And no, I don't mean me.
Allan Haley, A.K.A. the Anglican Curmudgeon, has announced on his blog that he has been received into the Roman Catholic Church. I am not going to repeat his stated rationale. You should read his post in its entirety. I know our reader, Katherine, has already done so. Nor am I going to throw out speculations as to any unstated reasons for his departure from Protestantism. Instead, I will post a few of my reasons for not "swimming the Tiber".
I was raised in a heavily Roman Catholic city. My earliest experience with the Roman Church was being told that I had to mind my manners while seated next to the nuns who rode the same public transportation vehicle with me and a few of my classmates when I was going to school in the mornings. That was in the 4th through 6th grades. I was warned by my Catholic school friends that nuns took great pleasure in inflicting pain on unruly children. The nuns would get off at the Catholic school and then we were free to talk, or to chum up to the driver, asking him to pass up other classmates waiting to be picked up.
I also learned to steer clear of the Catholic priests as it was common knowledge among children even back in the early sixties that there were sexual predators in their ranks.
My parents explained the difference between Catholics and Episcopalians simply by saying that their priests were not allowed to marry, and that the Pope was the head of the Church.
The kids at school introduced me to the doctrine of Papal infallibility, and I thought then and continue to believe is a terrible error.
After I was confirmed in the Episcopal Church and was able to receive the Eucharist, I learned that I would not be allowed to receive the same in a Catholic Church. This is an error that persists to this day as the Magesterium determined that salvation is only for their members.
My college room mate was a Roman Catholic. Not once did I see him pray, nor did he go to Mass. There were no major differences between us that I could see which would have swayed me to change denominations.
These are just a few of the things that influenced me during my upbringing. As an adult I was, as a student of Christianity and its history, better able to understand our differences. I am still unconvinced of the superiority of the Roman Catholic Church.
Yes, Protestantism is mess, but so is the Roman Catholic Church.
I am not sure that either option as they stand now is what Jesus intends for us.
It shouldn't be that hard to reconcile Christian denominations that follow a sound biblical theology.
It is just that such denominations are getting harder to find.
Posts
I believe German Catholic Bishops are now blessing gay unions. The progressive movement within all denominations has split the church. I believe the RC Church could wind up with two popes. It has happened before.
ReplyDeleteThe only way they will be able to keep one Pope is if they yield to the Zeitgeist because young Catholics in the U.S. and Europe very much approve of same sex marriage.
DeleteI am a moderately high-church Anglican, which means the sacrament of Holy Communion and its regular reception are very important to me. At times in the past decades I have thought about Roman Catholicism as a refuge, but there are still some teachings I can't accept, and the sad decline of sound teaching in the RC church has made it far less an option for me. Not only would I have to accept lackluster homilies and dreadful music, but these days most of the people in the pews don't actually believe Catholic doctrine -- and some of the priests don't, either! Witness opinion polls which show fewer than half of Catholics today believe Christ is present in Holy Communion, whether defined by transubstantiation or by any other way of looking at it.
ReplyDeleteWe are better off, I think, to face the decline in teaching and practice where we are and to fight it to the best of our abilities, rather than shifting traditions in the hope that things will be better. Anglicans (formerly TEC), Lutherans, Presbyterians, Catholics, and Methodists are all fighting to preach the truth as they see it. I regard all our fellow-fighters with respect and hope they feel the same.
Katherine, I whole heartedly agree. The problem is many Catholics, including bishops, have not been living in accord with their own magisterium and Catechism. It is similar to TEC, there is no discipline for heterodox practices. I have a creeping concern for this in the ACNA but the doctrine is sound enough for me. There is an old saying, "If you find the perfect church, don't join because it won't be perfect anymore.
ReplyDelete