Who (or What) is a Catholic (or a catholic)? - Part 8

In my other post, I asked whether there are Evangelical Catholics, and affirmed, yes there are.  I proceeded to explore Protestants who call themselves Evangelical Catholics.  In this post, I want to explore Catholics who call themselves Evangelical (or evangelical) Catholics.

In general, in Catholicism, the term "evangelical Catholicism" refers to Catholics who identify with the four historical characteristics of evangelicalism, similar to some of the evangelical characteristics I mentioned in a previous post.

Four of these characteristics are:

1. A strong theological and devotional emphasis on Scripture (as understood through tradition).
2. A stress on the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ as the both the cause and opportunity for salvation for all mankind.
3. A personal need for interior conversion.
4. A deep commitment to evangelization.

They tend to identify evangelicals within Catholic tradition such as Saint Dominic (founder of the Dominican order).  They also tend to emphasize the root meaning of the word, evangelical, which I described in an another previous post.

They also tend to emphasize some recent evangelical witness of some Popes, especially John Paul II in his Encyclical, The Mission of the Redeemer (Redemptoris Missio).

There is much more about all this at the website for the evangelical Catholic.  http://www.evangelicalcatholic.org/

George Weigel, a Catholic theologian, author of a best-selling biography on Pope John Paul II, The End and the Beginning: Pope John Paul II–The Victory of Freedom, the Last Years, the Legacy, wrote a book this year (2013), Evangelical Catholicism: Deep Reform in the 21st Century (a book I have not read, so I am not endorsing in any way at this point).

The point is, that Catholics are more and more referring to themselves as Evangelicals (or evangelicals), without giving up their Catholic distinctiveness.  I view this as a positive development, and encourage my Catholic friends and brothers to embrace this development and stretch themselves to see how they can embrace an evangelicalism which seems to be deeply embraced in Catholic tradition in whatever way they feel God is leading them to do so in a manner that develops their personal growing faith in Jesus Christ.

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Who (or What) is an Evangelical? - Part 10

Are there Evangelical Catholics?  Though many would deny such a meshing of terms, the short answer is yes, there are Evangelical Catholics.  What may surprise many is that Protestants choose to describe themselves as such.

Most prominent are some Lutherans who expressly describe themselves as Evangelical Catholics.  This has both historical roots, as well as more recent developments.

Historically, the Gnesio (from a Greek word meaning authentic) Lutherans defended Luther's early views, and emphasized the Catholic roots of Lutheranism.  They tended to emphasize the following statements from the Augsburg Confession (a central early document in the Lutheran tradition).

Presentation of the Augsburg Confession

This is about the Sum of our Doctrine, in which, as can be seen, there is nothing that varies from the Scriptures, or from the Church Catholic, or from the Church of Rome as known from its writers, . . .
And:
Inasmuch, then, as our churches dissent in not article of the faith from the Church Catholic, . . .

As well as:
Only those things have been recounted whereof we thought that it was necessary to speak, in order that it might be understood that in doctrine and ceremonies nothing has been received on our part against Scripture or the Church Catholic.

The Genesio-Lutherans took great pains to show that Lutheranism was a continuation of the Catholic Church.  They emphasized Evangelical as a continuation of the gospel tradition.

More recently, many Lutherans prefer the term Evangelical Catholic in preference to the term, High Church Lutheranism, especially since, as I mentioned in a previous post, Lutherans early on tended to describe themselves as Evangelicals.

However, not only Lutherans, but other Protestants describe themselves as Evangelical Catholics.  In recent years, this includes Methodists, Reformed (Presbyterians), as well as Episcopalians/Anglicans.  As far back as 1851, an Episcopal published a periodical called, "The Evangelical Catholic."  Others use the term to emphasize they are Evangelical, but maintain their Catholicity.

Yet, there are also Catholics who use the term, "Evangelical Catholics" - something I will explore in the next part of my parallel series, "Who (or What) is a Catholic (or a catholic)?"

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How Green Was My Valley - Film

In 1939, Richard Llewllyn wrote How Green Was My Valley.  It soon became a best-seller, winning the National Book Award, awarded by the American Booksellers Association, for favorite novel of 1940.

Hollywood mogul, Darryl Zanuck, head of Fox Studios, bought the movie rights to make the novel into a movie for $300,000, more than any other to that time.  He dreamed of making an epic film as a response to David O. Selznick's making of Gone With The Wind (1939).  He wanted to film it in glorious color in Wales, where the novel was set.  He also wanted, and signed, William Wyler, considered the best Director, to direct the film.  However, World War II broke out in the United Kingdom (including Wales) in 1940, ruling out filming in Wales.  Delays meant William Wyler was free to pursue other films, which he did.

