The California Collection/TheCaliforniaCollection.cdr/his078/cath_9.arj/CATH-9.TXT

Text File | 1989-09-28 | 4KB | 66 lines

                   "What do Roman Catholics believe."
                                   or
                     "Four Kinds of Roman Catholics"


    It is as difficult to classify  neatly the Roman church today as it
is to classify Protestant churches.  Any classifacation is bound to lump
together those who feel uncomfortable at the association; we must allow
for much overlapping and various combinations of viewpoints.  It is
useful, nevertheless, to group comtemporary Roman Catholics into four
types.

    Still vigorous, and, under the administration of Pope John Paul II,
continuing strong and influential within the Catholic hierarchy, are the
traditionalists.  This important segment of the church, specially
powerful among the laity of the nation churches, the older clergy, and
the bishops and upper level of the hierarchy, adheres to the whole of
creedal Roman Catholicism and obedience to the church as interpreted by
the pope.  In recent years, these traditionalists have come to assume
less and less importance in the church, yet Pope John Paul II has
certainly sought in some ways to nudge the church back in this
direction.

    A second group is often identified with the charismatic movement.
It tends to be more evangelical and lays great emphasis upon faith as a
personal commitment, the New Birth, personal piety, and loyalty to the
Scripture.  Particularly, it stresses the necessity for a conscious
"actualization" or personal appropriation of one's faith, and an active
acceptance of the Bible not just as divine revelation, but also as the
means of grace by which the Holy Spirit guides one's thought anad
action.

    A third group is composed of liberals.  These vary greatly in the
degree to which they have departed from the traditional position of the
church.  From the Protestant perspective, naturally, some of these
departures seem to be good because they are moves in the direction of
evangelical doctrine.  When Hans Kung wrote a book in defense of
justification by faith and another against the infallibility of the pope
and the church councils, Protestants recognized a voice proclaiming the
truth.  However, when he went on to cast doubts upon the infallibility
of the Bible as well, and even questioned the traditional Christology of
the church, evangelical Protestants regretted his move as an unnecessary
and unwise concession to modern rationalistic unbelief stemming from the
Enlightenment, not from his biblical roots.

    No doubt the majority of Roman Catholics fall within a loose fourth
category often labeled cultural Roman Catholics.  They were born into
the church.  They are commited emotionally to their "mother church," but
do not understand its doctrine and are not really obedient to its
ethical instruction.  They remain within it more because of convenience
than because of religious conviction.  Their values and lifestyle do not
flow from their understanding of the gospel, but are molded by the
predominant culture around them.  In the U.S.(and Canada), Roman
Catholicism is their way of being an American(Canadian) and of finding
their own identity in modern society.  My Comment:  It would be
disasterous to lump Catholics into any one particular category listed
above but to make sure and talk to each one individually as they may be
part of all the categories or any combination of them.  When giving your
testimony to them make sure that you know what that individual believes
in, listen carfully to what they say.

   This info was uploaded by Mike Paulson, who received the information
from an Editorial from Cornerstone magazine which was sent to him by
The Christian Research Institute in San Juan Capistrano, California.