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What He Did And Did Not Say

I know 2 friends. We'll call them Bill and Ted. Bill is Catholic, and Ted is Reformed. I can sympathize with both of them, for the obvious reason(s). I'm with Bill, ecclesiastically of course, and Ted has some impassioned rhetoric to the effect that holy mother Church teaches a false gospel. I respect that, but here's the billion dollar question: How does Ted know that? What is "the gospel"?

I can see why Bill feels like he's chasing a moving target, of tendentious readings of Scripture passages, of feelings, and of ad hoc arguments, made for the moment.

I could sympathize with Ted more, if he tied himself to a tradition of interpretation, but he doesn't. He seems to embody the vicious circle of Sola Scriptura: Scripture according to me says I'm right, so I'm right.

On the other hand, if I didn't think Catholicism was our only option, I would find almost everything Catholic bizarre. It really is. If the Catholic Church isn't the Church Christ founded, it's not interesting enough, or good enough, to hold anyone's affection. That's why Douthat seems so weird to me. Why would anyone choose to be Roman Catholic? I'd rather be Reformed, if we're talking preferences. If we're talking dogma, though, the writing is on the wall.
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