But Zanuck pressed on, deciding to film in the San Fernando Valley (in black and white since California's golden fields would not look like Wales in color), and settling for John Ford as the Director, famous for making many black and white films in the West.  The film went on to win 5 Academy Awards out of 10 nominations.  It won (in 1941) for:

• Best Picture (20th Century Fox)
• Best Director (John Ford)
• Best Actor in a Supporting Role (John Crisp - Mr. Morgan)
• Best Cinematography, Black & White (Arthur C. Miller)
• Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Black-and-White (Richard Day, Nathan Juran Day, and Thomas Little)

The center gem of this film is the introduction of a very young Roddy McDowell.  He plays Huw, the central character who tells the story as an old man recalling his memories growing up.  So much of the story is told by simply watching the eyes and reactions of this very young character and actor, who carries the heart and plot of the film.

Another gem is the first of several appearances of Maureen O' Hara in a John Ford film, playing the part of Angharad.  She would go on to play many other parts in his films, perhaps most famously in the 1953 film, The Quiet Man.

However, many gems adorn this film with many stars such as Walter Pidgeon (Pastor Gruffydd), Donald Crisp (who, as I mentioned, won Best Supporting Actor), Sara Allgood (nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role), Ana Lee (Bronwyn), Barry Fitzgerald (Cyfartha), and many others.

The story revolves around a Welsh family - the Morgans - as related to us by Huw.  They are coal miners, and a central conflict in the family is unionization.  However, that turns out to be a backdrop to many other issues such as Huw confronting and overcoming a serious illness, whether the local pastor who lives on a poverty basis, will marry Huw's sister or whether she will marry the rich local mineowner's son, whether that pastor will overcome the hasty judgments of his Deacon's Board, and especially what will become of the green valley when the slag heaps from the mines overcomes the green vibrant valley?

Another gem of this film is the music, by Alfred Newman, also nominated for an Academy Award, which features Welsh singing, a beauty to behold.

I am surprised to find, when I bring up this film, many are unfamiliar with it.  So I urge you to watch it if you haven't (or to watch it again if you haven't for a while) - it will feed your soul.  (You can watch it on NetFlix, find it at your video store or public library, or order it on Amazon.)   I will have more to say when I finish reading the original novel, which I am well into.

Recently, Turner Classic Movies presented this film as one of its Essentials.

Who (or What) is a Catholic (or a catholic)? - Part 7

There is a common saying among Catholics, "Once a Catholic always a Catholic."  This means, under Canon Law (the Catholic Church's bylaws), once you have been baptized in a Roman Catholic Church, or have been received into it, you are recognized as a Catholic for life.

This recognition is never removed, whether or not you regularly attend Mass, whether or not you follow Catholic practices.  You may cease attending Mass altogether, but you are still recognized as a Catholic - though perhaps a lapsed Catholic.  You may even leave the Catholic Church and begin attending other churches.  Still, you are

Pew Forum survey - Faith in Flux - 2009

recognized as a Catholic by other Catholics.  You may even begin identifying yourself as a Lutheran, a Methodist, or even a Baptist.  Still, you are recognized by other Catholics as a Catholic.

Another way to look at this is once you have been raised as a Catholic, the values imprinted in you largely stay for life (or at least, according to some, the guilt they impose).  This may help explain why the Beatles, who were mostly raised Catholic or Anglican (close), reflected many Catholic values in their many of their songs, even while they, at times, refuted their religious backgrounds.

Some find this view (once a Catholic always a Catholic) offensive.  They say it violates your freedom, and tags you with a label that you may not want.  I suppose it can be used that way, and undoubtedly some Catholics have misused it that way.  That is not the purpose.

Others are surprised to find that though they have attended and identified with another church for most of their lives, Catholics still recognize them as Catholic.  They are not so much offended as simply amazed that Catholics still regard them as Catholic.

Under this view, even if you are excommunicated, you are still recognized as a Catholic.  You might be considered a bad Catholic, but you are still a Catholic.  (Does this mean Martin Luther was still considered a Catholic after he was excommunicated?)

Many Catholics do not like this saying.  They resent Catholics who disagree with the teachings of the Catholic Church and yet say they are still Catholic - by citing this saying.  They also do not like it when Catholics who do not regularly practice their faith claim to be Catholic.  I will have more to say about this in a future post.

Some say if you publicly defected from the Catholic Church, you would no longer be considered Catholic.  They base this on a provision of the Canon Law.  However, that provision had to do with marrying outside of the Catholic Church.  In any event, that provision was removed from the Canon Law in 2010, and so no longer applies.

One positive way to look at this view of Once A Catholic Always A Catholic.  Once you are baptized in the Catholic Church (or received into it), you are part of the Catholic family.  You can never lose that as long as you live, just as you can never lose your family as long as you live.  You are always welcome back (sometimes called being welcomed home).

A good friend, who is also a Catholic theologian, suggested that after Vatican II, with its emphasis of the Church as the People of God, and following the 1983 revision to the Canon Law, especially as to Baptism, that it may be more appropriate to update this old saying to - "Once a Christian, Always a Christian."

I think the old saying is true enough, so that once you have been baptized or recognized as a Catholic, other Catholics will always recognize you as a Catholic, and welcome you back, no matter how far you drift away, or where you wander.  However, and especially in light of Vatican II, that saying should not be used in a manner to divide Catholics from other Christians or to otherwise not recognize all who are validly baptized in Christ as part of the People of God.

