Is Catholicism too Legalistic?

[dream_wanderer]

I have been stuck in leagalistic fundamentalism. Properly taught Catholicism is NOT legalistic. I know legalism when I see it and the Catholic Church is NOT it. Catholicism is a breath of fresh air compared to what I came out of.

Some posters here border on the legalistic. They remind me of the fundamentalists…but I try to think of them as simply being zealous for the faith. I have broken free of the the desire to please men so what they say and demand and scold about doesn’t affect me. I might file it away so I can pull it out for future reference, I would not just dismiss anything a devout person says…but as long as I’m obedient to the Church they can say what they like and it has little to do with me.

So to answer the question…no its not.

dream wanderer

 

[Strider]

roemer:

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One thread sticks in my mind. A priest was making his own altar breads and used a little milk. Now the regulations are silent on the subject of what wet ingredient to use in making altar bread.
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While you are technically correct, the traditional ingredients for altar bread and “water and wheat flour only.” This may sound overly legalistic, technical and picky to many of you, but the purpose of the tradition is to prevent abuses. Many of you are probably too young to remember the flagrant and, to my mind at least, disgusting abuses of Vatican II. Some alter bread was Wonder Bread, some had raisins and some had coloring.
Since it is the altar bread that is consecrated into the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, this is hardly a trivial matter.
The same holds true for many of The Church’s technical directives: They were instituted to prevent abuses, not to specifically difine every jot ant tittle of what Catholics need to get to heaven.
Behind every rule is a reason.

 

[Hesychios]

Glory to Jesus Christ!

Easterners (both Catholic and Orthodox), tend to see the Western churches (both Catholic and protestant) as legalistic.

Now if we wish to decide which of the western churches is more legalistic, that’s another matter. It can seem like the pot calling the kettle black sometimes.

It’s not that the Eastern churches don’t have their own peculiarities, they most certainly do. The differences are somewhat based in the culture.

There is a tremendous advantage to having all of this wealth of knowledge preserved for us and interpreted throughout all of the generations. If we need guidance, it is there. Inquirers can pick up the Catholic Catechism and find a compendium of wisdom, and a concise recitation of everything Catholic Christians are called upon to believe, complete with references! What other religion (of any culture) can boast of that? The Catholic Faith is literally an open book!

For the day to day progress of the church we have a Code of Canons. It assures uniformity of practice and ultimately, fairness. It’s a weighty book though (actually two books), translated into every major language from one original, to reduce ambiguity.

So yes, there is legalism, impossible to deny. But it is necessary to a point, and the point is what we might be trying to determine, but really this is only subjective opinion, I might think too much, you might feel differently.

But let’s not confuse this with the Pharisaic legalism of Judaism. There is tremendous freedom here, we do not slavishly follow each and every prescription for our salvation, that would be impossible. We have choices and exercise judgment. For instance, there are rules as to how to properly pray the Liturgy of the Hours and the Rosary, they have been codified. Yet we have perfect freedom to make these prayers or not, and variation is understood to be a natural development of the practice, it is not so hard as it might seem.

The rules about the proper practice of Sacraments are to protect the Sanctity of the event to the greater Glory of God. Yet minor mistakes or the personal failings of each of us will not invalidate a Mass, or confession, etc done in good faith.

Think of travelling along a highway to God. Along the way there are lines, signs and signals. There are fences and also gates. But the journey you undertake is yours, these things are to help you along the way.

Let’s make the best of it in hope and faith, to the greater Glory of God.

Michael, that sinner

 

[Fortiterinre]

Catholicism certainly FEELS too legalistic sometimes, but remember that we live in a world where we often seem to have lost the common sense to RUN AWAY from temptation. Catholicism often feels legalistic precisely when we tell ourselves that we are sophisticated enough to loiter with temptation and yet not be tempted. Read a non-Catholic, C.S. Lewis, in “The Screwtape Letters” for some superbly Catholic insight into the whole issue of legalism and temptation. Not to get into “Cookbook Catechetics,” but priests who are sophisticated enough to bake their own altar bread probably know exactly what they are (and should be) doing.

 

[DVIN_CKS]

I came across a quote that some of you may agree with…others won’t. It sticks with me though and offers a lot of food for thought (as does this thread).

*“One of the things Jesus did was to step aside from the organized religion of his time because it had become corrupt and bogged down with rules. Rules became more important than feeding the hungry.” - Corita Kent, * The Quatable Woman: 1900 - Present, pg 224

I really think that in the final analysis…it is the love that we each give to our neighbor(s) that will identify us with Christ. Rules may be rules and they may have sound reasoning behind them…but let’s face it, not too many people take the time to get down to the nitty gritty of those reasonings. To most, it doesn’t matter…what matters is feeding the hungry, helping the homeless, caring for the sick, and loving our neighbors. THAT is the message that Jesus wanted us all to hear.

 

[JCPhoenix]

Relevant Radio had a very similar topic to this and I think their observations are very relevant here, too.

The questions they discussed were in regard to the word “strict”. Now, “legalistic” really means the same thing here in our context because it is a very subjective word. There is no black and white defining either “strict” or “legalistic”, therefore, they are relative terms.

Now, if we look at this, what is Catholicism “legalistic” in relation to? To those who want to use birth control, have abortions, and live in sin? Or is it “legalistic” in relation to devout Catholics who live the life, pray, attend the sacraments and live the beliefs? Or somewhere in between? (Ie Cafeteria Catholics).

Who is defining the terms. Nowhere here have I actually seen a real definition of what “legalistic” means! (My own previous post included). —Oh! Wait! I DID see it defined! Sorry!

What are we really talking about here? It seems that we have an unaccepted, if defined word, undefined variables, so we’re really just spinning our wheels. And one person did post in regards to comparison from a fundamentalist legalistic situation…so thank you for that!

Anyway, I guess I’m just getting at the idea that we all need a bit more information. I don’t believe that the Catholic Church is legalistic, although it is deep, requires study and thought…and is not EASY to follow…but in my experience, the most difficult paths in life are the most worthwhile.

Just my :twocents: