Preface:

The following are 25 theses on the modern state of Christian faith. That is, they deal with specific teachings in the several Christian denominations as well as the larger societal context in which Christianity currently resides. While I am a practicing Catholic, these theses are not intended as a criticism of either Catholicism or Protestantism alone. None of them are written to be complete and conclusive arguments in and of themselves, but rather shall act in conjunction with one another as starting points in the continuing confessional dialog that must continue to maintain the strength of Christianity in the changing world.


Theses:

1.

Catholicism and Protestantism are both necessary for a vibrant Christianity, just as checks and balances are necessary for a vibrant government. Protestantism acts as a check on the ability of errors and fallacies to be propagated within a unified hierarchical system. Catholicism acts as a check on the ability of new fallacies to be introduced and accepted by the whole Church.

2.

Continued splintering of Christianity into smaller and more narrow denominations threatens the purity and unity of all Christianity. Each denomination differentiates itself from the others through different theological doctrinalization. As the denominations grow more numerous, they naturally have to be smaller on average. With this being the case, each denomination's doctrine is tested in a smaller group and is thus subject to increased risk of error. As these fallacies gain followers, Christianity is increasingly divided by arguments between the different faithful over an ever-increasing number of points.

3.

The Catholic Church's hierarchical structure does not ensure that it is possesses God's Truth. This is not to say that the Catholic Church, at any given point, does not indeed have a grasp of the Truth, but rather that the Catholic hierarchy and Apostolic succession are not sufficient to safeguard against fallacies. Sometimes doctrinal errors are introduced, and are passed down by the generations in the hierarchy, and are thus propagated. Internal councils and external influences/threats (i.e. the Reformation) have been necessary at times to correct the path of the Church.

4.

Purely individualized practice of faith is inferior to communal practice of faith with an historical basis. Each human has weaknesses and challenges that he or she must overcome. For some, that weakness may be faith, while for others it may be intellectual faculty or perhaps simply lack of time commitment. In a faith community, strengths are shared with the members, helping each individual. Furthermore, a firm history of a faith group is essential. Without historical basis for beliefs and practices, individuals would have to reinvent the wheel every time.

5.

The Catholic doctrine of ex cathedra Papal infallibility is illogical and should be disposed of. This is not to question the supreme authority of the Pope in the Catholic Church, for that authority is essential to resolving doctrinal conflicts amongst the hierarchy. Rather this is to point out the illogical nature of the Ex Cathedra doctrine, which says that the Pope's statements are not to be considered infallible unless he chooses to speak ex cathedra. If this were true, then it entails two equally unacceptable possibilities. First, the Pope can choose to speak infallibly, because he himself is infallible. I am willing to grant perfection to nothing but God. And second, that God might choose to guide the Pope to speak infallibly at certain points, in which case the Pope would not actually be choosing by his own faculties to speak infallibly, but by God's choice. I certainly believe that God can choose to do this and probably has, but the problem is that we must place our trust in a human, not in God, when we choose to believe whether a statement is infallible. Too many evil humans have had the office of the Pope for me to be comfortable to place that level of trust.

6.

We cannot assume that God has revealed to us the completeness of His Truth. If God's Truth were easily self-evident and he intended there to be no challenge in understanding it, then why do devout and caring Christians so often disagree on the fullness of the Truth? In the 16th century, Catholics assumed that God revealed the Truth to them and to them alone. The early reformers each, in their own way, claimed that God was revealing the Truth to them and that the Catholic Church was being guided by Satan, or perhaps just imperfectly receiving God's revelation. For one group to claim to know the Truth over other groups, is the ultimate act of skepticism in regards to numerous of God's faithful.

7.

Groups that refer to the Bible as the only source of Christian Truth, do so at the expense of the fullness of God's revelation. God gave us the Holy Spirit to give us the strength to learn the message of Christ through observation of God's grace in action all around us, through the God-given faculty of reason, and he gave us a Church to pass down tradition from the earliest years after Christ's death.

8.

In the Bible, theological truths must be separated from the cultural, historical, and scientific understandings of the time. Being able to understand the underlying theological commandments in separation from how the human authors applied those commandments to examples in their society is invaluable to knowing how we should apply those commandments today.

9.

Growing fundamentalism threatens all of Christianity by polarizing people into two camps: those who agree with the particular fundamentals being espoused and those who do not. Fundamentalism, as I define it here, does not refer to the mere belief in certain Christian fundamentals, of which nothing is wrong. But rather, it refers to the prioritization of an increasing number of beliefs as fundamental, which did not used to be classified as such previously. Fundamentalism decreases toleration of differences in beliefs and encourages the wavering believer to choose to not to believe at all, rather than be forced to conform to the increasing set of fundamentals and harshness in enacting compliance with those fundamentals. In the face of secular pressures, fundamentalism decreases Christianity's reach and accessibility.

10.

Justification by faith alone is a broken doctrine in its pure form. This is true if faith is defined merely as the belief in something. Luther created this doctrine, and Calvin and others expanded upon it, in response to the Catholic Church's practices of indulgences and benefit masses, to argue that works have no role in earning salvation. Faith, however, must be defined as more than just belief, but rather as a complete ordering of one's will and love to that of God's. Defined as such, one earns salvation not through the mere belief in the existence of Jesus Christ, but rather by living in the image of Jesus.

11.

Predestination, from a divine perspective, is a reality; but from the human perspective, predestination is often taught with the false conclusion that humans lack free will and is utterly useless, and potentially harmful, to teach to humans. God created everything and is all-knowing-- 2 tenets that are not debated by Christians-- and therefore knows whether or not each one of us will go to Heaven. However, God exists outside of human time, so it is possible that God determined through Creation our actions, while at the same time, in our frame we have free will. Furthermore, we are incapable of knowing the future of God's creation and who is destined to be save and who is not, so why concern ourselves with it? It is abhorrent for one group to assume that they are the select.