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Who (or What) is an Evangelical? - Part 9

The National Association of Evangelicals likely represents the broadest representations of Evangelicals in the United States.  (They form part of the Worldwide Evangelical Alliance.)  They have a specific webpage in their website where they describe What is an Evangelical?  This is what they say (similar to what I said in Part 6).

"What is an Evangelical?

Evangelicals take the Bible seriously and believe in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

The term “evangelical” comes from the Greek word euangelion, meaning “the good news” or the “gospel.” Thus, the evangelical faith focuses on the “good news” of salvation brought to sinners by Jesus Christ.

We are a vibrant and diverse group, including believers found in many churches, denominations and nations. Our community brings together Reformed, Holiness, Anabaptist, Pentecostal, Charismatic and other traditions. Our core theological convictions provide unity in the midst of our diversity. The NAE Statement of Faith offers a standard for these evangelical convictions.

Historian David Bebbington also provides a helpful summary of evangelical distinctives, identifying four primary characteristics of evangelicalism:

• Conversionism: the belief that lives need to be transformed through a “born-again” experience and a life long process of following Jesus.
• Activism: the expression and demonstration of the gospel in missionary and social reform efforts
• Biblicism: a high regard for and obedience to the Bible as the ultimate authority

• Crucicentrism: a stress on the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross as making possible the redemption of humanity

These distinctives and theological convictions define us, not political, social, or cultural trends. In fact, many evangelicals rarely use the term “evangelical” to describe themselves, focusing simply on the core convictions of the triune God, the Bible, faith, Jesus, salvation, evangelism, and discipleship."

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Who (or What) is a Catholic (or a catholic)? - Part 6

Many tend to assume all Catholics (Roman Catholics) think more or less alike - as though they tend to all believe the same things.  The truth is, and what I have found, there is a great variety in what Catholics think and believe, especially because there are different types of Catholics, which you can easily discover if you ask different Catholics what they think and believe, since you will tend to get many different answers.  That doesn't mean Catholic teaching from the Magisterium - the Catholic teaching office - varies, and here I am not evaluating how the descriptions below line up or not with Magisterium teaching.  There are different ways to classify them (us) as well as different names to assign for the various types of Catholics for this purpose.  So here is one attempt at this type of description.  Let me know if you agree or not - or have a different way to describe this.  The following order does not suggest or imply one group is more important than the others.  Also, I recognize these are not strict categories - since there can be much overlap, and some Catholics may find themselves identifying with one or more of the descriptions below, or you may know some Catholics that fit one or more of the following descriptions.  These descriptions are not necessarily factions within Catholicism.  This is not an absolute list or categorization - there can be other ways to look at this - and I invite comments.

• First, there are Traditional Catholics (sometimes called Conservative Catholics).  This
  
  group tends to accept all (or most of) the creeds (dogmas) of the (Roman) Catholic Church and stress obedience to the Magisterium (the teaching office of the Catholic Church), including the Pope.  They tend to accept the changes brought about by Vatican II (though I have found they often do not understand - or might not have read - all of the Vatican II documents - or understand the full implications, scope and sweep of all the documents it generated).
• Second, there are Liberal Catholics (sometimes called Progressive Catholics).  This

  

  Hans Kung - 2009

  group tends to disagree with one or more of the creeds (dogmas or teachings) of the (Roman) Catholic Church, and thus tend to challenge, or at least question, the authority of the Magisterium (including the Pope).  They tend to relish in the Vatican II documents - though at times they loosely refer to the spirit of Vatican II - which can at times mean whatever they want to promote instead of what was written at Vatican II.  (A small minority within this classification go as far as to promote what they call Liberation Theology, which means they promote Marxist revolution as Catholic theology.)
• Third, there are Ultra-Traditionalist Catholics.
  
  They tend to be critical of Vatican II reforms and tend to defend what they consider "old-time Catholicism," or what they affirm as "classical Catholicism."  They may prefer the mass in Latin (though not always).  They tend to see Catholicism at war with other branches of Christianity - and tend to not like the term ecumenism (though emphasized in Vatican II)  or see it solely in terms of evangelization to bring other Christians into the Catholic Church (or to return home as they call it).
• Fourth, there are Charismatic or Evangelical Catholics.  They tend to emphasize the work of
  
  the Holy Spirit, identify with other Charismatic Christians or Evangelical Christians, personal salvation, a personal relationship with Jesus and salvation based on this.  Sometimes they emphasize the baptism in the Holy Spirit, or at least a renewal (or awakening) in faith.  (Cursillo is considered part of the renewal movement within Catholicism.)
• Fifth, there are New Age Catholics, or those who might identify with
  
  Eastern religions.  While some might want to lump these Catholics in with Liberal Catholics (and while there can be similarities), there is a fundamental difference.  Liberal Catholics tend to rely on reason - while New Age Catholics tend to distrust reason in favor of mysticism or intuition.
• Sixth, there are what might be called Cultural Catholics.  They tend to be Catholic because it is part of their culture and it's expected of them, but it may not have much meaning beyond that - though they tend to feel deeply loyal to the Catholic Church.  They may or may not have concerns about spiritual matters.  They may or may not understand Catholic teachings, or ethics.  If they attend Mass regularly, it is out of obligation to the family or culture.  They usually do not think in terms of having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, though some do.
• Seventh, there are what might be called Folk (or Popular Folk) Catholics.  They tend to blend other religious beliefs with their Catholic beliefs (which tends to reflect a sort of Catholicism often found during the Middle Ages). So in some parts of the world, they might combine voodoo beliefs with Catholic beliefs.  They may tend to go against true Catholic teaching and may cross over into worshiping Mary as a type of goddess.  They may tend to consider the Saints to be a sort of ancient set of semi-gods & goddesses to pray and worship directly to for direct benefits instead of prayer partners to help them bring their prayers before the throne of God.

