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).

On to Part 1.