Traditional Catholic Teaching - Lesson 4 Supplement A

Lesson 4 - Supplement A

Comments

For people studying the traditional Christian Faith for the first time, this whole topic of unity is problematic. Strangely enough, most Christians are not deeply troubled about the split between the traditional Church and Protestant denominations. They just take that for granted! The disunity that is so very evident today is that which is tearing individual denominations apart. Some denominations agonise over it in the public arena. Some of the more recently formed "evangelical" groups have no problem: you simply fit or split. Those who claim most fervently to hold to Scripture as their sole authority are the most active in splitting over doctrinal disagreements, fondly ignoring the Gospel teaching of Jesus on obedience and unity. In a word, much of Christianity is in a mess!

The modernist would strongly disagree with such a conclusion and talk of a new age or manifestation of the Spirit. In this new age if we have the gift of the Spirit (so the rationale goes) then we will rejoice in a "unity in diversity", and will promote "pluralism" as the chief principle of unity. Proponents may not like our use of the phrase "New Age" being applied to them, but their religion is often only a thinly veiled form of the New Age culture which has expanded feverishly over the last 80 years. Its influence is very widespread, and few Christian bodies have been able to resist its pervasive presence. We believe it to be apostate and corrupt religion in its worst form and Christians of all denominations should take every precaution to prevent its odious perversions slowly gaining influence within their structures. Parts of the Catholic Church are as seriously infected in this way as other Christian groups, and all seem equally deaf to the stream of wake-up calls to get their act together. The devastating effects are becoming obvious: Churches, (Catholic and Protestant), seminaries, monasteries are up for sale everywhere.

This course is about traditional Christianity — not modern or modernist religious reconstructions. It is essentially about the handing down of the Faith as it was passed from Our Lord to his chosen, ordained Apostles, and those whom they ordained so to do. We therefore have a few comments to make about maintaining this line of authority and doctrine (Latin: doctrina, teaching). Non Catholics reading these notes may find these ideas helpful either to understand the Catholic Church better, or even to understand the tensions and forces of disintegration impinging on their own chosen denomination. This may at least help us to help one another. The following six comments may seem puzzling to first-time readers. If so, skip them — but you will, in time, find they reflect the current state of Christianity.

1. We cannot, as mentioned above, build Christian unity on ideas such as:

Unity in diversity (as it is presented today)
Pluralism of faith(s)

How can we be one as Jesus prayed (John 17) and believe and openly teach opposite things?

It is currently very common for some Christian bodies to go all out to affirm one another as authentic parts of the Church our Lord founded, claiming a unity in diversity and calling one another, "Sister Churches". This is a strategy to effect their own acceptance by others. Thus a pretended façade of unity is becoming a means as well as a condition of acceptance into the contemporary non-specific Christian mix. You can believe just about anything to belong to this group except traditionally held beliefs! And that applies to a range of modern Protestant and Catholic positions.

2. The last 60 years have seen an explosion of Protestant denominations. Using the Bible as their only authority one group after another claim they must split with their denomination and present their own rendering of the Bible to the unconverted. Those who split claim they are being obedient to Christ and conforming to his Word. The trouble is, every group claims this, and division and disagreement simply proliferate. Harmony is never mentioned, and no one is permitted to deny anyone else's position. Is this not chaos — a return to Babel?

3. St Peter, in his early formation by our Lord, faced the dilemma of trying to urge Jesus to conform to his (and others') expectations. He was told, in effect, that his commission would be to bring the world to conform to Christ, not Christ to conform to the way of the world. For Christians there is only one path — that of conforming self to the Lord Jesus, not adapting the legacy of Jesus to whatever suits our personal needs. This is one of the bedrock truths which is exposing the modern day fiasco of the ever increasing multiplicity of denominational splits. That is partly why we are going to such lengths in these pages to comment on the gross situation we are witnessing.