My point here is not to uphold or dismiss any of theses different types of Catholics (or Catholicism), but instead to point out they do exist, so that it is at times difficult to identify what Catholics actually believe, in contrast to what the Roman Catholic Church actually teaches.

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Who (or What) is a Catholic (or a catholic)? - Part 5

The Good Shepherd - 5th Cent. - Italy

In early Christianity, the word Catholic (or catholic) became one of the Four Marks of the Church, as listed in the 381 revision of the Nicene Creed in Constantinople, "[We believe] in [1] one, [2] holy, [3] catholic, and [4] apostolic Church."  Though the word had been around before then, as I explained in Part 4, it now became very important to be identified as Catholic (or catholic), since the Council meant, besides associating Christianity in a universal, worldwide sense, also meant to convey that those who were not Catholic (or catholic) were heretics.  Ever since, almost all all Christian churches seek to identify themselves as Catholic (or catholic).

The Great Schism of 1054

So as I mentioned in Part 2, both the Orthodox Catholic Church (also known as the Eastern Orthodox Church) and Oriental Orthodox churches claim to be the Catholic Church, even though by general convention, since the schism in 1054, churches who remained in communion with the See of Rome tend to be called Catholic, and those in the Eastern churches tend to be called Orthodox (or Eastern Orthodox Church or the Orthodox Church), as well as those in Oriental Orthodox churches.

Church of England - St. John's

What I didn't mention there, and which is important for the English-speaking world, is that when the Church of England (the Anglican Church) split from Rome in 1534, it saw itself as the Catholic Church of England.  Therefore, it was not willing to concede the word Catholic to those who remained with Rome.  So in time, two solutions arose to this problem.  First, those who remained loyal to Rome became to be called "Roman Catholics," and the church they identified with began to be called the "Roman Catholic Church."  In time, even the Catholic Church in Rome at times in official documents identified itself as the Roman Catholic Church.  Second, a convention arose in English (not followed in other languages) whereby Catholic with a capital C was used to identify the Catholic Church (also known as the Roman Catholic Church) with those churches loyal to and in full communion with the See of Rome (23 churches - which I discussed in Part 3).  However, this is not a universal or uniform convention.


So in English, the word Catholic (or Catholic Church) can be used to mean all Christians worldwide (especially those who hold to orthodox beliefs).  It can also be used to refer to the Orthodox Catholic Church (also know as the Eastern Orthodox or simply Orthodox), or to the Oriental Orthodox churches, or even to the Anglican Church (the Church of England or the Catholic Church of England).  It can also refer to the Catholic Church - meaning the 23 churches in full communion with the See of Rome.  While some refer to the latter as the Roman Catholic Church (including the Catholic Church itself - meaning the 23 churches in full communion with the See of Rome), some find objection in this term, even if it might be helpful to avoid confusion.  So the best practice is to clarify what one wants to mean by using these terms.

In any case, most Christian around the world recite the Nicene Creed, asserting they are Catholic (or catholic), usually meaning they are part of the world-wide, universal Body of Christ.  An examination of various versions of the Nicene Creed, both Catholic and Protestant versions, shows they variously capitalize the word Catholic (or catholic), or not, and it basically means the same thing.  (The best practice is to clarify if you want to make a distinction.)

For me, the word Catholic (or catholic) points to a unity in the body of Christ, as Christ prayed for, "My prayer is not for them alone, I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you." (John 17:20-21 - NIV.)

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Who (or What) is an Evangelical? - Part 8

Some trace the roots of modern Evangelicalism, in part, to the work of Count Nicholas Ludwig von Zinzendorf (1700-1760) and the community he founded at Herrenhut (in Saxony, Germany).  He established this community in a corner of his estate as a  refuge for Moravians (from Czech lands), Reformed (Protestants), and Catholics, seeking refuge from various persecutions.  He hoped to forge this group into a force to promote renewal in the Church.  He gave them the name "Herrenhut," which means "the Lord's watch," based on a passage from Isaiah (62:1 & 6-7).

However, for 3 years after its founding (in 1724), the factions in the community quarreled as much as the churches they came from, and the community almost dissolved.  In response, Zinzendorf established a round the clock prayer watch for revival of the Church - which wound up lasting for a hundred years.  The community wound up experiencing a "baptism of the Holy Spirit," which fused the community in unity.

