On Catholics and Catholicism…

June 26, 2005 | 7:53 PM

Felipe from Venezuela asked what I think about Catholics, and what I think Protestants and Evangelicals think about Catholics. For the purposes of time, and since really I speak for no man but myself, I’m going to just offer what I think about Catholics. I like Catholics. I like their sense of tradition, even if I think a lot of that tradition is weird or downright unbiblical. I’m not a huge fan of Catholicism though.

Theologically and doctrinally, I completely disagree with the idea of transubstantiation (that in Communion, the bread and wine physically transform into flesh and blood). I think that it takes the focus off of a true relationship with Christ and emphasizes doing a ritual to have Christ in us. You do communion to be in communion with God, and that’s wrong. We talk to God, we communicate with God, we pray, we live our lives, we worship God with our lives, and we do everything for the glory of God- and through good and bad, we talk to God- and that is a relationship. You just can’t get that through drinking some wine and eating some bread. I’m all for the mystical elements to God, but that’s just not right.

I do not think the Virgin Mary was sinless, nor do I think she remained a virgin after the birth of Christ. And I don’t like the idea of calling anybody Father who isn’t either my birth father or God the father. And I’d rather confess my sins directly to God, rather than to some priest. Although I do confess to other believers, and I do follow the concept of “priesthood of the believer.” I could go on and on about the differences between Catholicism and Protestantism, with an emphasis on my leanings. But none of that answers Felipe’s question.

Felipe, I like Catholics. The ones who are genuine and sincere are very nice people. They do a lot of good things. I have a lot of Catholic friends. They’re all nice people, and very sincere. I disagree with a lot of their beliefs. But I like them a lot.

And really, Emily never got back to me on translating this into Spanish. And really, the only thing you NEED to read is the previous paragraph. And I think it’s pretty simple to understand. So have a good day, Felipe. May God bless you all the days of your life.