"Charles II, himself a crypto-Catholic libertine, was reputedly appalled by James's folly in matters of religion and sex: 'My brother will lose his kingdom by his bigotry, and his soul for a lot of ugly trollops.'" John Mullan
See, that's the problem. The Protestants were right years ago when they said there was a difference between being a Christian and being a Catholic because there is. Being a Christian isn't complicated (like building a green house)--Love God and love your neighbor as yourself. Being a Catholic is. I guess that's your point, and its well taken.
I hadn't thought of it that way but it's a good way of thinking about things.
I would rather say "having faith is like building a green house" rather than being Catholic is but it's a brilliant analogy you have come up with. I wish I could say i thought of it but I didn't.
Maybe you missed my point or I'm missing yours. The point I was trying to make was that being a Christian or having Faith in God and Jesus isn't as complicated as building a green house. Catholicism turned having Faith into something complicated, requiring an advanced degree (or the equivalent of blueprints for a green house) to understand.
I don't think we miss each others' points it's more that we disagree.
I hadn't thought of it before you made the analogy but I think faith, hope and love are very much like building a green house in one respect. They look very straightforward at the outset but they turn out to be very difficult to do in practice. That is one of many reasons I am sure that Luther was wrong. Faith looks simple but it isn't.
There is a great Wittgenstein quote that applies here. If I find it, I'll post it.
Well then, I pity all of the poor souls who will go to Hell because they didn't have the priveledge--or misfortune--to get an advanced degree in Theology and Ethics. I don't think that's what Jesus--the humble carpenter--had in mind.
I agree with you that Faith, Hope, and Love might look easy but are difficult to practice. But the institutional Roman Church has totally perverted those virtues into "Pay, Pray, and Obey" and justified it by the most complex philosophical systems that 1) the people to whom Jesus ministered could never have understood, and 2) in order to defend and maintain its own institutional power structure. Pius IX said that he was the Church, I respectfully submit that the People of God are the Church.
See, that's the problem. The Protestants were right years ago when they said there was a difference between being a Christian and being a Catholic because there is. Being a Christian isn't complicated (like building a green house)--Love God and love your neighbor as yourself. Being a Catholic is. I guess that's your point, and its well taken.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't thought of it that way but it's a good way of thinking about things.
ReplyDeleteI would rather say "having faith is like building a green house" rather than being Catholic is but it's a brilliant analogy you have come up with. I wish I could say i thought of it but I didn't.
Maybe you missed my point or I'm missing yours. The point I was trying to make was that being a Christian or having Faith in God and Jesus isn't as complicated as building a green house. Catholicism turned having Faith into something complicated, requiring an advanced degree (or the equivalent of blueprints for a green house) to understand.
ReplyDeleteI don't think we miss each others' points it's more that we disagree.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't thought of it before you made the analogy but I think faith, hope and love are very much like building a green house in one respect. They look very straightforward at the outset but they turn out to be very difficult to do in practice. That is one of many reasons I am sure that Luther was wrong. Faith looks simple but it isn't.
There is a great Wittgenstein quote that applies here. If I find it, I'll post it.
Well then, I pity all of the poor souls who will go to Hell because they didn't have the priveledge--or misfortune--to get an advanced degree in Theology and Ethics. I don't think that's what Jesus--the humble carpenter--had in mind.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that Faith, Hope, and Love might look easy but are difficult to practice. But the institutional Roman Church has totally perverted those virtues into "Pay, Pray, and Obey" and justified it by the most complex philosophical systems that 1) the people to whom Jesus ministered could never have understood, and 2) in order to defend and maintain its own institutional power structure. Pius IX said that he was the Church, I respectfully submit that the People of God are the Church.