Protestantism and Relativism

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Has Protestantism with it’s concept of Sola Scriptoria (being ones own judge on matters of faith) and the sense that one can’t discern which religion is right because it’s all a matter of ones “personal opinion” and that “you can’t judge because it’s between them and God” (I’ve encountered a lot of this). Contributed to the rise of Relativism in our society?
 
I would say that people who frame the terms you just used are much more likely to be liberal Christians, UCC etc and not inclined toward sola scripture view anyway…they would throw in reason as well…IMO.
Is there less relativism in countries that are Catholic majority?
I have only been to Mexico and let me tell you…well never mind 🙂
BrianH
 
Hi Starrs, I think that atitude is more of a correspondance with the rise of individualism in the US. True sola scriptura, recognizes the earily creeds, biblical language, history, etc.,
 
The number of Protestant denominations alone proves that it is the bulwark of modern relativism. There is now virtually a Protestant denomination for every possible variant interpretation of Sacred Scripture.

Unitarian Universalism is the most intensely relativistic of denominations. The only doctrine that seem to hold them together is that you can believe anything you want to believe, or you can even be an atheist and be a member in good standing. I know this for a fact as I used to be one.
 
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BrianH:
I would say that people who frame the terms you just used are much more likely to be liberal Christians, UCC etc and not inclined toward sola scripture view anyway…they would throw in reason as well…IMO.
Is there less relativism in countries that are Catholic majority?
I have only been to Mexico and let me tell you…well never mind 🙂
BrianH
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Well, I would say that liberalism is also a huge problem for Catholics. But the biggest problem with relativist catholics is that most of them don’t leave the church in protest, but instead try to change it to fit their beliefs.
 
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Jayson:
Well, I would say that liberalism is also a huge problem for Catholics. But the biggest problem with relativist catholics is that most of them don’t leave the church in protest, but instead try to change it to fit their beliefs.
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Would this be in reference to liberation theology by any chance? It has caused alot of turmoil within and outside the Church throughout Latin America.

The number of Protestant denominations is mainly due to sola scripturmania but the first ammendment and the considerable influence that the United States has on other countries to adopt first ammendment principles has, unintentionally I hope, created a fertile breeding ground for Protestant denominations. I guess thats partially why Heaven isn’t a democracy.
 
The number of Protestant denominations is mainly due to sola scripturmania but the first ammendment and the considerable influence that the United States has on other countries to adopt first ammendment principles has, unintentionally I hope, created a fertile breeding ground for Protestant denominations
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Well considering this country was founded by Protestants I doubt it was unintentional the Protestants pride themselves on being “free to believe what they want” and not have anyone (like a pope instance) telling them they have to believe something.
 
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starrs0:
Has Protestantism with it’s concept of Sola Scriptoria (being ones own judge on matters of faith) and the sense that one can’t discern which religion is right because it’s all a matter of ones “personal opinion” and that “you can’t judge because it’s between them and God” (I’ve encountered a lot of this). Contributed to the rise of Relativism in our society?
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Hello starrs0,

I don’t believe Sola Scriptura really has anything to do with your idea of relativism in American society. Sola Scriptura is defined (by the majority) as the ultimate authority for Christian teaching and doctrine and practice resides in the Bible text alone. Of course, even this definition is debateable, but serves the purpose here.

America came into being for many reasons. One of those reasons was freedom to practice one’s religion (primarily Christianity). Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness sums up the American way of life.

Deciding whether one religion is right over another is no one’s place in society, especially at the government level. If the president, senators and congressman were all mormons, you wouldn’t want to be encouraged or forced into practicing Mormonism, would you?

I applaud the founding fathers for their consideration of freedom - freedom of thought, speech, press and practice of religion.

In the end, Christ himself commanded us to not judge one another as being righteous or wicked for only God can truly judge the heart. I’m wondering what one might gain by “proving” to another person of another religion that they are “wrong”.

It is better to love them and show them what your faith means to you instead of intellectually debating with them to prove your points. You may be right, but you’ve not won any points by proving that you are right. Simply love them, express your beliefs in a non-threatening honest way and let God sort out the rest.

Lastly, relativism has been around much longer than even the Christian faith. How much protestantism has contributed to the mass of relativism is beyond computation. I believe your biggest contributor (though not measurable) comes from non-religious sources. That is simply my view.

Peace…
 
Relativism came into the American consciousness via the french enlightened philosophy…you can even trace it in the constitution. As to the influence it had on the majority of Christians in the US, I would say that’s a chicken and the egg argument.

in XT.
 
