Popular Protestant Ecclesiology...
posted by Michael Lee
I just got done reading a piece in First Things by Cardinal Avery Dulles. (Yeah, it is the February issue. But, hey, I am trying to move to Austria. Gimme a break 8^>). Anyhoo, Cardinal Dulles wrote a fantastic piece on the development and maturing of Pope Benedict's thought from immediately following the Second Vatican Council until recent years. I don't intend to comment on Pope Benedict's development since Cardinal Dulles did such a fine job.
I want to pull a particular paragraph out of the piece that struck me.
The statement that really struck me was this: "This dividedness, however, is not a desirable mutual complementarity of incomplete realizations but a deficiency that calls for healing." What a mouthful!! Nevertheless, this one statement is an amazing summary of the state of the relationship between Christian denominations today.
The first section of the sentence, positively formulated, reads "This dividedness is a desirable mutual complementarity of incomplete realizations..." seems to be a very concise analysis of the typical Protestant view of denominational differences. These differences are seen as desirable because it is held that no one denomination has all of the truth or "incomplete realizations". It will only be in heaven that we will *really* know. Until then, we find a church that "fits" i.e., that makes us feel at home, has good preaching, music, take your pick...The "mutual complementarity" reflects the notion that, in essence, it takes all Protestant denominations (except ECUSA and PCUSA after this week) to encompass the totality of Christian revelation and praxis. We observe the many declarations and agreements between denominations that seem to be concerned with a unity bereft of a striving for a truth (certainly due to "incomplete realizations"). I have always been baffled that anyone could be comfortable with the thought that they are a part of a church that has incomplete truth! How do you know which part?!? Is it Eschatology? Justification? Predestination? Are you really sure there isn't something essential here? Are we obliged to search for truth? Doesn't God want us to worship him in spirit and TRUTH (cf. John 4:23-24)??? Didn't Jesus promise that the Spirit would lead us into the fullness of truth (John 16:13)?? Did he lie?? If not, we must assert and believe that there is a place where we can find the fullness of truth that Jesus came to reveal and the Holy Spirit was sent to preserve. We must worship in the fullness of truth in the Church of Christ that subsists in the Catholic Church!
The Catholic Church views these divisions as "a deficiency that calls for healing." We remember clearly the prayer of Jesus in John 17:21-22 that beseeches the Father that we would be one as he and his Father are one, and St. Paul's clear teaching against divisions and dissensions. (1 Corinthians 1:10) How can the Body of Christ be divided? How can a body be rent asunder and remain a body? We must strive for UNITY in TRUTH as per the WILL of God, himself. Thus, we must seek the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church where we can be made one in the Eucharist as we worship in spirit and truth!
I want to pull a particular paragraph out of the piece that struck me.
One of the most contentious issues in the interpretation of Lumen Gentium is the meaning of the statement that the Church of Christ "subsists in" the Roman Catholic Church. Some have interpreted it as an admission that the Church of Christ is found in many denominational churches, none of which can claim to be the one true Church. Ratzinger asserts the opposite. For him, "subsists" implies integral existence as a complete, self-contained subject. Thus the Catholic Church truly is the Church of Christ. But the term "subsists" is not exclusive; it allows for the possibility of ecclesial entities that are institutionally separate from the one Church. This dividedness, however, is not a desirable mutual complementarity of incomplete realizations but a deficiency that calls for healing.There has been not a small amount of heat generated by the term "subsists in" in Dogmatic Constitution on the Church (Lumen Gentium) #8. The explanation above is, as I understand, the intention of the Council Fathers.
The statement that really struck me was this: "This dividedness, however, is not a desirable mutual complementarity of incomplete realizations but a deficiency that calls for healing." What a mouthful!! Nevertheless, this one statement is an amazing summary of the state of the relationship between Christian denominations today.
The first section of the sentence, positively formulated, reads "This dividedness is a desirable mutual complementarity of incomplete realizations..." seems to be a very concise analysis of the typical Protestant view of denominational differences. These differences are seen as desirable because it is held that no one denomination has all of the truth or "incomplete realizations". It will only be in heaven that we will *really* know. Until then, we find a church that "fits" i.e., that makes us feel at home, has good preaching, music, take your pick...The "mutual complementarity" reflects the notion that, in essence, it takes all Protestant denominations (except ECUSA and PCUSA after this week) to encompass the totality of Christian revelation and praxis. We observe the many declarations and agreements between denominations that seem to be concerned with a unity bereft of a striving for a truth (certainly due to "incomplete realizations"). I have always been baffled that anyone could be comfortable with the thought that they are a part of a church that has incomplete truth! How do you know which part?!? Is it Eschatology? Justification? Predestination? Are you really sure there isn't something essential here? Are we obliged to search for truth? Doesn't God want us to worship him in spirit and TRUTH (cf. John 4:23-24)??? Didn't Jesus promise that the Spirit would lead us into the fullness of truth (John 16:13)?? Did he lie?? If not, we must assert and believe that there is a place where we can find the fullness of truth that Jesus came to reveal and the Holy Spirit was sent to preserve. We must worship in the fullness of truth in the Church of Christ that subsists in the Catholic Church!
The Catholic Church views these divisions as "a deficiency that calls for healing." We remember clearly the prayer of Jesus in John 17:21-22 that beseeches the Father that we would be one as he and his Father are one, and St. Paul's clear teaching against divisions and dissensions. (1 Corinthians 1:10) How can the Body of Christ be divided? How can a body be rent asunder and remain a body? We must strive for UNITY in TRUTH as per the WILL of God, himself. Thus, we must seek the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church where we can be made one in the Eucharist as we worship in spirit and truth!
posted by Michael Lee at 6/22/2006 08:47:00 PM
2 Comments:
I agree, it sometimes seems that various protestant communities will tolerate outright contradictions between each other’s doctrine (baptism: infant v. adult and necessary v. symbolic; salvation: permanent v. losable via sin; etc.) and yet the BIBLICAL idea of Peter leading the Church, or the manifestly logical idea of praying to the Saints, or Mary’s role as the Theotokos…THAT’LL get you booted from the Body of Christ. Sort of like Canadians are accused sometimes of not having their own identity, and defining themselves as “not-the-US” Protestant seem often to be defining themselves (doctrinally) as “not-Catholic” rather than as positively for something.
I very much agree with your account of Protestants. I also noticed that the comment ended with the citing of a peice from the Nicene creed: "Thus, we must seek the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church..." The next line of the Nicene creed states: "We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins" (english translated version). I was listening to one of your podcasts that talked about one baptism... that made me think of this. If the Catholic Church claims to be the one true Church founded by Christ (and I concur it works no other way!), and they claim the authority thus granted, then why was my wife told when she was investigating the Catholic Church years ago, that her Lutheran Baptism she received when she was a kid was considered "good to go" for the Catholic Church? What happened to "One Baptism" which Baptism would that be? If the Catholic church claims to be the one true Church, having authority given by Christ, then how can a Lutheran Baptism even be considered a baptism if the individual conducting it does not have proper authority?
Again, I am not being acrimonious, but rather am interested in learning more about the Catholic faith. Discussions of a religious nature fascinate me. I thank you for your time and consideration.
LE
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