- Feb 5, 2002
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COMMENTARY: A hollow adherence to rules weakens faith, but when Church teachings are properly understood, they free us to live in a ‘law of love.’
I used to be baffled when people would say they abandoned Catholicism because they think the Church is too legalistic. How could they think this when so many doctrines and morals seem to be treated as optional items in the ecclesial cafeteria? In reality, the legalism they complain of is as rare as sermons on hell (another stereotypical gripe).
And yet, there is a lingering legalism in Church life today, one that has affected many in my generation. This legalism is a kind of zombie Catholicism that primarily lives on in certain liberal Catholic institutions where the rules are still (kind of) enforced but in a way that conveys that no one believes in them anymore.
Legalism often means an excessive concern with rules and can undermine the centrality of grace. We are not saved by our ethical excellence or our zeal for the law. And yet, to pray Psalm 119 with its litany of love for the law is to realize that there is a good kind of legalism — a “legalism” of love.
To get to that, I want to consider a different legalism, one in which we follow the rules but cannot or will not explain why. This legalism is a rules-based framework in which there are no clear reasons offered for the rules and no connection with human flourishing, a just society or the glory of God.
Continued below.
I used to be baffled when people would say they abandoned Catholicism because they think the Church is too legalistic. How could they think this when so many doctrines and morals seem to be treated as optional items in the ecclesial cafeteria? In reality, the legalism they complain of is as rare as sermons on hell (another stereotypical gripe).
And yet, there is a lingering legalism in Church life today, one that has affected many in my generation. This legalism is a kind of zombie Catholicism that primarily lives on in certain liberal Catholic institutions where the rules are still (kind of) enforced but in a way that conveys that no one believes in them anymore.
Legalism often means an excessive concern with rules and can undermine the centrality of grace. We are not saved by our ethical excellence or our zeal for the law. And yet, to pray Psalm 119 with its litany of love for the law is to realize that there is a good kind of legalism — a “legalism” of love.
To get to that, I want to consider a different legalism, one in which we follow the rules but cannot or will not explain why. This legalism is a rules-based framework in which there are no clear reasons offered for the rules and no connection with human flourishing, a just society or the glory of God.
Continued below.
