Hi, I'm an evangelical pastor and theologian (PhD). To encourage co-operation, I want to comment because I think you are misunderstanding what is happening here.
Most Protestants have the same certainty of forgiveness that Catholics have--in fact, all should. The difference between Protestants is that we see the certainty as a promise from Christ himself, something that can be but is not necessarily mediated through one particular church or tradition. So, while a Protestant would not fully agree with 'sacramental certainty' in all of its details, we would agree fully with its intent: That a disciple of Jesus can and should have certainty of forgiveness of sins because of his redemptive work. As a Protestant, I have that certainty, no less of a degree than a Catholic.
The problem here is that we have different wings within the Protestant Confession same as Catholics have different wings. One wing of Protestantism is the emotional, no-doctrine wing. Yes, it's an embarrassment to us too, but it's unfair to say that wing is true Protestantism. It'd be like me claiming the pro-abortion wing of Catholicism is the true wing. So, the caller mentioned int he post doesn't have certainty of forgiveness, NOT because it is not a part of Protestant doctrine, BUT because the radio program doesn't understand Protestant doctrine, and can't explain it properly.
I pastor a church in California that is over 60% former Catholics (100s each week). These former Catholics come to my church NOT because Catholic doctrine is necessarily wrong, BUT because they are coming from Catholic parishes who are unable or unwilling to teach Christ, and Him Cruficied. So -- friends -- we who believe in the purity of Christ, his church and his doctrine, we have the same problem!
This is not a evangelical versus Catholic issue. This is a understanding Christ's redemptive work versus not understanding issue. Blessings!
Friday, July 03, 2009
Understanding Christ's redemptive work
An evangelical pastor pens a response to my post about the "the privilege of sacramental certainty" that comes with absolution in the confessional. The penultimate paragraph is an eye-opener. Perhaps some of the priests among my readers can offer their thoughts.
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3 comments:
Thanks to the pastor for commenting.
"The difference between Protestants is that we see the certainty as a promise from Christ himself, something that can be but is not necessarily mediated through one particular church or tradition."
Well, yes--but therein lies the key issue: whether grace is "mediated" and if so, how?
I remember a conversation I had with a friend of mine, who is a knowledgeable Protestant, basically Calvinist, who raised this point: that he objects to the Catholic belief that grace is mediated. I proceeded to cite every way grace has been mediated, from the very beginning, concluding, "in fact, it seems that's entirely how God has always operated." Indeed, one would be hard pressed to cite an example of wholly unmediated grace--what would it be like? How would we know we'd received it?
I'm not intending to suggest the pastor denies mediation; but if we agree on mediation, the question is how, when and where?
And the answer of the Catholic (and I suppose the Orthodox, but I never like to presume to speak for them) is that of course grace is mediated always through the Church, which is, after all, the Body of Christ. All other ways grace is mediated are nonetheless not apart from the Body of Christ.
In fact, this is Catholic teaching: even the grace that comes to non-believers, apart from the sacraments, is still the grace of Christ and his Church, because you cannot separate Christ (Head) and his Church (Body), but you can have parts of his Body wounded.
Returning to the pastor's point: while it's valid, logically, to suppose that Christ need not act through his Body, the Church, I would argue that the facts of salvation history decisively demonstrate that he does do so, and his committed himself to doing so.
The pastor may not be prone to the mindset I'm about to describe, but many non-Catholic Christians do: and that is to dismiss a doctrine because it seems to lack "necessity." Christ doesn't "have to work that way" they will often say, of sacraments, or the priesthood, or prayers via the saints, etc., so why believe that he does? Right--he doesn't "have to"--but that doesn't answer whether he actually does. We believe he chose to; and the reasons are many.
In the case of the sacrament of penance, and with all sacraments, is that there is a condescension from God, down to us, in communicating grace to us in human ways. And it is such a clear analogy to the Incarnation, isn't it?
Pastor:
Thanks for your insight. It is helpful to have your perspective.
BTW - If the growth in your congregation is driven by "Catholic parishes who are unable or unwilling to teach Christ, and Him Crucified" you are going to exceed Lakewood Church (Rev. Joel Osteen) in no time. Start working on the new campus!
- Dying on the Eastside
Hi Rich!
This is a complicated issue! There are lots of ghosts to deal with: sin, guilt, logic, emotion, conscience, forgiveness, recidivism, and maybe a few more.
Men theologians are more inclined to deal with this subject cooly. Logically. Precisely. --Jesus died to take away our sins. We put our faith in him on the day of our conversion. So what's the problem?!
One problem is sincerity. We are weak! When we sin once and repent, we are forgiven. Life goes on! But when we sin every day, we soon begin to doubt our words of contrition and even our faith. How do you say "sorry" to God for committing the same sin over and over?
Another problem is gravity. If we skip our prayers for a day or two, we apologise to the Lord and our contrition is accepted. For a sin of great enormity, ten years of daily apologies to the Lord probably will not feel sufficient.
It's not logical, of course! Jesus takes away our sins. But try convincing the sinner who cannot forget! The woman who has obtained an abortion. The battlefield vet who never talks about the war.
Most Catholics appreciate the great gift that is the Sacrament of Penance. We can only stare wide-eyed at believers who read John 20:23 (Whose sins you shall forgive...)and dismiss the offer!
Fr. Dale at Jewish
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