12.

The "born-again" theology, in some instances of its teaching, is a corruption of the understanding of God's grace. Sure, at some point in one's life, he or she must choose to follow Christ and forsake sinful urges, but this choice is not irreversible, as is taught by some denominations. Circumstances can change in a person's life and new challenges present themselves that shake the very foundations of a person's being, such as deaths in the family, divorce, etc. These things can force a person to discover God and their faith anew. This process is akin to a child becoming an adult. It is often easy for a child to have faith, when nothing has occurred to challenge that faith.

13.

The idea that the mere participation in certain sacraments, such as Reconciliation and Anointing of the Sick, cleanses one of sin is patently false. This is an idea held more by older Catholics, and stems from the doctrine from the Council of Trent called "ex opere operato" which says that sacraments work by themselves and not of human will. But human will must have some role, for the sacraments cannot be effective without sincerity on the side of the participant. God knows what is in a person's heart, and the mere performance of certain rituals cannot create sincerity where there is none.

14.

Selfish pragmatism has invaded and corrupted the idea of salvation for too many Christians. Those who believe in God, merely because they want eternal happiness, and see belief in God as the least risky option in life towards that end (Pascal's Wager) are not truly faithful. On the contrary, salvation must be viewed by a Christian as the most unselfish goal possible, attained by living the most unselfish life possible.

15.

Primacy of conscience is abused by relativists to mean that any choice one makes is okay, and thus distorted, weakens the authority of Christian beliefs to guide behavior. The Catholic Church has excellent teaching on this matter. Conscience is considered primary when a person makes a moral decision, however, that person's conscience is not merely her gut feeling as to what is right and wrong. Rather, it is the sum total of numerous smaller decisions made throughout one's life. This is called 'formation of conscience.' A person forms her conscience by engaging her Christian faith in her past decisions.

16.

Primacy of conscience is ignored by fundamentalists who too often ostracize individuals for a moral decision differing from the church's stance. Fundamentalism by its nature, as defined in thesis number nine, limits primacy of conscience-- and lacks the rich philosophy underlying the formation of conscience which legitimates the moral decision there based.

17.

Positive belief that members of other faiths, including non-Christian faiths, will not attain salvation, is self-centered, arrogant, and not theologically sound. The idea that all non-Christians, representing a large portion of the world's population, including those who have never even heard of Christianity, is repulsive to the notion that Jesus came to save all. Is it not possible to do Jesus's will without explicitly knowing that you are doing so?

18.

The unequal treatment of women in any Christian denomination is abhorrent, and without merit. Simply no reason exists that women cannot participate as fully in the expression and preaching of faith as men.

19.

The current support of discrimination against homosexuals by most Christians is deplorable and also without merit. Discrimination occurs in many forms, such as the refusal of many Christian institutions to include sexual orientation in their non-discrimination clauses, but the largest form would be the perpetuation of ignorance regarding sexual orientation. The primary instance of ignorance that must be exorcised is the belief that sexual orientation is always a choice. This contradicts a growing body of scientific evidence to the contrary, personal testimony of homosexuals, as well as common sense. Another form of discrimination is undertaken by Christian denominations themselves that oppose equal treatment of homosexuals before the law, including civil marriages, based on a claimed scriptural mandate that is far from clear or decisive.

20.

The prohibition of the use of prophylactics, even by married couples, in the Catholic Church is anachronistic, and inconsistent with that Church's general position on sexuality. The Catholic Church recognizes two values to sex: procreative and unitive (uniting a couple in their love and commitment to each other). This is why they permit infertile couples to engage in sex, despite the fact that procreation is impossible. It is inconsistent for the Catholic Church to proclaim the unitive value of sex in relation to an infertile couple but deny that value within a fertile married couple.

21.

Secularism is the largest threat ever to Christianity. It is a result of the combination of modern pragmatic political thought and the rise of science. As science explains that which previously had only been explained with a call to the supernatural, God's role in the physical world appears more limited. Furthermore, pluralism has encouraged the development of humanistic values in governments, seemingly detached from any one Christian tradition or other religion.

22.

Christians must face their secular antagonists by stressing the role of salvation. As secularism limits for some the perceived role of Christianity in earthly affairs, it is increasingly important that churches do not shy away from teaching about salvation and that our lives on earth are but one phase in our eternal lives. As salvation itself comes under attack, the Christian faith must adequately defend it to maintain its own survival.

23.

Christians must face the secular humanists by showing that humanist values, devoid of a Christian foundation, can only be pragmatically based and thus condemn the weakest of our society. Christianity provides a coherent foundation for values-- namely, a reference to scripture, tradition, and to doing God's will. This will includes helping those less fortunate than your own. Secular humanist values, on the other hand, can have no other consistent foundation other than utilitarianism. And utilitarianism leaves no room for the protection of the weakest in society.

24.

In attempting to influence the morals of the society through the political process, the Christian denominations must not allow themselves to be politicized. Certain political processes and realities govern in modern representative democracies, including compromise and sometimes manipulation. As Christian groups, such as the state Catholic conferences, learn to be effective in influencing the political process through lobbying and other tactics, they must not let those processes come to govern the particular religions themselves.

25.

The continued isolation of the members of the several Christian denominations in their worship and education should be ended. The more isolated each denomination's members are in terms of how and where they worship and where they are educated, the less likely that a constructive dialog can occur between the various Christian groups. Undoubtedly, each group has much to teach the others. The misconceptions and relative ignorance that most groups hold or actively preach in regards to the other groups is saddening.



Back to essays...

Back to blog...