Myths and misunderstandings of Church, Jesus still linger after 2,000 years, say scholars

The panel, which includes theologians and history professors, was responding to the latest in a year-long series of questions posed to them as part of The Evangelist coverage of the first 2,000 years of Church history (see box for their other responses).

This time, they were asked to name the greatest myth or misunderstanding about the Church among it members -- and to correct it.

Seeking answers

"The Church lives by faith, not by answers. So, of course, must its members: They must take the risk of faith and not seek another security. But the Church does not claim to offer such security. What it does is commit to faith seeking understanding; it can never claim to exhaust the mystery, but it certainly can make claims to the truth of what it understands."

A similar reply came from Rev. James Wiseman, OSB, from the Department of Theology at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

"The greatest misunderstanding, even among many supposedly well-educated Catholics," Father Wiseman said, "is that practically anything the pope says is infallible. I still remember being taken aback when one of my best friends from college (a Catholic college) said that such-and-such a statement of the pope had to be believed because it was infallible, even though the statement in question had none of the commonly accepted marks of infallibility. And I had been with this person in class some years earlier when the correct position on this subject had been treated extensively by our teacher! It makes me wonder how many others share my friend's ignorance."

Infallibility

"Many people believe that infallibility applies to every pronouncement made by the Roman pontiff," he said. "However, both Vatican Council I, which defined papal infallibility, and the Second Vatican Council, which confirmed papal infallibility, were clear as to the meaning of this doctrine and its application.

"These councils indicate that the Roman Pontiff enjoys infallibility in virtue of his office, when, 'as supreme pastor and teacher of all the faithful...he proclaims by a definitive act a doctrine pertaining to faith or morals.'

"In making such a judgment, the pope is not pronouncing as a private person; rather, as the supreme teacher of the universal Church, as one in whom the charism of the infallibility of the Church herself is individually present, he is expounding or defending a doctrine of Catholic faith. Since the definition of papal infallibility at the First Vatican Council, only two doctrines have been pronounced under its auspices, that of the Immaculate Conception and that of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary."

What is the Church?

"This inability to simultaneously hold onto the two natures of Christ is mirrored in erroneous conceptions of the Church. On the one hand, there is the tendency to see the Church as a super-institution, to envision it only as a perfect entity, created before time in the mind of God. The expectation, then, is that the Church has all the answers in a timeless articulation and the liturgy in never-changing format.

"At the other extreme is the idea that the Church is simply a human organization, the collection of individual Christians who are just going along, doing the best they can and making lots of mistakes along the way. Thus, the Church would become no more interesting, important or authoritative than any business corporation."

Refuting that misconception, Prof. Tilley continued: "The reality is that the Church is a mystery which incorporates God's revelation to us and God's care for us as well as human attempts to make that revelation intelligible to people throughout history. Holding the divine gift and the human response in the mind simultaneously is not an easy task."

Who is Jesus?

"Many Catholics readily affirm the divinity of Jesus, referring to Him as God without another thought," he said. "Such an understanding of the figure of Jesus is at least implicitly Docetic (i.e., emphasizing the divinity of Jesus as the Christ while denying His full humanity). Since the ecumenical Council of Chalcedon (451 C.E.), however, the orthodox affirmation has been that the Son is 'of one essence with the Father' and 'of one essence with us.'

"What such a double, equal affirmation means is not without problems, but Catholics [should] beware emphasizing the divinity of Jesus at the expense of His humanity in their understanding and proclamation of the tradition."

Who is the Church?

"For many centuries," he said, "vast numbers of the Catholic people have been lulled into lethargic complacency regarding their relationship with the Lord. In the not too-distant past, one heard the term 'ordinary Catholic,' a name which perhaps described the Catholic layman who had been incorporated into the life of the Church by Baptism, attended Mass regularly, received the Eucharist occasionally, confessed sins at least annually, and was buried at a funeral Mass.