Seal of Moravian Church

 Zinzendorf followed this by organizing small groups (cells - prayer bands) where lay people were encouraged to confess their sins to each other, give counsel to each other, and support each other in prayer, which helped to further unite the community.

Soon thereafter, Zinzendorf began to send out missionary teams from the community.  Some were sent out to take the gospel where it had never been heard.  Some even took the gospel to slaves, and became slaves themselves in order to spread the gospel.  However, he sent others to churches to spread the message of regeneration and renewal.  Some of these missionaries reached the Wesley brothers (John & Charles) and deeply impacted them.  The Wesley brothers influenced and participated in the Great Awakenings both in England and America where Christians from different denominations, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, united to spread the gospel among the lost, and to renew the faith among Christians, in ways that transformed  society.

The Herrenhut community eventually became the Moravian Church, whose motto is, "In essentials, unity; in nonessentials, liberty, and in all things love."

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Who (or What) is a Catholic (or a catholic)? - Part 4

In order to better understand the word Catholic (or catholic), it helps to understand the origin of the word (it's etymology).  It's a word that derives from the Latin, and earlier from the Greek, so be ready for some nitpicking language study in this post.

The English word (Catholic) eventually derives from the Latin word "catholicus," which means universal. That word derives from a Greek word, katholikos(καθολικός), which also means universal.  It's derived from two Greek phrases κατά meaning "about" and όλος meaning "whole."  When combined, these two phrases make up another phrase, καθόλου (katholou), meaning "on the whole", "according to the whole" or "in general."

The Greek word began to be used in the 2nd Century (100-199), by Christians to describe the universal scope of the Christian Church.  (It does not appear in the New Testament.)  The first time it appears is in a letter by St. Ignatius of Antioch in 107, by which he means the Church universal in contrast to the particular congregation in Smyrna.

By the latter part of the 2nd Century, the word (Catholic or catholic) took on the additional meaning of the Church grounded in orthodox beliefs in contrast to heretical beliefs.  So later St. Augustine (354-430) used the term Catholic to distinguish the true Church from heretical groups.

Thus many use the term Catholic (or catholic) to describe all the churches in Christianity (especially those that are orthodox in belief).  Other churches, like the Catholic Church (sometimes called the Roman Catholic Church), but others as well (as I mentioned in Part 2), tend to use it in a more exclusive sense to mean the churches in communion with them, in exclusion to other Christians and churches, which they tend to think of as "non-Catholic," or use other terms to describe them.  This is only a short introduction to a subject I will discuss this in more detail in my next post.

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Who (or What) is a Catholic (or a catholic)? - Part 3

Of course when most people hear the word - Catholic Church - they think of the Roman Catholic Church, which is also called the Catholic Church, the largest church in the world with 1.2 billion members worldwide.  So even though the word Catholic Church is used by many in connection with other churches (as I explained in Part 1 and Part 2), most people connect it with the Roman Catholic Church.

What many do not realize is that the Roman Catholic Church is actually made up of 23 churches, or rather 23 autonomous particular churches - what is called in Latin sui iuris churches (which literally means "of one's own right" or "of their own law" - basically self-governing).  They all espouse the same faith and beliefs.  They differ in traditions, disciplines, and Canon law (the law of the church), collectively known as a "Rite." They are all in full communion with the Pope in Rome, the Holy See.

The largest of these 23 churches is called the Latin Church, which has 1 billion members.  It is based on what is called the Latin Rite (also known as the Western Rite).  The Latin Rite itself contains the following Rites: the Roman Rite (which most Catholics observe - the most recent version after Vatican II is known as the Mass of Paul VI), the Ambrosian Rite (followed in and around Milan, Italy), the Aquileian Rite (now largely defunct - Northern Italy), Rite of Braga (Braga, Italy), Mozarabic Rite (Toledo and Salamanca, Spain).  There have been others, but they are now largely defunct.

The other 22 churches, which together have around 17 million members, are collectively known as the Eastern Catholic Churches.  Many of them were once associated with either the Eastern Orthodox Church or Oriental Orthodoxy.  I have listed these churches below, according to the overall liturgical Rite they follow, though each church has its own Rite.

Alexandrian Rite (St. Mark)

• Coptic Catholic Church (Egypt)
• Ethiopian Catholic Church (Ethiopia/Eritrea)

Antiochean Rite (St. James)

• Maronite Catholic Church (Lebanon)
• Syriac Catholic Church (Lebanon/Syria/Iraq/Egypt/Venezuala/Other Countries)
• Syro-Malankara Catholic Church (India)

Armenian Rite (St. Gregory)

• Armenian Catholic Church (Georgia/Ukraine)

East Syrian (Chaldean) Rite

• Chaldean Catholic Church  (Iraq/Iran/Turkey/Syria/Lebanon/Jordan/Israel/and other nations)  
• Syro-Malabar Catholic Church (India)

