In response to a comment I made about Christianity’s cultural accomplishments, Darryl Hart writes: “Who is this ‘we,’ white Calvinist man (read: Andrew)? Could it be that the we is Roman Catholicism? And could it be that all those good things in Rome came with the cost of missing what was most important — how we are saved and how we respond to God in worship?”To read more click on the above link. My response should be posted soon in the comments section of this blog but you may also view them in my comments as well.
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
The Ubiquity of Roman Catholicism
De Regno Christi
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2 comments:
Christ is in our midst.
Caleb - thank you for alerting me to this site. Andrew - thank you for your post as well.
Dr. Hart - I hold you in the deepest regards with great admiration and I have followed your work for some time now. Sadly I have to disagree with you in regards to your comments on this post. The Jesuits are giants among men. By the grace of God Fr. Jape and I are personal friends. (If you're not familiar with Fr. Jape read The New Pantagruel). I (speaking for myself and no one else) am not worthy of shining his shoes or any of their (the Jesuits') shoes. I refer you to a post of mine on the Jesuits.
http://ressourcement.blogspot.com/2005/05/peter-milward-sj-jesuits-in-general.html
I challenge you, or anyone on this site, to read Henri de Lubac and Hans Urs Von Balthasar. It's impossible to so easily dismiss their thought regardless if you are a serious scholar or a common man.
Now in regards your comment on "the sufficiency of Christ." Catholics (Roman or Eastern, not all Catholics are Roman by the way) do not doubt nor reject the sufficiency of Christ. From an ontological perspective, the debate between our camps is one rooted in a differences of opinion in regards to nature and grace, of anthropology, and of soteriology. Again I refer you to the thought of de Lubac and Balthasar. Many times our differences are ones rooted in a confusion of semantics as well. Our differences are not rooted in the doctrines of God, i.e. the Trinity, the Incarnation, etc. As Confessional Christians (rooted in the historic creeds of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church ) you are Catholic. Let us be honest about this fact, a historical fact which you Dr. Hart must recognize. The most important fact though is that God become man to save sinners of which I the first.
The question(s) that divide us are how Christ justifies us, how He sanctifies us and how He saves us? Can He use us humans (you and I) to do so in these processes of justification, sanctification and salvation? Are these done completely outside of us or through us? How does grace work in our human nature and let us not presuppose (as Van Til would like to say) total or radical corruption in man either. And what about merit? These questions and/or differences are not solely between Protestants and Catholics, but TRs vs Fed. Vision advocates and Calvinists vs. Arminians as well I must remind you. (Maybe that's why Arminians are increasingly becoming friendly to Catholics on social issues but that's a conversation for another time.)
I would grant to you that our division (between Protestants and Catholics) is also rooted in questions about authority which leads to questions about eccesiology. It's not that God is not sovereign, on this issue of God's sovereignty we both agree, but how does God emphasize his sovereignty in this world? How does God exercises His authority in the world through us fallible human beings? Through primarily or only His written word? Or through His word (both written and oral) and His personally appointed leaders of His Body on the earth, the Church, the New Israel?
Happy 4th of July my friends. May the fireworks begin! Let us recognize their beauty because everything is ultimately a reflection of Christ if it is true, beautiful and good.
I'm for the sufficiency of the entire Christ.
I've noticed that the revulsion for Constantine/ Christendom, etc. doesn't seem to have much to do with the concrete historical events and documents in H. Rahner's Church and State. It must have another source.
~Fred
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