Evangelical Does Not Mean Protestant
A thought-provoking comment from Fr. Jay Scott Newman of St. Mary's in Greenville, SC about the fear that some Catholics manifest: If something is not clearly non-Protestant, it can't be true, unadulterated Catholicism.
"Some Christians think of the Reformation like a nasty divorce: You get the kids; I get the dogs. You get the house; I get the car. You get the Scriptures; we get the sacraments.
Once this mentality has taken hold in the Catholic imagination, reading the Bible is something the Protestants do and evangelical is an adjective that can modify only the noun Protestant.
But it is the Catholic Church which teaches us that ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ. And is the Catholic Church which offers the adjective evangelical as a way of applying the Gospel to every part of Christian life.
An Evangelical Catholic (as opposed to a cultural, cafeteria, or casual Catholic) is one who understands that Baptism makes every Catholic a herald of the Gospel with the duty and privilege of bearing witness to the Lord Jesus. For more than 25 years, John Paul the Great called the entire Church to the work he described as the New Evangelization.....announcing the timeless Gospel as though for the first time to a world that once received but then forgot the Word of God. Being an Evangelical Catholic is nothing other than accepting the work of the New Evangelization and doing our part to fultill the Great Commission.
Please do not allow false dichotomies to rob you of your own patrimony. Evangelical does not mean Protestant; it means of and for and by the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which is the power of God unto salvation for all who believe. That is exciting stuff, and it is great to be an Evangelical Catholic."
posted by Sherry W @ 9:17 PM
8 Comments
8 Comments:
The exact (but complementary) thinking, albeit latent, that took place in our Protestant denomination (Reformed Churches of New Zealand). It's a kind of ecological niche-splitting.
They were right to be that way, too. They told me it was dangerous for me to look at all this stuff that Catholics do, to see if any of it might be consistent with our religion. It was. To my great and everlasting joy (and with a little help from friends, including both Sherrys and Mark Shea :-)) I, with my wife and children, entered the Church at the end of 1995.
You just can't be too careful.
Hi John!
But Protestantism, by its nature and history, is a rejection of Catholicism but Catholicism is the *original whole* and need not and should not define herself as primarily non-Protestant.
Cheers to Susan!
You are so right, Sherry - and it has been so wonderful to be home, where I don't have to be careful. The Catholic Church is so very ... catholic!
If someone is going to tell me not to fall for "false dichotomies," I'm afraid I must insist he not preface his remark by setting up a dichotomy between "Evangelical Catholic" and "cultural, cafeteria, or casual Catholic."
I, personally, am out of patience with such bragging by label.
Tom:
I may have unintentionally confused the context of his comments because my ability to connect with blogger disappears with no warning several times a day and I had already lost a post on the subject. It's pretty much post instantly or lose for me these days.
Fr. Newman was participating in a conversation over at Fr. Dwight Longenecker's blog Standing on My Head where he reported being at the same "Evangelical Catholic" conference that we were at last weekend. Several commenters immediately declared EC to be "questionable" because of their name, the fact that their ministry focus was not uniquely and distinctly Catholic, etc.
I liked Fr. Newman' response because of the image of "divorce" you get the dog, I get the car - which crystallized something I hadn't been able to put my finger on. I didn't think of it from the point you raised but I don't think that "bragging" would be Fr.'s intent. More like legitimizing.
I can't believe I managed to write 3 paragraphs in a row without being cut off. Let's see if this posts!
Sherry:
Let me express my opinion in principled terms:
"If you're using an adjective to signify a characteristic that ought to be true of all Catholics, then don't capitalize it, put it before 'Catholic,' and use the compound to describe a group to which you belong."
Tom:
I agree. Which is why I've never ever been tempted to describe anything we do in terms of being "evangelical Catholic". Because as you say, "evangelical" is an adjective that describes the Catholic faith for all. We are all called to be witnesses to Christ and messengers of the evangel.
I tentatively raised the issue with a couple of the EC folks last weekend but it wasn't something they were open to discussing. Which is ok. Clearly, it is an essential part of their identity and if they want to wrestle with the inevitable misunderstandings involved, that's up to them.
But it does mean that writing about their work and indentifying them by name will probably always prompt this sort of conversation in the current environment in the US.
Of course, I would also say the same thing about charismatics (in the original sense of the term, all Catholics are charismatic, (i.e., have been given charisms for the sake of others) and are traditionalists (all are nourished by the same desposit of faith). In fact, I have made these very points in public presentations to clergy, etc.
Despite my stated principle, I have to admit to a soft spot for the word "charismatic," just because it's so funny to hear people say with no trace of false humility, "I am a charismatic Catholic."
What is there to say to that, except, "Well, I'm rather prepossessing myself."
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