Byzantine (Constantinople) Rite

• Albanian Byzantine Catholic Church (Albania)
• Belarusian Greek Catholic Church (Belarus)
• Bulgurian Greek Catholic Church (Bulgaria)
• Byzantine Church of Croatia, Serbia, and Montenegro (also known as the Croatian Greek Catholic Church) (Croatia, Serbia, and Montenegro)
• Greek Byzantine Catholic Church (Greece - Constantinople)
• Hungarian Greek Catholic Church (Hungary)
• Italo-Albanian Catholic Church (Southern Italy - Sicily)
• Macedonia Greek Catholic Church (Macedonia)
• Melkite Greek Catholic Church (Egypt/Israel/Palestine/Jordan/other countries)
• Romanian Church United With Rome, Greek Catholic (Romania)
• Russian Greek Catholic Church (Russia)
• Rutheian Catholic Church (Carpathian Ruthenia/Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
• Slovak Greek Catholic Church (Slovakia/Canada)
• Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (Ukraine) 

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Who (or What) is a Catholic (or a catholic)? - Part 2

The word, Catholic, or Catholic Church, runs into further problems (beyond the problem I mentioned in Part 1) because many faith traditions, beyond what most consider the Catholic tradition, use those words to describe themselves, even if it is not part of their name (or normally considered part of their name).

So, for example, the Eastern Orthodox Church (also known as the Orthodox Church) identifies itself as the Catholic Church.  In fact, it's official name is the Orthodox Catholic Church (though the other names are more often used).  (The Eastern Orthodox Church is made up of many churches - a complete list goes way beyond the scope of this posting.)

Coptic Icon

In addition, Oriental Orthodox churches (not to be confused with the Eastern Orthodox Church), also called Old Oriental churches, also identify themselves as the Catholic Church.  The Oriental Orthodox communion comprises of six churches: Coptic Orthodox, Ethiopian Orthodox, Eritrean Orthodox, Syriac Orthodox, Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church (also known as the Indian Orthodox Church), and Armenian Apostolic churches.

The churches above are part of Eastern Christianity.  In addition, two other churches that are part of Eastern Christianity are also described as Catholic Churches:  the Assyrian Church of the East, and the Ancient Church of the East.

Canterbury Cathedral

In Western Christianity, the Anglican Communion is also known as the Catholic Church. The Anglican Communion is an international association of churches of national and regional Anglican (and Episcopal) churches in full communion with its principal primate, the Archbishop of Canterbury. It considers itself both Catholic and Reformed. Those who emphasize its Catholic heritage are known as Anglo-Catholics.  The Holy Catholic Church of Japan is actually an Anglican Church.

In addition, some Lutherans and some Methodists consider themselves "Catholic," especially High Church Lutherans, Lutherans who call themselves Evangelical Catholics, and Neo-Lutheranism.  Some Lutheran churches part of these movements use the name Catholic in their churches.  They tend to emphasize worship practices and doctrines similar to those found in the Roman Catholicism and the Anglo-Catholic portions of the Anglican Communion.

The point here is to examine the many different ways the words "Catholic" or "Catholic Church" is used in many different traditions.

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Who (or What) is an Evangelical? - Part 7

J. I. Packer

Though some (or many) consider Evangelicalism a modern movement, as I have tried to clarify in earlier parts, it has a deep, rich, and long tradition.  A prominent scholar who emphasizes this point is J.I. Packer, an Anglican theologian who taught at Regent College for many years, served as executive editor for Christianity Today, and wrote many books, of which "Knowing God" is best known.  In an essay entitled The Bible in Use: Evangelicals Seeking Truth from Holy Scripture, in a book, Your Word Is Truth, published through the efforts of Evangelicals and Catholics Together, he wrote,

The fundamental claim made for evangelicalism is that it represents the main stream of authentic Christian development over two millennia, . . . (p.60)

Later on he wrote,

Evangelicalism is a convictionally focused point of view that traces its lineage back to the theology and religion of the New Testament via the Fathers, the orthodox scholastics of the West, the medieval teachers of spiritual life, the magisterial reformers and their Puritan and Pietist successors, and the exponents of theological, spiritual, cultural, and missional renewal of both Reformational and Weslyan type from the eighteenth century to the present day.  (p.60)

Packer correctly identifies Evangelicalism as a Christian movement with a tradition that identifies with most of church history going right back to the Church Fathers.

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Who (or What) is a Catholic (or a catholic)? - Part 1

Many automatically link the word Catholic with the Roman Catholic Church (often known as the Catholic Church), or a Roman Catholic (often simply referred to as a Catholic).  However, while such an association is often automatically assumed, it may be problematic at best.  This is because many churches (denominations) have the word "Catholic" in their name, so that a reference to a Catholic may just as easily refer to one of those churches, since its members tend to also use the term Catholic to refer to themselves and their church.  These churches, which are not in full communion with the Holy See, but which view themselves as Catholics, include:

