Tag Archives: Christianity

Carnivals 01/25/05

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Vox Apologia 2
is up at Razorskiss. The theme is “Digital Salt”. The
14th Catholic Carnival is up at Deo Omnis Gloria. The submission are labeled
with categories: unity, division, contraception, life, faith, prayer, home, family,
spirituality, euthanasia, love, time, and obedience. The 54th Chrisitan Carnival is at Digitus, Finger, and Co. Neil’s a very busy man and put a lot of work into this, so please check it out. In fact, check them all out. 🙂

Saved/Judged as the Body?

5 Replies

Michael Gallaugher, of Christian Conservative, asks the following question.

Nearly all people of faith believe their fate before God will depend largely upon our individual lives. However, some people believe the judgement awaiting us in the next life will not only be weighed against our lives as individuals, but the fruit of the broader culture we take part in shaping as well. I’m curious to get your reaction to the latter belief.

To which I responded:

The Catholic Church teaches that there will be both a particular
judgement and a last judgement.
We also believe that the faithful are not only saved as individual souls, but also
as the Mystical Body of
Christ.

This was not well-received by the Protestant commenters. I’m not sure if they really oppose the Church’s views or oppose them because they are “Romish” views. Could any of Protestant readers clarify this for me? Would any of my Catholic readers be able/willing to help me defend the Church?

The Myth of Catholic and Orthodox Tradition?

3 Replies

Cameron Porter, of Earnestly Contending, posts the following quote (apparently a favorite of his).

"Furthermore, that the body of tradition is not of divine origin nor apostolic is proven by the fact that some traditions contradict others. The church fathers repeatedly contradict one another. When a Roman Catholic priest is ordained he solemnly vows to interpret the Scriptures only according to 'the unanimous consent' of the fathers. But such 'unanimous consent' is purely a myth. The fact is they scarcely agree on any doctrine. They contradict each other, and even contradict themselves as they change their minds and affirm what they previously had denied. Augustine, the greatest of the fathers, in his later life wrote a special book in which he set forth his Retractions. Some of the fathers of the second century held that Christ would return shortly and that he would personally reign in Jerusalem for a thousand years. But two of the best known scholars of the early church, Origen (185-254) and Augustine (354-430) wrote against that view. The early fathers condemned the use of images in worship, while later ones approve such use. The early church almost unanimously advocated the reading and free use of the Scriptures, while later ones restricted such reading and use. Gregory the Great, bishop of Rome and the greatest of the early bishops, denounced the assumption of the title of Universal Bishop as anti-Christian. But later Popes even to the present have been very insistent of using that and similar titles which assert universal authority. Where, then, is the universal tradition and unanimous consent of the fathers to papal doctrine?"

– Loraine Boettner, Roman Catholicism (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed, 1962), pp. 78-79

Thoughts?

Slacker Mass?

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"Almost three-tenths (29%) of male Mass attenders [in Australia] aged between 15 and 29 go to Mass only on Sunday evenings, and a further 13% attend Mass on Sunday evening or at another time. For females of the same age, the corresponding figures are 25% and 16%."

….

"the [total] Mass attendance rate among young [Australian] adult Catholics was less than 10%"

I suspect that if this study was repeated in America, the results would be similar. This immediately brings a few questions to my mind.

If people, young or old, wouldn’t attend mass if evening masses were eliminated, should these "last chance" masses be kept or even made available in parishes that lack them? What are people doing during the day on Sunday? What is so important that it can’t be missed? What about the myriad of other masses offered, including vigil masses on Saturdays? Should the Church really be catering to the people this much? Is the Church just doing what she can to draw more people in or coddling people and caving in to misplaced priorities?

What are your thoughts? I’d like to hear from all of my Christian readers on this one, not just Catholics. I know most Protestant churches don’t offer as many Sunday services as Catholic parishes do, but I suspect there are similar problems with attendance, particularly among the young adults. Ditto for the Orthodox.

“Take heed that you are not consumed by one another”

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Sean Herriott, of Meet Joe Convert, reminded me of an important topic for Christian bloggers that I’ve mentioned before.

"A sense of superiority –my own need to be right — can actually be completely divorced from truth, and still give one the euphoric feeling that God is on their side. I’m sorry to say that I’ve justified things to myself — and to others — that were not only wrong, but harmful and destructive. I’ve tried to persuade myself and people I knew that my way was right, even when it clearly wasn’t."

In response to the increasing influence blogs are having on culture, Christians must be more vigilant of their true motives and the impressions they make on their fellow man. I’ve seen some ugly back-biting on Christian blogs, much of it perpetrated against fellow Christians. What kind of message does this send to nonChristians? Rey, of The Bible Archive, is also concerned about this.

"For some reason, when people go online and put on the veil of anonymity they tend to ignore any of the rules that govern common society. Civility gives way to sarcasm. Patience gives way to brevity. The tongue is fully unleashed through the fingertips and the typist revels in his own wisdom."

"Brothers and Sisters, this should not be the case with we who believe! We are in the world, yes, but we are not of the world. We are to remain different from the world, keeping the flavor of our profession before men — otherwise what use are we? We must not appear like other men, who professing to be wise do horrendous things in the name of their wisdom, following their own so-called knowledge and desires. Let us stand apart from the crowd evidencing the light of the life of Christ within us. This light is not to be hid, but to shine — not so much the light of ‘my-knowledge’ or self-proclaimed wisdom but the love of Christ that abides in those who are saved."

"Fellow brothers and sisters, I beg you, control your tongues in this public forum. Those words you type are your only testimony here in the virtual world. It is your only tangible evidence of Christ in you — why trample it underfoot and unleash all those prohibitions that are so evident in scripture?"

"I don’t speak of ‘testimony’ only towards those who are in the world. I imagine if they stumbled on one of these sites and saw the way that Christians call each other everything from ‘unwise’ to ‘blaspheming heretic worthy of hellfire’ they would sit in their scorn saying ‘ah, they’re no better than me.’ This is sad in itself. Rather I speak of the fellow believers who may not be as strong as the rest of you. Christ spoke of washing each others’ feet not simply in keeping each other’s doctrine or walk pure, but in loving each other as Christ Himself has loved us, set aside the joy that was before Him and humbly gave Himself for us. "

I now humbly request my fellow Godbloggers to write about this serious issue from their own perspectives. My readership is loyal, but small. This issue must be dealt with by all bloggers who call themselves Christians. The more voices denouncing enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension, party spirit, envy, and the like and enouraging love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, the better.