Evangelicals and Catholics: Let's Celebrate Our Similarities
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When I called my mom to tell her I was joining the Catholic church, she hung up on me.
I wasn't really surprised. After all, for generations my family had been part of an evangelical denomination. Why on earth would I want to go to a church where they "worship" Mary, say rote prayers, and (gasp!) drink wine?
Not long after that incident, I was on staff at a Christian writers' conference where I was seated next to an evangelical pastor for dinner. He raised his eyebrows to my admittedly timid response when he asked, "So what church do you go to?"
"I like how the Catholics fight abortion, but that whole praying to dead people thing is unbiblical and wrong," he said in a pompous, accusatory tone that drew the attention of the table of ten. He then went on to lecture me for 20 minutes about why Catholicism is heresy while I tried to tuck in to my Salisbury steak.
Needless to say, I skipped dessert.
When I returned home, I described this encounter to my parish priest. He nodded sympathetically.
"Yes, that's why I no longer attend the interfaith prayer breakfasts," he said about a monthly local gathering of pastors. "It's one thing for people to ask questions, but it felt like I was being nailed to the wall every time and not allowed to respond. And by my own brothers in ministry!"
His response mixed with my own recent experiences bounced around like marbles in my head. On the one hand, I still had an enormous amount of affection and respect for my evangelical friends. But after years of searching, I felt I had found a spiritual home in the Catholic church. Why weren't both groups able to see their many areas of common ground and agree to disagree on the differences?
What I discovered through conversations with both evangelicals and Catholics was a simple lack of information. Many evangelicals dismiss Catholicism based on flimsy or misinformed knowledge of Catholic beliefs. Meanwhile, many Catholics take a "my way or the highway" approach that creates a barrier interested evangelicals find difficult to penetrate. When the two come together with open hearts and minds, however, they can walk away with a new appreciation for each other.
Let's try that exercise together, for a moment. I'll outline a few areas where Catholics and evangelicals agree, and then I'll introduce some key areas of difference. Your job is to keep that open heart and mind as you read.
Common ground
The Trinity. Would it surprise you to know that Catholics do believe in the Trinity—sans Mary? Indeed, the Catholic church teaches that God the Father is the head, Jesus is the second Person, and that the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, dwells within all believers in Christ—just as Protestants believe. That said, Catholics do look to Mary as a role model more often than many evangelicals do—after all, she was chosen of God as a key player in the Incarnation. And we do ask her to pray for us, most commonly through the Rosary, a series of scriptural prayers. However, Mary is not part of the Trinity, nor does Catholic theology place her as equal to or above God or Jesus. In fact, the pastor at my church (which is predominantly Hispanic) frequently reminds parishioners that Mary is not to be worshiped or prayed "to"—a fallacy that seems to have intense hold over some Hispanic communities.
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Jill
There are far more differences between evangelicals and Catholics than the author states. She seems to be suggesting that evangelicals disregard these differences, which are major. Does the author believe that Mary was born without sin, which, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia, was declared by Pope Pius IX to be official dogma? The Word of God states that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23) Mary was a sinner in need of a Saviour, as we all are. And what of salvation? The Word of God states that salvation is by grace through faith plus nothing. Jesus said, at the moment of death, "It is finished.". We cannot add to His finished work on our behalf other requirements for salvation as Catholic dogma states we must. Nowhere in Scripture does it state that communion is necessary for salvation. Neither are the Catholic doctrines of infant baptism, prayers for the dead, prayers to Mary, etc., taught in Scripture.
Ann Hesenius
Christy has written a fantastic article!! :) I'm just blown away reading the rampant MIS -information and unbelievable ideas some posters have about Catholicism!!. Some much-needed educating is neededfor sure - on the Church's factual dogmas and their origins - from Jesus Himself and the Early Church Fathers (bet those same posters will have no idea who I mean, sad to say), Yikes!- I could go on for days, and I probably couldn't pry these minds open one itsy bitsy iota. Just a few to check out as a tiny beginning, for truth's sake: Dr. Scott Hahn, Marcus Grodi's Coming Home Network, Guy Dowd ( a past Teacher of the Year),
Dave
Christy is spot-on. While there are important differences for Catholics and Evangelicals to continuing discussing, these should be 'kitchen-table' chats between occupants of the same house of Christianity (to use C.S. Lewis' excellent metaphor). For either group to accuse the other of evil is blatantly un-Christlike. With love, we must both bear quiet witness to what we understand to be God's truth, and humbly seek better understanding of truth. As we all draw closer to Christ, we will draw closer to one another.
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