Would you agree the modern Catholic church acts more ecumenical than it did in the past?

[Robert_Filmer]

Jimmy Akin, Director of Apologetics here at Catholic Answers, addresses this very issue in great depth here:

jimmyakin.com/2007/02/hard_sayings_of.html

That doesn’t really answer my question. I don’t have a particular problem with the OT killings. I actually consider the modern categorical opposition to killing as abnormal. People used to be fine with executing murderers. But not anymore. Killing the Canaanites and Moloch/Baal/whatever worshipers is (sorta) an extension of that.

Probably a result of people living away from animal and human death. We now fear it.

 

[Rin]

Protestantism and Orthodoxy permit priests/pastors to be married. Catholicism does not. (At least, normally in the Latin Rite.)

Not to derail, but the Eastern custom of married secular priests is older than the Western discipline of mandatory celibacy for all priests…

Additionally, as you admit, Catholicism permits priests to marry, too; the Eastern Catholic Churches are every bit as Catholic as the Latin Church.

 

[Rin]

Sure. The revelation was incomplete. But divorce was not mandatory. Moses just didn’t prohibit it. That’s different than discrimination, which was mandatory.

So permissions are less infallible than prohibitions?

I’m afraid you’re grasping at straws here. The Jewish Law does not bind Christians, period. Thus was decreed by the Apostles. It is two millennia since it was a subject of dispute.

I’m pretty sure the concept of “social justice” is a modern one, too. Catholics may have been concerned about “justice” prior to 1800, but that meant something different. “Justice” used to mean something like “proper application of the law”.

I am afraid the concept of social justice goes back to Our Lord - the Gospels, especially the parables, are filled to the brim with it.

However, the term “social justice” may be “modern” - from a cursory lookup on the history of Catholic social teaching, it was first systemized in the late 19th century. However, most of its contents were a lot older than that, and you’ll see writings on social justice throughout the entire history of the Church.

As some friendly advice, I would recommend that you read what the Church has to say on these issues with an open heart, and then decide whether you could be wrong in your assertions. It is not easy to let go of the interpretative methods of one’s former denomination, but it is necessary if you want to understand the Church on Her own terms. I would recommend you start with the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, and the apostolic exhortation Verbum Domini, which deals with Scripture and the interpretation thereof (it is long, but I would at least recommend the sections which directly deal with the latter).

I wish you all the best luck in your discernment!

 

[Robert_Filmer]

So permissions are less infallible than prohibitions?

Kinda. Virtually nobody can follow the entire faith, so it’s not revealed entirely. It would not have been practical for Moses to prohibit divorce.

To say that God’s OT commands were sinful to follow, is wrong. Saying God’s OT commands were incomplete, is not necessarily wrong.

I’m afraid you’re grasping at straws here. The Jewish Law does not bind Christians, period. Thus was decreed by the Apostles. It is two millennia since it was a subject of dispute.

Agreed. But God revealed his nature in the OT. And his nature does not change. So if God mandated discrimination, how can it be sin?

However, the term “social justice” may be “modern” - from a cursory lookup on the history of Catholic social teaching, it was first systemized in the late 19th century. However, most of its contents were a lot older than that, and you’ll see writings on social justice throughout the entire history of the Church.

What was it called before the late 19th century?

As some friendly advice, I would recommend that you read what the Church has to say on these issues with an open heart, and then decide whether you could be wrong in your assertions. It is not easy to let go of the interpretative methods of one’s former denomination, but it is necessary if you want to understand the Church on Her own terms. I would recommend you start with the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, and the apostolic exhortation Verbum Domini, which deals with Scripture and the interpretation thereof (it is long, but I would at least recommend the sections which directly deal with the latter).

Since the concept of “social justice” goes back to the early church, perhaps you could recommend some older stuff? I’m fully aware that the modern church endorses “social justice”, and have read a bit of it. But I haven’t found much prior to 1800 AD (and virtually nothing prior to 1500 AD) about Catholic social justice, although I haven’t read much, and don’t know what I’m supposed to be looking for.

 

[Michael_Francis]

(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)
(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)