What - exactly - is a "modernist?" + other questions

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  1. I just happened to come upon this video on youtube, and the person said he didn’t buy “modernist garbage” about whether St. Dominic being given the Rosary by Mary can’t really be known, and that it had already been established by tradition as true the Rosary was given by Mary.
Anyway, the question is, what exactly is a “modernist?” Could someone explain it to me like I’m a first-grader? I’ve looked over what “modernism” is at newadvent.org/cathen/10415a.htm but I’m still not certain what establishes one as a modernist, as the word tends to be swung around somewhat liberally.
  1. I heard that if I die for my faith as a martyr, I get to skip purgatory and go straight to heaven. Is that true?
  2. Do my prayers only have efficacy if I’m in a state of grace? Does that mean it’s pointless for anyone in mortal sin to pray?
  3. I heard reading books like St. Therese of Lisieux’s “Story of a Soul,” or Summa Theologica, or reading the Bible count as indulgences. What is the source for this?
  4. I heard sacramentals like the Rosary or the Miraculous Medal only has efficacy if they are blessed first by priest. Is that true? :eek: Have I been wasting my time?
  5. Did Mary die according to Catholic belief? O rather, what exactly is the difference between the Assumption and Dormition? Can a Catholic accept the idea of Dormition?
tyia
 
  1. Modernism is (very generally) the denying of the miraculous. For example, a modernist might think that when Jesus multiplied the loaves and the fish, it was actually just a metaphor and that people actually went and got a bunch of fish and brought it back…
In today’s world, a modernist might be somebody who believes in the over-population fallacy and that people will reproduce out of control unless we abort and contracept (denying the reality that God is actively present in the creation of all new human life and that God has promised us that He will not give us more then we can handle).
  1. I understand that martyrdom is such a great sacrifice that it fully pays for our temporal punishments that would normally need to served in purgatory. So if my understanding is correct, then yes a martyr would go straight to heaven without delay.
 
Hopefully this thread doesn’t get too convoluted for you with trying to address all the different questions. If that happens, you could always try a separate thread for each question.
minion said:
  1. I just happened to come upon this video on youtube, and the person said he didn’t buy “modernist garbage” about whether St. Dominic being given the Rosary by Mary can’t really be known, and that it had already been established by tradition as true the Rosary was given by Mary.
Anyway, the question is, what exactly is a “modernist?” Could someone explain it to me like I’m a first-grader? I’ve looked over what “modernism” is at newadvent.org/cathen/10415a.htm but I’m still not certain what establishes one as a modernist, as the word tends to be swung around somewhat liberally.
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I think a lot of internet theologians misue the term “modernist” to basically describe anything they don’t agree with. I would stick with the definition found in the Old Catholic Encyclopedia.
minion said:
  1. I heard that if I die for my faith as a martyr, I get to skip purgatory and go straight to heaven. Is that true?
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That’s a pious tradition, but I don’t think that’s a formal doctrinal teaching. It’s hard to imagine martyrdom not being a serious “Get out of Purgatory Free” card, though. 😛
minion said:
  1. Do my prayers only have efficacy if I’m in a state of grace? Does that mean it’s pointless for anyone in mortal sin to pray?
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Prayer is never wasted. If we are not in a state of grace, we certainly want to get back there as soon as possible, but it is not pointless for those in mortal sin to pray. I think the devil uses that line of thought in the lives of the scrupulous to get them to stop praying.
minion said:
  1. I heard reading books like St. Therese of Lisieux’s “Story of a Soul,” or Summa Theologica, or reading the Bible count as indulgences. What is the source for this?
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For a list of indulgences, pick up a copy of the Manual of Indulgences. I know reading Scripture is something you can get an indulgence for. I’d have to take a closer look to see about other spiritual reading.
minion said:
  1. I heard sacramentals like the Rosary or the Miraculous Medal only has efficacy if they are blessed first by priest. Is that true? :eek: Have I been wasting my time?
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This is completely false. Again, prayer is never wasted. Having such objects blessed is a good practice, but God would never ignore your prayers simply because they are not blessed.
minion said:
  1. Did Mary die according to Catholic belief? O rather, what exactly is the difference between the Assumption and Dormition? Can a Catholic accept the idea of Dormition?
tyia
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This is an open theological question. In defining the dogma of the Assumption, Pope Pius XII says: “that the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.”

Note that the way that it is phrased leaves the question open as to whether or not Mary died before she was assumed into heaven. The teaching of the Assumption and the Dormition are not mutually exclusive. Mary could have died before she was assumed, just as Christ died before he was resurrected and ascended into heaven.

