I grew up hearing some pretty nasty stuff about Catholics and how off their theology is, but upon my own inspection I found that nearly everything I was told was at best misrepresentations, at worst outright fabrications. I still hold disagreements, but I find myself holding a far more charitable view today.
Exactly the issue with perspicuity, it can't just be in their minds. It has to be the plain teaching of Scripture. Which is why my Protestant fellows are often willing to split at the drop of a hat. Don't like the music? We need a new church! Disagree with the Pastor on x,y, or z? We need a new church! The Scriptures are plain, anyone who disagrees with what we think it means must be an enemy of God and His word.
Oh yeah..but none of them will admit as much. Protestantism owes more of its theology from an over-reliance on Augustine's polemical works than it does to broad historical understanding of Scripture.
Yeah, there are a few groups that are especcially prone to it and Catholics are only the most apparent target, the more vehemently one adopts the idea of perspicuity the less room there is for engaging in doctrinal triage. Personally, the types of disagreements I have with traditional theology I place as second-order issues, important enough that I'm not going to join one of the traditional churches but not so important that I can't understand how someone could believe such things.
To be fair, the entire Western Church over-relied on St. Augustine’s heresiological works, rather than his moral writings like his Confessions and The City of God, which are the good stuff when it comes to St. Augustine (who has always been venerated by the Orthodox, despite some Old Calendarists claiming otherwise).
Historically, both the Western and Eastern churches relied on the refutation of Pelagius authored by St. John Cassian, another Latin monastic, whose Conferences were read in the refectory of Benedictine monasteries, until the Scholastic period when they fell out of favor, and were replaced by Augustinian writings, which wound up becoming so dominant in the West that even today I meet relatively young clergy in different denominations whose experience reading Patristic writings is limited to St. Augustine.
The Orthodox continue to use St. John Cassian’s refutation of Pelagius (who, let us not mince words, was a heretic, since according to Pelagius we have to save ourselves, with Christ only showing us the way, which is of course blasphemous; our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ saved us, and it is only through Him that we can obtain salvation, and this fact is agreed upon even by those denominations historically accused by some Calvinists and other monergists as being “semi-Pelagian” which is a term I object to.
That being said, the importance of St. Augustine is vast, and he should still be read, and venerated as a saint, and his opposition to Donatism and Pelagianism was correct - Donatism is fundamentally flawed because if the efficacy of a sacrament depends on the righteousness of the celebrant, we are all out of luck.
Well considering these things, Just me personally. I am recognizing that I am indeed treating Catholicism and Protestantism equally. I have for quite a few years now coming closer and closer to these historical Churches. I was seeking authority over myself. Tired of taking it upon myself. Even seeing that as arrogance to dismiss so many which were before us.
But by the time this idea came to me, these historical churches were promoting sexual perversion.
So I was looking at Orthodox, and or Catholic. But, there I had to believe certain things that I couldn't. So, I was indeed treating each one according to conscience.
So for now, unless the Lord changes my conscience (I do pray on it, and desire your prayers as well), ecumenicalism is the venue. Maybe the Lord will provide a way there. I do respect you guys.
Perhaps you should look into the Assyrian Church of the East, the Confessional Lutherans or the more low church Continuing Anglicans or ACNA, depending on the specific Orthodox and Catholic beliefs you object to. There are also a few surviving traditional Congregationalist churches like Park Street Church in Boston. I have many friends in those denominations. If you send me a private message about the doctrines you objected to, I should be able to help you find a suitable church.
