Heads up: this will be an offensive post. The people who tut-tut the Catholic Church's soteriology and sacramental system as a "sacramental treadmill" are right. So what? What do you have against treadmills? Do you like being out of shape?
On the one hand, I loved Jerry Bridges' "Transforming Grace". It takes the time to remind you of all the wonderful Scriptures about God's love for us in Christ. That never gets old, and it never should. (Lord, have mercy!)
But I never realized until I was Catholic how much Protestants confuse the subjective experience of God's (often overwhelming) attracting love with false "Reformation" assertions about the atonement, "faith alone", etc. We did it all the time. He doesn't mean to, but Bridges is confusing these 2 things, and he's twisting the Scriptures. That's why we need a Magisterium; not because we don't know how to read, but because we do.
It is asserted that Catholic sacramental life teaches people to rely on themselves. That's comical. It's the opposite, exactly. All of us go through our days and discover, "I feel powerless to break this destructive habit of sin," etc. Guess what? You are. If you said otherwise, you'd be a Pelagian. A Catholic goes to Confession, Communion, and others precisely because he knows he's hopeless and powerless without Christ. It's not "mechanistic," unless you are a buffoon. Did Christ not say, "Apart from me, you can do nothing"?
I can't spend longer than 2 seconds in a Catholic church without thinking about the gospel. If that. You can't even walk into one without reflecting on your baptism; that's what the holy water is for.
Can you do something by rote, without a thought? Sure. But no one says, "It's just like riding a bike!" and then scorns the kid, and the dad who made her practice. Stephen Curry shoots like 5000 3-point buckets in a day for practice. Is anyone going to accuse him of missing the essence of basketball?
On the one hand, I loved Jerry Bridges' "Transforming Grace". It takes the time to remind you of all the wonderful Scriptures about God's love for us in Christ. That never gets old, and it never should. (Lord, have mercy!)
But I never realized until I was Catholic how much Protestants confuse the subjective experience of God's (often overwhelming) attracting love with false "Reformation" assertions about the atonement, "faith alone", etc. We did it all the time. He doesn't mean to, but Bridges is confusing these 2 things, and he's twisting the Scriptures. That's why we need a Magisterium; not because we don't know how to read, but because we do.
It is asserted that Catholic sacramental life teaches people to rely on themselves. That's comical. It's the opposite, exactly. All of us go through our days and discover, "I feel powerless to break this destructive habit of sin," etc. Guess what? You are. If you said otherwise, you'd be a Pelagian. A Catholic goes to Confession, Communion, and others precisely because he knows he's hopeless and powerless without Christ. It's not "mechanistic," unless you are a buffoon. Did Christ not say, "Apart from me, you can do nothing"?
I can't spend longer than 2 seconds in a Catholic church without thinking about the gospel. If that. You can't even walk into one without reflecting on your baptism; that's what the holy water is for.
Can you do something by rote, without a thought? Sure. But no one says, "It's just like riding a bike!" and then scorns the kid, and the dad who made her practice. Stephen Curry shoots like 5000 3-point buckets in a day for practice. Is anyone going to accuse him of missing the essence of basketball?
Comments