Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Catholics, Protestants and Authority

Statement: The fundamental issue that divides Catholics and Protestants is the question of authority.
Bryan Crosss at Principium Unitatis has posted a good illustration on the subject of authority.
H/T to: You Are Cephas for this! Quoted at length below.

(1) it is the fundamental issue underlying the division between Catholics and Protestants, and (2) this issue has not yet been resolved.

The question of authority is unavoidable, though many well-meaning persons try to avoid it, while remaining unaware that it is in fact unavoidable and that they are not successfully avoiding it. Of necessity, either we are submitting to some ecclesial authority, or we are acting as our own ecclesial authority. What does it look like in practice to act as one's own ecclesial authority? Here's an example.

Protestant: "Go read Calvin; see for yourself that what he is saying is true."

Catholic: "But what authority does Calvin have? Why should I follow Calvin's teaching?"

Protestant: "He has the authority of Scripture, because everything he says is right from Scripture."

Catholic: "But what authority does he have to say what Scripture means, or to teach in the Church? Who ordained him, and authorized him to teach in the name of the Church? Who sent him? (Romans 10:15; Acts 15:24)"

Protestant: "Obviously God sent him. Just look at all the theological riches in his writings."

This hypothetical conversation shows how the Protestant and the Catholic are working within two different paradigms viz-a-viz authority.
  • In this conversation, the Catholic is checking for ecclesial authority; the Protestant is not.
  • The Protestant is judging for himself that Calvin's interpretations and teachings are in agreement with Scripture. The Catholic, on the other hand, looks to the magisterial authority of the Church to determine whether Calvin's interpretations and teachings are in agreement with Scripture.
"What does Calvin say about the Church?" asks the Protestant.
"What does the Church say about Calvin?" asks the Catholic.

Cont'd http://principiumunitatis.blogspot.com/
Again:
H/T to: You Are Cephas

4 comments:

~Joseph the Worker said...

Yes, you've hit on a major issue that I see all the time. More extreme forms of Protestantism (anabaptist type) can't even have a conversation with a Catholic because neither side knows what the other side is talking about.

Alexandra said...

"...two different paradigms viz-a-viz authority."

In a nutshell - thanks for this. I'm always interested in the differences from a broad point of view.

Athos said...

Yes, this is why the British convert, Arnold Lunn, said he became Catholic. Said Lunn tongue in cheek, "I got tired of being my own pope."

The influx of new "denominations" is so great, it is hard to even call non-Catholic "christianities" (what Ronald Knox called them) Protestants since they aren't constituting themselves over against the Catholic Church.

But the question of epistemology - how we know that we know anything for sure - is one of the primary reasons I entered full communion with the Catholic Church.

The headwaters of all Revelation is the Catholic Church, safeguarded by the Magisterium, praise God. It was a great relief not having to be "my own pope" anymore.

Athos said...

One last thing: the post-Enlightenment progressives who believe they can delete God from the equation see the Catholic faith as the last bastion of mumbo-jumbo to be got rid of. Erase Mother Church, and all the other christianities will be easy pickings.

The secular bandwagon seems so attractive, especially during this presidential campaign season. But Catholics must realize our enemies are busy giving 1000 cuts to Catholicism, the only Source of true Hope, the limb we all sit on, whether we realize it or not.

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