"'Extraordinary Catholics' were popes, bishops, priests, monks, friars and nuns of various kinds. They were expected to be holy, or at least to be striving to become such. No one expected an 'ordinary Catholic' to be holy. If a young person aspired to holiness, he or she was packed off to a nunnery, monastery, friary or seminary."

Seeing Catholics in that way, Father Harkins explained, is a "great misunderstanding. It leads to a mentality that considers the demands of the Gospel met if one is safely in the 'club' of the Church, and misses the challenge of the Lord's invitation to each one to grow in a personal relationship with Him."

Correcting this misunderstanding, he quoted the Second Vatican Council, which "so clearly declared back in 1964, 'all Christians in any state or walk of life are called to the fullness of Christian life and to the perfection of love.'"

Not just hierarchy

"The apostolic ministry of popes and bishops is important, even essential for the Church," he continued, "but popes and bishops should never be identified with the Church. We -- all of us -- are the Church. The members of the laity are not passive observers, allowed on occasion to assist the hierarchy; they are members of the Church with priestly powers and with a prophetic mission.

"Before it is anything else, the Church is the community of Jesus' disciples; and the hierarchy exists to foster and promote the unity and holiness of this community, and to ensure that the call to discipleship is voiced in terms which are adapted to the time, the place and the persons to whom the call is issued."

Early Church

That notion is wrong, he said, adding: "Although the seeds of the major doctrines emanate from Christ and the apostles, the Church in the first century and in the twentieth century (or almost any other century) would likely seem quite foreign to each other.

"The Second Vatican Council, especially through the important concept of the development of doctrine, has taught us that there have indeed been significant changes and developments in our understanding of many central, not to mention more peripheral, Christian beliefs. As one example, our current concepts of religious liberty and freedom of conscience are quite different from what they were throughout much of the history of the Church."

Was Peter pope?

"The word 'pope' appears nowhere in the New Testament nor does the New Testament even affirm that Peter went to Rome," he explained. "In the first three centuries, Christian writers refer more to the presence of Paul in Rome than to Peter. The word 'pope' was routinely used of other bishoprics into the seventh century. For example, in 632, an Irish writer named Cummian referred to 'our pope Saint Patrick.'"

Furthermore, Prof. Kelly noted, "the Eastern Church never recognized Roman primacy, and it became universal in the West only in the fifth century, and then not even completely. The papacy as we recognize it today -- monarchical head of a centralized institution -- appeared for the first time in the twelfth century."

He clarified that "this does not question the validity of the papal office. Not everything Catholics hold must be in the Bible. Many other elements of belief and practice have emerged historically. For example, the Bible does not list which books belong in the New Testament. An Egyptian bishop picked the current twenty-seven books in 363, yet today all Catholics accept these books."

Bible

"It may have been true from the Protestant Reformation until Vatican Council II that Protestants made more of the Bible in the daily life and practice of the faithful than the Catholics did," he noted. "It may also have been true that some Catholic pastors had warned their congregations against reading the Bible on their own and without assistance or direction.

"Since Vatican II, however, the situation has changed radically. The biblical texts are read in English at Catholic liturgies and the expanded lectionaries increase the faithful's exposure to the biblical texts. Bible studies are promoted in parishes and across dioceses. Catechists are given special courses in Bible history and interpretation. Seminary professors are expected to begin each course of theology with a treatment of the biblical basis for the theological ideas treated. Catholic biblical scholars are trained in the same methods of interpretation as Protestants and indeed often teach Protestants in Catholic universities and seminaries.

"As a result, the days when Catholics were inferior to Protestants in their awareness and use of the Bible are over."

Church changes

"Many Catholics seem to be frozen in a time-warp where they presume that what they believe and do -- for example, in sacramental practice or in Church structure and governance -- always has been the way it is now," he said. "The truth is that Sacred Scripture has a history, Church doctrines have a history, Church practices have a history, and moral principles have a history.

"Learning that history allows people to see where we are now, how we got to where we are, and how we can be open to what the Holy Spirit may lead us to in the future. Otherwise, we are caught!"

(08-12-99) [[In-content Ad]]