Traditional Catholic Teaching - Lesson 2

Lesson 2 - Supplement A

Comments

In our day and age, the most common way the majority of our young people hear of Jesus Christ is when his holy name is used as an exclamation: in other words, as a desecration and profanity. Now why, if you don’t believe in the Christian religion, would you bother to use the name of its founder as an obscenity to express anger or annoyance? No one, when they want to use coarse language says "Buddha!" "Mohammed!" or "Krishna!" So why, "Jesus Christ!"

The downturn in respect for Christianity is directly related to a massive ignorance of the true Jesus Christ as presented in the Holy Gospels. This is a complex problem, but we can look briefly at two significant trends which have eroded faith in Jesus so much that the decay seems irreversible. We will record only a brief reference to each but will offer follow-up material for those who wish to find out more.

Those of us who were born during or around the time of World War Two have witnessed in our own life-time the openly acknowledged transition from respect for the Christian Faith and its Founder to using Christianity and the Holy Name of Jesus as the butt of many profane comments and so-called jokes. As we have previously remarked, we are now living in the first ever period of atheism in the history of the human species. Many articles and documents describe this as the result of a new age of human maturity which burst onto the world scene during the 18th Century "Enlightenment". They even call it spiritual maturity which is a natural and inevitable phase of human evolution. We would like to ask a simple question. If modern humanity’s denial of religion is so natural and inevitable a phase of evolution, why have there been so many political and social movements scheming and plotting to forcibly crush Christians and enforce atheistic philosophy and government upon them?

The weakening position of Christianity is not just on account of a growing lack of interest in religion or the result of natural human evolution! It is the direct result of positive, aggressive and sustained destruction by embittered opponents carefully spreading their doctrine. It is very interesting to observe how the Church actively exposed and opposed atheistic and "New Age" philosophies and movements until the early-mid 1960s when it suddenly changed tack and moderated its stance beyond belief!

This brings us to the second cause of the erosion of faith today. Within the Church there are two major sources of demolition. The first was once difficult to identify. It comprises groups of misguided authorities or scholars who are determined to bring a literal revolution within the Church. We now have access to full accounts of who they are and how they implemented their devious plans. They care little about the exposure since they are so well entrenched and have succeeded beyond even their own expectations. In fact exposure puffs up their pride.

The other group form a mixture of sincere enthusiasts as well as eager opportunists who champion all that is "new" and "fresh" as though it were a New Age of the Holy Spirit. They are partly right! They would be horrified to be told it, but they are really New Agers with a thin veneer of stylised Christian appearance. Their movement has also been hijacked by the big names in TV religion. A careful analysis of their "TV shows" reveals the true subject of their promotion: themselves; or anyone, actually, but Jesus Christ. They may (rarely) talk about him, but not in a way which leads you to reverence him, seek him and encounter him. Even more rarely do they lead you to listen to his words and meditate on Him. In fact they will encourage you to follow all manner of signs and wonders, false so-called gifts of the Holy Spirit and truly weird things to do! Anything but be still and listen to him as God has commanded us. No! Modern man must run after a new and more exciting diet to feed the hunger of the soul, and entertain the bored modern mind. But then Jesus did predict that such events would occur in the life of the Church.

This little Supplement or commentary has all the signs of alarmist conspiracy theory. We admit that and have taken many years to reach a point where we can no longer keep silent. The demolition gangs working both inside and beyond the Church are determined to end the age of following Jesus Christ and his teaching. We are talking here principally of the Catholic Church, but in many respects the same phenomenon exists within Protestant denominations. Don’t believe what we have said until you research it for yourself. We will add selectively and progressively a number of references to guide your own assessment. The situation is so serious we urge you to help save what is left of Christian culture. (The Appendix to this Supplement A gives an academic critique of one of the major destructive influences within Christianitry today: the philosophy of Teilhard de Chardin.)

To close on a positive note which gives us great hope, we invite you to meditate further on one of the beautiful events Bishop Dwyer referred to in his lesson when St Peter proclaims Christ as the long-awaited Messiah. It is one of the great moments in our Lord’s ministry, when he was deeply distressed at the lack of faith in who he is and what he has come to do.

Appendix: "Teilhard de Chardin: A False Prophet"

End of Lesson 2 Supplement A

Supplement B: "You are the Messiah" "You Are the Rock"

Back | Index | Next