- Nov 26, 2019
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Indeed. Neither is it long because of Biblical rules. Let us review, however, the alleged extra-biblical points, noting by the way that all churches, even Calvinist churches that adopt the so-called Regulative Principle of Worship, have extrabiblical attributes (I say this as a Congregationalist minister, now an adherent of Patristic-Arminian soteriology, but previously a Calvinist, and previously with one of the last traditional reformed congregations in the UCC before leaving when my senior pastor retired and spending a decade pursuing my other great love, kernel programming, while learning about Anglicanism and Eastern Christianity, and returning to the business two years ago).
Contraception is in fact scripturally prohibited, along with abortion. Only procreative sex and holy celibacy are allowed.
Celibacy in the Western Rite dates back at least to the early fourth century, but it is specific to the ancient Western Rites of the Catholic Church, namely, the Roman, Ambrosian, Lyonaise, Bragan, Mozarabic, and also the rites specific to some of the religious orders, most notably the Carmelite, Carthusian, Dominican and Norbertine, as well as defunct regional rites such as the Gallican, Beneventan, Colonensis, and the old English rites of Sarum, York, Durham and Hereford, to name a few. However, it may surprise you to learn that the Catholic Church has a very large number of married priests, including most eparchial priests in the Byzantine Rite churches in Eastern Europe and the Levant, such as the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, the Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church, the Romanian Greek Catholic Church, the Russian Catholic Church, and the Melkite Church.
The same is also true of churches using Oriental Orthodox rites, such as the Armenian Catholic Church (which was the largest before the Turkish genocide; now it is tiny, with most surviving Armenians members of the Armenian Apostolic (Orthodox) Church), the Coptic Catholic Church, the Syriac Catholic Church and the Chaldean Catholic Church. I am not sure if Maronite Catholics have married clergy or not. Historically, to avoid tension with the celibate Roman Rite majority, Eastern Catholic priests in North America and elsewhere in the diaspora were not usually permitted to be married, and this resulted in large scale migrations of Ruthenian Greek Catholics to the Russian Orthodox Church, led by St. Alexis Toth of Wilkes-Barre, with most of these parishes winding up in the Orthodox Church in America, and the Greek Orthodox Church, which created the American Carpatho-Rusyn Orthodox Diocese.
Additionally, there are now married Western Rite priests serving in the Roman Church, in the Anglican Rite Ordinariates, including Ordinaries, who exercise powers previously reserved for bishops, who are always celibate in the ancient churches (whether Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, or the Church of the East; the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox bishops are usually monks, and the same was true of the Church of the East, until the genocide waged against it by the Muslim warlord Tamerlane killed almost all of its members, which had stretched from Aleppo to Socotra, Kerala, Tibet and Mongolia; after Tamerlane only those in the Fertile Crescent and the Malabar Coast survived, and the monastic tradition died off. The Church of the East was for many years larger in terms of territory and membership than the Roman Church.
That depends on the edition, but usually the Deuterocanonicals can be found in the middle of the Bible, which is fitting considering they represent several of the most beautiful and important of the sacred scriptures. I personally accept the entire Ethiopian Old Testament Canon, and 1 Enoch and Jubilees usually go towards the front of the Ge’ez Bible. I do not know whether the Ethiopian Catholic Church accepts these or not.
The deuterocanonicals, or protocanonicals as I prefer to regard them, since the terms apoceypha and deuterocanonical are not used in the Orthodox Churches in reference to these sacred scriptures, are also used in Protestantism; they are included in any complete edition of the KJV and NRSV, among other translations, and are read by Anglicans, who are the largest Protestant communion in the world, for edification (article 6 of the 39 articles of religion, contrary to assertions made by another member, does not deny the divine inspiration of these books, and the Episcopal Church and most continuing Anglo Catholic Churches have deprecated the 39 articles, and indeed in the Episcopal Church the pericope “Honor a physician” from Ecclesiasticus (The Wisdom of Sirach) is one of the appointed lessons on the feast of St. Luke.
The Lutherans for their part have an open canon, and I believe @MarkRohfrietsch mentioned to me some devotional and other use of some of these books. Finally, John Calvin regarded Baruch as divinely inspired protocanon, even if this opinion is unfortunately not shared by most Calvinist churches.
Firstly, no. The Catholic Catechism only explains these doctrines, which are defined elsewhere, for example, in the ecumenical councils, the code of canon law, the liturgical books, the bulls, decretals, encyclicals, motus propria, and other directives of the Popes, as well as decisions promulgated by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Congregation Propaganda Fide (its old name, I have no idea what it is called now), the Congregation for the Clergy, the Congregation for Divine Worship, and other decision making entities in the Vatican, as well as rulings and encyclicals of individual bishops, the leaders and provincial heads of religious orders, and acts of regional episcopal conferences and synods. The same is true of every other catechism except perhaps the Anglican catechisms, since they are contained in the Book of Common Prayer, and the Anglican church takes the principle of lex orandi, lex credendi to the maximum degree, so that the primaey guide to Anglican doctrine is the BCP.
Now, regarding your complaints on alleged extrabiblical doctrines, I would note that nothing in Sceipture precludes seeking the intercession of those alive in Christ, which would be the Holy Apostles, Martyrs, Confessors, Evangelists, Ascetics, Fools for Christ, and pious, godfearing Christians who represent, to quote the Book of Common Prayer, all sorts and conditions of men. And I would note Lutherans including Martin Luther pray the original version of the Hail Mary, and high church Anglicans in the Episcopal and Continuing Anglican churches seek the intercession of the saints. And this practice is supported in Scripture, contrary to what the 39 Articles say, for example, in Revelation 8:3-4, and in 2 Maccabees. For this reason, the Second Council of Nicaea in 787 upheld the veneration of icons and of the saints, and in 843, the young Michael III became the Emperor of Constantinople, and his mother, the Dowager Empress Regent St. Theodora, put an end to Iconoclasm, an event celebrated every year by the Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Rite Catholics as the Triumph of Orthodoxy, on the first Sunday in Lent.
Regarding confessionals, these have become rare, but the practice of auricular confession is ancient, and is available in many Protestant churches including the Lutheran and Anglican churches. Martin Luther even considered it sacramental. In addition, the same principle that applies to auricular confession also applies to general confession, which is the power of ministers to forgive and retain sins, well documented in the Gospel of Matthew and elsewhere.
To my knowledge, the Roman church will marry someone who has not previously been married but had an affair with a married person, however, I could be wrong. I prefer the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox theology of marriage, where one can be married up to two times.
According to what you consider canonical scripture, the 66 books found in most Bibles cannot be proven to be God’s Word either; indeed, John 1:1-18 and the ending of Luke proves that they are not; rather, God’s Word is Jesus Christ, and the Old and New Testaments describe Him, and the economy of Salvation facilitated by His incarnation which is prophesized, summarized and exegeted. However, Scripture lacks a table of contents, so only references between scriptural books definitively establish canonicity, hence the Epistle of Jude establishes the canonicity of 1 Enoch; otherwise, it is up to the authority of the Christian Churches, including the Church of Rome, to decide what is and is not canonical scripture.
Since nearly all of your criticisms are also applicable to Anglicanism, Lutheranism, the Old Catholic Union of Utrecht, the Moravian church, the United Methodist Church, the Assyrian Church of the East, the United Church of Christ, the Seventh Day Adventists, the Polish National Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Oriental Orthodox Church, perhaps you might give the Roman Catholics a break, since people are constantly criticizing them, and it gets kind of boring.
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