A "Post-Evangelical"s view of Catholicism
A fascinating look at issues of discipleship and formation from the other side: Internet Monk (a "post-evangelical" Christian) looking at the resources of the Catholic faith:
"Every time I feel like I have lost my way in the Christian life, I find myself back looking at monasticism, and the lessons I learned in two decades of reading Thomas Merton.
I’m not attracted to Catholicism, but I am very much attracted to the tradition of self-conscious, disciplined spiritual formation into a disciple of Jesus Christ. This is a great failing of our side of the church.
As much as we Protestants talk about being shaped by the Bible alone, most evangelicals are thoroughly formed and shaped by the communities where the Bible is handled, taught and practiced according to a “rule” or accepted authority, and by the media that supports and communicates the values of that community.
It is, without a doubt, one of the most appealing and positive aspects of Catholicism that it is self-conscious about its “rules” and authorities for spiritual formation. (Rule as in “way,” as in The Rule of Benedict.) It surely must be humorous to knowledgeable catholics to look at the various sects, denominations and varieties of evangelicalism and fundamentalism, all claiming to “just read the Bible.”
"It’s amazing how many Christians conceive of almost the entirety of discipleship in terms of argumentation. This is seen in the pastoral models they choose, the books/blogs they write and the spiritual activities they value most (debate and classroom lecture.)
These largely unarticulated forms of spiritual formation can be seen in what is not important. I note with interest that one simply cannot say enough bad about most kinds of contemplative prayer, and any sort of silence among many of the reformed particularly. Any kind of intentional approach to spiritual formation, and any kind of intentional approach to discipleship (Dallas Willard, for example) is undertaken amidst a barrage of criticism. If the imagination is mentioned, all fire alarms are pulled and a search for Oprah Winfrey ensues."
Your thoughts?
posted by Fr. Mike, O.P. @ 11:24 AM
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5 Comments:
I think this is the approach taken by Joseph Ratzinger in his lecture on the New Evangelization. He pointed principally to prayer, with Jesus as the principal model. In his view, one comes to know Jesus well only through prayer. As Cardinal Ratzinger points out, the "sign of the Son is His communion with the Father. . . . evangelizing is not merely a way of speaking, but a form of living: living in the listening and giving voice to the Father. . . . This Christological and pneumatological form of evangelization is also, at the same time, an ecclesiological form: The Lord and the Spirit build the Church, communicate through the Church. The proclamation of Christ, the proclamation of the Kingdom of God presupposes listening to his voice in the voice of the Church. Not speak on his own authority" means: to speak in the mission of the Church .... All methods are empty without the foundation of prayer. The word of the announcement must always be drenched in an intense life of prayer. . . . Jesus preached by day, by night he prayed."
Cardinal Ratzinger also distinguished between the perpetual evangelization (or "classic" evangelization) undertaken by the Church (administration of the sacraments, the Mass, which is our principal avenue to knowledge of Christ and our principal avenue by which to address Christ), proclamation of the Word, and undertaking of various causes of justice) and the "new" evangelization, which reaches out to those who may not be aware of the classic evangelization.
I think Cardinal Ratzinger's lecture here points to the foundation of both classic and new evangelization: prayer. And prayer is both self-conscious and self-surrendering and gives one a place where one fits so that one can praise and worship God. This is true evangelization and a true, personal relationship with Jesus.
Susan
I wasn't putting down evangelicals. I was using "evangelists" generically. But I think it illustrates my contention that Catholics are more contemplative in their generation orientation. Cf. Don Didimo Mantiera, Dieci, where he discusses Jesus' own prayer life, which was contemplative and unitive with God. And contemplative, unitive prayer has a long tradition in both Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy.
Susan
Interesting. He's not attracted to Catholicism, but to monasticism.
I think the power of God and the power of prayer are substantially underestimated by evangelists today. Many appear to think that everything depends on their own efforts, and they define this as outward, tangiblel, physical effort, not that of prayer. One should remember the power of those in the enclosed orders, who never venture outside, but have tremendous power in influencing the world.
Susan
Susan:
You haven't been around post-modern evangelicalism (with its heavy Pentecostal influence) if you think they underestimate the power of prayer.
*At this moment in history* and *as a group*, they tend to have a much more vivid and passionate focus and practice of the necessity and power of intercessory (as opposed to contemplative) prayer than the vast majority of the tens of thousands of Catholics that I have met in all my travels all over the world.
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