by lorenzo » Wed 06 Apr 2005, 21:32:14
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('PenultimateManStanding', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('erl', '
')
In your thoughts, is there a difference between Catholic and Christian?
Jesus talks about his followers calling themselves by his name. Why distinguish between Christian and Catholic?
One of the biggest questions in History - an awful lot of blood was shed over this issue. Lorenzo, your postings are powerful, passionate, well informed and articulate. I, too, would be interested in your take on this.
The lord Jesus Christ said to Peter: you are the man who must form and guide a community, I give you the keys to the future of the Church, I incarnate myself in you. The Catholic Church is the
incarnation of Jesus. That's crucial.
Christianity is per definition a religion of materiality and of the senses, embodied in a community. Hence the Church is not some mere "spiritual" institution or some exercise of the mind (as Protestants want it), it is embodied passion. Incarnate. Material.
Hence the entire chain of incarnations: the Communion, the Community, the Pope (incarnation of God on earth), the Sacraments, the Rituals and Liturgy, the Church buildings.
Really, this aesthetic dimension is absolutely crucial. Rituals are not some show, or some decoration, they are
the crux of Christianity.
There is a direct line of material connectedness to Jesus, through the Pope as an institution.
This material connectedness is what mourners feel today, when they go to the Vatican to greet the Pope.
The protestant notion that all you need is a Bible which you can interpret by yourself as an individual (
sola scriptura) is literally nonsensical. The doctrine would imply that you as a human being, are equal to God (because you are suggesting you can interpret the Bible all by yourself, correctly - this total access to the Divine knowledge implies you are God yourself -- that is unthinkable and obscene).
Jesus
incarnated himself into his followers and urged them to form a community. Early Christianity was based on this pure materiality of the spirit and on the continuation of this incarnation (I must keep repeating the word).
Why else would Christ have given his Body and his Blood, so literally?
Hence, Christianity is not some individualist gathering of dispassionate minds, forming a reading club.
I think this answers the question as to why the Catholic Church is the true continuation of Jesus's and God's spirit.
I have nothing against Protestants, but their religion lacks the sensual, ritual, collective, and warm materiality of Christ's passion and teachings. It was invented in cold, dispassionate Northern European countries, by grocers, traders and accountants, who mixed up bookkeeping with religion, and who use a quasi rational calculus and individualism over the real passion of Christ.
The Latin church on the contrary, comes from the South, keeps the true message of Christ alive, by being its
incarnation. No mere "spirit" here, but
material presence.
The difference between Protestantism and Catholicism is merely a matter of weather, climate, temperature and temperament.
I would illustrate this using a hypothetical example: if Protestants had a leader who was old and sick, they would "negotiate" his resignation, they would rationalize, talk, calculate - like business men really. They would make an intellectual transaction, like managers and decide that an old sick man cannot head their group. Catholics on the other hand accept their leader as he is, till the end, frail and decaying... Here you see the pure materiality, and passion of the Christ rising up again. That's the main difference between Protestants and Catholics.
Protestants are rationalist individualist managers, while Catholics are directly connected, materially, through bodies, rituals, places and practises, to Jesus. The Pope was old, frail, sick and he couldn't even speak - but he was still the Pope... not matter how decaying he was, his presence remains crucial, till the last breath.
I'm not sure whether I'm making myself clear, I'm not a theologian or a church scholar.