Dear FD76
It would be hard for a Roman Catholic to understand what legalism is without stepping outside the Roman Catholic system and seeing it from another perspective.
I think Wikipedia's definition, with some tweaking is decent, but I'll paraphrase: It's putting any moral or religious law above the Gospel in terms of religious requirements beyond faith alone in Christ's saving work. As a result, there is a lot of rigidity in Catholicism. Without a good excuse, you must: fast on these days, or go to hell. Don't ever received communion if you are remarried, or you go to hell. Go to church every Sunday and holy day, or go to hell. Etc. etc. It can sound like a wearisome list of religious obligations after a while that you must do. And to top it off, it turns the sacraments into things that are only given to those worthy to receive them, that complete a bunch of other steps first before they can confer grace. So a person must not be in a state of mortal sin to receive the sacrament of Communion, and when they confess they must be meticulous in doing so, not merely mentioning the sins that weight most on their conscience, but all mortal sins, in number and kind. That can all sound overwhelming in the details after a while... where exactly is a gracious God in all this?
Now it's true your average Catholic may not experience the full weight of this, but some do. And those people tend to be labelled scrupulous and have the most sensitive consciences. Catholics just say those people have an anxiety disorder, or overly zealous, or simply disobedient. Lutherans, on the other hand, tend to take that stuff seriously and don't regard those people as mentally ill. They regard them as the victims of legalism or poor pastoral care.
Dear FD76,
Thanks for the reply. Did you read all the scripture quotes in my original post?
Most of the concerns that you express in your reply are addressed in my post. I anticipated such responses as yours, and that is why I went into such detail in my post.
Lets take one item you mentioned and examine it in detail from a scriptural point of view.
Do you believe that divorced & remarried people, or those who are unmarried and living together, should be able to receive communion in the Catholic Church?
The Church says that a person who is in the state of mortal sin - adultery or fornication for example - cannot receive Holy Communion. To do so is a sacrilege. This is not the Church's rule, it is Christ's.
Lets listen to what Christ says, through the writings of St. Paul, in regards to this matter.
In 1 Corinthians 11:23-29, Paul, confirms what St. John says in John 6: 50-62, and then adds a stern warning against receiving the Eucharist unworthily - reception by a non-believer, or by a person who is in a state of serious (mortal) sin. He says:
“For I have received from the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread, and giving thanks, broke, and said: Take ye, and eat: This is my body, which shall be delivered for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In like manner also the chalice, after he had supped, saying: This chalice is the New Testament in my blood: do this as often as you shall drink, for the commemoration of me. For as often as you shall eat this bread, and drink the chalice, you shall show the death of the Lord, until he comes. Therefore whosoever shall eat this bread, or drink the chalice of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord * *. But let a man prove himself: and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of the chalice. For he who eats and drinks unworthily, eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the body of the Lord”.
** “guilty of the body and blood of the Lord” – guilty
of the murder of Christ.
All this "legalism" you talk about comes directly from Christ, either directly, as in the above example, or indirectly through the rules that Christ gave the church the authority to make, for the good of her members.
As I outlined in my post: “Where does the Church get the authority to make such rules (no eating meat on Fridays in Lent, for example)? That authority comes directly from Christ! In Matthew 16:19, our Lord says to Peter:
“I will give to you the keys to the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”. Here, our Lord gives to Peter, as the head of His Church – the Office of Pope – the authority to make rules and regulations to govern the Church. You will note that this is an
absolute authority; there were no conditions, exceptions, or exclusions in our Lords commission to Peter.
It should also be noted, that this authority was not given to Peter personally as an individual, but to the office which Peter would represent, the office of the Pope (also referred to as “The Chair of Peter”). I
n Matthew 18:18 our lord gives this same authority to all the apostles as a group. This authority and that given to Peter is passed on to their successors (Apostolic Succession - 2 Timothy 2:2.), and is exercised, for example, when the bishops come together for a Church Council.
You are correct that some people are scrupulous, I think that Martin Luther had such a problem, this is why he wanted a religion of no accountability.
For a more detailed explanation of all this please watch Dr. David Anders interview as he discusses Luther, the Bible, and the Reformation. Dr. Anders did his PhD. in Reformation History.
See:
Please feel free to write back
zeland