4. Most of us accept the fact that it is normal (and essential) to build on our accumulated knowledge of history, science and technology and act accordingly. But when it comes to Christianity, for some people, the reverse is true. The only form of the Christian Faith they can accept is how they think it appeared in the first century AD, making no allowance for developments over time across all cultures. These people are highly selective in 1st century features they adopt. They claim that anything which does not reflect Christianity as it was then, cannot be authentic. This is one of the most destructive mindsets which has plagued the Church for hundreds of years. The attempt to find authenticity and relevance for Christianity is doomed when one abandons an essential truth, that our Lord authorized St Peter and his band of fellow Apostles and their successors to build his Church under his direct inspiration. This can only occur over time, from land to land and culture to culture. We are therefore members of a Christian culture which has been evolving over two millennia — and now entering its third. We are not members of a sect which keeps itself within the confines of a frozen time capsule! This understanding is one of the most important to pursue if one is to stay true to the Faith and see it prosper.

5. It seems to be a common human characteristic that when break-away groups radically change the doctrine handed down to them, they are quick to declare all prior teaching to be a departure from the simple, pure, original teaching of Jesus: it has become corrupt, and they are here to clean it up. Usually they make a strong declaration of "returning to the original".

It is true most institutions, in due time, need reform in order to keep them on track. In the 2000 years of the Catholic Church, there has never been a time when there was not some such renewal process under way. There were also times of great renewal and re-ordering. But these were to remove abuses and bring the disorderly into line with current teaching and guidelines, not to enforce some hypothetical version of what a reformer believes it once was and now should be.

6. Finally, it has become a regular feature of Christianity for those who gain control in the Church, or any body of Christians, to make their radical changes to doctrine, and then declare those loyal to the old to be disobedient and spiritually blind or insecure and afraid of change. They quickly declare their absolute authority and use it to outlaw those who disagree. These people they criticise as:-

following impoverished religion
fossils stuck in the past
overly conservative
unwilling to face the challenges of the modern world
afraid of, or unwilling to, change
self-centred
obsessed with the safe formulas of the past
lacking in the zeal of or not listening to, the Holy Spirit
schismatic.

Force of numbers (and / or smart legal action) allows people in certain positions to get away with this kind of hijacking process. It is very disheartening for those who remain loyal to the traditinal Christian ways. However, history has shown time and again, that hijackers are, thankfully a passing fad.

Practising Christians of all denominations are in our times feeling the effects of attacks from all sides. The sponsors of this web site pray daily for all Christians bewildered by the disrespect shown towards our Lord and his Way. The particular aim of this project is to support those who choose to align themselves with the traditional Christian Faith, that is the Catholic Church — as well as those interested in understanding what it teaches, whether or not they accept it.

Conclusion

Unity in the Church is not something we devise or establish. It is a gift shared by the Lord with his Body, the Church. It is absolutely impossible to create since it is a divine attribute and can only be experienced by those who listen to our Lord's teaching and set out to live and proclaim it as best they can. Disunity evolves when people are diverted to pursuing their own agenda.

Our Gospel meditation in Supplement B gives us a unique glimpse at our Lord's concept of unity and how he wants to share it with those who follow him in heart and mind and action. It assumes membership of his Body, the Church he founded to carry on his mission which he so beautifully expresses in verses 20 and 21. It also assumes on-going membership of the Church he founded. Meditation on this passage cannot fail to highlight the inestimable value our Lord puts on unity between he and his members, and among the members themselves. There is no place in his vision for groups to follow the personal conscience of an individual and form one break-away group after another. Sadly those who split ignore the intimacy of our Lord's prayer at this point, and proclaim themselves to be fully integrated within the Body of Christ. No matter how many times groups sub-divide, the new groups make the same claim. The Catholic Church, whilst it respects the good intentions of some individuals, has no authority to acknowledge full membership of the Body of Christ, his Church, regarding those who claim it as their right to "fit or split", a notion we believe to be an abomination to the Lord.

End of Lesson Supplement A

Supplement B: " That They May All Be One"

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