the name Peter, which is a key detail.
Losing keys - people hate it when that happens. Another of life's little annoyances, like when loose is supposed to be lose.
“The New Covenant is being born again and God having a direct relationship with us, not thru the church. The visible church has a role but without God’s Sprit within us we are deaf and blind.”
God did not establish an institution, He tore it down. Because the institution was getting in the way, man perverted it. Though God may still use it.
Get your Bible out and ask God for answers, it is the only way. Eyes to see and ears to hear are a gift from God.
Jer 31:33 “But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel on that day,” says the LORD. “I will put My instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be My people.
Jer 31:34 And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their relatives,.........”
There is much to think about in the above. Read it in context, meaning the whole Bible.
Mat 28:18 Jesus came and told His disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth.
Mat 28:19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Mat 28:20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
.......
Heb 8:10 But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel on that day, says the LORD: I will put My laws in their minds, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be My people.
Heb 8:11 And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their relatives,
No, we have one of those wonderful mysteries where God’s Spirit leads us to a deeper truth by reading His word..
Amen!
It’s why all of us who are former RCC left.
God never saves anybody collectively - that’s a satanic concept. Collectivism is.
God saves us individually. We, trust in HIM & His Son! Period.
Remember where we are on God’s Time-Clock - almost to the end. Apostasy has been running rampant for some time now. As we inch ever forward, look for it to increase exponentially.
“ The Blessed Mother has warned us that many may go to Hell unless they repent and change their ways”
Totally bogus, made up stuff.
Never in Scripture.
You go to hell for rejecting Christ’s total payment for your sin.
Depending on a church, your own filthy works, useless rituals, and false gospel, land you in hell
Good point. Many of those who leave Rome generally cite that the Church doctrine doesn't square with what is in scripture. Those who embrace Catholicism usually cite "church fathers"-a nebulous expression at best. Special writings and revelations by extra people are usually the sign of a cult.
Sola scriptura
Your comment: “Read it in context, meaning the whole Bible.”
Yes. Good advice, but one needs the correct understanding of God’s Truth. Jesus did not teach 40,000 versions of His Truth.
I think God allows Satan to play with the minds of the protestants to see whether their faith is strong enough to understand His Truth. I believe too many men are comfortable in their sins and it might require a miracle from God to change minds and beliefs.
Jer., xxxi, 31, 34 is a prophecy of the unity of common faith and common worship when it comes to pass in the last days. It doesn’t say when that will happen. Obviously, we all need to accept God’s Truth as he told us through His Church.
Jesus told me that I should appreciate growing up in the Catholic faith, attend Mass and fully participate in the Sacraments as I pray for the conversion of sinners. He wants me to let others know about His Divine Mercy, but they will need to repent and ask for forgiveness. Catholics have the Sacrament of Reconciliation, others do not.
..................
The "sacrament of reconciliation" is never in Scripture, so not necessary for salvation nor Christian maturity.
Christians have something far better - forgiveness, and the ability to boldly approach the throne of God as His saved sons and daughters.
"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."I John 1:9
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