• American Catholic Church in the United States (formed in 1999)
• Apostolic Catholic Church (in the Philippines)
• Anglo-Lutheran Catholic Church (founded in 1997)
• Antiochian Catholic Church in America
• Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church (established in 1945)
• The Catholic Charismatic Rite of Canada (founded in 1968)
• Catholic Mariavite Church (begun in 1935)
• Celtic Catholic Church (incorporated in 1974)
• Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association (established in 1957)
• Christ Catholic Church (founded in 1937)
• Ecumenical Catholic Church (begun in 1987)
• Free Catholic Church (Registered in 1949)
• Liberal Catholic Church (begun near start of 20th Century.)
• Imani Temple African-American Catholic Congregation (founded 1989)
• Liberal Catholic Church (begun around the 1920s)
• National Catholic Church of American (established in 1998)
• Old Catholic Church (with many churches in various countries)
• Old Roman Catholic Church (founded in 1910)
• Orthodox Catholic Church of America (established in 1892)
• Palmarian Catholic Church (begun in 1976)
• Philippine Independent Catholic Church (separated in 1902)
• Polish National Catholic Church (founded in 1897)
• Ukrainian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church (established in 2009)

In addition, there are more churches (not listed here) that view themselves as Catholic, though they do not use the word Catholic in the name of their church.

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Who (or What) is a Catholic (or a catholic)? - Intro

 As I continued in my series - Who (or What) is an Evangelical? - I got the feeling that while my Catholic friends were interested (in varying degrees), they might have felt like they were being left out of the discussion.  So I will soon start a series on Who (or What) is a Catholic?  Though this may seem simple to some or many, I have found there can be quite a bit of disagreement about this at times (even among Catholics).  I find the history of the word fascinating.  The way the word is used by diverse peoples also makes for an interesting study.

If you have any preliminary thoughts about this before I begin, please leave it as a comment, or send me an email (which you can find in my profile).

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Who (or What) is an Evangelical? - Part 6

A cartoon view of Evangelicals

I previously focused on the history of the word "evangelical."  I now want to start focusing on some simple (or at least a simple level of) commonly held features and characteristics of Evangelicals (I will later go into more depth). 

To begin with, Evangelicals hold to a deep commitment to spreading the gospel - the good news - that Jesus Christ died to save you from the penalty of your sins - and that you can have eternal life if you believe in Him and his works.  The work of spreading this message belongs to all disciples of Christ - whether clergy or laity.

Next (and closely related to the first point), Evangelicals tend to stress the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ as the central means of salvation for all mankind.

Third, Evangelicals tend to emphasize both a personal need for inner conversion - as well as an outward expression (works) of saving faith.

Fourth - Evangelicals tend to emphasize both a strong theological, as well as a devotional, emphasis on the Bible.

I will expand on this in a future post.  For now - this is a summary (not an exposition).

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Quadrophenia (The Movie)

I recently finally got around to watching the 2nd film based on a Who album, Quadrophenia, made in 1979 (as well as listening to the more recent comments on the DVD).  The film, directed by BBC documentarian, Franc Roddam, in his first film feature, is only loosely based on the Who's second rock double album made back in 1973.

The album's title was a loose variation of the medical diagnosis of Schizophrenia, which usually identifies a dual dissociative identity disorder - the title (Quadrophenia) loosely referring to a foursome dissociative identity disorder (Jimmy's four personalities) - while also a loose reference to quadraphonic (4 channel) sound - a recent invention (which never quite caught on) back then.

In 2009, Pete Townsend revealed that each personality reflected a member of the Who band as follows:

• Roger Daltry - a tough guy - a helpless dancer (in the song, "Helpless Dancer")
• John Erstwhile - a romantic - is it me for a moment? (in the song, "Is it me?")
• Keith Moon - a bloody lunatic, I'll even carry your bags.  (in the song, "Bell Boy")
• Pete Townsend - a beggar, a hypocrite, love reign o'er m (in the song, "Love, Reign Over Me.")

In the movie (as in the album) the focus is on the character of Jimmy

(Cooper), a mod - played by Phil Daniels.  Though the mods (loosely based on "modernist") started in the 50s, they gained prominence in the 60s.  They rode modified Italian motor scooters (Vespas - often decorated with many lights and mirrors), wore Italian suits, tended to indulge in amphetamines(speed), had to be at the right clubs, and dance the right moves. They were the antithesis of the rockers - whom they considered their arch-enemies - since they drove motorcycles,  wore leather, and tended not to dance at all.  Part of the theme of the movie is the deep mutual antagonism between the mods and the rockers.

Jimmy has a close childhood friend, Kevin, whom he unexpectedly discovers is a rocker.  Kevin (played by Ray Winstone) tells him it's all right because we are all people anyway - basically the same.  Jimmy explains he doesn't want to be like everyone else, and that is why he is a mod - he wants to be different - this is his identity.  Later, after the rockers beat up a mod, the mods set out on revenge - hunt down a rocker and beat him bloody.  To Jimmy's horror, he finds out it is his good friend Kevin.

Jimmy goes with his mod friends to Brighton - where many mods gather for the weekend - parading through town shouting - "We are the mods!"  Jimmy is delighted. When they encounter rockers, a rumble ensues, shop windows are broken, and riot police rush in.  In the midst of the mayhem, Jimmy sneaks off with the girl he has wanted for some time, Steph (played by Leslie Ash - seen above on a scooter with Jimmy just behind him), and they make love.  Jimmy is on top of the world.  As they return and simply walk down the streets, Jimmy is arrested.

