Dear Editor,
I have to, in the spirit of the love of our Lord Jesus Christ, take exception to the two recent articles on Tell a Catholic .
1. There are many good and genuine Christians in the Roman Catholic tradition who have accepted our Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour.
2. There are some nominal members of all Christian traditions who separate normal life from religion and all Christians need to be challenged as to how they take their Christianity beyond the church door when they leave the service on a Sunday.
3. There are Christians in all traditions who see religion as the responsibility of the clergy.
4. The community of the gospel can be seen in the Roman Catholic tradition; just look at the example of the work of the Society of St Vincent de Paul.
I could go on, but there are true Christians in all Christian traditions in the world today and some who may pay just lip service to the Christian message .
It is truly said all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and also that we should not judge, or we too will be judged.
Surely we should not single out a single tradition for criticism, but work in unity to spread the message of love and salvation available from our Lord Jesus Christ.
Yours sincerely, Kevin Hutchens Stonehaven
Dear Kevin, thank you for this thought- provoking letter. Our theology at en is Reformed, which means among other things that we place the authority of the Bible above human tradition and reason. Our news coverage reflects concerns evangelicals have when any denomination (see July issue, p.2) departs from Biblical orthodoxy. The ‘Evangelicals and Catholics’ feature column reflects particular issues, however, with the whole theological system undergirding Roman Catholicism, which is distinctive in its dilution of Scriptural authority by placing ‘Tradition’ as a co-equal source of belief. This leads to serious errors such as purgatory, the invocation of Mary and a belief that she was sinless, among other things. This clouds and obscures the gospel of grace, the sufficiency of Christ’s sacrifice, and assurance of salvation. We think that helping Catholics grasp these things more clearly is a good thing to encourage. Ed.
