Any ideas on the "fundamental option"

[4_marks]

as it relates to Catholic moral theology.

When I was in the seminary, I was taught moral theology a la Charles Curran, and therefore I believed that the notion of the “fundamental option,” that one’s life direction rather than individual acts of a sinful nature, determined whether one was in God’s friendship or not. In other words, if one missed Mass on a Sunday or a Holy Day of Obligation without good cause, but the general direction of one’s life was toward God in Christ, if one died, one would not go to hell because of this sin.

Please explain.

 

[fix]

Sure, it is not true and not authentically Catholic. Curran has been forbidden from teaching Catholic theology. Was it not Rahner who championed that false notion?

 

[4_marks]

O.K., then what about “situation ethics?” I was also taught that. Is it also no longer in vogue.

 

[fix]

4 marks:

O.K., then what about “situation ethics?” I was also taught that. Is it also no longer in vogue.

Of course not. You know the seminaries were hijacked by the heterodox libs. The Vatican is having another round of evlauations and site checks. I hope this time they clean house.

 

[4_marks]

I truly believed that God wanted me to be a priest. I entered the seminary as a staunch conservative Catholic and left marginally agnostic.

 

[StJeanneDArc]

4 marks:

I truly believed that God wanted me to be a priest. I entered the seminary as a staunch conservative Catholic and left marginally agnostic.

Wow! I’m really sorry to hear that. When did you attend the seminary? Have you come back since then?

My son is currently in a minor seminary and, thanks be to God, he’s growing phenomenally in his faith and doesn’t have any heterodox ideas.

It is so important that seminaries be orthodox.

 

[IPTgrad]

Read Veritatis Splendor (The Splendor of Truth), an encyclical by JPII. Fundamental Option theory is covered in there, as well as other relativistic philosophies of our day.

While we’re at it, lets all say a prayer for our wonderful leader & greatest philosopher of the 20th (&21st) century… may John Paul II continue to serve us in truth and love and may God grant him peace, health, stamina. Mary, Seat of Wisdom, pray for him.

 

[benw98]

As a seminarian in Erie, PA I know the difference between an orthodox seminary faculty and a not so orthodox.
I am very blessed with an excellent Rector and Vice-Rector
Pray for the seminarians of our church.

 

[4_marks]

StJeanneDArc:

Wow! I’m really sorry to hear that. When did you attend the seminary? Have you come back since then?

My son is currently in a minor seminary and, thanks be to God, he’s growing phenomenally in his faith and doesn’t have any heterodox ideas.

It is so important that seminaries be orthodox.

I was raised a marginal Catholic but was basically an agnostic. In college, I accepted Jesus and was born again. I left the church in the spring of 1983, but returned in the fall of that year. I attended the seminary in the mid and late 1980’s. I married. My wife and I drifted out of the CC in 1992. I came back for a short time in 1994 and again from 1998 to 2000. I left again in 2000 only to return in the fall of 2004.

I entered the seminary as a conservative Catholic who still clung to theology that was somewhat fundamentalist/evangelical Protestant. By the completion of my seminary experience in 1990, I was a Catholic in name, but basically an agnostic at heart. I needed to resolve the confusion. I tried to go through the motions as did my wife. I went to Mass and confession. I even taught CCD. I was still restless and so was my wife.

After years of testing the waters in various Protestant bodies and communities, getting dunked a number of times, and becoming an official member of such and so church (I even delivered sermons and led worship services at a couple of churches upon the pastor’s absence), I finally returned home.

One Sunday morning in September, I just went to Mass in my home town. At Mass, I heard of a penance service taking place that afternoon in a neighboring parish. I went and made a good confession. I had returned to the fold. My wife comes with me on occasion, but she is still an evangelical Protestant down deep. Her issues are basically one’s of authority and she has a hard time accepting alot of Catholic doctrine and dogma.

 

[StJeanneDArc]

4 marks:

I was raised a marginal Catholic but was basically an agnostic. In college, I accepted Jesus and was born again. I left the church in the spring of 1983, but returned in the fall of that year. I attended the seminary in the mid and late 1980’s. I married. My wife and I drifted out of the CC in 1992. I came back for a short time in 1994 and again from 1998 to 2000. I left again in 2000 only to return in the fall of 2004.

I entered the seminary as a conservative Catholic who still clung to theology that was somewhat fundamentalist/evangelical Protestant. By the completion of my seminary experience in 1990, I was a Catholic in name, but basically an agnostic at heart. I needed to resolve the confusion. I tried to go through the motions as did my wife. I went to Mass and confession. I even taught CCD. I was still restless and so was my wife.

After years of testing the waters in various Protestant bodies and communities, getting dunked a number of times, and becoming an official member of such and so church (I even delivered sermons and led worship services at a couple of churches upon the pastor’s absence), I finally returned home.

One Sunday morning in September, I just went to Mass in my home town. At Mass, I heard of a penance service taking place that afternoon in a neighboring parish. I went and made a good confession. I had returned to the fold. My wife comes with me on occasion, but she is still an evangelical Protestant down deep. Her issues are basically one’s of authority and she has a hard time accepting alot of Catholic doctrine and dogma.

Thanks for sharing. It sounds like you’re about my age. I was raised Catholic and my family always attended Mass. I drifted away from the Church in the 80’s but never became a Protestant–I basically just left the sacraments for a time. I really came back after the birth of my first child in 1990. The one thing that was missing from my upbringing was an emphasis on the sacrament of Confession. It wasn’t done at my Catholic high school and I don’t recall my parents ever going. I think this is a common thread running through the lives of those who have left the Church.

To tie it back to your thread starter, Christ gave us the sacraments of the Eucharist and Confession because we need them to remain in a state of grace. Without that it’s too easy to rationalize sin. The general drift of your life is not towards God if you’re skipping the sacraments.