[PhilThreeten] A Jump Into Heresy
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PhilThreeten
Aug 1, 2006, 9:54:49 AM8/1/06
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It has been a busy several months. What with family, vocation, and just a boatload of reading, I haven’t been able to get to much blogging :( But I came across two interesting thoughts the past week that I had to quickly put together and get on the blog.
Somewhere in the midst of the reams of blog articles and books that I’ve been reading, I came across this website . It has the entire Catechism of the Catholic Church online. I’ll wait for some of you to pick yourselves up off the floor…
Not that I expect any time soon to find myself in the Catholic fold – I’m just not liturgical enough. Liturgy-based worship for me is a lot like New York City – I derive great enjoyment from visiting but would kill myself if I had to live there. Mostly I’m reading it because if I am going to disagree with some of their theology its only fair that I actually understand that theology.
Two points of interest have surfaced as I’ve begun reading. First, I am impressed with how it begins. I’ve read other Catechisms (and was nursed on the Heidelberg Catechism) and each starts its own way. Some ask the purpose of man, some start with the importance of Scripture, and others focus their initial attention on God. What I appreciated about the CCC is that it starts with faith .
Now I realize that starting that way can lead to all sorts of stuff being clumped into the theology and demanding it be believed because it is ‘the faith.’ But no lesser dangers exist with the other starting points: too much attention on God and the role of mankind in God’s plan is lost; too much attention on Scripture and we lose sight of the incarnation; too much focus on man and we lose sight of God. Somehow, the starting with faith reverberated with something inside me.
The second point that impressed me was the explanation for the close of canon . I’ve heard many arguments about how the church recognized (didn’t choose) the canon and that revelation ceased with the prophets, etc. But what the CCC points out is that there are many covenants in Scripture. Each covenant represents an unfolding of God’s revelation. But in Jesus the perfect covenant and revelation have come. There can be no addition to the canon not because there is no longer revelation from God but because the culmination of His revelation has already come. Again, the wording of it reverberated with something inside me.
I’ll keep you updated as I come across other sections that I find interesting…
Categories: Thinking, Readings
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Posted by PhilThreeten to PhilThreeten at 8/01/2006 09:51:00 AM
Somewhere in the midst of the reams of blog articles and books that I’ve been reading, I came across this website . It has the entire Catechism of the Catholic Church online. I’ll wait for some of you to pick yourselves up off the floor…
Not that I expect any time soon to find myself in the Catholic fold – I’m just not liturgical enough. Liturgy-based worship for me is a lot like New York City – I derive great enjoyment from visiting but would kill myself if I had to live there. Mostly I’m reading it because if I am going to disagree with some of their theology its only fair that I actually understand that theology.
Two points of interest have surfaced as I’ve begun reading. First, I am impressed with how it begins. I’ve read other Catechisms (and was nursed on the Heidelberg Catechism) and each starts its own way. Some ask the purpose of man, some start with the importance of Scripture, and others focus their initial attention on God. What I appreciated about the CCC is that it starts with faith .
Now I realize that starting that way can lead to all sorts of stuff being clumped into the theology and demanding it be believed because it is ‘the faith.’ But no lesser dangers exist with the other starting points: too much attention on God and the role of mankind in God’s plan is lost; too much attention on Scripture and we lose sight of the incarnation; too much focus on man and we lose sight of God. Somehow, the starting with faith reverberated with something inside me.
The second point that impressed me was the explanation for the close of canon . I’ve heard many arguments about how the church recognized (didn’t choose) the canon and that revelation ceased with the prophets, etc. But what the CCC points out is that there are many covenants in Scripture. Each covenant represents an unfolding of God’s revelation. But in Jesus the perfect covenant and revelation have come. There can be no addition to the canon not because there is no longer revelation from God but because the culmination of His revelation has already come. Again, the wording of it reverberated with something inside me.
I’ll keep you updated as I come across other sections that I find interesting…
Categories: Thinking, Readings
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Posted by PhilThreeten to PhilThreeten at 8/01/2006 09:51:00 AM
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