Jimmy appears in a courtroom filled with other mods - the judge irate at them for trashing the town.  Jimmy mocks the court in tandem with Ace Face (played by Sting) - the top and coolest of the mods.  Jimmy is in his element as he now sees himself closely aligned with Ace Face - making him just as cool.

When Jimmy returns home from the weekend, his mother is angry with him since she heard the news of the mayhem in Brighton on top of finding Jimmy's stash of speed.  She throws him out of the house.  His boss is angry he took extra time off, and Jimmy reacts angrily and quits.  He finds out that Steph has moved on to a new boyfriend - his close friend Dave.  Jimmy gets angry at Steph, at Dave, and with all his mod friends - they return his anger by rejecting him.  As he drives down the street, he nearly gets killed by a truck which winds up destroying his scooter.  Almost everything Jimmy has built his identification upon seems to been taken away.

Jimmy decides to take the train and return to Brighton, hoping to find his identity there again - where he had

been on top of the world.  As he walks down the street - much to his horror and dismay - he discovers his hero, Ace Face, works as a lowly bell hop at a swank hotel there. Jimmy - now completely disillusioned and enraged - steals Ace Faces' scooter, and goes for a ride hoping to clear his mind.  However, as he drives by the cliff, he contemplates going off them on the scooter and ending what he now views as his miserable life.  By listening to the film commentary on the DVD, you discover the original script called for Jimmy to end his life this way.

However, the director finally decided this ending was too bleak - and so Jimmy only drives AceFaces' scooter off the cliff, smashing it to pieces, jumping off at the last minute.  But this is difficult to tell when you watch the ending.  Others, who watched the film, have told me it was ambiguous (and it was meant to be left that way).  The way you know Jimmy lived and walked away from the cliff is at the beginning of the movie - which opens with Jimmy walking away from the cliffs - and then the rest of the film is a flashback of how he got there.

What is left ambiguous is what happens to Jimmy, how he resolves his identity crises, or how he puts life back together if at all - and this appears to be deliberative.  The film seems to ask us to examine our identities as well what our lives are about.  This aspect of the film is what made it interesting to me, and fits in with many items I have posted in this blog.

Another interesting aspect of the film is the mod revival it inspired.  The mod movement had largely died out before the film was made.  Though a small revival had already started, the film greatly expanded that revival.  There are now many thriving mod subcultures around the world, and apparently many consider this film as a sort of Bible for them.

Who (or What) is an Evangelical? - Part 5

During the late 19th Century, as modern science, which Christianity had developed, moved from understanding the world God created to rejecting the supernatural (and miracles), liberal theology followed with at first a general embarrassment, and then a later rejection of the supernatural (miraculous) aspects of the Gospels.  They undertook an effort to find the "historical Jesus," a Jesus who taught morals, but divorced from any supernatural stories.  Eventually they found they could not completely separate the moral teachings of Jesus contained in the gospels from the supernatural.

But then, around the start of the 20th Century, as existential philosophy took hold, an existential theology

Father of Existentialism

(neo-orthodox) followed.  In existential philosophy, though life is acknowledged to have no objective meaning, man can find meaning in a subjective, existential experience in which he finds authentication (becomes an authentic human being).  In the theology which followed, it didn't matter whether God actually existed, or whether the gospel accounts were historically true.  What mattered was whether the gospel stories (historically true or not) brought about a personal, subjective, existential experience in which you became an authentic human being (through religious language - regardless of whether that language said anything of real truth or real history).

Many Christians reacted against both types of liberal theology.  Since they emphasized "the fundamentals of the faith," those who favored liberal theology labelled them "the fundamentalists" as a term of derision.  As with many movements, some took up this term as a badge of honor, and called themselves "Fundamentalists."  However, many who took up this description rejected intellectual pursuits (believing it only led to false beliefs), focused on separation from the world (believing it only led to compromise or sin), and tended to focus on a set of rules (not found in the Bible) in order to try to guarantee a separation from the world.  In addition, they tended to reject any tradition in the church (believing church traditions had led the church astray), as well as tended to suspect an emphasis on the social aspect of Christianity, often calling it the "social gospel."

Billy Graham

While many Christians who did not feel comfortable with liberal theology (the old type or neo-orthodoxy), they also did not feel comfortable with what was increasingly called Fundamentalism.  They believed in intellectual pursuits, believed in engagement with the world, rejected rules not found in the Bible, and found a richness in the traditions of the church while seeking to spread the gospel in new ways, and emphasizing the significance of the social aspects of the gospel.  As they searched for a term to describe themselves, they settled on the term "evangelical" which had a rich history and tradition in Christianity, especially because it tended to cut across church and denominational lines.  Billy Graham became probably the most famous Evangelical, though many others led the movement including Harold Okenga, who helped found Fuller Theological Seminary as well as the National Association of Evangelicals.  They formed a flagship magazine, Christianity Today, with a noted theologian, Carl F.H. Henry, as its first editor.  The movement grew and cut across denominational lines as well as non-denominational lines, including Catholicism (more about this in a later part).

In a future part, I will try to outline commonly held features and characteristics of Evangelicals.

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