Twelve myths every Catholic should be able to dispel:
[Via Dr. Philip Blosser's Homepage]
- There's no such thing as absolute truth. What's true for you may not be true for me.
- Christianity is no better than any other faith. All religions lead to God.
- The Old and New Testaments contradict one another in numerous places. If an omnipotent God inspired the Bible, He would never have allowed these errors.
- I don't need to go to Church. As long as I'm a good person, that's all that really matters.
- You don't need to confess your sins to a priest. You can go straight to God.
- If the Church truly followed Jesus, they'd sell their lavish art, property, and architecture, and give the money to the poor.
- Dissent is actually a positive thing, since we should all keep our minds open to new ideas.
- Properly interpreted, the Bible does not condemn homosexuality. Rather, it weighs against promiscuity -- whether homosexual or heterosexual. Therefore, we have no reason to oppose loving homosexual relationships.
- Catholics should follow their conscience in all things...whether it's abortion, birth control, or women's ordination.
- Natural Family Planning is just the Catholic version of birth control.
- Someone can be pro-choice and Catholic at the same time.
- People's memories of their past lives prove that reincarnation is true...and that the Christian view of Heaven and Hell is not.
Greetings!
The simplisitic answers to the 12 so-called myths that Deal Hudson offers make fools of us Catholics. Not one of his answers hold up to any serious scrutiny.
I am NOT saying that these questions cannot be answered at all, but when we arrive at an answer that makes sense, it will have far more nuance than Hudson claims.
And THAT is the basic problem with calling these things "myths" in this fashion....the lack of subtle nuance and fine distinction that encourages Catholic anti-intellectualism, rash judgmentalism, Catholic bigotry, etc.....
I do not say all of this out of hatred for the Church. I participate in the Mass about 4 times per week, say Morning and Evening Prayer of the Divine Office daily, pray the Rosary daily, volunteer in a Catholic charity 5 hours per week, go to confession about once per month, am a lector and choir member, am faithful to my marriage, etc.....In a word, I love the Church.
And because I love the Church, I hate to see people as prominent as Hudson wrecking her by oversimplifying things in ways that can be so horrendously misunderstood. Saint Paul, the Gospel writers, or Saint Augustine or Thomas Aquinas would never have published such a simplistic overview of Church doctrine that is so open to misinterpretation.
Myth # 1 does not account for the fact that Church doctrine develops in the couldron of debate between bishops and theologians, and that where an infallible definition has not been made, there is legitimate room for disagreement.
Myth #2 does not account for the developments in theology at Vatican II, especially in Lumen Gentium, that explicitly state there is salvation outside of the institutional boundaries of the Roman Catholic Church.
Myth #3 is completely irresponsible and ignores findings of the Pontifical Biblical Commission and modern Biblical scholarship.
The list could go on and on....and could be explained in much more depth. Enough for now...
Peace and Blessings!