Hope this helps! 🙂
 
minion said:
  1. I just happened to come upon this video on youtube, and the person said he didn’t buy “modernist garbage” about whether St. Dominic being given the Rosary by Mary can’t really be known, and that it had already been established by tradition as true the Rosary was given by Mary.
Anyway, the question is, what exactly is a “modernist?” Could someone explain it to me like I’m a first-grader? I’ve looked over what “modernism” is at newadvent.org/cathen/10415a.htm but I’m still not certain what establishes one as a modernist, as the word tends to be swung around somewhat liberally.
  1. I heard that if I die for my faith as a martyr, I get to skip purgatory and go straight to heaven. Is that true?
  2. Do my prayers only have efficacy if I’m in a state of grace? Does that mean it’s pointless for anyone in mortal sin to pray?
  3. I heard reading books like St. Therese of Lisieux’s “Story of a Soul,” or Summa Theologica, or reading the Bible count as indulgences. What is the source for this?
  4. I heard sacramentals like the Rosary or the Miraculous Medal only has efficacy if they are blessed first by priest. Is that true? :eek: Have I been wasting my time?
  5. Did Mary die according to Catholic belief? O rather, what exactly is the difference between the Assumption and Dormition? Can a Catholic accept the idea of Dormition?
tyia
Click to expand...
  1. Private revelation is not binding
  2. Yes, that martyrs go to Heaven immediately is certain based on having been taught universally
  3. No, although prayers are more efdacious when in a state of grace
  4. This is only true in regards to the Bible
  5. No
  6. Yes, Pius XII taught that authoritatively, but not infallibly in his encyclical where he dogmatically defined that Mary was assumed body and soul into Heaven.
 
minion said:
  1. I just happened to come upon this video on youtube, and the person said he didn’t buy “modernist garbage” about whether St. Dominic being given the Rosary by Mary can’t really be known, and that it had already been established by tradition as true the Rosary was given by Mary.
Anyway, the question is, what exactly is a “modernist?” Could someone explain it to me like I’m a first-grader? I’ve looked over what “modernism” is at newadvent.org/cathen/10415a.htm but I’m still not certain what establishes one as a modernist, as the word tends to be swung around somewhat liberally.
  1. I heard that if I die for my faith as a martyr, I get to skip purgatory and go straight to heaven. Is that true?
  2. Do my prayers only have efficacy if I’m in a state of grace? Does that mean it’s pointless for anyone in mortal sin to pray?
  3. I heard reading books like St. Therese of Lisieux’s “Story of a Soul,” or Summa Theologica, or reading the Bible count as indulgences. What is the source for this?
  4. I heard sacramentals like the Rosary or the Miraculous Medal only has efficacy if they are blessed first by priest. Is that true? :eek: Have I been wasting my time?
  5. Did Mary die according to Catholic belief? O rather, what exactly is the difference between the Assumption and Dormition? Can a Catholic accept the idea of Dormition?
tyia
Click to expand...
I would say a modernist is someone who thinks the modern era, with science and technological advances, is the summit of human history and that religion and supernatural stuff (miracles) are stuff for gullible fools and superstitious people, and therefore to be rejected as fairy tales… A modernist is essentially a materialist, which means he gives very little (if any) credence to metaphysical manifestations.
 
I would just add that I think many people misuse the term “modernism” nowadays to basically criticize anything that is “modern”. As a term, modernism refers to a specific school of thought that was prominent in the 19th century. It would be more accurate now to speak of post-modernism (though even that term might not be that accurate anymore as we are somewhat it a post-post-modernist world).

This becomes a problem when we go back to some of the old encyclicals on modernism and read our own present-day understanding of the term into what is being condemned. Then we can basically say that the popes are 100% in agreement with us because they condemn modernism, which we define in any way we want to. That’s generally not very helpful.
 
Here is a good definition of Modernism from Fr. Hardon’s Catholic dictionary:

MODERNISM
A theory about the origin and nature of Christianity, first developed into a system by George Tyrrell (1861-1909), Lucien Laberthonnière (1860-1932), and Alfred Loisy (1857-1940). According to Modernism, religion is essentially a matter of experience, personal and collective. There is no objective revelation from God to the human race, on which Christianity is finally based, nor any reasonable grounds for credibility in the Christian faith, based on miracles or the testimony of history. Faith, therefore, is uniquely from within. In fact it is part of human nature, “a kind of motion of the heart,” hidden and unconscious. It is, in Modernist terms, a natural instinct belonging to the emotions, a “feeling for the divine” that cannot be expressed in words or doctrinal propositions, an attitude of spirit that all people have naturally but that some are more aware of having. Modernism was condemned by Pope St. Pius X in two formal documents, *Lamentabili *and Pascendi, both published in 1907. (Etym. Latin modernus, belonging to the present fashion.)
 
  1. A: Those who pray in a state of mortal sin, appeal to God’s mercy, since they have no right to be heard. Those in a state of grace have a God-given right to be heard as spiritually adopted sons.
  2. A: Some sacramentals have special blessings attached to them such as indulgences. To obtain these the items should be blessed by a priest according to their respective rites of blessing (if applicable). The miraculous medal, for example, has a special rite of blessing. Failing to have them blessed in this way does not make your prayers worthless, it just means you may miss out on some special graces. Some priests are in the habit of just giving a generic blessing to everything, so you might want to bring a printout of the rite with you if it’s a miraculous medal.
 
hmm…all the answers are kind of different. :hmmm:

Sorry for the barrage of questions though. I’ll try to sort it out. Thanks 🙂
 
On a side note, it sounds to me like today’s moral reletavism was born out of the modernism movement. Would that be correct?
 
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