Ah the so-called “Enlightenment” well we all know who was greatly resonsible for that the Freemasons! It’s a well known fact that many of the Founding Fathers were Mansons others were influenced by Deists like Thomas Paine. Freedom is all well and good however there can be such a thing as too much freedom which can I believe lead to Relativism.
 
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starrs0:
Ah the so-called “Enlightenment” well we all know who was greatly resonsible for that the Freemasons! It’s a well known fact that many of the Founding Fathers were Mansons others were influenced by Deists like Thomas Paine. Freedom is all well and good however there can be such a thing as too much freedom which can I believe lead to Relativism.
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Hello starrs0,

Could you give me an example of “too much freedom…lead to Relativism”? At first glance I disagree with this, but given an example I might see it in a different way.

We have to remember that with freedom comes responsibility. Though we have freedom of speech guaranteed by the Constitution, that doesn’t mean we behave irresponsibly by giving away military secrets to foreign countries (for example). Freedom without responsibility resembles anarchy - chaos. So, I would say that too much freedom would be more akin to anarchy, not relativism.

Peace…
 
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onesimplemind:
Would this be in reference to liberation theology by any chance? It has caused alot of turmoil within and outside the Church throughout Latin America.

The number of Protestant denominations is mainly due to sola scripturmania but the first ammendment and the considerable influence that the United States has on other countries to adopt first ammendment principles has, unintentionally I hope, created a fertile breeding ground for Protestant denominations. I guess thats partially why Heaven isn’t a democracy.
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Well, it is moreso in reference to this type of stuff:
cathcon.blogspot.com/2005/07/new-bishop-of-linz-austria.html
cathcon.blogspot.com/2005/03/shrine-to-judas-in-town-of-linz.html
cathcon.blogspot.com/2005/07/rite-of-linz.html

As well as those who are at high positions in the church and try to undermine the papacy, or promote things which are totally contrary to church teachings.
 
ahimsaman72: If one is given too much freedom this would mean there may be so few laws to assist in forming and maintaining a persons conscience one may start to think ones morals are also “free” and simply discard them they may say inappropriate relations with a minor is ok and in a relativistic society that would be ok since person A’s morals are diferent from person B’s person B can’t say to person A that it is wrong for them to have inappropiate realtions with minors since morals are a matter of opinion.
 
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starrs0:
ahimsaman72: If one is given too much freedom this would mean there may be so few laws to assist in forming and maintaining a persons conscience one may start to think ones morals are also “free” and simply discard them they may say inappropriate relations with a minor is ok and in a relativistic society that would be ok since person A’s morals are diferent from person B’s person B can’t say to person A that it is wrong for them to have inappropiate realtions with minors since morals are a matter of opinion.
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Are you talking about in the political arena or religious? In the political arena some moral laws are expected - no murder, no rape, etc. But those are also laws conducive to a harmonious society. Even pagan cultures (with no Bible to tell them no) admit murder and rape are bad for societies.

Again, you can’t have freedom without laws. We are a “free” country but there are still basic laws that have to be adhered to. Freedom comes with responsibility. People having different morals is not a real problem. We can still live in a pluralistic society with differing cultures and religions and have both freedom and responsibility and live peacably.

The Buddhist crowd shouldn’t be able to say that Catholics are to be thrown out of the country and neither should Catholics say likewise. Relativism has nothing to do with whether a Buddhist says marriage is a sacrament and the Catholic says it is. Neither view destroys our country.

Peace…
 
What I was getting at is if one becomes to “socially free” one will eventally become socially relativistic and eventually it will impact a persons morals.
 
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starrs0:
Has Protestantism with it’s concept of Sola Scriptoria (being ones own judge on matters of faith) and the sense that one can’t discern which religion is right because it’s all a matter of ones “personal opinion” and that “you can’t judge because it’s between them and God” (I’ve encountered a lot of this). Contributed to the rise of Relativism in our society?
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Actually, "Sola Scriptura” means the “Bible Alone.” Thus, Protestants believe that if it’s not mentioned in the Bible it didn’t happen. Which when you think about it is crazy talk. The Bible itself says there were many other things said, taught and done by our Lord (John 21:25) that are not in the Bible. Relativism has existed and has grown enormously over the centuries. It even exists within the Church (thus cafeteria Catholics) by those that believe that they can be pro abortion, use birth control, etc. and still be a good Catholic. Today, there are over 25,000 protestant denominations because they can’t even stay focused for only 500 years! Talk about relativism… Sheesh! So, to answer your question, yes, man’s opinions most definitely contribute to the rise of relativism in our society. When he doesn’t like something, he breaks away from it and starts his own religion.
 
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