the "Tree Analogy"

[Rising_Suns]

Brethren in Christ. Peace be with you.

I wanted to run this analogy by you all for carefull scrutiny. Please tell me if you feel it follows the spirit of Vatican II.

Thank you.


TREE ANALOGY: Most religions today can be linked together to form the image of a tree. The roots of this tree, is of course Jesus Christ Himself, who supply’s the world with the water and nutrients it needs for life. Now, the Catholic Church is the oldest part of the tree; the trunk. And the branches are the various Church’s that have deviated from the Catholic Church through time. The biggest branches are the closest to the trunk, and as we go farther from the tree, the branches get smaller and deviate more and more (and consequently, salvation becomes increasingly more difficult to attain). But the one thing they all have in common, is they all bare a resemblance to the trunk in some form or another. Whether it’s a big branch or a smaller branch, they all are formed out of the same basic substance that the trunk is composed of; they all are built from the same theme (all Christians, for example, believe in the same fundamental doctrines that the Catholic Church first developed in the beginning of Christianity; the Holy Trinity, the relationship between Christ and the Church, Christ the God-man, etc.).

One of the things I see wrong is that a tree works in unity to grow, but often times we do not see religions or denominations working in unity. so if course, this analogy begins to break down.

 

[Irenaeus]

Davide,

I believe a good portion of the analogy is flawed, or may be disleading.

I would rather compare the truth to a pure ray of white light, and certain denominations and religions only perceive a certain wavelength of that part of the visible spectrum. The pure light has the fulness. All else falls away from it, but yet perceive some parts true.