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Catholic Doctrines and Man-made Myths: Finding True Christianity [Kindle Edition] Link
The book is small, and free. I downloaded a copy and read through and left a comment.
product description -
With consummate logic, the author provides a critical but sympathetic reappraisal of numerous doctrinal positions which have been assimilated incrementally into the belief systems of Christian Churches, particularly the Catholic Church, over the two thousand year period since the early followers of Jesus Christ formed themselves into a “church”.
In Jesus’ teaching — which he conveyed more by his example than by his words — he never proposed the establishment of a formalized Church. He sought, rather, to establish on earth the “Kingdom of God” which would spread, in the form of Love of Neighbour, throughout all humanity.
Stated with conviction, yet always open to conflicting views, the arguments put forward here are a contribution to the intense debate on Christian beliefs and praxis that is sweeping Christendom as never before.
Searching afresh with the penetrating light of reason, and unencumbered by the dependence and the fear of sanction, or even of excommunication, which restrains the Churches’ professional theologians, the author is free of the weight of tradition on which the Churches rely so heavily to support many of their mystery-laden doctrines, and which, itself, is questionable just as is, in his view, the Churches’ catchall claim to “revelation”.
These, and other dogmatic beliefs such as Original Sin, Hell and The Devil, Purgatory, the Canonisation of Saints, Infallibility, and such subjects as divorce and the church’s attitude vis-à-vis women, are all re-examined with the same frankness, well supported by a wide range of literary references.
A thorough and painstaking reassessment is also undertaken of the ill-conceived and self-defeating doctrine of the Bodily Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven. This necessary reassessment is engaged with due respect and affection for this epitome of Motherhood.
There is also no shrinking from giving implicit expression to the need for Christians to undertake the daunting but rewarding journey from the comfort of the pews and from the warm consoling embrace of a Church which provides us with all the answers and with all the feel-good beliefs, obligatory Sunday rituals and sacraments, which comfort us with the assurance that we are on the right road to God’s heavenly domain. The journey must lead us from those comforts to within reach of the majority of our brothers and sisters, those who live ill-clad and hungry in makeshift shacks or on cold shelterless streets. There, and ultimately in the presence of our Maker, we will be measured by our own self judgment in terms of how well we have responded to the universal imperative to love our neighbour as we ourselves would wish to be loved.
In a less reform-seeking mode, the author also provides an innovative, practical and yet sympathetic way of understanding and coping with the perennial problem of pain and suffering which torments so many people and which leads many all too readily to the sadly illogical practice of “blaming God” for our misfortunes.
The book is small, and free. I downloaded a copy and read through and left a comment.
product description -
With consummate logic, the author provides a critical but sympathetic reappraisal of numerous doctrinal positions which have been assimilated incrementally into the belief systems of Christian Churches, particularly the Catholic Church, over the two thousand year period since the early followers of Jesus Christ formed themselves into a “church”.
In Jesus’ teaching — which he conveyed more by his example than by his words — he never proposed the establishment of a formalized Church. He sought, rather, to establish on earth the “Kingdom of God” which would spread, in the form of Love of Neighbour, throughout all humanity.
Stated with conviction, yet always open to conflicting views, the arguments put forward here are a contribution to the intense debate on Christian beliefs and praxis that is sweeping Christendom as never before.
Searching afresh with the penetrating light of reason, and unencumbered by the dependence and the fear of sanction, or even of excommunication, which restrains the Churches’ professional theologians, the author is free of the weight of tradition on which the Churches rely so heavily to support many of their mystery-laden doctrines, and which, itself, is questionable just as is, in his view, the Churches’ catchall claim to “revelation”.
These, and other dogmatic beliefs such as Original Sin, Hell and The Devil, Purgatory, the Canonisation of Saints, Infallibility, and such subjects as divorce and the church’s attitude vis-à-vis women, are all re-examined with the same frankness, well supported by a wide range of literary references.
A thorough and painstaking reassessment is also undertaken of the ill-conceived and self-defeating doctrine of the Bodily Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven. This necessary reassessment is engaged with due respect and affection for this epitome of Motherhood.
There is also no shrinking from giving implicit expression to the need for Christians to undertake the daunting but rewarding journey from the comfort of the pews and from the warm consoling embrace of a Church which provides us with all the answers and with all the feel-good beliefs, obligatory Sunday rituals and sacraments, which comfort us with the assurance that we are on the right road to God’s heavenly domain. The journey must lead us from those comforts to within reach of the majority of our brothers and sisters, those who live ill-clad and hungry in makeshift shacks or on cold shelterless streets. There, and ultimately in the presence of our Maker, we will be measured by our own self judgment in terms of how well we have responded to the universal imperative to love our neighbour as we ourselves would wish to be loved.
In a less reform-seeking mode, the author also provides an innovative, practical and yet sympathetic way of understanding and coping with the perennial problem of pain and suffering which torments so many people and which leads many all too readily to the sadly illogical practice of “blaming God” for our misfortunes.
