Help needed with "Torn Curtain" passage

[Thal59]

Hello, Petra

I became a Catholic 3 years ago without a full understanding of what the Church teaches. (I didn’t go through an RCIA program). <<

Part of the problem is that you did not attend RCIA. I do not understand your motive when you entered the church without having a healthy understanding of what the church teaches or represents. Did you have a sponsor? Have you received first communion officially, been baptized, and confirmed? No offense, Petra, but it sounds like you were “church shopping” and decided to just walk into a Catholic church and proclaim yourself a Catholic. Perhaps you could be kind enough to clarify your entry into the church, or what brought you to decide to enter it.

Since then, I have learned things about the Church over which I have theological disagreements.<<

Petra, there is no denomination in the world you can join that won’t have something that is theologically disagreeable to you; unless you decide to start your own denomination. There are a few things that I don’t fully agree with the Catholic Church on, but I understand that I am no theological expert, and it would be arrogant of me to presume I can “set the church straight” on certain matters. I wasn’t there 2,000 years ago when the Holy Spirit descended upon those in the upper room. I didn’t evangelize the world, endure torture or martyrdom, deal with the heretics and barbarians, nor can I take credit for establishing Holy orders or Universities, performing miracles, determining the canon of the bible, translating Scripture from Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic into Latin, or any of the hundreds of languages that the church has translated Scripture into. What I am trying to say, Petra, is that I know that the Roman Catholic Church is the Apostolic church that Jesus established on the rock called Peter. If I wish to be a part of it, I must conform to it. It is not my right or privilege to conform the church to me.

I don’t know where I fit currently or whether I will remain a Catholic. I see value in the sacraments as tools and resources for our growth…<<

Petra, your statement indicates that you do not understand the sacraments at all. You don’t seem to have a grasp of what a sacramental is, or how they are related to OT Jewish sacred rites, or to the covenants. I strongly advise you to purchase Dr. Scott Hahn’s video series called “Our Father’s Plan.” If you are reluctant to buy it, send me your mailing address in a private message and I will send you my set. Dr. Hahn does a fabulous job of showing how the covenants are the over-arching theme of scriptures. It will help you greatly to understand the sacraments as well as give you a better perspective regarding the continuity of the OT and NT covenants.

Why does the Church insist we still need mediators to approach Him–in light of His perfect and complete atonement, which satisfied the Father perfectly!<<

If there were no Bishops, presbyters (priests), or Deacons, who would have even heard the gospels? The first Bible, as we know it, wasn’t written until almost 370 years after the death of Christ. Most of the common masses were uneducated and illiterate – of what use was scripture to them without a mediating priest to read and explain it for them? If the ministers of the Lord are not necessary, why did the apostles almost immediately lay hands upon, and ordain, Bishops or establish a religious hierarchy?

But I don’t see evidence that Church tradition is infallible, so I hold a view that recognizes the primacy of Scripture over tradition. I also appreciate that an informed knowledge of Jewish and Church history is extremely important in interpreting Scripture accurately.<<

Your statement is contradictory. You say you hold scripture over tradition, but then you acknowledge the necessity of needing knowledge that is outside of scripture to interpret what is inside of scripture. This is exactly why the Catholic Church insists that Scripture and Apostolic Tradition must be maintained on equal grounds. Apostolic Tradition without Scripture becomes baseless, Scripture without Apostolic Tradition becomes susceptible to mass misinterpretation.

Have patience, Petra. If you are serious about the truth, it will come in time.

Thal59