Is The Future Of Catholicism Protestantism?
Simpsons' Protestant Vs. Catholic Heaven Catholicism’s Protestant future is already in its past. I am referring, of course, to the Second Vatican Council. The Rad Trads have a point: consciously or …More
Simpsons' Protestant Vs. Catholic Heaven
Catholicism’s Protestant future is already in its past. I am referring, of course, to the Second Vatican Council. The Rad Trads have a point: consciously or not, Vatican II was a Protestantizing of Catholicism.
Beyond the fact that Vatican II was the starting gun of the Church’s launching into the ecumenical endeavor, the doctrinal emphasis of Vatican II was, so to speak, a ressourcement of Catholicism drawing, among other sources, from the best of Protestantism.
Worship in the vernacular. The re-emphasizing of the “meal” dimension of the Mass and, perhaps, a de-emphasis on the sacrificial dimension of the Mass. An affirmation of the centrality of Scripture in the life of the Church. A “re-kerygmatisation” of the theological life of the Church. An emphasis on the necessity of grace and Christ in the salvation story. A re-emphasizing on the dimension of the Church as the People of God, the people of the baptized.
The incipit of this section is …More
Catholicism’s Protestant future is already in its past. I am referring, of course, to the Second Vatican Council. The Rad Trads have a point: consciously or not, Vatican II was a Protestantizing of Catholicism.
Beyond the fact that Vatican II was the starting gun of the Church’s launching into the ecumenical endeavor, the doctrinal emphasis of Vatican II was, so to speak, a ressourcement of Catholicism drawing, among other sources, from the best of Protestantism.
Worship in the vernacular. The re-emphasizing of the “meal” dimension of the Mass and, perhaps, a de-emphasis on the sacrificial dimension of the Mass. An affirmation of the centrality of Scripture in the life of the Church. A “re-kerygmatisation” of the theological life of the Church. An emphasis on the necessity of grace and Christ in the salvation story. A re-emphasizing on the dimension of the Church as the People of God, the people of the baptized.
The incipit of this section is …More
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Temperance
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Go back 100 years and the Catholic faith looks completely different! This is NOT a good thing! 
Prof. Leonard Wessell
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Luther 1. denied the ontological reality of the Church as being the mystical presence of Christ and thereby made the "Church" into a mere assembly of concurring believers. 2. Tradition was shoved aside for the Bible alone as the origin of and guiding faith. 3. No authority other than the believer decides matters (rejection of the magisterial function of the Papacy). 4.Faith became but the strong …More
Luther 1. denied the ontological reality of the Church as being the mystical presence of Christ and thereby made the "Church" into a mere assembly of concurring believers. 2. Tradition was shoved aside for the Bible alone as the origin of and guiding faith. 3. No authority other than the believer decides matters (rejection of the magisterial function of the Papacy). 4.Faith became but the strong emotional acceptance of divine forgiveness of the sinner (who remains a sinner even in the forgiveness) with the concurrent 100% "fundamental transformation" of the divine service into a meeting of believers to whom the word is communicated and wherein attendants give thanks and joy for said forgiveness ("grace" plays no role) -->origin of Protestant liturgy (Many Protestants cannot understand how Catholics have mass without attendance.). 4. Luther's principle of the individual as the sole "magisterium" (sic) led his followers quickly to develop understandings and practices leaving behind the relatively concervative theology of Luther (thanks to Melanchthon, an Aristotlian who wished unity with Cathlicism).
The "children" of Luther did not just disagree intellectually with Luther, rather they sought their certitude in their emotional experiences. In other words, faith IS only real insofar as each individual IS overcome with emotional feelings of salvation and expresses himself in joyous acclamations (e.g., the Pentecostal whooping it up in an emotional delirium). Lose that feeling and one is lost. Alas, one man's delirium and interpretation thereof is not necessarily that of another. The result is that emotionalism and its implications begin to surpress all rational consideration (and Evangelicals do argue text, i.e., do more than "feel" the Holy Spirit and are not always friendly to Pentecostals). Indeed, the only "proof" for the presence of the Holy Spirit in the individual is the intensity of feeling. Woe unto those who do not feel emotionally unto delirium. And woe unto anyone one does not so feel.
Catholic Protestantism or Protestant Catholicism is a theological oxymoron. The author of the article may call himself a Catholic, but is in reality a Protestant functioning, willy/nilly, as a 5th Column. Alas, many of the deeds and words of Pope Francis suggest that he leans very much in the direction of a "Catholic Protestantism". At some point, the centrifical dynamics of Protestantism in Catholicism will force him to make a "to be or not to be" choice between the conflicting forces of such a theological oxymoron.
The "children" of Luther did not just disagree intellectually with Luther, rather they sought their certitude in their emotional experiences. In other words, faith IS only real insofar as each individual IS overcome with emotional feelings of salvation and expresses himself in joyous acclamations (e.g., the Pentecostal whooping it up in an emotional delirium). Lose that feeling and one is lost. Alas, one man's delirium and interpretation thereof is not necessarily that of another. The result is that emotionalism and its implications begin to surpress all rational consideration (and Evangelicals do argue text, i.e., do more than "feel" the Holy Spirit and are not always friendly to Pentecostals). Indeed, the only "proof" for the presence of the Holy Spirit in the individual is the intensity of feeling. Woe unto those who do not feel emotionally unto delirium. And woe unto anyone one does not so feel.
Catholic Protestantism or Protestant Catholicism is a theological oxymoron. The author of the article may call himself a Catholic, but is in reality a Protestant functioning, willy/nilly, as a 5th Column. Alas, many of the deeds and words of Pope Francis suggest that he leans very much in the direction of a "Catholic Protestantism". At some point, the centrifical dynamics of Protestantism in Catholicism will force him to make a "to be or not to be" choice between the conflicting forces of such a theological oxymoron.
